Tidal Master/J River output difference

[Wildings]

Excuse my lack of understanding. I stream from desktop into VLink USB/SPDIF converter (DAC does not have) to DAC to headphone amp.
The V Link indicates J River hi res streaming is delivering 192kHz....but Tidal Master MQA only 48 kHz. I do not know what this signifies. The Tidal Master sounds better. Looking at computer audio output, the V Link is recognized. Do I have something not correct? Would I benefit from Audirvana Plus 3 software for MQA playback?
Thank you for advice.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

the magical MQA ...
http://archimago.blogspot.com/search?q=mqa

TL;DR: It's boolshit. just use regular lossless flacs from good recordings/mastering.

 

[Wildings]

the magical MQA ...
http://archimago.blogspot.com/search?q=mqa

TL;DR: It's boolshit. just use regular lossless flacs from good recordings/mastering.

I use Tidal because they have an extensive library, and I pay the extra ten bucks for the "Hi F" option. The MQA recordings are included. I prefer the sound of Tidal Hi-Fi to the lossless FLAC via J River. As I inquired, what is the difference between 48kHz/192kHz? As mentioned, the Tidal 48kHz sounds better to me.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

the blog I've linked has an extensive tech investigation and discussion in detail on MQA format.
Your own findings could be either placebo or indicate an issue in your audio path.

 

[Wildings]

the blog I've linked has an extensive tech investigation and discussion in detail on MQA format.
Your own findings could be either placebo or indicate an issue in your audio path.

Very interesting article...to the extent I was able to understand. What I did glean is that the difference between Tidal software decoding and that done by expensive hardware is insignificant.
Would you please explain the difference between the two different kHz indications on my V Link (Tidal Master 48kHz vs J River FLAC 192 kHz (sounds worse).....and if I do have a fault in my audio stream, where do I look and correct (if desirable)? Note that my computer audio output recognizes the V Link.
Thank you!

 

[Bucknekked]

Very interesting article...to the extent I was able to understand. What I did glean is that the difference between Tidal software decoding and that done by expensive hardware is insignificant.
Would you please explain the difference between the two different kHz indications on my V Link (Tidal Master 48kHz vs J River FLAC 192 kHz (sounds worse).....and if I do have a fault in my audio stream, where do I look and correct (if desirable)? Note that my computer audio output recognizes the V Link.
Thank you!

Wildings
I will leave the technical details about MQA to folks like BSA who have a pretty firm grasp. I can't add much to that argument. But, I can give my anecdotal experience with Tidal and Spotify's premium offerring.

Tidal will let you do a free trial of their MQA/HD stuff so I signed up for it. Spotify's premium service is 320kbps and I already have that subscription. I ran them side by side for a month, playing the same songs and albums on both offerings.

My bias heading in (its always good to declare your bias if you know you have one) was to favor the Tidal offering. My first few listening sessions were very impressive. They charge twice what Spotify does so they have to be better right?

After a month of side by side comparisons I finally had to admit I couldn't tell the difference at all between the Tidal MQA titles and the 320kbps versions on Spotify. Not a whit of difference. There are real differences between the two offerings, but the audio produced to me is the same.

Just a testimonial and anectodal evidence. YMMV.

 

[Wildings]

Wildings
I will leave the technical details about MQA to folks like BSA who have a pretty firm grasp. I can't add much to that argument. But, I can give my anecdotal experience with Tidal and Spotify's premium offerring.

Tidal will let you do a free trial of their MQA/HD stuff so I signed up for it. Spotify's premium service is 320kbps and I already have that subscription. I ran them side by side for a month, playing the same songs and albums on both offerings.

My bias heading in (its always good to declare your bias if you know you have one) was to favor the Tidal offering. My first few listening sessions were very impressive. They charge twice what Spotify does so they have to be better right?

After a month of side by side comparisons I finally had to admit I couldn't tell the difference at all between the Tidal MQA titles and the 320kbps versions on Spotify. Not a whit of difference. There are real differences between the two offerings, but the audio produced to me is the same.

Just a testimonial and anectodal evidence. YMMV.

Thank you. I have been with Tidal premium for couple years, and have been pleased....particularly with their library, so will probably continue. Seldom use J River anymore or my personal hi res downloads. Just noticed difference in VLink display reading and was curious.

 

[Bucknekked]

Thank you. I have been with Tidal premium for couple years, and have been pleased....particularly with their library, so will probably continue. Seldom use J River anymore or my personal hi res downloads. Just noticed difference in VLink display reading and was curious.

they have a great look and feel to their offering. I particularly liked the metadata for their music.
Their metadata, mostly for newer releases but for some older ones as well, gave information about the CD right down to the session musicians who played on each song. I love that stuff and Tidal sure did a great job on it.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I had 6 months Tidal trial. I eventually have decided not to continue with them largely due to limited music selection. I could not tell the difference between tidal and cd nor premium Spotify, whose library of music is significantly larger

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Very interesting article...to the extent I was able to understand. What I did glean is that the difference between Tidal software decoding and that done by expensive hardware is insignificant.
Would you please explain the difference between the two different kHz indications on my V Link (Tidal Master 48kHz vs J River FLAC 192 kHz (sounds worse).....and if I do have a fault in my audio stream, where do I look and correct (if desirable)? Note that my computer audio output recognizes the V Link.
Thank you!

I can't since I don't know all the details. What desktop (windows or mac, preferably with a model or motherboard model), I assume this is your usb-spdif converter, what dac are you using?

Not as critical, are the rest of audio path, pre-amp, amp and speaker could give a hint

 

[Wildings]

I can't since I don't know all the details. What desktop (windows or mac, preferably with a model or motherboard model), I assume this is your usb-spdif converter, what dac are you using?

Not as critical, are the rest of audio path, pre-amp, amp and speaker could give a hint

I am running Windows 7 on HP G72 Notebook....dont know where to get further info on that. Link to V Link 192 is correct. DAC is Musical Fidelity M1 Upsampling Converter. Recently updated Tidal Master, and J River 21. My J River library contains both CD's I added, and HI Res audio files I purchased. Both Tidal and J River sound great to me (I prefer the Tidal )....just curious re different V Link displays. Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[Wildings]

I had 6 months Tidal trial. I eventually have decided not to continue with them largely due to limited music selection. I could not tell the difference between tidal and cd nor premium Spotify, whose library of music is significantly larger

I just read that Apple Music leads with 43 million tracks, Tidal follows with 40 million, and Spotify's last accounting claimed 30 million. Different features will appeal to different listeners....I like Tidal's comprehensive track and artist info, but never bother with music videos which some appreciate.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

here's what I'm concerned with: V Link 192 connects using usb. Manual says it needs usb 2.0. so far so good, but afaik a native (without driver) 24/192 over usb on Windows was simply not available before about a year ago: http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/confirmed-windows-10-now-supports-usb-audio-class-2-0/
Before that native 24/192 without a driver was not possible. Manual doesn't mention driver, not download page has it. This likely means that it can't do native 24/192 over usb and it's limited to 24/96khz.
so there's likely to be a downsampling happening at some stage

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I just read that Apple Music leads with 43 million tracks, Tidal follows with 40 million, and Spotify's last accounting claimed 30 million. Different features will appeal to different listeners....I like Tidal's comprehensive track and artist info, but never bother with music videos which some appreciate.

linky pls

 

[lovinthehd]

I tried the Tidal trial and didn't even go the full 30 days. Selection I found poor as well as the layout/search (from comments I read later apparently you really have to work it to get all the hires/mqa files, which I found relatively few of). For the additional costs for Tidal and them waving JayZ in my face all the time, I dropped it and continue to use Spotify premium instead for my streaming services (which is mainly to find music to purchase on disc).

ps Some of the additional info about recordings was nice, tho.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

oh yeah, Jay-Z commercials were super obnoxious. I get it - he owns it, but just like cable I don't want to pay for content to be advertised to.

 

[Wildings]

here's what I'm concerned with: V Link 192 connects using usb. Manual says it needs usb 2.0. so far so good, but afaik a native (without driver) 24/192 over usb on Windows was simply not available before about a year ago: http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/confirmed-windows-10-now-supports-usb-audio-class-2-0/
Before that native 24/192 without a driver was not possible. Manual doesn't mention driver, not download page has it. This likely means that it can't do native 24/192 over usb and it's limited to 24/96khz.
so there's likely to be a downsampling happening at some stage

But the V Link display light indicates 192 when using J River, and only 48 with the Tidal Master. Sorry, I do not understand. Do I understand you to say is related to a limitation of my older computer? Is Audirvana Plus 3 a software purchase an option to address this? Obviously my comprehension is very limited. Thank you.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

But the V Link display light indicates 192 when using J River, and only 48 with the Tidal Master. Sorry, I do not understand. Do I understand you to say is related to a limitation of my older computer? Is Audirvana Plus 3 a software purchase an option to address this? Obviously my comprehension is very limited. Thank you.

a Simple question: did you ever need to install a driver to use V Link? If you didn't then I don't believe that 192khz is real one.

 

[Wildings]

a Simple question: did you ever need to install a driver to use V Link? If you didn't then I don't believe that 192khz is real one.

Yes I believe I did. How would I check that it is in place and functioning properly?

 

[2channel lover]

they have a great look and feel to their offering. I particularly liked the metadata for their music.
Their metadata, mostly for newer releases but for some older ones as well, gave information about the CD right down to the session musicians who played on each song. I love that stuff and Tidal sure did a great job on it.

Wow...that's digging deep.

I use JRiver v23 for organizing, ripping, playlist, etc. but not for playback...it's not the best for metadata.