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
A Wi-Fi connection will not support Tidal, Qobuz, etc. streaming services.

@hgeifman  Is this what you meant (i.e. "will not support")? If so, can you explain? Thanks.
Tidal, Qobuz, etc. sound quality will work using a Wi-Fi connection (maybe) but the sound quality using a wired connection will be much better.

My Aurender N10 server is connected to my router using a wired connection and the streaming sound quality is excellent. I also tried a Wi-Fi connection and the SQ was very poor.
I have one more suggestion.  Previously, I had similar sound quality issues, signal dropouts, sound distortion and discovered it was my Linksys router.  Under some conditions, it would drop the cable signal.  Linksys said they were working on the packet dropping issue.  

I then purchased the Apple Extreme router and the signal dropouts and sound quality issues went away for a while and then returned due to the Apple router.  It stopped working sometimes.  I also do not think it could handle the streaming load   

I replaced it with a Luxul XWR3100 router and the Luxul XAP1510 KIT (extender) and everything is working great.   My Ethernet wired streaming sound quality from Tidal, Qobuz is excellent.   Please check your router to ensure it is functioning okay and can handle the required streaming load.  Google your router and look for any documented issues.  Older routers may not be able to handle the streaming load especially for uncompressed files.

I hope this helps you solve your streaming issues.  

Tidal, Qobuz, etc. sound quality will work using a Wi-Fi connection (maybe) but the sound quality using a wired connection will be much better.

Thanks for clarifying, Howard.