Tidal vs Spotify etc

Snap

Just cancelled the free trial of Tidal, having A/B'd vs Spotify for about a month.

Couldn't hear a difference in quality between the tidal premium and Spotify extreme, on any platform. Admittedly I don't have the world's purest hifi setup. I'm using (most of the time) my PC connected to a Denon DM41 via optical cable.

Yes, hifi aficionados tell me I need the kit to hear the best out of Tidal, but tbh, I am not convinced. CD sounded better, by far.

It could be the kit I am using, but for daily usage, no matter how much I wanted Tidal to sound great, whether through the Denon, or into my interface and out through my monitors, or through my iPhone and out through my B&O headphones - no difference in quality.

Have I got cloth ears or is it all snake oil?

roberty

Snake oil, anything over 256kbps is audibly transparent on reference grade equipment in a controlled test.

Source (download the presentation): https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/2sias9/subjective_evaluation_of_mp3_compression_for/

Also modern DACs and basically all modern amplifiers are transparent too so look for features and build quality

*hides*

Heartfeltdawn

Snap said:

Just cancelled the free trial of Tidal, having A/B'd vs Spotify for about a month.

Couldn't hear a difference in quality between the tidal premium and Spotify extreme, on any platform. Admittedly I don't have the world's purest hifi setup. I'm using (most of the time) my PC connected to a Denon DM41 via optical cable.

Yes, hifi aficionados tell me I need the kit to hear the best out of Tidal, but tbh, I am not convinced. CD sounded better, by far.

It could be the kit I am using, but for daily usage, no matter how much I wanted Tidal to sound great, whether through the Denon, or into my interface and out through my monitors, or through my iPhone and out through my B&O headphones - no difference in quality.

Have I got cloth ears or is it all snake oil?

There is nothing wrong with your setup. I sold my last amp for the same Denon unit and I'm very happy with it. There is always something 'more pure' but there are no faults with the Denon that make it hard to listen to music. 

octatonic

I cannot tell the difference between Tidal and Spotify on some pretty excellent monitors (Kii Three's).

I can tell the difference between compressed and uncompressed audio on them under certain situations (for example a 192Kbps version of King Crimson's Discipline vs the DVD Audio).

The difference is still not enormous.

Snap

I don't really think its down to the kit either. I know the Denon DM41 has a cleaner and improved signal path, and makes much of that in it's promo talk. Compared to the DM37 I had before, I'd agree: it sounds noticeably better.

What struck me most was that Tidal just doesn't sound any different to Spotify on 320kbs, AT ALL. It doesn't sound as good as downloaded FLACs either.

disappointing, but has saved me a few quid. I was getting a little itch to upgrade my hifi kit. That's been salved a bit now.

I also tried it into a DAC first, Onkyo ND-S1, then into the Denon. No better, worse even.

My verdict? Tidal my arse.

Library not as good as Spotify either, I don't think.

Only thing I thought was good was the credits feature, so you can see what's what & who's who on each track. Hardly worth the extra monthly fee though.

who goes for it then, over Spotify?

octatonic

Snap said:

Tidal my arse.

Oooooh kinky.

Snap

haha, yes indeed. Good for sensitive ring conditions though