Tidal HiFi vs Spotify Premium? Can you hear the difference?

[fatoldgit]

Deezer is also worth considering.

The issue I have with Deezer having been a subscriber in the past (noting these comments are mainly related to Jazz and Blues) is that many album releases are from non-name labels.

If you look at the same album on Qobuz, the label is correct.

This doesnt inspire confidence in the quality/provenance of the Deezer version.

Deezer is also populated with lots of crappy compilation albums that pollute your searches.

I used Deezer for a short period but moved onto Qobuz.

Now, these issue might not exist to the same degree in other genres.

Peter

 

[Vincent Kars]

 

[Ashimaru]

View attachment 198635

Link?

 

[Vincent Kars]

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/s9zntz

 

[Drengur]

Link?

You can see here in The Verge's archives that this article is not listed:

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[jensgk]

I converted a few of my flac tracks to 320bps Ogg Vorbis, and did a blind ABX test with the foobar200 ABX module.
I could not point out the Ogg Vorbis tracks.

 

[DanielT]

You can test this. Two people, two different streaming providers, the same songs. Then blind test. Stop now says friend of order so you can not do, it can be songs from different masters, it can be .... Of course it can be BUT first you test. If you can NOT dot right, the harvests of chance which then it is decided for those people in this case. No audible difference. IF, on the other hand, they would score correctly in this blind test then they may proceed and in that case (if there is interest) ensure that the blind test is performed according to all the rules of art. Then test again.

 

[ThatM1key]

I always see streaming services as convenience even if its lossless (Because they barely have any QC). If I truly want lossless, I seek out the best version of it rather then going to streaming services. The point of me barely telling a difference is between 2 formats, FLAC and high-bitrate OGG.

The good thing with lossy files, is that you can play around with DSPs. On my Sony AVR, I either use DSEE HX or even Dolby Surround. If I use my junk Sony 4K player with that AVR, I can do DSEE HX and Dolby Surround at the same time.

 

[freemansteve]

"Didn't want to ruin Spotify's coop" ?

Are they keeping chickens now ?

 

[Mehdiem]

Incidentally Spotify's playlist management is what I like the least about it, it's atrocious even after all these years. Legendary levels of incompetence.

What I don’t like about tidal is this:

I have more than 100 playlists. Every time I want to add a song to a playlist, Tidal pops up a huge list of my playlists, sorted based on Recent, and it’s hard for me to find my playlist this way. It would not allow me to sort my playsit based on A-Z (when adding a song to playlist). (This issue with sorting is for only when I want to add song to a playlist, however, Tidal would allow to sort based on A-Z on playlist page)

 

[Mehdiem]

Test a few different streaming providers. Everyone has a free trial period.
Try to do it systematically then you weigh in factors that can be important (for you): functionality, user-friendliness, flexibility, integration with other software and so on and so forth. Give everyone you test an honest chance and really test them. Spend some time on it. The last test week, you do not care about the systematics, or any objective evaluation, but the one you use the most, you choose. Then you let the subconscious control. This is the service you are most satisfied with. Then you have made both an objective and subjective assessment (and let them both influence your choice).

If you can not distinguish and also, for some reason, find that two different complement each other then have two different streaming providers for a year (if you think it is worth the money).

By the way, I have not tested Tidal yet. I have Spotify but have tested Amazon Music and Qobuz.

Can you add a selection: Have not tested
That would be good, I think.

You brought up a good point about the subconscious. This seems to be somehow overlooked by the majority. I have the following experience: I A/B blind tested two different streamers (With a handful of songs). After properly doing this, I determine that I could not tell the difference. Having used A for a few years, I knew how it would sound. So, I started using B for a few weeks in my normal life. After a few weeks, I noticed the sound of B is more transparent, and overall comparing my memory with my past memory I realized I feel the difference. When I again switch to A, I noticed I could now spot the difference. I want to emphasize that I was not biased by the brand of either. What I think is that sometimes the difference is so subtle that you might not hear it immediately, however, the accumulated amount of this difference might show itself throughout the time and one day you wake up and feel it.

 

[NiagaraPete]

List of streaming media services - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

But wait, that list on Wikipedia. Regarding Apple Music , is not all music nowadays lossless? Didn't Apple make it available (without raising the price) last year?

It is possible (I think so) to play Apple music via Android but I do not think you get lossless in that case? In any case, if you like apples, then of course the choice, or absolutely to try, Apple music is obvious.
If you are not an apple person then well then I see no reason to try Apple Music.

Anyway, a list of different suppliers

View attachment 198605

This is out of date. Apple Music does have a free trial.

 

[DanielT]

You brought up a good point about the subconscious. This seems to be somehow overlooked by the majority. I have the following experience: I A/B blind tested two different streamers (With a handful of songs). After properly doing this, I determine that I could not tell the difference. Having used A for a few years, I knew how it would sound. So, I started using B for a few weeks in my normal life. After a few weeks, I noticed the sound of B is more transparent, and overall comparing my memory with my past memory I realized I feel the difference. When I again switch to A, I noticed I could now spot the difference. I want to emphasize that I was not biased by the brand of either. What I think is that sometimes the difference is so subtle that you might not hear it immediately, however, the accumulated amount of this difference might show itself throughout the time and one day you wake up and feel it.

You see it gets a little messy. Back and forth. What conclusions can be drawn from what you wrote? .Hm.You said the memory. But if we are talking about small, possibly audible differences, it is, at least for me, basically impossible to really remember what it sounded like if I not switch really fast between A and B. Which I incidentally tested with the same master, however with different CD players and but the same recording on the CDs. I could not hear any difference.

Page 4-5 you can skip in that thread if you do not want to read about how not to connect a DAC plus the mystery of socks:

What is this? No golden ears!

Got an idea last week. Connected a Blu-ray, Sony BDP-S570, and a CD- player Marantz CD5001 to the pre amp. It has line selectors. Went to the local flea market and managed to find duplicates, CDs. Exactly the same CDs, the same recording on the discs. Same master. Enter with the discs in the...

audiosciencereview.com

To get used to sound. I think it was nestor Floyd Toole who said that it is not the new speakers that are burned in and after that get a better sound. Its is the ears. You get used to the sound of te speakers.

 

[DanielT]

This is out of date. Apple Music does have a free trial.

Yup, I also notice that, but it's a list in any case that you can get tips and ideas from. Then you have to examine for each streaming provider what applies in these days.

Anyone who feels like it can probably change the text. It's Wikipedia anyway. Last modified in it, see attached picture.

 

[mSpot]

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/s9zntz

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The post on Reddit is tagged with Humor and Fake. Read the comments there for more.

 

[Drengur]

I figured as much, hence pointing out that there was no such article to be found.

 

[tvih]

What I don’t like about tidal is this:

I have more than 100 playlists. Every time I want to add a song to a playlist, Tidal pops up a huge list of my playlists, sorted based on Recent, and it’s hard for me to find my playlist this way. It would not allow me to sort my playsit based on A-Z (when adding a song to playlist). (This issue with sorting is for only when I want to add song to a playlist, however, Tidal would allow to sort based on A-Z on playlist page)

It's pretty much the same with Spotify. Can't even automatically arrange the list of playlists to be in alphabetical order, you have to drag and drop one damned playlist at a time. Ridiculous. Mobile has this option, but it doesn't affect the actual playlist "storage", just how that particular device shows them. Also can't even multi-choose albums to add to a playlist most of the time.

Such basic functionalities but somehow beyond the capability of even some of the biggest streaming companies out there apparently.

 

[Mehdiem]

It's pretty much the same with Spotify. Can't even automatically arrange the list of playlists to be in alphabetical order, you have to drag and drop one damned playlist at a time. Ridiculous. Mobile has this option, but it doesn't affect the actual playlist "storage", just how that particular device shows them. Also can't even multi-choose albums to add to a playlist most of the time.

Such basic functionalities but somehow beyond the capability of even some of the biggest streaming companies out there apparently.

Thanks! If Spotify has this problem it’s out of the question for me. I love Apple Music, I wish they had Apple Connect. And then life would be beautiful.

 

[pablolie]

I'm almost certain it takes a trained ear to hear the difference. I was once offered to be told how to hear the difference. And, also, warned that I would be able to spot it forever after. I turned down the offer (I believe Amir made the offer in this thread.)

It takes very specific tracks and a very good recording. It is utter nonsense to claim you can tell with any track when you are trained to spot the difference. Most music is indifferently recorded and doesn't have the characteristics required to spot a difference between a compressed track and an uncompressed track. It's also not fun to listen to tracks to spot the difference - both sound very good. Hint: it's stuff like castanets that are the biggest giveaway. Also note that in many blind tests people *prefer* the compressed track. Psychoacoustic models work quite well. Also note many claim MQA actually *is* compressed (I could not care less :-D).

 

[pablolie]

Thanks! If Spotify has this problem it’s out of the question for me. I love Apple Music, I wish they had Apple Connect. And then life would be beautiful.

I can work around the limitations in playlist management by online services by creating playlists in Logitech Media Server.

That said, it is annoying - I would guess many online streaming services are governed by some revenue optimization stuff in the back when they insert unasked tracks into your playing queue or make it artificially hard to curate playlists with full control. They prefer to default to an online radio station model, and many customers that are just consumers probably love that - but as music lovers we like full control over playlists. Two completely different models.