Apple Music vs Tidal for SQ


I compared Tidal to Apple music for the first time using speakers, not headphones. Apple seems bright and a bit less smooth the tidal on my system. I never tried the apple codec before but so far not a fan, it seems to have treble that is a bit fatiguing. What is your experience?

kota1

I have Tidal and Qobuz.  I like them both for SQ.  Qobuz sounds a bit more natural and smoother and therefore better on my system.  Apple music and even mp3 files sound pretty good on my system, but you can clearly hear the difference between streamed Tidal and Qobuz songs and my CD collection ripped to FLAC on my Zenith MK2 streamer.

Tidal has more of the music I like (Old School R&B, Jazz, and Soft Rock) and the songs in their personalized playlists (mixes) are much better than the Qobuz playlists to me.  

Qobuz here…. Tidal wasn’t a real possibility for me due to the inability to decode MQA.

 

My experience is all the services make it harder than it needs to be figure out which recording you are listening too. Start with the same recording, ensure you are bit perfect, no volume control in the app or automatic controls, and Apple, Qoboz, Amazon HD will sound the same. Tried Tidal. Sometimes it sounded exactly the same. Sometimes it did not. I assume that was whatever processing they are doing.

@oldschool1948 

 

So you are saying the ripped versions sound better? What difference do you hear? Just curious. 

Tidal is good without paying for MQA and I couldn’t really tell the difference any way.

Can anyone clarify the difference between Tidal Master and MQA?

I did trial Qobuz but really didn’t put much effort into the trial before it ran out but this thread has prompted me to have another go.

I don’t hear much about Deezer on AG, nor do I know much about it. Any opinions?