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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
lukaszwk
56 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. 


willgolf
933 posts
 
Yes, the solution is a dedicated streamer.  Look at any of the Lumin products.  I have owned the A-1 and the X-1.  Tidal sounds awesome on my system and the app is super easy to use.
wrm57
982 posts
 
Tidal through an Auralic Aries Mini with an S-Booster power supply via Wifi sounds better than CDs through my Marantz SA-11S2.
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astewart8944
499 posts
 
In my system ripped CDs in WAV files stored in either Innuos Statement or Antipodes DX3 then to DAC (both using Roon software and both streaming Tidal) is significantly better SQ (IMO) than Tidal 16/44 FLAC files through the same DAC. WAV files tend to always sound better than FLAC files in my system.  
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