Tidal vs Spotify

[MacedonianHero]

 

"...how good my audio gear was in terms of noise isolation and / or clarity..."

 
 
Can you fill us in in what that was?

 

[audiosplitz]

   
 
Can you fill us in in what that was?

 
I use a few. There's the Grado SR60i, Klipsch Reference X20i to name a couple.
For jogging, I'm using the Jaybird X2.

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
I use a few. There's the Grado SR60i, Klipsch Reference X20i to name a couple.
For jogging, I'm using the Jaybird X2.

Then I'm not surprised with your comments. The differences do propagate out quite a bit with my HD800S, SR009 and Utopias. But looks like you've hit your sweet spot and saved some $. 

 

[audiosplitz]

  Then I'm not surprised with your comments. The differences do propagate out quite a bit with my HD800S, SR009 and Utopias. But looks like you've hit your sweet spot and saved some $. 

 
Absolutely! The SR60i is great value
 
Just wondering, are these the headphones (eg HD800S) you would bring when traveling on bus / trains? My context is that I'm on the move so portability is a big factor for me. How's the sound quality for Spotify / Tidal Hi Fi like in these conditions?

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
Absolutely! The SR60i is great value
 
Just wondering, are these the headphones (eg HD800S) you would bring when traveling on bus / trains? My context is that I'm on the move so portability is a big factor for me. How's the sound quality for Spotify / Tidal Hi Fi like in these conditions?

 
I wouldn't stream music while travelling. But I do have some gear that is portable that would make a difference...have a look at my profile. I mostly use my AK240SS when on the go.

 

[427159]

For anyone interested in Spotify for A&K please check out my post here:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/823959/spotify-app-for-astell-kern-devices

 

[SRKRAM]

I didn't think there would be any difference (to me) between Spotify and Tidal HiFi, but I finally signed up for a 30 day Tidal trial to see for myself. Tidal is very very slightly more detailed, but it isn't worth double the price to me. I'm listening on a mojo and T90s. I'll keep listening and comparing during the free trial. If there's any music where I really want the tiny extra bit of quality I probably spend the money on a CD and rip it.

 

[MacedonianHero]

  I didn't think there would be any difference (to me) between Spotify and Tidal HiFi, but I finally signed up for a 30 day Tidal trial to see for myself. Tidal is very very slightly more detailed, but it isn't worth double the price to me. I'm listening on a mojo and T90s. I'll keep listening and comparing during the free trial. If there's any music where I really want the tiny extra bit of quality I probably spend the money on a CD and rip it.

It really depends on your setup. With the T90 and Mojo, Spotify is a great option!

 

[DoctaCosmos]

When I had tidal I always felt there was an EQ integrated into the sound. Not a ton but I definitely felt it was there.

 

[MacedonianHero]

When I had tidal I always felt there was an EQ integrated into the sound. Not a ton but I definitely felt it was there.

 
It depends on what your setup is. For the Mojo/T90, Spotify is just fine IME. But with my SR-009 setup, Tidal is clearly the way to go for me.

 

[DoctaCosmos]

who knows, maybe I was hearing more of my dac with my setup.

 

[gregorio]

who knows, maybe I was hearing more of my dac with my setup.

 
No one knows for absolute certain but there is an overwhelming probability this is not the case. Even $2 DAC chips measure pretty much ruler flat these days, to within a fraction of a decibel. Differences between the the high bitrate lossy codecs and lossless are also inaudible, with almost no exceptions and even then, only with studio grade equipment/environments.
 
As so often seems to be the case in the audiophile world, many focus on tiny,  insignificant, marketing driven details. A fraction of a dB may not be completely insignificant under certain tightly controlled, exceptional circumstances, when all the other variables are precisely equal but it surely is when there are a number of other variables at play, each of which can be anything from double to about 100 times greater in magnitude! One can hear a pin drop 10m away, given the correct circumstances but it makes absolutely no rational sense to discuss the impact of that sound when standing 10m away from a busy highway. So many audiophiles do exactly this, discussing variations in pin drop sounds while apparently completely unaware that the busy highway even exists! I'm not saying this is definitely the case with you personally but it does appear that way.
 
G

 

[SRKRAM]

   
It depends on what your setup is. For the Mojo/T90, Spotify is just fine IME. But with my SR-009 setup, Tidal is clearly the way to go for me.

With a set up like that I would believe that the difference would be much clearer, and lossless would be a clear choice. I briefly listened to some classical music last night, and I believe that I could hear more of a difference. I just need to decide whether it's worth the money. I'll listen to Tidal a while longer and then switch back to Spotify and see how it sounds. 

 

[ExtremeGamerBR]

  With a set up like that I would believe that the difference would be much clearer, and lossless would be a clear choice. I briefly listened to some classical music last night, and I believe that I could hear more of a difference. I just need to decide whether it's worth the money. I'll listen to Tidal a while longer and then switch back to Spotify and see how it sounds. 

It is not that simple. You have to compare both volume matched, to avoid any bias, a blind test would be required.

 

[musical-kage]

Trains by Porcupine Tree.
One recorded in Spotify, at max quality, volume level matched and saved as wave, and the other Tidal lossless.

I think I can safely say the difference is apparant.
Spotify sounds duller, especially in the singers voice. I had no problems in figuring out which really.
But that was during A-B.
Did sound like some life had been removed though, with some bass notes less full, cymbal clatter less bright, and voice duller.
Be interesting to see if it is just how it was recorded by them, and doing the same with both streams at 320kbps would have the same result... Spotify is OGG whereas Tidal is ACC

Worth an extra tenner for lossless vs 320? Not sure.
Plus the fact you can't import other tracks for portable use like you can with Spotify.

I'll try another track tomorrow.
Not sure on legality of even doing this as a test mind, but can't think of any other way to check if I'm wasting money or not. Helps I own this track on CD I guess.

Equipment pretty sub par:
Realtek PC DAC (no dedi soundcard), to a Logitech Z-5500 amp via analog, and into V-Moda M-100s (highest quality item on test).

So with more expensive equipment/headphones?
Even easier to tell I'd imagine