Can you tell the difference?

tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
"Five in five correct, fantastic!"

Only using physical media on my setup so wont matter for me anyways. At work I just use free streams to get something going.
 
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mr sarnoff

Audioholic Intern
:pFWIW $19.99 mo. U.S. Tidal Hifi 24/41 > 16/44 lossless truncated studio master hdd replications sourced from the lables by passes uniform loudess squashed CD mixing provenence altogether and thier lossless 1441kbps FLAC digital streams will make you throw rocks at CD and vinyl and ofc mp3 on any given *good* recording if you have a decent playback chain .
 
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C

canali

Enthusiast
many feel there is no significant difference between apple, spotify premium (320kps) and tidal hifi (1411 kps or ''cd quality 44.1)...see 2 blind tests below:...one done by 'the verge' last summer and the other by CNBC most recently.
for myself i've tried all 3...don't feel Tidal is worth the extra $10/mo for 'subtle' differences, esp if used in portable usage with all sorts of noise about.....sure if tidal introduces MQA or whatever i'll possibly reconsider them (just moved back to spotify premium...nicer layout too imo).

...anyway the bottom line (see both videos and the comments) is that alot of it depends on the mastering/production of the recording...if it's crap (and there is alot of poorly produced albums aka loudness wars, limited dynamic range) then it's basically garbage in, garbage out: you can't put lipstick on a pig.

'the verge' last summer:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/7/8872115/apple-music-tidal-spotify-audio-quality-test

CNBC just recently:
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/05/hifi-music-streaming-services-people-cant-tell-it-when-they-hear-it.html
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
I have found I like Tidal Hi-Fi and do hear a difference with, as you say, only with better recorded music. Listening to Adele's "25" on CD or Tidal Hi-Fi sounds the same to me...crap. Great voice, lousy recording. Listening to Melody Gardot...completely different experience.

This is only on my home system, I switch to "standard quality" with mobile devices, to save on data rates and it sounds acceptable with my cheap headphones or in my car with the factory sound system. If fact, in the car the lower res still sounds better than Sirius XM radio.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
I have found I like Tidal Hi-Fi and do hear a difference with, as you say, only with better recorded music. Listening to Adele's "25" on CD or Tidal Hi-Fi sounds the same to me...crap. Great voice, lousy recording. Listening to Melody Gardot...completely different experience.
I posted about the poor recording of Adele's CD, even BD before, except even the voice was great but distorted in the end of a verse if she went too loud. At the time I was the only one who claimed to have heard the distortion (again, just in her voice). The orchestras weren't bad at all, but that distortion really spoiled everything, almost everything. I have one of Melody Gardot in HD digital, nice recording but as an artist IMO a few notches below Adele.:D
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
I would offer that one is not more talented than the other. Adele has tremendous range and uses it. It's a shame that whoever/wherever she's being recorded can't capture it very well. With Melody Gardot, her dynamic range is far more contracted, but so well controlled, so smooth and steady. An example of the quality of the recording is the track "Quiet Fire" from the album Worrisome Heart. Listen for the extreme detail in her voice as she sings "I'm....burnin' up". That little emphasis on the "p" would be mush on an Adele recording.
 
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desertrider

Audioholic Intern
Ive had both Tidal and Spotify Premium, and have an audition playlist Ive played side by side, and for me the differences are so subtle, if at all, Tidal isnt worth twice the premium. The biggest difference (which is minute tbh) is in the highs, mostly due to having ribbon tweeters I suppose. But its only on a few songs. I also like Spotify's layout much better than Tidal's.

Using Yamaha 3060 receiver and Salk Song3 speakers.
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
Everyone's ears are different too. Your speakers are great, the receiver about average. You don't say how you get the digital signal from the internet to output from your receiver.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have Ethernet into my Bluesound Vault, use the Vault's analog out to the analog inputs on my receiver and out to my KEF R500 speakers. The $20/mo is worth it to me. I thought I'd spend less in the record stores doing that, but the fact is it sounds so good on some recordings that I feel a need to go get the "hardcopy" version of the best ones.
 
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desertrider

Audioholic Intern
Everyone's ears are different too. Your speakers are great, the receiver about average. You don't say how you get the digital signal from the internet to output from your receiver.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have Ethernet into my Bluesound Vault, use the Vault's analog out to the analog inputs on my receiver and out to my KEF R500 speakers. The $20/mo is worth it to me. I thought I'd spend less in the record stores doing that, but the fact is it sounds so good on some recordings that I feel a need to go get the "hardcopy" version of the best ones.
I think thats the first time Ive heard a flagship receiver called average lol
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
Sorry, I don't know model numbers. No matter. You can have a great amp section in a receiver and a weak DAC or pre-amp. Or you can have all top-shelf components throughout and a weak source.

So how do you actually get Tidal or Spotify streaming off the internet and out of your Yamaha to the speakers? Does the receiver have that capability?
 
D

desertrider

Audioholic Intern
Sorry, I don't know model numbers. No matter. You can have a great amp section in a receiver and a weak DAC or pre-amp. Or you can have all top-shelf components throughout and a weak source.

So how do you actually get Tidal or Spotify streaming off the internet and out of your Yamaha to the speakers? Does the receiver have that capability?
Tidal and Spotify app on HTPC bitstreamed to receiver playing straight. No processing at all.
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
Of course there's processing....at the receiver. I'm sure my liking Tidal Hi-Fi better is my ears and my brain, and I probably couldn't tell the difference between the 1441kbps and 320kbps in a blind test other than with familiar tunes on my own system. If ignorance is bliss, consider me very blissful then. :D
 
D

desertrider

Audioholic Intern
Of course there's processing....at the receiver. I'm sure my liking Tidal Hi-Fi better is my ears and my brain, and I probably couldn't tell the difference between the 1441kbps and 320kbps in a blind test other than with familiar tunes on my own system. If ignorance is bliss, consider me very blissful then. :D

Do you know what straight means?

And for the second bolded, youre probably right. But in the end, if youre happy paying double, then thats all that matters :)
 
tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
Do you know what straight means?

And for the second bolded, youre probably right. But in the end, if youre happy paying double, then thats all that matters :)
Your source is bitstream and your speakers can't play bitstream, so yes, it has to be processed to analog signal for your speakers and your receiver is doing this for you depending on how you have connected your HTPC to your receiver. It could also be the HTPC doing the processing depending on your setup.
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
Do you know what straight means?

And for the second bolded, youre probably right. But in the end, if youre happy paying double, then thats all that matters :)
Wow. Apparently I don't know what straight means, so please educate me.

Am I happy paying double? Sure. My Bluesound Vault has downloaded the latest update to decode MQA files, so when Tidal begins streaming them, I'm ready. And I have heard the difference. It's subtle, but definitely there. Listening to music is 95% of the use of my system. I enjoy quality.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Of course there's processing....at the receiver. I'm sure my liking Tidal Hi-Fi better is my ears and my brain, and I probably couldn't tell the difference between the 1441kbps and 320kbps in a blind test other than with familiar tunes on my own system. If ignorance is bliss, consider me very blissful then. :D
With what you have now the source will be the weak link (just imo of course), but you should be able to tell the difference (okay, small difference) assuming your hearing is not a problem, even in blind tests. My hearing is far from perfect but I know I can tell the difference between CD and 320 kbps. I cannot tell the difference between my amps and AVRs in any blind tests though. So source is the weak link in my system too.
 
D

desertrider

Audioholic Intern
Wow. Apparently I don't know what straight means, so please educate me.

Am I happy paying double? Sure. My Bluesound Vault has downloaded the latest update to decode MQA files, so when Tidal begins streaming them, I'm ready. And I have heard the difference. It's subtle, but definitely there. Listening to music is 95% of the use of my system. I enjoy quality.
And thats all thats important. Like you, I heard a difference in a few tracks, also very subtle. I decided *for me* the double premium wasnt worth it. Dont misunderstand my posts...Im in no way thinking you made the wrong choice...I would NEVER say that. In the end, its what makes US happy, right? :)
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
It sure sounded like you wanted to send me to school with "Do you know what straight means?"

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that written words on the internet do not convey the same feelings and context that we may have had in mind at the time.

Enjoy your music. Carry on.
 
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