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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
mwatsme's avatar
mwatsme
188 posts
 
Asus RT-AC3100 (AiMesh-capable) or RT-AC3200 (tri-band 2x5Ghz + 1x2.4Ghz) can wifi Tidal HiFi  without issue.

Current  network (covering 1 acre and 4k sq.ft. 2-story house) is AC3100 (mesh router), Cat6 to two AC1900 (mesh nodes) streams Tidal Hifi everywhere in the house and (near as I can tell) anywhere on the property.

+1 use good wireless router(s).
jaferd OP
44 posts
 
Thank u all for all ur inputs. What I don't understand is if only data i.e. 1s and 0s are being transmitted, why does it matter whether it's airplay, pc, iPad or a dedicated streamer. Shouldn't they all stream the data effectively to the dac? Shouldn't the sq be all the same if indeed only the data is what's being streamed? 
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,645 posts
 
Oh my, everything matters in digital audio front ends. Everything. It all makes a sonic difference from ethernet cables to LAN switches to DC power supplies and on and on....

We are dealing with many things including noise and timing issues.
golfmd2
27 posts
 
It could be just a volume issue.  Just a few decibels louder sounds better in almost all cases.
tom8999
157 posts
 
Willgolf nailed it - you need a dedicated streamer (I use a LUMIN D1) and your Tidal HiFi with MQA encoded files will beat any CD. You have to hardwire from your router to the LUMIN and your quality issues are gone. I have been streaming for over 5 years with minimal headaches.

Happy listening!
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