Rybo
Minor Hero
Posts: 62 
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Post by Rybo on Jan 24, 2022 22:52:14 GMT -5
Lately I've determined that I should pare down my streaming costs a bit, so today I made the switch from Tidal HiFi+ to a trial version of Qobuz. Before unsubscribing from Tidal:
1. I transferred my playlists over to make sure most of my tracks were available. 2. I compared a few Tidal MQA tracks (fully unfolded w/ifi MQA DAC) with their corresponding Qobuz hi-res tracks. I was a little concerned at first because the fully unfolded tracks do seem to sound a little better than when partially-unfolded -- but I really couldn't tell the difference between the full MQA and the Qobuz hi-res for the tracks I compared. 3. I verified that the web app was at least decently usable for my usage. (I can't install the PC app because my Windows display is scaled up, and the app wasn't developed correctly to handle scale).
I have also been considering switching from Tidal because the tracks seem to hang or buffer fairly frequently, and I've been having to close and reopen the app every time that happens. Then the track starts again from the beginning. I realize that could be an issue with my internet connection, but I hardly ever have that happen while streaming TV/movies -- it seems to me audio should be less of an issue (?). So far that hasn't happened in my trial of Qobuz, but it's a little early yet. Anyone out there either satisfied or unhappy with their Qobuz experience?
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Post by vcautokid on Jan 24, 2022 23:16:03 GMT -5
Hmmm, I use Qobuz and Tidal with zero issues.On anything I play on them. Android,IOS,Windows10, just works. Media is a fun thing on the network. Various free network analysis tools to test for packet loss, latency, upload and download speed. Upload speed people tend to forget and shouldn't. It isn't just download. Also look at how things are being managed. Do you run a VPN, if so you could run into tunnel flapping in your network too. But you could have a bad install on Tidal too. My network is hardly anything great but so far no issues.
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Rybo
Minor Hero
Posts: 62
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Post by Rybo on Jan 24, 2022 23:24:37 GMT -5
Hmmm, I use Qobuz and Tidal with zero issues.On anything I play on them. Android,IOS,Windows10, just works. Media is a fun thing on the network. Various free network analysis tools to test for packet loss, latency, upload and download speed. Upload speed people tend to forget and shouldn't. It isn't just download. Also look at how things are being managed. Do you run a VPN, if so you could run into tunnel flapping in your network too. But you could have a bad install on Tidal too. My network is hardly anything great but so far no issues.
Well, I do use VPN during the day while working -- and I pretty much stay connected all day without issue (unless there's a problem with the VPN itself, occasionally). But the audio drops occur just as much after I log off from work, and pretty much every time I stream from Tidal. That's not to say I haven't been able to go fairly long periods of time without it dropping, but it's often enough to be annoying.
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Post by Boomzilla on Jan 24, 2022 23:51:03 GMT -5
I use Qobuz - So far, so good. Through Roon, I can’t detect any difference between Qobuz & my ripped CD library on HDD.
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Post by brutiarti on Jan 25, 2022 8:21:52 GMT -5
I was in the same predicament. Tried Qobuz for a week but I couldn’t deal with the interface. Went back to Tidal HiFi for $120 trough Best Buy.
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Rybo
Minor Hero
Posts: 62
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Post by Rybo on Jan 25, 2022 12:00:12 GMT -5
I was in the same predicament. Tried Qobuz for a week but I couldn’t deal with the interface. Went back to Tidal HiFi for $120 trough Best Buy.
I've been doing a few more comparisons this morning, and I do seem to notice a small difference between full MQA and the hi-res. But I can't really hear a difference between the partial MQA vs CD-quality and the hi-res, but my high frequency is pretty limited. Seems like the MQA produces (adds?) a small sense of forwardness or dynamics and separation, as though a signal processor is activated on a low setting to offer a nearly imperceptible improvement tweak without exaggerating it. (When I initially compared MQA partial vs full a few months ago, I did notice this). Nevertheless, the difference is small enough that, for me, it doesn't justify twice the cost. Maybe that's again because I just don't have the ears to detect more of a distinction. I realize some of that 2x cost goes to the artists, but I think that's only from ~$2 of the subscription per month. I did totally forget that Tidal now has the $10/mo HiFi tier, so I may just go with that.
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Post by jamco on Jan 25, 2022 17:38:34 GMT -5
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Post by jamco on Jan 25, 2022 18:11:00 GMT -5
We subscribe to Tidal HiFi and Spotify Family. Spotify still has the best analytics (a.k.a. ability to accurately suggest music that I like). Tidal has made considerable progress in this area.
I restarted my Qobuz subscription over the holidays; this is my third time to try them. While I still don’t care for the user interface or analytics, Qobuz has increased their music library and it sounds amazing. No streaming issues here.
Qobuz, Undiscovered by Ludovico Einaudi, 24 bit/96 KHz. |
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Rybo
Minor Hero
Posts: 62
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Post by Rybo on Jan 25, 2022 19:50:22 GMT -5
Thanks -- it still seems odd that I have very few issues streaming TV / movies in comparison. I would think just about anything on my end that impacts audio streaming should impact TV streaming as well, no? And I stream both from my PC as well as directly to the TV depending on what I'm watching. Full HD video with good sound quality and few issues. Or are they totally different behind the scenes?
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Post by jamco on Jan 25, 2022 20:04:25 GMT -5
Thanks -- it still seems odd that I have very few issues streaming TV / movies in comparison. I would think just about anything on my end that impacts audio streaming should impact TV streaming as well, no? And I stream both from my PC as well as directly to the TV depending on what I'm watching. Full HD video with good sound quality and few issues. Or are they totally different behind the scenes?
I had the same situation. I could stream Netflix HD (now, Netflix 4K UHD) and Showtime in high quality with no issues, but Tidal would infrequently pause. I hope the link helps. Best of luck. |
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Rybo
Minor Hero
Posts: 62
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Post by Rybo on Feb 5, 2022 15:55:22 GMT -5
Thanks -- it still seems odd that I have very few issues streaming TV / movies in comparison. I would think just about anything on my end that impacts audio streaming should impact TV streaming as well, no? And I stream both from my PC as well as directly to the TV depending on what I'm watching. Full HD video with good sound quality and few issues. Or are they totally different behind the scenes?
I had the same situation. I could stream Netflix HD (now, Netflix 4K UHD) and Showtime in high quality with no issues, but Tidal would infrequently pause. I hope the link helps. Best of luck.
So I switched my Tidal streaming resolution from Master to Hi-Fi to see if I would be content sticking with Tidal at the $10/mo Hifi tier, and I haven't had any buffering/interruptions since. I did have a few brief cutouts playing Qobuz hi-res, though the difference there is that the track would at least continue playing. With the Tidal buffering I had to completely close and reopen the app. But with the Hi-Fi tier it hasn't buffered yet. So I still have to wonder if there's an issue with the larger streaming files. Yet -- I don't have issues with HD streaming video, so I still don't think I can blame my service provider for that, and again, I stay logged in all day on VPN for work. Anyway, sorry for the (now) misleading thread title. Unless I start experiencing buffering issues with the Hifi tier I'm going to stick with Tidal for now -- subject to change. Ha ha.
Edit: One thing I just thought of from a behavioral perspective is that I am more inclined to surf around while listening to music than I am while watching video. I think that is what caused at least some of the high res buffering issues, though it doesn't seem to have impacted the HiFi streaming yet.
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bg
Seeker Of Truth
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Post by bg on Oct 12, 2022 8:59:47 GMT -5
I've noticed similar issues with the Emotiva USB device cutting out when skipping through streaming content (Youtube, Reddit player, Qobuz). I'll lose sound, then I have to manually disable/enable the USB device (Speakers SXWP32768) in windows sound settings to get it back. There is also typically a delay in Windows notification sounds playing when triggered (e.g. outlook). This issue has carried across multiple machines for me when using my TA1 as a desktop amplifier - suggesting this is a driver or hardware issue. Can anyone confirm if the USB DAC is a dedicated/separate module, OR is it using the DAC function in the BT module? I've heard of simlar issues occuring in products using a DAC embedded in the Bluetooth modules.
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KeithL
Administrator 
Posts: 10,256
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Post by KeithL on Oct 12, 2022 11:20:05 GMT -5
Just FYI... no, we take a S/PDIF output from the Bluetooth module and send it to the DAC. I've noticed similar issues with the Emotiva USB device cutting out when skipping through streaming content (Youtube, Reddit player, Qobuz). I'll lose sound, then I have to manually disable/enable the USB device (Speakers SXWP32768) in windows sound settings to get it back. There is also typically a delay in Windows notification sounds playing when triggered (e.g. outlook). This issue has carried across multiple machines for me when using my TA1 as a desktop amplifier - suggesting this is a driver or hardware issue. Can anyone confirm if the USB DAC is a dedicated/separate module, OR is it using the DAC function in the BT module? I've heard of simlar issues occuring in products using a DAC embedded in the Bluetooth modules. |
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Post by SteveH on Oct 14, 2022 7:53:46 GMT -5
I use Tidal and Qobuz coupled with Roon and I do not have any issues. I have a Qobuz Sublime subscription because I get a great deal on music downloads. The Hi-Res downloads are cheaper than the CD downloads, sometimes by as much as 50%. I purchase at least ten albums per year, so I really do save a lot of money with the Sublime subscription.
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Post by wilburthegoose on Oct 15, 2022 9:12:16 GMT -5
I dropped Qobuz because they don't have many of my favorite artists. I listen to a lot of Americana, and Tidal has much better selection than Qobuz.
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