It is possible they haven't transferred eveey track to 320kbps but from my tests and what I listen to, I can't tell a damn difference.
If both are using the same master, you will not be able to tell the difference between a 320 and a FLAC.
Lacking soundstage etc is because you have found one with a different file.
Not the fact one is OGG and one is FLAC
I'm just genuinely curious and would love to see some real evidence of a difference.
Like measured differences. That someone says that they can tell a "massive difference in clarity and soundstage" is not enough for me.
"I can hear the difference loud and clear". Elaborate please. Are you saying that you hear the difference if you volume match and listen to songs with the same master? That you hear a difference between every song?
I also have both. I'd love to switch to Tidal as my main service but I can't handle the GUI..
I hear it on the vocals and the sound-stage (more dynamic) even. Volume match is always there. I control my volume output with the amplifier. Volume within programs / Windows is always 100%. Although it is not on all artists/albums i could hear it. But that has to do with the recording not with the bandwidth
Volume- in general is a thing though. A lot of artists nowadays are linked to crap studio's. Those studio's care only about volume (loud as possible on the radio). Making it clip, dynamics (instruments) are destroyed and it starts sounding flat/dull. It is a serious issue that starts to bother me more and more. We buy high-end equipment and the source-audio is getting worse and worse.
I hear it on the vocals and the sound-stage (more dynamic) even. Volume match is always there. I control my volume output with the amplifier. Volume within programs / Windows is always 100%.
Volume- in general is a thing though. A lot of artists nowadays are linked to crap studio's. Those studio's care only about volume (loud as possible on the radio). Making it clip, dynamics (instruments) are destroyed and it starts sounding flat/dull. It is a serious issue that starts to bother me more and more. We buy high-end equipment and the source-audio is getting worse and worse.
Well, Tidal streams louder by default. If I have both Spotify and Tidal on 100% I can tell the difference every time.
Totally agree with you on the last part though. Masters are definitely getting worse.
I have a small playlist with nice audio recordings (mostly Beatles) and I never feel like a newly released recording belongs on that playlist.
Well, Tidal streams louder by default. If I have both Spotify and Tidal on 100% I can tell the difference every time.
Totally agree with you on the last part though. Masters are definitely getting worse.
I have a small playlist with nice audio recordings (mostly Beatles) and I never feel like a newly released recording belongs on that playlist.
Yes, a few artists are doing a good job. Some artists are lucky for not using much instruments. It is especially hear-able on rock music.
Recently I was really disappointed by Poets of the Fall latest album. All the albums before did sound good, but this one is just horrible. clipping etc all over the place. example : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_8wYwvlmBE
Yes, a few artists are doing a good job. Some artists are lucky for not using much instruments. It is especially hear-able on rock music.
Recently I was really disappointed by Poets of the Fall latest album. All the albums before did sound good, but this one is just horrible. clipping etc all over the place. example : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_8wYwvlmBE
I'm just genuinely curious and would love to see some real evidence of a difference.
Like measured differences. That someone says that they can tell a "massive difference in clarity and soundstage" is not enough for me.
Be real easy if a different master was used, but as I proved to myself a few pages back, Spotify and Tidal sound exactly the same on max settings.
Impossible to tell the differences.
Someone ABX a FLAC against a 320kbps OGG and tell me they really hear a difference with the results please as I did
Be real easy if a different master was used, but as I proved to myself a few pages back, Spotify and Tidal sound exactly the same on max settings.
Impossible to tell the differences.
Someone ABX a FLAC against a 320kbps OGG and tell me they really hear a difference with the results please as I did
FLAC vs 320 OGG is not really the issue. Spotify is possibly either using lower quality masters, some kind of adaptive streaming behind the scenes, or is not actually 320. I don't have the time to go through every track and compare, but I really wanted Spotify quality to be acceptable. I don't believe in $1000 cable upgrades and opamp rolling or any of the other silly psychoaccoustic myths unless I see proof, but listening to Spotify for a few hours I am totally convinced it doesn't sound as good as Tidal, or even my 320 mp3 library streamed from my OneDrive. Maybe this really doesn't belong in the sound science forum since it is still speculative, and I will admit it is possible expectation bias is fooling me to some degree, but I can usually get past that to a large extent. Another possibility is that the random songs Spotify promotes are just highly compressed and Tidal pushes well mastered recordings more often. I find WAY more music that I like on Spotify but I find WAY more recordings that I like on Tidal.
FLAC vs 320 OGG is not really the issue. Spotify is possibly either using lower quality masters, some kind of adaptive streaming behind the scenes, or is not actually 320. I don't have the time to go through every track and compare, but I really wanted Spotify quality to be acceptable. I don't believe in $1000 cable upgrades and opamp rolling or any of the other silly psychoaccoustic myths unless I see proof, but listening to Spotify for a few hours I am totally convinced it doesn't sound as good as Tidal, or even my 320 mp3 library streamed from my OneDrive. Maybe this really doesn't belong in the sound science forum since it is still speculative, and I will admit it is possible expectation bias is fooling me to some degree, but I can usually get past that to a large extent. Another possibility is that the random songs Spotify promotes are just highly compressed and Tidal pushes well mastered recordings more often. I find WAY more music that I like on Spotify but I find WAY more recordings that I like on Tidal.
"I find WAY more music that I like on Spotify but I find WAY more recordings that I like on Tidal. ", I have to chime in on this. I probably won't keep paying for Tidal since I can barely use it. But your statement is exactly the way I've felt during the six months I've been using it.
I was prepared to pay the Tidal Premium, but many Apple Music tracks sound even better than my Lossless ripped CD's. Dire Straits Album is where i did a 2hour AB test between my ripped CD and (Apple Music which is a Mastered for iTunes). Apple Music sounded best, (not louder, but better quality).
That's actually really interesting. I've ripped a few CD's but feel like the ripped CD quality was still better. What app were you using to rip the files from your CD's?
I was prepared to pay the Tidal Premium, but many Apple Music tracks sound even better than my Lossless ripped CD's. Dire Straits Album is where i did a 2hour AB test between my ripped CD and (Apple Music which is a Mastered for iTunes). Apple Music sounded best, (not louder, but better quality).
I was prepared to pay the Tidal Premium, but many Apple Music tracks sound even better than my Lossless ripped CD's. Dire Straits Album is where i did a 2hour AB test between my ripped CD and (Apple Music which is a Mastered for iTunes). Apple Music sounded best, (not louder, but better quality).
Many thanks and a very interesting article. I had Spotify Premium for 3 years and then when i upgraded my headphones plus added headphone dac/amp i could hear how bad Spotify Premium sounded compared to my ripped CD's. i trialled Apple Music which sounds amazing and better than many of my lossless ripped CD's.
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