[Stillhart]

  The streaming was a problem.  It was often choppy and broken.  I doubt the quality on some plays was where that it should have been.
 
I also thought that the recording on some of the first tracks were poor.  Although part of it could be that I usually do not listen to music with that type of instrumentation.

 
I was having trouble with the first track until I noticed the clipping on the lead singer's voice... dead giveaway.  Same on the last track, tho it's more subtle than the first.
 
Anyways, back on topic.  I'll cancel my trial on Tuesday next week and let you guys know if they send me the "we want you back!" offer.

 

[Head Injury]

Just a note for everyone taking the Tidal test:
 
Over in Sound Science we discovered that Tidal had applied an EQ to the lossy versions of their files in the test, reducing treble and bass by 1-2 dB. See stv014's frequency response graph here. This is not typical of lossy compression, there should be little to no change in frequency response except for a sharp cutoff at the limits of human hearing near 20 kHz. This makes Tidal's test much easier to pass than a regular lossy/lossless comparison. Don't take the results too seriously, they're trying to sell you a product.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

  lol got 1/5 with my HE-560 + Lyr 2 + UD110v2. Guess I think that low rez sounds better than high rez. =S hahaah

Don't feel bad... there was a test posted here recently comparing 128 kb/sec MP3 to 320 kb/sec MP3.  I got 50%, which is just statistical random choice score. (Does this mean I am undeserving of my HD800s, HP1000s, PS1000s, HE500s, AKG3003s...?)

 

[bobby12]

Don't feel bad... there was a test posted here recently comparing 128 kb/sec MP3 to 320 kb/sec MP3.  I got 50%, which is just statistical random choice score. (Does this mean I am undeserving of my HD800s, HP1000s, PS1000s, HE500s, AKG3003s...?)

You must hand them over to me now.

 

[money4me247]

  Don't feel bad... there was a test posted here recently comparing 128 kb/sec MP3 to 320 kb/sec MP3.  I got 50%, which is just statistical random choice score. (Does this mean I am undeserving of my HD800s, HP1000s, PS1000s, HE500s, AKG3003s...?)

 
hahaah awww thanks. yeaa, i already knew I had a hard time with blind testing of 320kbps mp3 vs FLAC as I previously done a bunch of tests back in the day with my old gear & could never tell the difference. kinda thought that my nicer shiny new stuff will help be differentiate better, but I guess not =P
 
well, honestly, I think that I probably overstepped what I can personally appreciate (aka my gear is much more expensive than I need). But at least now I know that I can stop searching hahaha. I probably could have been happy with the k7xxx + budget amp/dac & called it a day... but noooo, I was reading all this fancy fun descriptions here on head-fi (& here on deals thread lol) that talk about the marvelous improvements of more expensive gear. Just couldn't resist myself I guess. hahah!

 

[mahelun]

 
Don't feel bad... there was a test posted here recently comparing 128 kb/sec MP3 to 320 kb/sec MP3.  I got 50%, which is just statistical random choice score. (Does this mean I am undeserving of my HD800s, HP1000s, PS1000s, HE500s, AKG3003s...?)

 

   
hahaah awww thanks. yeaa, i already knew I had a hard time with blind testing of 320kbps mp3 vs FLAC as I previously done a bunch of tests back in the day with my old gear & could never tell the difference. kinda thought that my nicer shiny new stuff will help be differentiate better, but I guess not =P
 
well, honestly, I think that I probably overstepped what I can personally appreciate (aka my gear is much more expensive than I need). But at least now I know that I can stop searching hahaha. I probably could have been happy with the k7xxx + budget amp/dac & called it a day... but noooo, I was reading all this fancy fun descriptions here on head-fi (& here on deals thread lol) that talk about the marvelous improvements of more expensive gear. Just couldn't resist myself I guess. hahah!

Thats BS. Even if with ape and 24bit flac and 24bit wav, there is so much difference. might not be able to blindly tell between flac and wav but ape is so different. The bass and soundstage is much less with ape, try to download same song in ape and flac, you should be easily tell difference. NOT TO MENTION 320 and FLAC. BTW im using HD700 and AUDIO-GD 15.

 

[money4me247]

  Thats BS. Even if with ape and 24bit flac and 24bit wav, there is so much difference. might not be able to blindly tell between flac and wav but ape is so different. The bass and soundstage is much less with ape, try to download same song in ape and flac, you should be easily tell difference. NOT TO MENTION 320 and FLAC. BTW im using HD700 and AUDIO-GD 15.

lol this is about to get super off-topic & perhaps into heated debate, but the definition of lossless is a data compression algorithm that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data, which means that there is no difference in the data. the different types of file formats are just different ways to package the data (kinda like winzipping a file). the entirety of the file is still present.
 
I can get onboard with differences in sound quality between bitrates, but to say there are sonic differences due to the type of lossless file would be... incorrect. If you are really hearing differences between lossless formats during blind ABx testing, it is not because of the formats.

 

[mahelun]

  lol this is about to get super off-topic & perhaps into heated debate, but the definition of lossless is a data compression algorithm that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data, which means that there is no difference in the data. the different types of file formats are just different ways to package the data (kinda like winzipping a file). the entirety of the file is still present.
 
I can get onboard with differences in sound quality between bitrates, but to say there are sonic differences due to the type of lossless file would be... incorrect. If you are really hearing differences between lossless formats during blind ABx testing, it is not because of the formats.

Then one possibility is just the file was not orignal ape direct compressed from cd or original recording but still 320 is like sky and floor from flac

 

[quincyjo]

ahh i found the deals thread. maybe this will actually be useful to someone?
 

Koss UR55 Studio Headphones - $15.29 with bag sale at Menard's (pick up at store)

Pickup at store only. On clearance for $17.99 as long as there is stock, minus 15% discount with bag sale through this Sunday 1/4/15.

Menard's stock check

I work at Menard's but there's nothing in this for me, I just thought it was a good deal. With my employee discount they were 13.76. I might be willing to ship a few of them if I'm allowed and anyone is interested.....

 

[Magick Man]

http://test.tidalhifi.com/

WTH is that, 320k MP3 vs FLAC? The variations are tiny. Could get 5/5 with HD800+Antelope Gold, 4/5 with HE-560+ECBA, and only 2/5 with desktop speakers (Maggie Minis).

 

[lawrecedent]

WTH is that, 320k MP3 vs FLAC? The variations are tiny. Could get 5/5 with HD800+Antelope Gold, 4/5 with HE-560+ECBA, and only 2/5 with desktop speakers (Maggie Minis).

I tried it and thought it was easy until I got my score (3/5). Seems like an odd way to promote a company that are attempting to market the difference between SD and HD music. You'd have thought they'd have used crappy 128kbps MP3's or something. Either that or the wine was affecting my ears

 

[Stereodude]

WTH is that, 320k MP3 vs FLAC? The variations are tiny. Could get 5/5 with HD800+Antelope Gold, 4/5 with HE-560+ECBA, and only 2/5 with desktop speakers (Maggie Minis).

 
See post 11271.  They're deceptively cheating by applying EQ to the lossy version.

 

[themad]

   
See post 11271.  They're deceptively cheating by applying EQ to the lossy version.

That's not how one should run a business...
 
I have used Tidal and thought it was pretty good. However, I do not notice any difference between a 320K MP3 created from a good lossless source and the lossless file itself. I can also make a FLAC file sound bad by EQing it..
 
Thinking about the deal itself and having used most streaming services (Spotify, Rdio, Deezer, Tidal), IMO, the price Tidal charges is not worth it. YMMV of course, as it depends on what albums/artists you are looking for...

 

[Ishcabible]

I haven't read too deeply into either side, but I remember seeing that accusation then seeing this: http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/2n1zj2/is_tidal_full_of_crap_manipulating_customers_to/ (the first comment)

 

[Magick Man]

I haven't read too deeply into this, but I remember seeing that accusation then seeing this: http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/2n1zj2/is_tidal_full_of_crap_manipulating_customers_to/ (the first comment)

According to the engineer in that thread who analyzed the samples, the accusations that they used EQ are baseless. Again I'll reiterate, the differences are tiny and anyone boasting otherwise is doing just that.