Tidal v Spotify SQ

How are you making the comparison? It doesn't sound like you are evaluating the services through the same system?

Some reports suggest Tidal's tracks are not 'lossless' in the sense that they're direct copies of CD's, they are louder than the original CD source and even louder than other music streaming service's.

Tidal may have better SQ but a night and day difference, I doubt it if your system is set-up correctly. At least that is my experience comparing Spotify and Qobuz, where Qubuz, judged purely on SQ, is better, as it should be. But many think Spotify still wins on user interface, speed and price.

Dave

Dave, not speed.. That is one area where Spotify seems to lag a  bit behind when  doing searches compared to Deezer and Qobuz on my system. (Using concurrent searches). Also I can't abide the Spotfy iPhone app.. It really is not straightforward as it should be IMO.. I often find it hard to search for specific tracks I am looking for.. However using a third part interface like Sonos I find Spotify searching totally acceptable.

Simon

I have two similar high quality systems, and have been listening And owing hi fi long enough to know the difference. I fear that naim may not be able to update our streamers and we are left with Outdated tech. what are they going to offer a new slot in board at our expense. or bring out a brand new streamer that the custodians of the old streaming naim systems are left in the proverbial lurch. Maybe the French parent company can answer that for us.... Or Not 

regards

ing

Queue 10 pages of the same discussion with same arguments,  on both sides,  made by the same contributors. 

Well yes, but we are yet to hear anything from Naim to allay our fears for very expensive investments , which I person ally find unacceptable. Be afraid.. Very afraid. As for my other System .... No worries at all 

regards

ing

What would you have Naim say?  "Don't worry guys, we have a new model coming out that addresses all your concerns next year".  That would bring sales of the current lineup to a screeching halt. Buyers would simply wait for the new model. Not good for business. 

Having been on the CE factory side for most of my career, new lineup information is held very close to the vest. 

Naims reputation might be at risk in the long term if they don't get this right but sales would spiral downward quickly if they published their product roadmap and release dates too far ahead of availability. 

Did I read that correctly?  You are saying the difference between Spotify and you CD555 is minimal?

Yes.  I do think MP3 streamed on my local system sounds inferior to Spotify -- defies reason, doesn't it? Cannot explain it, but I must so report.

Nick

Good point but sometimes it's hard not to respond when exaggerated claims are made.

Dave

A lot of Spotify's library is streamed below 320 because they acquired it before they launched Spotify Premium. Some of their stuff sounds dreadful, some quite good. Qobuz is consistently better.

I hadn't heard that Tidal is louder. Surely, they're not adding compression?

Keith

So what is the issue? The fact that it has taken Naim so long to incorporate any music streaming service into their equipment and owners now want a better (SQ?) service, e.g. Qobuz or possibly Tidal.

Dave

Nick Spotify use the  Ogg Vorbis codec and NOT the MP3 codec. These codecs work slightly differently in terms of what data they discard, therefore it would be strange, all things being equal, if Ogg Vorbis and MP3 didn't sound different to each other. Where there differences there will be differing preferences.

Simon

Well that's what I've read on the web so it must be true.

Dave

AllenB

Fair enough but that's not "Tidal v Spotify SQ" is it? You would hope the answer to that question would be easy if it costs twice as much!

Dave

The truth is out. I'm sure you'll let Naim know in the best way possible.

Dave

Cheers, Simon.  I forgot about that.

Not trying to be provocative or argue with anybody here -- just sharing my own impressions.  I believe am on record here as preferring AIFF rips to ALAC in listening tests through both the NDX and Squeezebox Touch through the Naim DAC / 555DR; and I think I posted once that neither AAC nor MP3 sounded as good as lossless, to me, with any equipment in my system -- in fact, I was delighted to discover the differences followed logic, and were generally consistent with what others here heard.

Then I added the Sonos (via DC-1), which I hoped to love, but did not; then I added Spotify, which I expected to sound dire, but was pleasantly surprised.

Finally, I played the song "No no no" by Candelaria on Spotify and liked it so well I bought the CD.  I was surprised when I compared the lossless rip and CD player experiences that some of the body I was used to seemed to be lost.  I get that I may have fallen in love with song the way I heard it first,   "smeared" effect, or other Low-Fi effect via Spotify and all.  Or, maybe that CD was not right somehow.  

For me, the biggest "night and day" is Sonos versus anything else I have tried, which puts me in a bind, as it seems to be the easiest conduit for me to try Tidal and Deezer; but if it won't play local lossless rips well, I suspect it will mask the benefits if these services.  I guess I could hack the SBT to compare.

Might be time to have the Sonos checked, if that is possible.

Still, enjoying the journey and all of the new things coming online everywhere.  The Naim/Spotify UI is not ideal, but it works better for me than it did via the headless Mac Mini and SBT/iPeng before.  

Thanks for the dialog.

Nick

Hi Nick, you should be able to play local lossless rips. There are two methods I use:

1. The Sonos can mount your local file share on a NAS and play the files directly over the network. This is nice as these files can come up in the concurrent search function.
2. Depending on the UPnP server you use, you can play directly from the UPnP media server. I use Asset media server, I tell Sonos to recognize the Rhapsody UPnP media server (in settings) and voila I have full local UPnP media streaming functioanlity, albeit hires files not supported so those cant be played by the Sonos.

Simon

Nick.. Ok I understand.. Yes I agree even with reclocking its not quite the same as native Naim local streaming... But reclocking does get it closer.

S