@trl,
@RayDunzl
Could you please help me in my case?
My set up includes 3 Genelec 8340 LCRs, 2 Genelec 8330 for surrounds and 2 SVS subs sb-12nsd. I use mainly Apple 4K TV fed into 7 year old AVR Yamaha RX-V775. From 775, I use pre-outs to connect to SVS subs and Genelecs. For movies, I use Netflix, Disney+, YouTube for video streaming. For music, it is mainly 2.2 channel via Apple Music for mainly Indian and non-Indian music.
I heard from many that the AVR dac's are not good for stereo. Hence I am planning to use a dedicated network streamer with digital outs like Yamaha WXC-50 or blue sound node 2i to be fed into Genelecs via SPDIF and AES/ebu. I will use minidsp for sub correction. currently I tend to go for WXC-50 as they are cheaper but blue sound can be an option as well if there are good reasons.
Coming to the main question.
Spotify & Apple has largest collection of Indian music compared to Tidal or Qobuz. So in my case, the best will be to go for a combination of both Spotify or Apple Music (Indian) and Tidal or Qobuz (non-Indian). The service will then have to work with new Yamaha WXC-50 I assume the WXC-50 with digital out for Spotify and Tidal or Qobuz will sound much better than the current Apple Music via Apple 4K TV to AVR Yamaha 775 via analogue output. I do not have any CD or FLAC collection though. On the other hand music cast does not work with MQA for Tidal.
Question is which streaming service Apple Music Vs Spotify Vs Tidal Vs Qobuz at the end will be optimal for my case. From looking at this thread, all of them are quite decent and one cannot differentiate much from each other. Is my understanding correct?