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Tidal WiFi not as good as cd

Hi all,

Trying out tidal hifi and noticed that the same music airplayed to my dac is not as good as my CD ripped to the computer and airplayed to the same dac. Almost sounds like a lossy file. Am I doing something wrong or is this what is to be expected because of streaming. Not exactly sure what Roon is but heard it should make tidal streams better. If so, would it still be worse than ripped CDs?  


jaferd
jaferd OP
44 posts
 
Airplay works thru my Wi-Fi and it allows Redbook 16/44 quality and nevertheless the ripped CDs from my laptop thru airplay is much better than tidal hif. It's even slightly better imo than the CD transport wired to the dac. Infact I use this  to directly feed my amp without a preamp. I'm just disappointed in the so called CD quality from tidal hifi that I'm not getting. I am getting a Chromecast audio soon to see if that makes a difference in the tidal sq. 
sfseay's avatar
sfseay
496 posts
 
Chromecast?  Really?  Would be a step backwards. 
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
Airplay is the Mac’s Wifi. And the wifi signal isn’t the issue here. Something else is afoot.

Could it be that a PC is not the ideal streaming device? There have been other members commenting on issues with PC vs. dedicated streamers.


lukaszwk
63 posts
 
Same here. Tidal supposed CD quality is NOT on par with same music ripped to my hard drive in either wav of 16/44 flac. Btw I'm using Roon for both tidal and ripped files, all wired, all to the same dac, same path down stream, both coming from my pc. The difference is audible and it's absolutely in resolution. Btw i have a hifi tidal subscription obviously. 
jaferd OP
44 posts
 
So has anyone found a way to get at least CD quality from tidal or is it a waste of money for hi res music. The difference is not subtle, only slightly better than lossy files. Maybe the solution is a dedicated streamer. 


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