2. digital
  3. 187901-181583

Tidal FLAC vs. Qobuz

Does the recent change by Tidal, from MQA to FLAC make Tidal the better choice for streaming?  Or, since Tidal only seems to offer FLAC on its own app and not the BluOS defeat the purpose since you need to transmit by Bluetooth instead of ethernet?  

Currently, I stream from Tidal over direct ethernet cable to a Bluesound Vault streamer, to a McIntosh amp and Revel speakers.  I have a trial membership to  Qobuz but I find Tidal has a much better catalog.  Since Tidal added Flac I thought it would be the obvious choice moving forward, but isn't the point of FLAC defeated since you need to send wirelessly from the Tidal app over Bluetooth?

mojo771
mojo771 OP
44 posts
 

@yage Honestly I'm not sure if its wifi or Bluetooth.  But its still wireless flac vs the mqa direct wired streaming when I use the ethernet to the Vault.  So I think wired mqa is still better than wireless flac.  But maybe we need an audio engineer for a definitive answer.

Ag insider logo xs@2x
drlou77
104 posts
 

@mojo771 

I started with Tidal when Jay Z owned it.  Then I tried Qobuz.  I ran both for a year.  Just cancelled Tidal.  Qobuz has a more diverse selection of jazz, classical, and other types of music.  Many are in Hi Res.  Their version of Aja 24/192 and sounds fantastic.

I still buy CDs, SACDs, and really good vinyl release (Analogue Productions, Atlantic 75th, and UHQR).  So, I use Qobuz to preview new releases that I may buy, and music that I want to listen to expand my horizons.

I get the upgrade bug now and then.  This week I bought a Bricasti M3 DAC to replace my Chord Qutest with SBooster LPS.  I haven't listened yet, but I'm expecting a leap in SQ.

My 2 cents: upgrade your DAC and/or streamer.

gkelly's avatar
gkelly
101 posts
 

a linear power supply (teddy pardo)is different from a audioquest power conditioner. They do two completely different things. Did your dealer, let you take home the rose to demo? I asked this because usually when you go from $1000 product to a $4000 product you would noticed a demonstrative difference in the sq.

moonwatcher
346 posts
 

I’m confused, which is somewhat normal these days, but isn’t the whole purpose of Tidal Connect is that you pass off the streaming URL directly from the Internet to the Bluesound Vault via the Ethernet cable from your modem/router? No lossy Bluetooth should be involved at all. Parker65310 said, "Support came in their 4.0 software release.", so maybe you should look into that if needed.

I mean, if a $219 WiiM Pro Plus can do this task, surely the Bluesound Vault can too. 

gowanus
33 posts
 

I have two Node 2i's and one Vault in three different places. I've never known them to be connected via Bluetooth. WiFi, yes, but not BT, I'm currently in front of my Mac Studio which is hardwired into my router, as is my Vault. Just for the fun of it, I turned off BT on my Mac, opened up the Mac BluOS app, and played music via Qobuz. No BT involved at all. 

More to discover