Best service for high quality audio ?

Mar 11, 2004
23,444
5,848
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I haven't actually looked into the music streaming services so I can't say. I know Tidal was pushing quality a lot, but sounds like they're somewhat troubled so curious if they stick around. Plus, I think they're pushing for MQA which I'm not a fan of. I believe one of the other bigger services started offering lossless streaming (assuming your connection can keep up).

The reality is, that's not what is holding back the quality, its that they're starting with recordings that have been mixed and mastered in the Loudness War era. That's not to say there aren't good recordings, but the formats aren't the problem, and they're still flailing around on solutions to falling music revenue.

So, the best answer is, go with the service that has the music you actually listen to or offers the features you want (like recommendations based on the music you like), or fits your situation (i.e. if you're on iOS or Android, where/how you do your listening, etc).
 

rchunter

Senior member
Feb 26, 2015
933
72
91
Spotify and Tidal are the two big streaming companies. I tried Spotify awhile back and it was OK. Been meaning to try tidal. My Lumin streamer actually has full support for MQA but I just haven't had the chance to hear it yet. I mainly just stream local files (flac, dsd, mp3) from my synology nas.
 

rstrohkirch

Platinum Member
May 31, 2005
2,434
367
126
I like Tidal. If you're going to school then their service prices are 50% off. If you use a computer to stream then you can download anything with their app and play it back offline. You can do this with their mobile app as well but you'd obviously need some service storage space.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Tidal's App is prone to freezing if your favorites list gets too large and they don't list what tracks/albums are available in 24bit (MQA) quality in an easy to find location. They also had lots of rap/hip-hop leaning advertising that I never found a way to stop. Further their in financial hell from the sounds of it. I've heard of other services that were available outside the US that offer 24bit audio. Spotify has been toying with the idea of offering a HiFi audio plan which is likely 16bit/44Khz and not 24bit/96hz. They are all pretty expensive services too, especially since I have had so much trouble actually using Tidal and their app. If Tidal's app worked better and they had a better listing of titles it would be something I could recommend. All of this matters very little if you are on the go a lot because you won't get 24bit audio from many phones if that's what you're after. YTyou can still get the FLAC files, which is lossless CD quality 16bit/44Khz. Probably fine for 99% of users who can't actually hear the difference on their equipment anyhow.
 
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