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Post by audiobill on Sept 29, 2019 9:00:26 GMT -5
Recently, I noticed my Tidal streaming sounding a bit lackluster on my rather resolving system.
So, on the Tidal desktop app, I went to Help>Troubleshooting and clicked on “clear cache” and “ reset app data”.
Instantly, more bass, more clarity and overall much better sonics.
Please try this and report your findings for all to share.
Bill
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Post by creimes on Sept 29, 2019 10:46:23 GMT -5
I tried this at my PC where my Magni3, Modi2 and Airmotiv 5s reside but I can't discern any difference, but then again the issue is clearing the cache in my head haha.
Chad
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Post by bluemeanies on Sept 30, 2019 5:04:43 GMT -5
Hey Bill..good suggestion and yes I noticed a better low end response. So good in fact it could have fooled me to believing my sub was on which I do use but rarely in two channel. As far as the sonics are concerned..my DSD never sounded so good.
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robs
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Post by robs on Oct 9, 2019 8:57:33 GMT -5
I noticed the same thing after I did an update earlier this year. Definitely an improvement in clarity, still doesn't come close to playing FLAC files though.
So if clearing the cache improved SQ for you, I wonder if Tidal is doing playback from the cache rather than streaming online. Perhaps Tidal uses compression in tracks that are being cached to keep file sizes low?
Some days Tidal sounds excellent and other days it sounds hazy, muddy.
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Oct 9, 2019 10:08:26 GMT -5
Several of us here have noticed sound quality issues with Tidal at times as well. (So far the quality of the new streaming service from Amazon seems excellent.... although note that they refer to 16/44 (CD quality) as "HD".)
IN THEORY (and excluding MQA) what TIDAL is streaming is supposed to be lossless - and so should be exactly the same as a CD or an equivalent FLAC file. However, in practice, there seems to be something else going on that makes that not the case. (They SHOULDN'T be using any sort of compression.... but one wonders if they're applying some sort of processing to the audio itself intended to "improve the sound quality".)
Also note that, on the Tidal computer client, there are options associated with each specific playback device. (For example, with MQA you're specifically supposed to select "exclusive mode"... which is really something you should ALWAYS be using anyway.)
On a similar note..... Many cable companies compress their VIDEO when they store it to your cable-box DVR.... As a result, the quality when you watch from the DVR , even just after using the pause function on broadcast shows, is sometimes quite inferior to what it is when you watch "live". I have Comcast XFinity, at 1080p, and I don't know the details of when they do or don't do this, but it is very noticeable at times. (I've also heard rumors that some cable companies only DVR at 720p and upscale it.... ) (Since the bit-rate used by cable is never as good as on a Blu-Ray disc anyway I generally reserve critical viewing for actual discs anyway.)
I noticed the same thing after I did an update earlier this year. Definitely an improvement in clarity, still doesn't come close to playing FLAC files though. So if clearing the cache improved SQ for you, I wonder if Tidal is doing playback from the cache rather than streaming online. Perhaps Tidal uses compression in tracks that are being cached to keep file sizes low? Some days Tidal sounds excellent and other days it sounds hazy, muddy. |
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robs
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Post by robs on Oct 9, 2019 10:24:27 GMT -5
(They SHOULDN'T be using any sort of compression.... but one wonders if they're applying some sort of processing to the audio itself intended to "improve the sound quality".)
Aha, I think you are on to something Keith. And the other thing is some of the MQA albums on Tidal sound completely different than the original CD release. Natalie Merchant's "Tigerlily" comes to mind. It sounds like it was remixed. So I think you are right there is some kind of processing being applied. |
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Post by audiobill on Oct 9, 2019 12:23:30 GMT -5
Interesting, I tried the new Amazon streaming service, and it doesn't sound as good to me as Tidal.
But then, it was raining that day!
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Oct 9, 2019 17:13:11 GMT -5
Recently, I noticed my Tidal streaming sounding a bit lackluster on my rather resolving system. So, on the Tidal desktop app, I went to Help>Troubleshooting and clicked on “clear cache” and “ reset app data”. Instantly, more bass, more clarity and overall much better sonics. Please try this and report your findings for all to share. Bill I can't find the "help>troubleshooting"...can you screen shot where you found that? Mark |
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Post by creimes on Oct 9, 2019 19:08:41 GMT -5
Recently, I noticed my Tidal streaming sounding a bit lackluster on my rather resolving system. So, on the Tidal desktop app, I went to Help>Troubleshooting and clicked on “clear cache” and “ reset app data”. Instantly, more bass, more clarity and overall much better sonics. Please try this and report your findings for all to share. Bill I can't find the "help>troubleshooting"...can you screen shot where you found that? Mark Here ya go Mark  |
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Oct 9, 2019 19:15:00 GMT -5
I can't find the "help>troubleshooting"...can you screen shot where you found that? Mark Here ya go Mark Ah...yes...the 3 bars...forgot to look there! I did it on my Surface, but I play Tidal through Roon. Does doing that through 1 PC Tidal is on do it for all and through Roon? Mark |
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Post by creimes on Oct 9, 2019 19:18:21 GMT -5
Here ya go Mark Ah...yes...the 3 bars...forgot to look there! I did it on my Surface, but I play Tidal through Roon. Does doing that through 1 PC Tidal is on do it for all and through Roon? Mark That's a good question, I use Audirvana on my Mac Mini but haven't looked much at it as you basically just link your Tidal account to it haha. Chad |
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Post by Cogito on Dec 25, 2019 20:32:40 GMT -5
Speaking of TIDAL sound quality, has any of you TIDAL users checked out the "360 Reality Audio (By SONY)" tracks they are offering? I just came across them a couple days ago and have listened to a few dozen with mixed feelings.
Some tracks really stand out with realistic spatial queues while others sound "deliberate" and artificial. I have also found many of the vocal tracks to sound "boxy". A couple examples of this can be heard on Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors" and Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind".
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Lsc
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Post by Lsc on Dec 25, 2019 21:57:28 GMT -5
Speaking of TIDAL sound quality, has any of you TIDAL users checked out the "360 Reality Audio (By SONY)" tracks they are offering? I just came across them a couple days ago and have listened to a few dozen with mixed feelings. Some tracks really stand out with realistic spatial queues while others sound "deliberate" and artificial. I have also found many of the vocal tracks to sound "boxy". A couple examples of this can be heard on Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors" and Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind". I’ll have to try that out when I get home. I think Tidal sounds great and it’s better than Amazon music. EDIT: I think this is more for headphones. |
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Post by Cogito on Dec 26, 2019 16:45:35 GMT -5
Speaking of TIDAL sound quality, has any of you TIDAL users checked out the "360 Reality Audio (By SONY)" tracks they are offering? I just came across them a couple days ago and have listened to a few dozen with mixed feelings. Some tracks really stand out with realistic spatial queues while others sound "deliberate" and artificial. I have also found many of the vocal tracks to sound "boxy". A couple examples of this can be heard on Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors" and Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind". I’ll have to try that out when I get home. I think Tidal sounds great and it’s better than Amazon music. EDIT: I think this is more for headphones. Correct. |
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Post by routlaw on Dec 26, 2019 18:42:55 GMT -5
Have never signed up for Tidal but just a couple of days ago over the holidays I decided to try the trial period for Qobuz. So far I am very impressed, much more so than I would have imagined. Lots of high res albums of all genre's and the 16/44.1 that I have listened to thus far sound awesome as well. There is a lot of flexibility with this service too and only $14.99 per month if you belly up to the bar, and cheaper if you pay by the year. The service also integrates natively with Audirvana on both platforms but as of last night I couldn't get that to work for some odd reason, but its was faultless on my studio computer.
Albums are available to download and purchase as well, including redbook cd level as well as high res versions. The prices I've seen so far are considerably cheaper than other services like HD Tracks. They have two plans, Studio Premier and Sublime +. Differences are not that much other than download purchases being cheaper from what I can tell so far.
Can't comment on cache levels yet.
Worth a try, they have over 210,000 albums online.
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Post by creimes on Dec 26, 2019 21:00:43 GMT -5
Have never signed up for Tidal but just a couple of days ago over the holidays I decided to try the trial period for Qobuz. So far I am very impressed, much more so than I would have imagined. Lots of high res albums of all genre's and the 16/44.1 that I have listened to thus far sound awesome as well. There is a lot of flexibility with this service too and only $14.99 per month if you belly up to the bar, and cheaper if you pay by the year. The service also integrates natively with Audirvana on both platforms but as of last night I couldn't get that to work for some odd reason, but its was faultless on my studio computer. Albums are available to download and purchase as well, including redbook cd level as well as high res versions. The prices I've seen so far are considerably cheaper than other services like HD Tracks. They have two plans, Studio Premier and Sublime +. Differences are not that much other than download purchases being cheaper from what I can tell so far. Can't comment on cache levels yet. Worth a try, they have over 210,000 albums online. I was seeing ads for Tidal offering 5 months for $5 may be worth checking into. |
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Lsc
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Post by Lsc on Dec 26, 2019 21:48:13 GMT -5
Have never signed up for Tidal but just a couple of days ago over the holidays I decided to try the trial period for Qobuz. So far I am very impressed, much more so than I would have imagined. Lots of high res albums of all genre's and the 16/44.1 that I have listened to thus far sound awesome as well. There is a lot of flexibility with this service too and only $14.99 per month if you belly up to the bar, and cheaper if you pay by the year. The service also integrates natively with Audirvana on both platforms but as of last night I couldn't get that to work for some odd reason, but its was faultless on my studio computer. Albums are available to download and purchase as well, including redbook cd level as well as high res versions. The prices I've seen so far are considerably cheaper than other services like HD Tracks. They have two plans, Studio Premier and Sublime +. Differences are not that much other than download purchases being cheaper from what I can tell so far. Can't comment on cache levels yet. Worth a try, they have over 210,000 albums online. I was seeing ads for Tidal offering 5 months for $5 may be worth checking into. That’s what I just signed up for. So I cancelled my Amazon music. Still have Apple Music that I need to cancel. Tidal sounds a lot better than Amazon music. |
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Post by jdmusante on Dec 27, 2019 0:05:49 GMT -5
Have never signed up for Tidal but just a couple of days ago over the holidays I decided to try the trial period for Qobuz. So far I am very impressed, much more so than I would have imagined. Lots of high res albums of all genre's and the 16/44.1 that I have listened to thus far sound awesome as well. There is a lot of flexibility with this service too and only $14.99 per month if you belly up to the bar, and cheaper if you pay by the year. The service also integrates natively with Audirvana on both platforms but as of last night I couldn't get that to work for some odd reason, but its was faultless on my studio computer. Albums are available to download and purchase as well, including redbook cd level as well as high res versions. The prices I've seen so far are considerably cheaper than other services like HD Tracks. They have two plans, Studio Premier and Sublime +. Differences are not that much other than download purchases being cheaper from what I can tell so far. Can't comment on cache levels yet. Worth a try, they have over 210,000 albums online. I actually just switched to Qobuz (Studio Premier) after subscribing to Tidal for the last year. Their library is excellent and is geared more toward what I listen to. Tons of High res albums when I'm at home listening through Roon and CD quality when I'm streaming in the car. Great service and it's $5 cheaper a month than Tidal. MQA isn't a selling point to me even though I do have an MQA DAC. Overall, I feel that Qobuz sounds better. |
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Lsc
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Post by Lsc on Dec 27, 2019 4:23:11 GMT -5
Have never signed up for Tidal but just a couple of days ago over the holidays I decided to try the trial period for Qobuz. So far I am very impressed, much more so than I would have imagined. Lots of high res albums of all genre's and the 16/44.1 that I have listened to thus far sound awesome as well. There is a lot of flexibility with this service too and only $14.99 per month if you belly up to the bar, and cheaper if you pay by the year. The service also integrates natively with Audirvana on both platforms but as of last night I couldn't get that to work for some odd reason, but its was faultless on my studio computer. Albums are available to download and purchase as well, including redbook cd level as well as high res versions. The prices I've seen so far are considerably cheaper than other services like HD Tracks. They have two plans, Studio Premier and Sublime +. Differences are not that much other than download purchases being cheaper from what I can tell so far. Can't comment on cache levels yet. Worth a try, they have over 210,000 albums online. I actually just switched to Qobuz (Studio Premier) after subscribing to Tidal for the last year. Their library is excellent and is geared more toward what I listen to. Tons of High res albums when I'm at home listening through Roon and CD quality when I'm streaming in the car. Great service and it's $5 cheaper a month than Tidal. MQA isn't a selling point to me even though I do have an MQA DAC. Overall, I feel that Qobuz sounds better. Looks like I need to sign up for the next level up membership to equal Tidal. |
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Post by routlaw on Dec 27, 2019 12:18:17 GMT -5
Quick followup on Qobuz and Audirvana integration. Got it to work last night so all is good for now. Not sure what was the issue before.
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