[Soundizer]

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).

mastered for itunes, from an article i'd read on it, is supposed to involve some pretty cool tech and skills.

the engineers or more advanced audiophiles on here will appreciate this article more than I can.

Does “Mastered for iTunes” matter to music? Ars puts it to the test

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/04/does-mastered-for-itunes-matter-to-music-ars-puts-it-to-the-test/
from 2012...

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.

 

[canali]

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.

to me spotify premium doesn't sound too bad at all...then again i don't have 'golden ears' like many.
too bad apple music didn't do 'mastered for itunes' for most of their stuff that is in demand or would need it
..am sure they'd get more subscribers

 

[canali]

i just got some audioengine a5+ monitors (pioneer sw 8km2 sub on the way)
and so resubscribed to spotify premium.
(seeking the emotiva airmotiv 4s to replace the a5s)
 
getting into classical music now....just lovely esp coming from speakers vs just cans.
(there is something fab about music coming from speakers  and not just can/iems)
 
i'm finding streaming is so helpful for getting to know new material, genres etc
...then i'll go and order a better sounding version
somewhere else...anyone else also do this?
seems steve silberman of audioquest does this, too.

 

[sonitus mirus]

  i just got some audioengine a5+ monitors (pioneer sw 8km2 sub on the way)
and so resubscribed to spotify premium.
(seeking the emotiva airmotiv 4s to replace the a5s)
 
getting into classical music now....just lovely esp coming from speakers vs just cans.
(there is something fab about music coming from speakers  and not just can/iems)
 
i'm finding streaming is so helpful for getting to know new material, genres etc
...then i'll go and order a better sounding version
somewhere else...anyone else also do this?
seems steve silberman of audioquest does this, too.

 
I listen to music over nearfield studio monitors most of the time.  I basically only listen to headphones in my office at work. (closed with good isolation)
 
I'm almost exclusively streaming music.  The places I frequent all have excellent access to the internet.  I use Google as I like the interface the best.  I have boxes filled with CDs, and some of these I have ripped and uploaded into Google as Lame vbr -0 mp3s.  Sounds perfectly fine to my ears and I have attempted to ABX several tracks.  I passed the Phillips Golden Ears challenge when it was still available with my Denon D5K headphones and my current speaker setup with the KRK R8 G3 pair, so I'm apparently not completely deaf.  I have a cheap laptop that is dedicated to streaming music at home, and I have been using a Radial Pro USB DAC since it has balanced outputs for my speakers.  It is perfect for me.  
 
I used to have a big record collection, and I made cassette tapes to save the wear on the vinyl and to play in my car. (first car was a Datson 510...I'm getting up there in age)  Then I bought an early Onkyo CD player and repurchased my library again once they were available on CD.  At one time I had most of my CDs ripped to FLAC and saved on a NAS.  Eventually I neglected that setup to the convenience of streaming.  Still have the hard drives, but I no longer use the old NAS.  Just collecting dust in a closet now.

 

[Dat_Dude]

Subscribing to this thread.  I am about to begin my free trial of Tidal as a long time Spotify user (on Extreme setting). I LOVE the interface of Spotify and their selection is second to none, so I hope I will not be able to notice too much of a difference with my new high-end gear.  
 
Do any of you that notice the difference between the two use any of the EQ presets in Spotify? 

 

[netdog]

Here's a vote for Qobuz

 

[Morkai]

Qobuz.. Their selection of classical is nice.  But they can't stream between 4pm and 10pm most days, in France, to a sizeable portion of their user base (those who have the internet provider "orange", 40% of market share). It happened to others in switzerland. 


Between spotify vorbis -q9 (premium) and TIdal MQA through a meridian explorer², I don't hear any difference. The music is great in both cases. Spotify has by far a better UI, and i like their discover weekly and user playlists. 
 

 

[beaux]

I will vote tidal. They offer lossless music. And many streaming devices support tidal.

 

[theveterans]

 

 
Spotify ASIO over Tidal anyday IMO. It's as good as hi-res audio to my ears. Spotify mobile app however is a tie with Tidal mobile IMO.

 

[Thenazgul]

   
Spotify ASIO over Tidal anyday IMO. It's as good as hi-res audio to my ears. Spotify mobile app however is a tie with Tidal mobile IMO.

Tidal has WASAPI. Also Bit-perfect lock on DAC. I prefer Tidal. Mobile-app of Spotify is better compared to Tidal. 

 

[Morkai]

Lossless/flac is supposed to be for archiving purpose. In this light it don't make a lot of sense to include it in a streaming service, if you don't plan to rip the stream (which is illegal).

To test for yourself that, for listening purpose spotify HQ is as good as lossless, you can take this abx test :  http://abx.digitalfeed.net/spotify-hq.html

 

[watchnerd]

  Lossless/flac is supposed to be for archiving purpose. In this light it don't make a lot of sense to include it in a streaming service, if you don't plan to rip the stream (which is illegal).

To test for yourself that, for listening purpose spotify HQ is as good as lossless, you can take this abx test :  http://abx.digitalfeed.net/spotify-hq.html

 
I subscribe to lossless Tidal because it alleviates the audiophilia nervosa I feel when listening to lossy.
 
And, no, I can't pass an ABX test of well done 320 vs Redbook.

 

[canali]

I returned from Spotify premium to Tidal because I thought "if I really want to support campanies trying to offer quality music Hi-Rez lossless etc. that I better Pony up and put my money where my mouth is...and now that Tidal has MQA, well it's even more of a differentiator and reason to back them up"
And paying $10 more is no biggie...just think of all the money we can piss away with no second thoughts...eg.a few coffees or some junkfood, a couple of beers a month etc

 

[WhiteKnite]

Exactly, the bigger Tidal gets the more likely artists and producers are to pay more attention to making well mastered music. And I also subscribe to Tidal to ease my mind as mentioned in the previous post, despite knowing I can't hear any discernable difference between a good 320kbps mp3 and FLAC

 

[netdog]

The strength of Qobuz is H-Res downloads which are heavily discounted if you also join the 24-bit streaming service.