Qobuz or Tidal ?

[Pearljam5000]

Is it possible to hear a difference between Spotify lossless VS Tidal and Qobuz hi-res?

 

[RaymondFromThePyrénéés]

yes, thank you, I think that this is what I am doing, waiting for my Lyngdorf to start and keep it simple with qobuz, and two speakers, not even a sub in the near future. But on the same time I keep learning....

 

[goat76]

It may be computationally intensive (compared to 44/16) but I have this problem on late-model phones and new 8-core CPUs so it's not the CPU. It's not really "dropouts" either, the stream will just fail and I have to skip to another track entirely.

Strange, I don't think I have ever had that particular problem with Tidal; only a few dropouts have occurred, but not very often. The only times the stream has stopped for me are when my daughter uses my Tidal account from time to time.

Does this problem you describe only happen when you are at home, or does it also occur when you are on the move using the mobile network?

 

[kemmler3D]

Strange, I don't think I have ever had that particular problem with Tidal; only a few dropouts have occurred, but not very often. The only times the stream has stopped for me are when my daughter uses my Tidal account from time to time.

Does this problem you describe only happen when you are at home, or does it also occur when you are on the move using the mobile network?

It's happened at home and out and about, so I can't be sure my home connection isn't a problem, but AFAIK it's on any connection. I use a Pixel 9 Pro android phone and a windows PC for Tidal.

 

[sheeple]

Plus amp, plus dreaded wires

I am using active, this is no concern to me.

In any case: if you are feeding an amplifier from a source you will place the source at the amplifier, so there is no additional wires crisscrossing the room?

 

[Redacted]

I am using active, this is no concern to me.

In any case: if you are feeding an amplifier from a source you will place the source at the amplifier, so there is no additional wires crisscrossing the room?

No reflection on your rig - I meant my wife would not like multiple boxes or any visible wires (inc. to speakers), no matter what topology I put together.

 

[jareinertson]

A question somewhat related.
Can one store FLAC files without any loss on simple USB keys ?

Yes

 

[Pearljam5000]

Does anyone hear a difference in sound quality between Spotify Lossless and Qobuz/Tidal Hi-res with higher bit rates?

 

[Redacted]

Does anyone hear a difference in sound quality between Spotify Lossless and Qobuz/Tidal Hi-res with higher bit rates?

Anyone saying "yes" might just be hearing different mastering in the source data or different volumes.
Most people cannot tell 16-44 files from say, 24-96 files, if from the same master

 

[Jokke]

I moved to Tidal because it pays artists more, but I have a terrible time with streams just stopping or dropping out. Am I the only one? It seems like I can't even listen to a full album without the stream crapping out somehow. I have perfectly good internet connections, and the problem persists on home or wireless connections. I did not have this problem with Spotify.

I am thinking of bailing and going to Apple Music instead. Any advice?

My experience is that if you have frequent drops during streaming, it's your network that is failing. Since sw updates on my wifi repeaters, I have zero dropouts with Tidal.

 

[Redacted]

I've never had good results (in a few use cases) with WiFi repeaters.
The worst possible thing you can buy is "mains-wiring-based" extenders - UK fusebox RCDs seem to mess them up badly.

My internet-provider-supplied wifi/router/modem has terrible WiFi. I bought a separate wifi/router/ethernet-uplink unit and now get a good signal in every corner of my house (even 5GHz gets everywhere!). I don't stream off the internet, but do stream off my NAS - it comes to the same thing, network-wise, but of course, your internet service depends on your connection and the router for it - I know some users have had issues with their router/modem in this regard..

 

[Jokke]

I've never had good results (in a few use cases) with WiFi repeaters.
The worst possible thing you can buy is "mains-wiring-based" extenders - UK fusebox RCDs seem to mess them up badly.

My internet-provider-supplied wifi/router/modem has terrible WiFi. I bought a separate wifi/router/ethernet-uplink unit and now get a good signal in every corner of my house (even 5GHz gets everywhere!). I don't stream off the internet, but do stream off my NAS - it comes to the same thing, network-wise, but of course, your internet service depends on your connection and the router for it - I know some users have had issues with their router/modem in this regard..

I'm currently using TP-link RE650 extenders, and I'm very happy with them.

 

[Redacted]

I'm currently using TP-link RE650 extenders, and I'm very happy with them.

That's great.
I like TP-link kit - my secondary router is a TP-link,
Not all repeater kit is as good. Ask me how I know!

 

[jareinertson]

Does anyone hear a difference in sound quality between Spotify Lossless and Qobuz/Tidal Hi-res with higher bit rates?

I have not. After using Tidal for several months I tried Spotify lossless streaming. I preferred the user experience with Spotify and believe it sounds as good as CD playback for me. I discontinued Tidal and continue using Spotify and also Apple Music with a WiiM Mini as streamer feeding a SMSL RAW MDA-1 DAC.

 

[Tre2023]

I’ve used Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal. I couldn’t say Lossless streams sounded any different from one service to another.

While I add a service from time to time to check things out, I always have Apple Music service. But, Spotify Connect is so well done and widely supported that hopping around from device to device for audio output is very easy.

 

[Timcognito]

Does anyone hear a difference in sound quality between Spotify Lossless and Qobuz/Tidal Hi-res with higher bit rates?

No but Qobuz pays artists more and has more rare, jazz, international and upstart/college station type music from my observation and that's what I like.

KFJC 89.7FM

 

[goat76]

No but Qobuz pays artists more and has more rare, jazz, international and upstart/college station type music from my observation and that's what I like.

KFJC 89.7FM

That's the radio channel I've been mostly listening to for the last couple of years. I also used to listen a lot to KRUI-FM 89.7, which is a great college radio station from Iowa City. https://krui.fm/

 

[Timcognito]

That's the radio channel I've been mostly listening to for the last couple of years. I also used to listen a lot to KRUI-FM 89.7, which is a great college radio station from Iowa City. https://krui.fm/

No longer commuting so less radio listening but having 8-9000 searchable 1-2 paragraph reviews of every imaginable genre is a godsend. I have so many saved ready to try releases that my radio time seems to be in the car only these days.

 

[Brian Hall]

Does anyone hear a difference in sound quality between Spotify Lossless and Qobuz/Tidal Hi-res with higher bit rates?

Non-humans might if they have a defective dac that doesn't filter out the high frequency garbage/noise above 22khz.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Which streaming service has the most amount of songs/tracks?