More Music On The Boat Questions???

MonacoMike

MonacoMike

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2009
14,721
Indiana lakes and Lake Michigan
Boat Info
2000 Cruisers 3870
8.2 Mercs
Engines
85 Sea Ray Monaco 197
260hp Alpha 1
I recently asked about putting my CD library into iTunes, but have not gotten anywhere since then. Several of you told me that Apple Music has unlimited downloads to your phones for $9.99 for a single user. Reviews online mention music quality and that Apple is not as high as some sources, though they advertise "lossless" not sure what that is. So I will be bluetooth connected to a marine head unit feeding JL amps and JL M6 speakers and subs. Is the Apple music clear enough for that system?

P.S. I am already in the Apple system and have a lot of storage with them.
 
I also heard that any music you download to your phones and cloud stay on your devices even if you cancel the plan.

Anyone know that for sure?
 
I can't answer your Apple questions as I am an android phone user....not a Apple fan.

I use Spotify, which is also 9.99 /mth for a user. Unlimited playing, able to download songs for offline play, etc. I use it in my vehicles, my phone, my computer (windows and linux) and the boat. Works great and have zero reason to look at anything else.
 
I downloaded all of my CDs and have them backed up on a hard drive. It’s nice to have, however to be honest, with Amazon, Sirius/XM w/app, Apple, Spotify, iHeart, and Pandora, I hardly use the MP3s on iTunes anymore.
 
MonacoMike said:
I also heard that any music you download to your phones and cloud stay on your devices even if you cancel the plan.

Anyone know that for sure?
Click to expand...
With Apple Music, or Spotify, you cannot download music, cancel the service, and keep the songs on your device. You can download music ahead of time, or mark an entire playlist, album, etc for download on Apple Music. You can purchase individual songs without Apple Music and keep those forever. Your device will potentially try to remove some of the music if you are running low on space, so use Manage Storage to ensure you have enough room, if needed.
I think Apples quality is fine, the music I hear from all of my stereo systems sounds great, but I am no audiophile, I just want good music, and not terribly loud!
 
No streaming music service is audiophile quality. But it is good enough for us older gents who can’t hear anyway. :) Don’t overthink it, just start with something and see if you like it.
 
Apples music quality is perfectly fine. Read this if you’re planning to use it over cellular.

https://www.tunefab.com/apple-music/apple-music-quality-settings.html

It is also possible to get lossless on Apple Music, but you will need a Wired connection for the phone to your system. I don’t think bluetooth connections on any device will support lossless, due to limitations of the connection (but I’m not certain of that).

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212183



Edit: More reading on lossless and Bluetooth: https://www.androidauthority.com/bluetooth-codecs-997074/

It really seems that you’re not going to get lossless over any Bluetooth connection but you can get really close. In order to do so you’re going to need two devices that are capable of speaking the same language. Or you can bypass Bluetooth and use a wifi or wired connection.

Personally I wouldn’t worry about lossless on a boat.
 
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We have Spotify. Have had it for years at the $9.99 plan. My wife and I shared it. The problem we encountered was if she was at home (playing music) and I went to the boat (and began playing music) it would kick her off as you can only have one "connection" at a time. Spotify later offered a Family Plan where for $14.99/month, you can have up to (if I remember correctly) six (6) licenses all playing at the same time from different locations.

We went this route and have really enjoyed it. We then share the extra licenses with the kids.

Jaybeaux
 
Like OllieC, I ripped all my CDs and saved them as mp3s. I spent way too much on everything from Jackson Brown to Metallica to buy them all again lol I never drank the "Apple" KoolAid. Can't stand the platform even though my work forced one on me. Makes a good hotspot...
 
I've used Apple music since it came out. I have nothing but positive things to say about it. I download all of my favorite playlists and artists on my phone so I have the music when I don't have cell/wifi.

I also have Amazon music by default since I have a bunch of Alexa's in the house. Apple's interface and playlist setup are vastly superior to Amazon IMO.
 
I have maintained an iTunes library for years, combination of songs I ripped from CD's and purchased through the iTunes store.

For a long time I kept it on an old iPod which had a large amount of storage. The iPod plugged into our audio system at home and then we would carry it with us to FL to plug in on the boat.

Couple of years ago I upgraded the sound system on the boat to a new Fusion system which allowed streaming from a device. Moved the iTunes to iCloud.

Now the Apple TV device at home is connected to the iCloud and plays music through the house audio. When we are on the boat we connect one of our phones via Bluetooth to the Fusion system. Phone streams the music from the iTunes library on iCloud.

Works great. We typically run off shore a few miles going up and down the coast. Many of the areas we have trouble with cell service for phone calls. Some how (no explanation), the music plays fine.

Mark
 
Ripping (forgot that term) your CDs is good to have on hand as Stee6043 and Mark stated. The nice thing, which includes not ‘paying’ for music you already own, is if you lose mobile phone or wifi service you still have a playlist you can enjoy.

Many systems like the Fusion have a USB port where you can attach a permanent thumb drive with all of your music. Of course our mobile phones have plenty of storage as well and can be Bluetooth’ed or WiFi’ed to current head units.

We find ourselves without service while Apostle Island hopping and it’s nice to still have tunes.
 
Not sure if this is within your tech comfort zone, but basically the easiest way to build and keep a library of your own music is to simply download what you want to keep. Almost every song in existence is now on YouTube. Google "YouTube to MP3" and you can extract and download any song from any YouTube video and save the mp3 to your device. I use Shazam to identify new songs I like, and then save them using the method detailed above. I keep them in a Google drive folder so they are available to any device I have. That is the easy free way to do it and it doesn't cost a penny.
 
Black Valkyrie said:
Not sure if this is within your tech comfort zone, but basically the easiest way to build and keep a library of your own music is to simply download what you want to keep. Almost every song in existence is now on YouTube. Google "YouTube to MP3" and you can extract and download any song from any YouTube video and save the mp3 to your device. I use Shazam to identify new songs I like, and then save them using the method detailed above. I keep them in a Google drive folder so they are available to any device I have. That is the easy free way to do it and it doesn't cost a penny.
Click to expand...

Until the copyright police find your google drive account :)
 
Black Valkyrie said:
Not sure if this is within your tech comfort zone, but basically the easiest way to build and keep a library of your own music is to simply download what you want to keep. Almost every song in existence is now on YouTube. Google "YouTube to MP3" and you can extract and download any song from any YouTube video and save the mp3 to your device. I use Shazam to identify new songs I like, and then save them using the method detailed above. I keep them in a Google drive folder so they are available to any device I have. That is the easy free way to do it and it doesn't cost a penny.
Click to expand...
Careful. Lars Ulrich will be targeting you. Google Napster and Metallica if you don't know the reference... They tried suing me over Napster years ago even though I had bought all their ALBUMS, tapes and then CDs.
 
I'm Spotify as well. It has the ability to connect to a large variety of devices on and off the boat including the Fusion units, my car and my Onkyo home stereo. You can stream from a smart TV on the boat to the Fusion as well.

Using Spotify on an apple device connected via Airplay to Fusion Apollo gets you album art on the head unit...nice little feature.

Music quality is pretty good, or at least good enough for my ears.

Who knew loud rock music, shooting guns and flying airplanes without headsets would harm your hearing...
 
dtfeld said:
I'm Spotify as well. It has the ability to connect to a large variety of devices on and off the boat including the Fusion units, my car and my Onkyo home stereo. You can stream from a smart TV on the boat to the Fusion as well.

Using Spotify on an apple device connected via Airplay to Fusion Apollo gets you album art on the head unit...nice little feature.

Music quality is pretty good, or at least good enough for my ears.

Who knew loud rock music, shooting guns and flying airplanes without headsets would harm your hearing...
Click to expand...
Huh? Did you say something?
 
I have I tunes and Spotify.

Both come through clear blue toothed to the head unit on the boat. Every now and then when on Spotify I need to make sure the loudness setting is turned off as it will put to much bass through the system.

As for all my CDs I have an old Ipod that have all those on and it is not shared to any of my apple devices... That way no songs can ever be deleted from that device.... My Laptop, I pad, I phone and a newer Ipod are all shared with each other and as one updates they all do in my Itunes library .

I also have the I watch and that is nice when off the boat as I can change music and volume from the dock, beach, or in the water.

I do subscribe to the Monthly I Radio option that I tunes offers 9.99 per month and it works great as well and as you listen to stations on it it will build or learn your profile and you can make play lists from that. I like the Itunes Radio as there are no advertisements.

I lean more towards Itunes and my Girlfriend leans towards Spotify... both get it done.

You can down load or " Burn" CDs to I tunes See below.

Google :
How do I transfer my CDs to iTunes?
How to import CD tracks to iTunes?
  1. Open iTunes and tap on Edit > Preferences.
  2. Select the General tab and navigate to the “When you insert a CD” section. Click on the “Import” button. ...
  3. Return to the main iTunes window and insert a music CD in your PC. ...
  4. iTunes will begin importing the contents of your CD.
  5. That's it!
Or:
In the iTunes app on your PC, insert an audio CD into your computer's CD or DVD drive, or into an external drive that's connected to your computer. If you don't see info for the CD, click the CD button near the top left of the iTunes window. ... Import all songs on the CD: Click Yes. iTunes starts importing the CD.
 
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