[glpsace]

Thanks. NDH30 does scale higher than Clear and Aeon with better electronics and using wave file (IMO Apple Lossless doe have rolled off highs compared with Qobuz, although I could only listen to Apple Lossless via USB which is one of my least favorite digital transport methods). Clear hits peak performance on lesser amp because of its fully open design. Aeon is just a lost cause at this point.

So you are saying that Qobuz is superior to the Apple Music. My 6 months free Apple Music offer is coming to an end and maybe I will try Qobuz free 1 month trial before committing to any service. Sure, apple would be ideal for my Mac/Iphone ecosystem and also cheaper but if there are obvious, to the ear, differences in SQ, I would possibly go with the better service.

 

[spruce]

One thing that’s interesting and completely understandable is people wanting to know how the NDH30 compares to similarly priced headphones for one reason or another. I have about 20+ pair of headphones. A lot of them do amazing things, and sometimes not so great things. After being in this hobby for some time one thing I really appreciate is just a pair of headphones that sound right and well rounded without worrying about anything in particular rubbing you the wrong way. Perhaps I’ll update my post with all my equipment, etc. as I do use this forum as a resource for my own purchases and would like to help people.

I also own the HD 600, 650, 660S, 560s, 8XX along with Focal, Audeze, Grado, Hifiman, Shure, Dan Clark, etc.

 

[chesebert]

So you are saying that Qobuz is superior to the Apple Music. My 6 months free Apple Music offer is coming to an end and maybe I will try Qobuz free 1 month trial before committing to any service. Sure, apple would be ideal for my Mac/Iphone ecosystem and also cheaper but if there are obvious, to the ear, differences in SQ, I would possibly go with the better service.

It’s different; whether it’s better would be system dependent. I have a good network streamer that does not work with Apple Lossless so I only use Apple Lossless for casual stuff via USB. I use Qobuz and local DLNA server when I want some dedicated listening pleasure.

 

[glpsace]

It’s different; whether it’s better would be system dependent. I have a good network streamer that does not work with Apple Lossless so I only use Apple Lossless for casual stuff via USB. I use Qobuz and local DLNA server when I want some dedicated listening pleasure.

Anyway, you post got me curious and I subscribed 1 free month trial with Qobuz. As a first impression, obviously that from a ecosystem perspective Apple is better but that is also not a fair comparison in my case.

From a sound perspective just a few rapid quick comparisons. The sound is different, for sure. Still very early to tell but Qobuz seems cleaner, clearer. Apple seems more bassy? more colored? Overall there is a difference for sure, even to my untrained ears but can't still grasp what it is. I admit that right off the bat, I seem to prefer the Qobuz sound.

Nevertheless, there is immediately a big, big library difference that would render irrelevant any of the above in a choice perspective. For my predilection music genre (Instrumental Progressive Metal) Qobuz is light years behind Apple Music. In a quick search for my favorite bands, with many not being very popular under the genre, I was mesmerized by the superior offer of Apple Music.

 

[maegnificant]

So you are saying that Qobuz is superior to the Apple Music. My 6 months free Apple Music offer is coming to an end and maybe I will try Qobuz free 1 month trial before committing to any service. Sure, apple would be ideal for my Mac/Iphone ecosystem and also cheaper but if there are obvious, to the ear, differences in SQ, I would possibly go with the better service.

I think qobuz sublime is one of the best deals that music streaming has to offer for hi-fi fans, that also buy hi-res albums, as the savings are immense. Also they are pretty much the only streaming service that do not alter the sound at all during streaming.

 

[chesebert]

Anyway, you post got me curious and I subscribed 1 free month trial with Qobuz. As a first impression, obviously that from a ecosystem perspective Apple is better but that is also not a fair comparison in my case.

From a sound perspective just a few rapid quick comparisons. The sound is different, for sure. Still very early to tell but Qobuz seems cleaner, clearer. Apple seems more bassy? more colored? Overall there is a difference for sure, even to my untrained ears but can't still grasp what it is. I admit that right off the bat, I seem to prefer the Qobuz sound.

Nevertheless, there is immediately a big, big library difference that would render irrelevant any of the above in a choice perspective. For my predilection music genre (Instrumental Progressive Metal) Qobuz is light years behind Apple Music. In a quick search for my favorite bands, with many not being very popular under the genre, I was mesmerized by the superior offer of Apple Music.

Right on. I use Apple Music and Apple Classical to browse and listen to and discover new things and Qobuz and actual download/CD for dedicated listening.

 

[headstef]

I think qobuz sublime is one of the best deals that music streaming has to offer for hi-fi fans, that also buy hi-res albums, as the savings are immense. Also they are pretty much the only streaming service that do not alter the sound at all during streaming.

It's a pity that Qobuz is not yet directly available in Greece, I'd really like to try it. However, almost all my CDs sound absolutely identical with their Tidal version (talking about same versions/masterings). That is with a high quality streamer with digital output only (Primare NP5 prisma). Each time I can't avoid thinking how accurate is Tidal's claim of lossless CD quality at "hi-fi" package level (I have not any MQA decoding gear).

 

[maegnificant]

It's a pity that Qobuz is not yet directly available in Greece, I'd really like to try it. However, almost all my CDs sound absolutely identical with their Tidal version (talking about same versions/masterings). That is with a high quality streamer with digital output only (Primare NP5 prisma). Each time I can't avoid thinking how accurate is Tidal's claim of lossless CD quality at "hi-fi" package level (I have not any MQA decoding gear).

Hi-Fi is the best Tidal has to offer. MQA is a scam format, that is actually lossy and alters the sound through filters. This has been proven, despite the hard time MQA gave independent researchers with their closed off code. One of the few snake oil trickerys that actually got called out in the audio industry. It's sad to see that people (and companies) still buy into this.





I actually had some issues with tidal, deezer and other "lossless" streaming services, because they all use some kind of volume or dynamic compression to keep all the tracks at approximately the same volume. On my best gear it causes artefacts to blow up in dynamically silent parts of the music, which sounds like a distracting crackle.

 

[maegnificant]

Right on. I use Apple Music and Apple Classical to browse and listen to and discover new things and Qobuz and actual download/CD for dedicated listening.

Bandcamp is also excellent for buying music.

 

[plyr]

Hi-Fi is the best Tidal has to offer. MQA is a scam format, that is actually lossy and alters the sound through filters. This has been proven, despite the hard time MQA gave independent researchers with their closed off code. One of the few snake oil trickerys that actually got called out in the audio industry. It's sad to see that people (and companies) still buy into this.





I actually had some issues with tidal, deezer and other "lossless" streaming services, because they all use some kind of volume or dynamic compression to keep all the tracks at approximately the same volume. On my best gear it causes artefacts to blow up in dynamically silent parts of the music, which sounds like a distracting crackle.

There's an option called Normalize Sound on Spotify and Tidal that its enabled by default.

 

[PixelSquish]

There's an option called Normalize Sound on Spotify and Tidal that its enabled by default.

I'm pretty sure that's just to normalize the volume across tracks

 

[Not so fat head]

No new cable needed, you can get all this below, just by raising the volume a few DB. Just saying...

"transparency, dynamics, top-end extension, resolution and improved realism"

 

[chesebert]

No new cable needed, you can get all this below, just by raising the volume a few DB. Just saying...

"transparency, dynamics, top-end extension, resolution and improved realism"

 

[plyr]

I'm pretty sure that's just to normalize the volume across tracks

Sure, but might give the impression of compression, I have to raise the volume from midnight to almost 3 o'clock on the dial when I enable this.

 

[Not so fat head]

If you're hearing massive differences between cables then, one of the cables is built poorly, you are not matching volume (db) levels or you're letting biases in the mix (A cost 2x what B cost, so A > B). We have a guy on hear that thinks this headphones is the best on this planet, with the STOCK cable...
Can't see a cable upgrade improving that.. just watched the first episode of the Outer Limits, maybe you'll contact alien life with the new cable..