Deezer / Tidal ?

alucididea
alucididea Posts: 113
edited May 2018 in Going Digital
Does anyone any thoughts on using streaming services such as Deezer/Tidal for Flac/MQA audio? I just signed up for a trial of each one, but thought I’d get your opinions as well so I can explore as best informed as possible...

I haven’t started using it yet, but I’m going to download the Tidal OSX App for potential MQA streaming.

Oh wise ones, share your wisdom with the likes of me...
Post edited by alucididea on
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    Interested to hear what you think of Tidal. I too tried their free trial late last year but ultimately chose to cancel.

    I wasn't impressed with the audio quality, I'm referring to their standard 320kbps AAC stream. I used Tidal to listen to a number of songs that I have on CD and 320kbps MP3 of, and I felt that there was some sort of EQ or enhancement being applied to the music that I wasn't a fan of. Like they were artificially boosting frequencies to make things sound "better", as opposed to just presenting the tracks as they are.

    Maybe Tidal "HiFi" with the FLAC files don't have this artificial enhancement applied to them.
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  • alucididea
    alucididea Posts: 113
    Clipdat wrote: »
    Maybe Tidal "HiFi" with the FLAC files don't have this artificial enhancement applied to them.
    I’m only interested in the “HiFi” versions of each. If I’m going to stream compressed music, I’ll just stick with Apple Music. It’s what I’ve been using...

    I can tell right off the bat how much more depth the FLAC versions have to them. But the interfaces aren’t amazing on either. I think the reality is that I’ll end up using my laptop as the streaming source either way (sigh), so I’ll also have to explore the OSX apps.

    Maybe someone knows of better 24/192 steaming than either of those?
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  • rburgess714
    rburgess714 Posts: 616
    I have had Tidal HiFi for some time now streaming through an Auralic Aries Mini and I love it. I have also had good results with Tidal on a laptop connected via usb to my pre. Like the apps convenience and sq. No experience with Deezer,
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    The Lumin supports Tidal/MQA, and on other sites that are more high end, the users love it. As an FYI, a computer is probably the worst way to play digital music. While better than nothing, a dedicated file player, such as from Bryston, Lumin, and others, will easily surpass any computer based system. Plenty of info on the subject via Google.
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  • alucididea
    alucididea Posts: 113
    BlueFox wrote: »
    Plenty of info on the subject via Google.
    Really? Is that where information on the internet lives? I had no idea!!!
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,962
    Bluefox makes a valid point. Usually, anything with a dedicated task in audio sounds better than the swiss army knife style pieces of gear.

    Tidal/Deezer ? Pick your poison....but I believe Tidal may have the bigger library. Keep in mind, if MQA is what your chasing, that your dac also needs to be MQA certified as this is basically a 2 stage process to open the MQA format. The app itself contains one step, the associated dac is the second. Some really like it, others not so much, just a matter of preference there I guess.

    User interface....none are really all that great, but do take some getting used to if all your familiar with is ITunes or the like.
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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,726
    edited May 2018
    DELETED
    Post edited by AsSiMiLaTeD on
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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    I would rather buy a couple or few cd's a month than pay a monthly susubscription. I get some kind of sick pleasure from hoarding cd's.
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  • alucididea
    alucididea Posts: 113
    afterburnt wrote: »
    I would rather buy a couple or few cd's a month than pay a monthly susubscription. I get some kind of sick pleasure from hoarding cd's.
    That’s a way more expensive way to go, no? Honestly I’m just trying to get away from the physical content part. For myself, being able to listen to almost anything on-demand is also just as important, not to mention ease of single-source ubiquity across every listening area conceivable.
    But hey, we’ve all got our thing...
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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    edited May 2018
    @alucididea I have a lot of cd's and I buy cd's occasionally to fill in the gaps in my collection. I had Tidal for a while and once I added some stuff to "favorites" that I didn't have the list kind of went dormant. I wasn't finding a lot of other stuff that I wanted to to take the time to listen to. I got that "Directv" feeling about the service "400 channels and nothing to watch". I guess I would have liked it better if I didn't have a decent collection already. Besides my penchant for hoarding I have a problem with commitment, I dont like having a monthly bill in order to feed my filthy habit. I don't have to buy cd's. I can stop anytime that I want. :#

    Oh yeah, cd's are forever sort of. Turn off the service and what do you have left?

    PS Oh yeah, go with Deezer. Madona and Jayzee have enough money. :p
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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,726
    I felt the same way for a long time, and still do to some extent. For music that I really like I still buy it to directly support those artists, and I’ve got somewhere around 10TB of music. Even with a collection that large I still always manage to find new music that I’d have never heard otherwise.
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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    I discover most new music by reading the wiki or sound hound articles about the artist that I am listening to. I am usually surprised about "who played with who". I go on Amazon or Pandora to get my ears on what I have found and then decide if I want the cd. The downside I guess is you may not be able to tell a bad recording that way. Tidal seemed to be able to reveal a bad recording.
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    edited October 2020
    No, but you'll be able to get a swift kick in the azz.
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