Hi everyone and thanks to What Hi Fi for allowing me onto the forum.
I have been an audiophile for over 50 years and for the last 8 years , have used all the major streaming services and recorded many streams on my computer and burned CDs, playing through a quality Dac in my Quad based Hi Fi system. More recently I purchased the very versatile Wiim Pro streamer, connected to my Dac, streaming Hi Res Tidal, Qobuz & Amazon Music HD.
In April I saw an advert for the Prestomusic Streaming Service, which has 200,000 Classical and Jazz albums up to 24bit x 192kHz. Booklets, reviews and articles are included and the latest releases, equal to the above services are updated every week. There is also a link to Prestomusic for purchases of CDs and Downloads. The app can be installed on Android, iOS, Windows, and Apple Macs . Also, apart from its own streamer of course, Presto state that it is compatible with Blu OS devices.
I therefore went for a one month free trial (£10.99 per month thereafter) and was so taken by it, using my Android tablet and Windows 11 desktop, that I set up a subscription and bought the Presto dedicated Wi Fi streamer (£79.99), which has it's own internal Dac , plus an optical cable for an external one. For more details, just check out the prestomusic .com website for the app and type in the search bar 'Streamer' for further information.
Suffice to say that I was very impressed with the installed app on my tablets, and the sound from the streamer through my Dac seemed more rounded and natural when compared to the aforementioned streaming services through the Wiim Pro, which incidentally, doesn't have the Presto app. However, when I swapped the admittedly insubstantial optical cable, (not surprising given the cost of the streamer) for a QED Performance Graphite Optical one costing half the price of the streamer, the sound quality was a revelation, being highly detailed, textured, open and with a wide soundstage. I couldn't get over the improvement that a more up market optical cable could make on the Presto device.
I am surprised that What Hi Fi haven't included this service in its latest streaming survey, although I assume it is because the genres are limited compared to the others. It certainly deserves far greater publicity and I can confidently recommend it and the streamer, for those that are mainly interested in classical / jazz streaming.
Finally, I would say that assessment of sound quality is a very personal thing , depending among others, on equipment/volume, genres, room construction/ambience and of course ones ears. Mine are quite old and rely on hearing aids, so I am not really qualified to give an accurate assessment of good sound, although I am well aware of differences in quality. So this is a personal opinion only. However, a friend who has been in the Hi Fi trade for many years, has listened to my streams and is in full agreement with my findings.
Cheers
John
I have been an audiophile for over 50 years and for the last 8 years , have used all the major streaming services and recorded many streams on my computer and burned CDs, playing through a quality Dac in my Quad based Hi Fi system. More recently I purchased the very versatile Wiim Pro streamer, connected to my Dac, streaming Hi Res Tidal, Qobuz & Amazon Music HD.
In April I saw an advert for the Prestomusic Streaming Service, which has 200,000 Classical and Jazz albums up to 24bit x 192kHz. Booklets, reviews and articles are included and the latest releases, equal to the above services are updated every week. There is also a link to Prestomusic for purchases of CDs and Downloads. The app can be installed on Android, iOS, Windows, and Apple Macs . Also, apart from its own streamer of course, Presto state that it is compatible with Blu OS devices.
I therefore went for a one month free trial (£10.99 per month thereafter) and was so taken by it, using my Android tablet and Windows 11 desktop, that I set up a subscription and bought the Presto dedicated Wi Fi streamer (£79.99), which has it's own internal Dac , plus an optical cable for an external one. For more details, just check out the prestomusic .com website for the app and type in the search bar 'Streamer' for further information.
Suffice to say that I was very impressed with the installed app on my tablets, and the sound from the streamer through my Dac seemed more rounded and natural when compared to the aforementioned streaming services through the Wiim Pro, which incidentally, doesn't have the Presto app. However, when I swapped the admittedly insubstantial optical cable, (not surprising given the cost of the streamer) for a QED Performance Graphite Optical one costing half the price of the streamer, the sound quality was a revelation, being highly detailed, textured, open and with a wide soundstage. I couldn't get over the improvement that a more up market optical cable could make on the Presto device.
I am surprised that What Hi Fi haven't included this service in its latest streaming survey, although I assume it is because the genres are limited compared to the others. It certainly deserves far greater publicity and I can confidently recommend it and the streamer, for those that are mainly interested in classical / jazz streaming.
Finally, I would say that assessment of sound quality is a very personal thing , depending among others, on equipment/volume, genres, room construction/ambience and of course ones ears. Mine are quite old and rely on hearing aids, so I am not really qualified to give an accurate assessment of good sound, although I am well aware of differences in quality. So this is a personal opinion only. However, a friend who has been in the Hi Fi trade for many years, has listened to my streams and is in full agreement with my findings.
Cheers
John
Last edited:
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