[rlw6534]

Wonder how Tidal and Qobuz are going to respond to Apple Music lossless/atmos and Amazon Ultra HD price changes announced today?

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/05/apple-music-announces-spatial-audio-and-lossless-audio/

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/17/amazon-music-lossless-for-free/

 

[vanhalen26]

Wonder how Tidal and Qobuz are going to respond to Apple Music lossless/atmos and Amazon Ultra HD price changes announced today?

Well, I had Tidal and recently added Qobuz. I’ll drop Tidal when my sub runs out. I also have an Apple plan for my family … if the Apple app works well on my dx300 I’d probably drop Qobuz when that year runs out. Others are probably in that boat to. Presently it doesn’t work well, lots of buffering for tracks that I don’t get with Qobuz or Tidal.

 

[snapandslide]

Well, I had Tidal and recently added Qobuz. I’ll drop Tidal when my sub runs out. I also have an Apple plan for my family … if the Apple app works well on my dx300 I’d probably drop Qobuz when that year runs out. Others are probably in that boat to. Presently it doesn’t work well, lots of buffering for tracks that I don’t get with Qobuz or Tidal.

Same philosophy from me - i think Apple and Spotify are still 8-12 months out for a hi res/cd quality service to be up and running and reliable. Also I like to support the smaller operators where possible, and so would rather stay with Qobuz or Tidal and give them a chance to improve.

 

[rlw6534]

Well, I had Tidal and recently added Qobuz. I’ll drop Tidal when my sub runs out. I also have an Apple plan for my family … if the Apple app works well on my dx300 I’d probably drop Qobuz when that year runs out. Others are probably in that boat to. Presently it doesn’t work well, lots of buffering for tracks that I don’t get with Qobuz or Tidal.

I guess the next big question will be if the Apple Music app will play high resolution/lossless on Android hardware. An external DAC will be needed on Apple hardware for anything above 24/48.

 

[RagnarL]

Deezer also has hi fi cd quality.

 

[thatoneheadphonedood]

Heres my question. I currently have a tidal subscription and using the MQA as tidal uses. I couldnt find a good answer to my question while scrolling through this but Is MQA files good or not. I have a small audio set up so far (im new to being an audiophile). A fiio m5, grado sr60e, modded akg k52's a klipsch speaker set and other random earphones. I also have a spotify subscription too.

 

[iFi audio]

but Is MQA files good or not.

As in, whether MQA is considered as good sounding in general?

 

[thatoneheadphonedood]

As in, whether MQA is considered as good sounding in general?

Yeah! I havent found a good answer yet. Like is it good as a flac or something like that.

 

[iFi audio]

Yeah! I havent found a good answer yet. Like is it good as a flac or something like that.

In that sense it's considered as good I believe. Most people who listen to MQA seem to enjoy it.

 

[thatoneheadphonedood]

In that sense it's considered as good I believe. Most people who listen to MQA seem to enjoy it.

Okie thanks! I was a bit confused whether it was good or not but and i guess i will stay in tidal!

 

[hifi80sman]

Okie thanks! I was a bit confused whether it was good or not but and i guess i will stay in tidal!

I just ran into this on YouTube. I found it very interesting.

I current have Spotify and added Apple Music back on a promo ($10 for 3 months). While their upcoming lossless tier is attractive, I'm more curious regarding Spatial Audio with music.

 

[xand]

Okie thanks! I was a bit confused whether it was good or not but and i guess i will stay in tidal!

Eh I would only stay with it if you find it is better.

I don't suggest doing direct A/B on a track by track basis as I find it super boring. Just move a playlist from Spotify to Tidal (e.g. Using soundizz) and listen to it on Tidal for abit, then switch back to Spotify for abit, and see if generally there's any difference either way to you. I'd stick with the cheaper service if not.

I just ran into this on YouTube. I found it very interesting.

Meh. My own thoughts are: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tidal-masters-mqa-thread.838888/post-16315971

MQA responded perhaps(?): https://pastebin.com/2YfT6vfZ

 

[Currawong]

Heres my question. I currently have a tidal subscription and using the MQA as tidal uses. I couldnt find a good answer to my question while scrolling through this but Is MQA files good or not. I have a small audio set up so far (im new to being an audiophile). A fiio m5, grado sr60e, modded akg k52's a klipsch speaker set and other random earphones. I also have a spotify subscription too.

It seems to vary a lot. Old music seems just to have had bass added, and loses detail. New stuff sounds a bit "3D". Classical that I've tried has been ruined. Apparently the stuff that got "white glove" treatment can be good.

 

[Taz777]

Heres my question. I currently have a tidal subscription and using the MQA as tidal uses. I couldnt find a good answer to my question while scrolling through this but Is MQA files good or not. I have a small audio set up so far (im new to being an audiophile). A fiio m5, grado sr60e, modded akg k52's a klipsch speaker set and other random earphones. I also have a spotify subscription too.

There are quite a few music streaming services out there and most offer free trials. You could try some of them out for free and then decide on which one you enjoy the most.

It’s fairly low risk and services like TIDAL generally only require one month’s notice to cancel your subscription if you’re not happy with the service. My advice would be to listen to the music using your own system and your own ears! That's really the only way to see which streaming service provides the most enjoyable listening experience for you.

Specifically for TIDAL and 'Masters' tracks, you would need MQA-compatible hardware to get the full sonic benefits.

 

[Taz777]

Yeah! I havent found a good answer yet. Like is it good as a flac or something like that.

Be careful of comparing something with FLAC. FLAC on its own is a just a DRM-free, open-source way to store audio files. It is 'lossless' in the sense that the contents of the FLAC file are stored in such a way that they can be reconstructed in a lossless way. It does not necessarily mean that you are listening to real lossless music if the original encoding to FLAC was from a lossy format.

For example, I've just used dBpoweramp to convert a low-bitrate (160kbs) MP3 audio file into a FLAC file. The MP3 file was 7.9MB in size. The FLAC version is 43MB in size. Just looking at the files on my filesystem, most would jump to the conclusion that the FLAC must be better! However, you would have no idea where the FLAC came from and whether or not someone just converted a very poor quality MP3 file into a FLAC, as I did.

Thus, it's important to understand the provenance of your music source / streaming service / digital download site.