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If you're a regular follower of The Daily Hilario AND a regular reader of these here missives (hi, Mom!), you'll know that I recently acquired a pair of absolutely gorgeous and absolutely awesome pair of headphones called Mo-Fi. They're unique in that they have a built-in "audiophile" amp -- I put that in quotes because it's one of those words that makes my skin crawl -- which basically means that, especially in mobile applications like when connected to my phone, they deliver crisp, detailed, and full sound.
I absolutely adore these headphones.
Which is all well and good, but the trouble is that some time ago I magicked all of my music into the cloud, so that I could have access to it at home, at work, and on the road. I also absolute adore this new paradigm and will definitely not go back to the old ways. Hello, Google Music; begone, giant carrying cases of CDs! The problem is that Google Music (and other popular options like Spotify) only ("only") stream up to 320 kbps quality. Which isn't bad, and it's perfectly great for listening in the car, but listening with the fancy headphones, I can definitely tell a difference between streaming a song (320 kbps) and playing it from a CD (16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo = 1411 kbps). Which is annoying and makes my listening experience, however good, not perfectly blissful. If couldn't tell a difference, I wouldn't be annoyed. But I can, and so I am.
And so my latest obsession is Tidal, which is apparently a brand new streaming service that does have to option of a "hi-fi" stream. And unlike many of the other options I was aware of, it actually streams new and popular music, too, not just the classicals. I'm on Day 2 of my (free) 7-day trial and loving every second. Looks like I'm going to have to start foregoing TWO sandwiches a month instead of just one to switch from Google Music all access ($10/month) to Tidal ($20/month).
If any Tidal people are reading this, you're welcome for the free publicity and feel free to give me free access. Thanks bunches! And if any Google Music people are reading this, please buy out Tidal and/or offer a hifi streaming option and we'll all go home happy.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. Actually, since we're talking streaming and A/D sampling, let's go back to college.
FOOTBALL (all times GMT):
19.30: Int'l Friendly: England U21 vs. Portugal U21
23.00: Int'l Friendly: Uruguay vs. Costa Rica