STREAMING - QOBUZ VS TIDAL AND ROON'S PREFERENCES

@ghdprentice  "

There is a point with really great equipment that it all sounds pretty great… then one versus the other is splitting the difference between really really good and really good.

And it's a point that many audiophiles, as obsessed as we can tend to be, sometimes forget... the point to enjoy the music; the music is the endpoint, not the gear.

@cleeds

Indeed files altered with MQA are not "bit-perfect". That was Neil Young’s issue with the way they were advertising his music. If they were altered in anyway, then they weren’t HIS "studio masters". I wish MQA would go away. There’s been lots of discussion regarding it and most technical people (engineers) who have tested it with measuring equipment says that it does alter the files, and most damning, they say only a bat could hear the sight difference. And people can argue all day if the difference is somehow "better" than the original.

If Tidal is selling their CD quality Hi-Fi tier and providing downsampled files with MQA stripped out then yeah, they might sound OK (and they do) but once again, they aren’t "bit-perfect" compared to the commercially released Redbook CD.

High resolution files don’t mean much to me unless they were recorded originally in DSD. (When I record live concerts to put on the Internet Live Music Archive I do use 24-bit/48Khz PCM to push down the noise floor a bit). I’m happy with CD quality for everything else, (hence my disdain for Spotify lying to us all last year). I just wish I could get the same "data" exactly as it would be from a commercially released Redbook CD of the same title.

If Deezer or Qobuz provides that, I’ll be a happy camper. Looking forward to trying Qobuz.

I note in Qobuz's advertising blurb on their website:  "Currently, Qobuz has more than 240,000 albums in Hi-Res audio quality. This collection is constantly being added to with new releases and re-issues. In addition, Qobuz offers over 80 million tracks in lossless CD quality."

This has been an awesome conversation and really expanded to not only file quality, but how to get the best out of our digital experience. As @ghdprentice nicely stated, with effort and improvements we can get amazing sound from digital.  And yes, at a high level, Tidal is very close to Qobuz most of the time.  As I read everyone's histories and experiences with digital, It really closely mirrors mine.

Didn't we all start with a Node?  It was so much better than airplaying my itunes to apple TV.  I had a Node in one system,  a Power Node in another, and a Pulse 2 in my office.  Then Roon , with quickly a lifetime subscription.  I visited a dealer looking at a Parasound Hint integrated, with built in DAC.  Sounded fine. Until  he switched to an Esoteric DAC and I was blown away.  Sounded like completely different amp and speakers...it was all the streamer and DAC! The rabbit hole opened widely in front of me and for the next two years I searched for that sound.

I ended up with amazing Audionet Pre and Max Amps, And upgraded my DAC to first a PS Audio Direct Stream, and then an Auralic Vega G2 (streamer and DAC). This was a nice improvement.  Then I demoed the Mola Mola Tambaqui and wanted it within 60 seconds.  So much more open and complete, but natural and easy to love.  Separate streamer?  Never even heard of it or understood it.  After all, my Tambaqui (and previous Auralic and even also previous PS Audio all had built in streamers).  What?  But my dealer had never led me astray, and explained the benefits of a separate streamer.  As one fellow Agonner said to me, 'Ken you have a Lamborghini for a DAC and are feeding it regular gas!'.  So enter the Auralic Aries G2.1 streamer with usb output to my Tambaqui, all with nice Kubala- Sosna cables. Guess what?  Further improvements, more open, more natural. Everything does matter. My Muon streaming system arrived last night and I Love it also...It is home playing in all day for me.  Nick at Network Acoustics went through my system with me and gave me specific advice.  Great guy.  Add him to GTT audio for great support.  Yes it is all for the music and our audio Nirvana.  Anyone around Baltimore / Washington is welcome for a visit!

And guess what?  My Sean Jacobs custom power supply is coming soon for my Auralic Aries!

moonwatcher

... I just wish I could get the same "data" exactly as it would be from a commercially released Redbook CD of the same title. If Deezer or Qobuz provides that, I’ll be a happy camper. I note in Qobuz's advertising blurb on their website:  "Currently, Qobuz has more than 240,000 albums in Hi-Res audio quality. This collection is constantly being added to with new releases and re-issues. In addition, Qobuz offers over 80 million tracks in lossless CD quality."

Yes, Qobuz files are lossless CD quality. Or better. No doubt about it.

MQA is a scam. See expose by Goldensound: