BIG difference Tidal vs Amazon Music

Am listening to Amazon Music HD with Airplay into my stereo/AV rig using the app from my iPhone or iPad. (Airplay will deliver Red Book audio and the network adapter supports mini plug and digital out.)  I’ve A-B’d several CDs vs Amazon and can’t tell the difference. I do find that when some recording are labeled “remastered” the sound can be distorted and/or compressed. May be the Master selection issues others have noted?

Keyword search in the Amazon app can be problematic sometimes.  Keying in “Jarret Shostakovich” should find his recording of the piano preludes and fugues. It doesn’t. Etc. etc.

On a side note, I’m using the same setup to stream Roon. 1200 CDs imported to ITunes using ALAC. Roon server on my Windows PC uses the iTunes repository.  Roon app on iPhone and iPad. Again, A-B a CD and can’t hear the difference. (Although I can hear the difference between AAC and ALAC encoding.)
 

Streaming has changed how I listen to music - in a good way.  I do miss liner notes, tho. I like to know who played, engineered, and mastered the recording. 

Have had Amazon HD for over a year now and am VERY HAPPY. I stream only R&R. Old 60's 70's guy etc. I stream using USB from my windows based PC, hardwired directly to an outboard  Benchmark DAC 3B. System just under 14K  Never at a loss for content, most of what I listen to is offered at 24/96 and a lot at 24/192   Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Fleet wood Mac, Journey, 't etc. Never seems to be out, always there when I want it. Couldn't say enough good things about it. As a prime member I pay about $8.75 a month.   Never tried Tidal, probably because of what I've written above. Robert TN  

@cahuck 

Please check out Qobuz. Free trail. High res files are excellent. 

Along those same lines as to who has what high res. I was listening to “Flim and the BB’s” in both Amazon and Apple. One release titled “Tunnel” has the wrong music.  What was strange is that both Amazon and Apple had the same incorrect media.  Im inclined to believe that many of the music providers have a proprietary front end, but they actually stream from a common back end system that’s used by multiple clients. I’m very suspicious about the use of “high res studio masters”. What are we actually getting and where is it stored?
 

I would think that volume matching would be important: Streaming services may not play at the same level so the louder one will sound better to most people. I tried comparing Tidal to my Hard Drive with the files ripped to the AIFF format(full CD quality) and discovered that Tidal was louder but did not sound better once I did the volume match.

One should keep in mind that the two services could be using a different master which could be a multi-generational source:

Also, 1 demo from Van Halen, not known for audiophile recordings, is not a good barometer. I would think 5 to 10 demos across different genres of music would be more accurate.

I don't use either of the services. My friend was over with his Tidal app and I decided to compare and decided to pass in favor of my hard drive.