What is the best streaming service? This thread popped up when queried.
Do any of them stream in TrueHD?
It looks like TidaL streams with FLAC; is that the best available now?
A few things to help clarify. FLAC is a lossless CODEC, that means that what comes out is exactly what went in. There is NO loss of quality and cannot be. If there was, it wouldn't be lossless.
TrueHD is a Dolby surround CODEC, it too is lossless. It is based on MLP, a format previously used in DVD-Audio.
No current streaming service uses TrueHD but we are hopeful that Tidal, who recently introduced ATMOS, will switch the bed layer to TrueHD over the current DDplus.
It is hard to say which is the best. For basic 16/44 redbook quality, I have found (and argued) that Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon HD are the equal of each other. Choose your poison, they all have pluses and minuses, none of which are in the area of sound quality.
Moving to 24/96, I have found that the music is the dominating factor, not the encoding format. Tidal uses MQA, which has been quite controversial, but my testing has found no major differences between tracks. I've tried doing ABX testing and failed, often even against the CD version. My opinion is that the majority of music lacks enough "differences" in the higher resolution format for any possible differences in the CODEC to matter. Many have taken issue with MQA because of the cost and proprietary nature, however, when it comes to Tidal, the decoder is built into the app, so you don't pay for that as long as you are ok with just the first unfold (which I think is all that is necessary anyway). You pay for it in the cost of Tidal.
Avoiding the contrversy completely, both Amazon HD and Qobuz use Flac for the HD quality as well, and as such, there is no possible issue with quality. It is what it is.
I had written off Tidal because both Qobuz and Amazon were offering all the same music selection (in terms of what I listened to anyway) at a much lower price (12-14 a month vs 20 a month). However, Tidal has recently introduced Sony 360 and ATMOS for headphones on a large selection of sounds and ATMOS streaming for MCH systems for a smaller selection of songs. At the end of the day, there is no denying that surround music has the potential to be a far bigger game changer than anything else we are arguing about here. How we perceive the musical presentation is a product of the collective set of sounds we hear coming from all around us. 2 speakers simply cannot accurately reproduce what we would ever hear in a live event (be it music or movies or even a single person talking). Multi-channel is and should be the future.
However, likely to make streaming plausible and to maintain compatibility with streaming sticks, Tidal has chosen to first introduce their surround music in ATMOS based on Dolby Digital Plus. This is a lossy codec similar to good MP3. As such, in theory, the sound won't be as good as even basic redbook CD. In practice, music encoded with DDplus often is indistinguishable from CD. Again, that has more to do with the music itself than it does the CODEC. My experience has been that with the right content, even the best lossy compression can be distinguished from lossless. The problem is, in practice, real music is compressed and bandwidth limited such that the losses in a lossy format really are negligible.
All that to say, I don't think there is a single best service. If you are a purist audiophile looking for the absolute best 2-channel, then I think Qobuz is your friend. The drawbacks will be a lower selection of music (which may or may not matter, I'm yet to really struggle to find what I want). Qobuz is also not currently "all in" on surround, largely only supporting it on a limited basis with downloads. Qobuz does not currently stream MCH (that was the word directly from Qobuz within the last month of communication I had with them). I have talked with leadership at Qobuz and asked that they consider multichannel FLAC when they do adopt a CODEC for streaming surround music. They have indicated interest in exploring the idea, but also indicated a belief there remains no market.
Amazon Music is the most integrated into devices. While not always supported in HD format, it is available on the widest number of devices I own. My BMW, my SONOS, Yamaha, Streaming Devices, UHD Player, etc. Qobuz is the least integrated, with Tidal somewhere in the middle. I also find Amazon to have the least bugs and best interface. They previously had a problem with their computer app that lowered sound quality, but that has since been resolved. Amazon also has introduced Dolby Atmos, but in a much stranger way. I can only assume this is quickly changing. As of right now, Amazon only allows you to listen to ATMOS via their dolby speaker device. I believe they are offering surround music via headphones on a limited number of mobile devices, but I haven't kept up. Last I looked into it, it wasn't available on anything I owned, so I have been unable to test. Given that Tidal has allowed FAR wider adoption, I have to assume that Amazon will follow suit quickly.
Tidal, I have a real love hate relationship with them. They are pushing the most boundaries and I love that. They are implementing surround music on the widest scale and it has the potential to bring surround music to the largest audience. I really think the general public needs to wake up to surround music. There is such rejection of a format that has never had it's day, but that we know scientifically is the only way to accurately reproduce a musical event. Tidal's embrace of the format for both headphones and surround systems is unique in the industry right now. However, their price remains stubbornly high. For now, you pay a premium for access to the widest selection of surround music across reproduction methods.
Outside of these three, I would argue everything else is inferior. Deezer is another interesting potential option, but at the moment they aren't really competing in all of the right areas. I tried a free trial of their app and didn't even consider keeping it, which should say something.
