My Tidal subscription is about to expire, what next?

[KeenObserver]

Lord we got a true koolaid drinker in you.
Since the dawn of recorded music the audiophiles dream has been to have access to a recording system that could offer us a input-output chain that could reproduce the live event. With the 16/44.1 digital recording that's what we got. Contrary to what you may read on the audiophool websites and magazines, there's never been a analog recording/playback system that can even come close to Redbook, the numbers don't lie here. The worlds best R-R decks are not even in the same ball park for accuracy in the audio chain. Anyone who chases "pure analog" sound is on a fools mission.


Once more it is Meridian/MQA stated mission to get all the record labels on board and have every new release MQA encoded.
So much for that audiophile dream we used to have, any access to a bit perfect copy of the original master tape will be gone and left in it's place will be a lossy codec with a number of hidden switches at hand to control what we can and cannot do with the file. Of course the labels have loved the idea from the very beginning. Do you believe they got into it to give us better sounding music?

As to the bottom line on vinyl, if you enjoy the nostalgic feel of it, that's all fine and good.
If you care about High Fidelity, the cutting of a new LP master stamper from any source, digital or analog, old or new recording, is a waste of material when the same could have been put into a digital source and listened to in bit perfect perfection..
God people, don't sell us down the river and come out of the dark ages.

I have to agree with you. An engineer that truly knows how to utilize the full capacity of 16/44.1 can produce outstanding results. The problem is that so much sub par music was dumped on CD.
Since a vast majority of recorded music was archived onto digital storage, I suspect that most new LP pressings come from digital sources. So much for "analog" sound.

 

[sal]

I have to agree with you. An engineer that truly knows how to utilize the full capacity of 16/44.1 can produce outstanding results. The problem is that so much sub par music was dumped on CD.
Since a vast majority of recorded music was archived onto digital storage, I suspect that most new LP pressings come from digital sources. So much for "analog" sound.

That’s fair. I would certainly never rush to buy an LP where the intended medium for the music was digital. That wouldn’t make a lot of sense. On the other hand, before the mid 80s the intended medium for all was vinyl. Many great engineers put huge effort into optimizing the music for vinyl. Many of the digital conversions do not do their work justice.

For the record, I’m no koolaid drinker. The vast majority of my listening is through a streaming service. But,there are some recordings where I prefer vinyl.

There’s room for everyone.

 

[Jet Black]

I simply believe technology is moving forwards, not backwards, so the vinyl and tube amps thing is a thing of the past thus being said 'inferior' compared to what we have here today.

 

[sal]

I simply believe technology is moving forwards, not backwards, so the vinyl and tube amps thing is a thing of the past thus being said 'inferior' compared to what we have here today.

Who said anything about tube amps? PurifI all the way over here. Even with the vinyl.

 

[KeenObserver]

I think a lot of the old masters were mastered for the best sound. From these a " sub master" was made to send to the pressing house to be used to cut the pressing plates. If it was a popular recording the sub master would be used multiple times to cut new plates. Of course, the plates had to be cut incorporating the RIAA coding.

 

[sal]

I think a lot of the old masters were mastered for the best sound. From these a " sub master" was made to send to the pressing house to be used to cut the pressing plates. If it was a popular recording the sub master would be used multiple times to cut new plates. Of course, the plates had to be cut incorporating the RIAA coding.

That sounds right. Most of the new pressings come out of Germany these days.

 

[Racheski]

Admittedly I had been streaming from Tidal for awhile for the lossless "Hi-Fi" music, and had not looked at Spotify in awhile. Their current app is fantastic...and since I don't care about MQA I just switched back to Spotify. I also discovered the app "Soundiiz" and for 5 bucks you can import all of your playlists, albums, and tracks in a matter of minutes from Tidal to Spotify, but it also supports dozens of other streaming services.

 

[mSpot]

@Pearljam5000, do you live in the US? I subscribe to both Qobuz and Tidal (and Spotify as well). I was planning to drop Tidal, but the one-year subscription from Best Buy (US only) is such a good deal that I didn't mind keeping it for the occasional albums that I don't find on Qobuz.

 

[KeenObserver]

I have been listening to music for well more than sixty years. I started in the age of mono LP's and 45s. My perspective is that I was glad when CD's came out. The effort needed to elicit the best sound from LP's was simply no longer worth it to me. I digitized my LP collection on a high end turntable after having scrubbed the albums on a high end record cleaning machine. I still have this equipment in case I come across any more albums I want to digitize. If there were CD copies of records I already had, I bought them.
It amuses me to see the revival of vinyl. I was glad to move onto CD's. No more clicks and pops. Full range sound ( at least until they applied compression).
The problem is that CD quality runs from garbage to outstanding. Basing your assessment of CD quality on the garbage recordings does not do justice to possible CD quality.

 

[sal]

I have been listening to music for well more than sixty years. I started in the age of mono LP's and 45s. My perspective is that I was glad when CD's came out. The effort needed to elicit the best sound from LP's was simply no longer worth it to me. I digitized my LP collection on a high end turntable after having scrubbed the albums on a high end record cleaning machine. I still have this equipment in case I come across any more albums I want to digitize. If there were CD copies of records I already had, I bought them.
It amuses me to see the revival of vinyl. I was glad to move onto CD's. No more clicks and pops. Full range sound ( at least until they applied compression).
The problem is that CD quality runs from garbage to outstanding. Basing your assessment of CD quality on the garbage recordings does not do justice to possible CD quality.

Yes. I remember when CDs came out as well. Pretty sure my first purchase was Peter Gabriel 4. Trying to remember if it was AAD or ADD

 

[Sal1950]

That’s fair. I would certainly never rush to buy an LP where the intended medium for the music was digital. That wouldn’t make a lot of sense. On the other hand, before the mid 80s the intended medium for all was vinyl. Many great engineers put huge effort into optimizing the music for vinyl..

What is it you think there is to be gained from listening to a analog recording done on the excellent (for the day) reel to reel recorders and listening to them on vinyl over digital.? Technically those recorders were far superior to anything that could later represented by dragging a rock thru a ditch. All I can think of are things like wow & flutter, inner groove distortion, surface noise, pops & ticks, mono'd bass, more.
If you want to have a good analog experience and hear whats really on the tape, get a good digital release of it..

For the record, I’m no koolaid drinker.

Sorry I don't really mean to offend, just trying to open your eyes to the fact you are buying into the fairytales written on the magic dust websites and magazines.

The problem is that CD quality runs from garbage to outstanding.

True of all recordings from all sources.

 

[sal]

What is it you think there is to be gained from listening to a analog recording done on the excellent (for the day) reel to reel recorders and listening to them on vinyl over digital.?

It's a hobby right? I plan to gain hours of enjoyment. Adjusting VTA, pulling out a protractor to ensue alignment. Cleaning the record and stylus. It enjoyable to me and many others. It's all the more enjoyable because I don't "have" to do it to get good sound. I have my fancy DAC and streaming service where I can just press play. What is it you have to gain by raining on everyone's parade?

Technically those recorders were far superior to anything that could later represented by dragging a rock thru a ditch.

If reel to reels were more accessible, I'd probably have one of those too.

All I can think of are things like wow & flutter, inner groove distortion, surface noise, pops & ticks, mono'd bass, more.

Part of the fun is solving those problems.

If you want to have a good analog experience and hear whats really on the tape, get a good digital release of it..

I have those too.

Sorry I don't really mean to offend, just trying to open your eyes

You could do with a healthy dose of that yourself.

to the fact you are buying into the fairytales written on the magic dust websites and magazines.

Not sure what gave you that impression. Did I at any point say that vinyl was a superior format? Don't think so.

 

[Sal1950]

On the other hand, before the mid 80s the intended medium for all was vinyl. Many great engineers put huge effort into optimizing the music for vinyl. Many of the digital conversions do not do their work justice.

Not sure what gave you that impression. Did I at any point say that vinyl was a superior format

Sure sounded like it LOL

All I can think of are things like wow & flutter, inner groove distortion, surface noise, pops & ticks, mono'd bass, more.

Part of the fun is solving those problems.

There is no "solution" you can only slightly minimize them after a lot of work and expense.
They mostly don't exist in digital.

It's a hobby right? I plan to gain hours of enjoyment. Adjusting VTA, pulling out a protractor to ensue alignment. Cleaning the record and stylus. It enjoyable to me and many others. It's all the more enjoyable because I don't "have" to do it to get good sound.

Fine, I heard it all before. Where I have my issue is that since the 1940s this "hobby" as you call it was about High Fidelity and the ways to go about maximizing the your systems sound quality.. This website is dedicated to that principle, measuring gear and finding the best of the best..
Whatever, these fads, like beanie babies, come and go. Sooner or later you guys will burn out on all the hassle and expense, then get back to listening to SOTA music and not playing with VTA.

 

[Nicolaas]

Lord we got a true koolaid drinker in you.
Since the dawn of recorded music the audiophiles dream has been to have access to a recording system that could offer us a input-output chain that could reproduce the live event. With the 16/44.1 digital recording that's what we got. Contrary to what you may read on the audiophool websites and magazines, there's never been a analog recording/playback system that can even come close to Redbook, the numbers don't lie here. The worlds best R-R decks are not even in the same ball park for accuracy in the audio chain. Anyone who chases "pure analog" sound is on a fools mission.


Once more it is Meridian/MQA stated mission to get all the record labels on board and have every new release MQA encoded.
So much for that audiophile dream we used to have, any access to a bit perfect copy of the original master tape will be gone and left in it's place will be a lossy codec with a number of hidden switches at hand to control what we can and cannot do with the file. Of course the labels have loved the idea from the very beginning. Do you believe they got into it to give us better sounding music?

As to the bottom line on vinyl, if you enjoy the nostalgic feel of it, that's all fine and good.
If you care about High Fidelity, the cutting of a new LP master stamper from any source, digital or analog, old or new recording, is a waste of material when the same could have been put into a digital source and listened to in bit perfect perfection..
God people, don't sell us down the river and come out of the dark ages.

Can't tell you how glad I am with a native English speaker who finds the exact right wording to express my worries too.
Thank you so much for that!

 

[Nicolaas]

It's a hobby right? I plan to gain hours of enjoyment. Adjusting VTA, pulling out a protractor to ensue alignment. Cleaning the record and stylus. It enjoyable to me and many others. It's all the more enjoyable because I don't "have" to do it to get good sound. I have my fancy DAC and streaming service where I can just press play. What is it you have to gain by raining on everyone's parade?


If reel to reels were more accessible, I'd probably have one of those too.


Part of the fun is solving those problems.


I have those too.


You could do with a healthy dose of that yourself.


Not sure what gave you that impression. Did I at any point say that vinyl was a superior format? Don't think so.

I still have a perfectly fine playing Revox A77 - 2 track recorder. It only needs new heads though. Send me a mail if you're interested!

 

[Nicolaas]

Admittedly I had been streaming from Tidal for awhile for the lossless "Hi-Fi" music, and had not looked at Spotify in awhile. Their current app is fantastic...and since I don't care about MQA I just switched back to Spotify. I also discovered the app "Soundiiz" and for 5 bucks you can import all of your playlists, albums, and tracks in a matter of minutes from Tidal to Spotify, but it also supports dozens of other streaming services.

I think Spotify non-MQA lossless is the way to go. And streaming 16b - 44.1k
FLAC files only takes ca 800 kbps on average.

 

[Jim Matthews]

Of course the labels have loved the idea from the very beginning. Do you believe they got into it to give us better sounding music?

How else would they sell us another copy of The Beatles "White Album"?

God forbid all this do$h went into developing musicians that actually play their own instruments, write their own songs and bring us new entertainment.

 

[Jim Matthews]

I'm very late to the streaming party.

After a tedious update of my MiniDSP firmware, Volumio can now successfully access both Tidal and Qobuz. Tidal is rock steady and loads fast. Qobuz sounds "finer" but drops out with regularity.

Both sound better than my NAS - probably because there's one less box for all the bits to squeeze through.

It borders on amazing - how much is out their and how little of it I have heard before. The infernal recommendation algorithms must deduce that every seventh song should be from Van Morrison.

(I'm talking to *you*, Pandora.)

 

[sal]

Sure sounded like it LOL

Are you trying to tell me that the labels all did an excellent job of transferring their back catalog to digital? Some did. Some did not

 

[sal]

To the OP. I apologize for my part in derailing this thread. I should know better than to try and inject logic and another point of view. I will state again, try Spotify, I think you'll like it.

Reading back, I think I see where everything went sideways...

...wait for it...

...an underhanded money grabbing scheme with a potentially long term anti-consumer outcome.

...and there it is.

As soon as the word "Tidal" appears. The anti-MQA brigade kicks in.

"Workers unite! Free yourselves from your MQA overlords!"

And then we get the usual references to "archaic" mediums, how lossless 16/44.1 is all you can hear. "I'm smart, You're stupid, listen to me, blah blah blah"

And in the year nineteen hundred and eighty two, our lords Sony and Phillips spake:
"The number of bits shall be 16, and 16 bits there were." And lo - the masses were pleased
"The number of hertz shall be 44,100. No more, no less."
"22,050 hertz there shall be for the left channel, and 22,050 hertz there were."
"An additional 22,050 hertz there shall be for the right channel." And how the masses were pleased
And again, Sony and Philips spoke:
"As for loss, there shall be none. Any attempts to add loss shall incur my wrath"

I will be moving on to another thread now. Enjoy
I'm rubber you're glue