Best sounding streaming service so far?

bluegrassphile said:
Is there currently a "best sounding" streaming service? Qobuz? Tidal? Something else?
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There is no such thing as reaching a consensus on anything in this hobby. The only thing audiophiles agree on is that we don't agree. Having said that, Roon + Tidal is a dandy combo. By the time you get your system finished and up and running, there could be new contenders.
 
Yeah, mep, that's kind of what I thought. As I finish putting my system together, I'm planning on a Lumin D2 and Roon+. I'm a little concerned that as fast as things are progressing in the streaming arena obsolescence could be an issue with both software and hardware. I'll complete the purchasing and assembling of my system in January. It'll be interesting to see how things have developed by then. BTW, I have both Qobuz and Tidal going into my current HT system and my computer sound system which is also my recording DAW (using Cockos Reaper).
 
Digital and obsolescence go hand in hand. I really like the Roon software, especially when it’s not running on a Windows server. That’s one of the reasons I like the Roon Nucleus+.
 
I can't tell the difference between Roon Tidal and Roon Qobuz. I can tell FLAC from WAV. WAV is better.
Spotify on a good system is darn good. I like some features they offer that lead me to use them.

In the end, it's more about the quality of the source material.

Also, it's so much about what your system was built to play. I put a LPS on my modem and router recently. Big difference. I bet most people could just optimize their hardware and realize a much greater sonic gain that way than agonizing over what streaming service to use.
 
Try Tidal and Quboz without Roon as the middleman making everything sound like Roon and the difference will be apparent. They don't sound the same.
 
Jack said:
Try Tidal and Quboz without Roon as the middleman making everything sound like Roon and the difference will be apparent. They don't sound the same.
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Oh? And how does Roon "sound?"
 
Mark

Roon imparts it's own sonic signature on everything you use it with just like Audirvana, JRiver and the other major media players, but as a reviewer you knew that.
 
Jack said:
Mark

Roon imparts it's own sonic signature on everything you use it with just like Audirvana, JRiver and the other major media players, but as a reviewer you knew that.
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Jack-I'm asking you what is the Roon sonic signature that you are hearing? I quit using JRiver because it would never stay stable with the remote app, not because of how it "sounded." I really like the Roon software compared to JRiver. The much slicker Roon interface was a bonus on top of the stability.
 
And in the end...not much difference sonically. JRiver is a complete dinosaur. Roon is sexy, easy to use and engages the user to discover more music.

Which one sounds better? I doubt most people could tell any difference in a blind shootout.
 
Which one sounds better? I doubt most people could tell any difference in a blind shootout.[/QUOTE]

For some reason they really stood appart on my system about 8 months ago when I bought a new server. I tried JRiver, Roon and HQ all separate. This was on a Linux OS. I then converted to a windows OS. Sounded different, again. I still want to convert to server 2016 but I need a new MB to do that.
 
Mike said:
And in the end...not much difference sonically. JRiver is a complete dinosaur. Roon is sexy, easy to use and engages the user to discover more music.

Which one sounds better? I doubt most people could tell any difference in a blind shootout.
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I agree Mike.
 
Love Roon over Tidal. If there is any difference, I’m not gong to lose any sleep over it. The convenience of Roon interface reigns supreme for me personally. Now there is Qobuz that can be added along with Tidal. I’ve discovered countless new albums of various genres with Roon and finally have been able to “organize” the music library to suit any mood for any genre. Downloading high resolution albums and having it appear in Roon as well, is a tremendous convenience as I always used to misplace my USB thumb drives... Besides the main system, if one is a serious headphone listener, the Roon DSP tools and Audeze filters are extremely useful. Color me happy, I’m a life subscriber to Roon. Let’s hope Roon will be around for many more years.
 
Love the name Theoctopus. You know what, I totally agree over not loosing sleep. My setup is so damb good, I quit chasing dragons and unicorns. I am more just enjoying the music now.

I use Roon too as it finds my files quite well. I also go direct to Tidal and Qobuz via Roon to see their whats new. I also go direct to Spotify because I like they're especially for me files better than any of the other services. And to the point of Sonic's, Spotify Premium is so darn good it's hard to tell the difference between it and any other service. I just don't even bother trying to tell the difference anymore. I just play what I enjoy and enjoy what I play.
 
I can only say how it sounds here, with my particular set-up. but the ranking is quite clear and distinct.

Tidal < Qubuz < files from my PICe local drives.

and where sometimes i'm 'meh' about how Tidal sounds, Qobuz is almost always really fine sounding. so much more satisfying. i'm thinking about dropping Tidal.

my particular dac does allow higher rez to sound exceptionally superior......which likely plays to the strength of Qobuz…..and my files. my dac also does well with MQA as far as that goes.

this is after considerable tweaking of the network interfaces. i'm confident all these methods are pretty optimized.
 
Taking Roon out of it, the nudge goes to Quboz, it simply allows for better sounding resolution from my system.

Both have their place, either is a better choice than having neither, and I like the option of full MQA with Tidal.

If it came down to having to choose, it would be Quboz.

I have no interest in any other services at this time.




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So, is Spotify or Pandora in the same league as Qobuz or Tidal as far as "sonic quality" is concerned? I'm trying to get the best quality streaming service that I can as that (and CDs ripped to Roon) will be my main sources. I do currently have both Tidal and Qobuz going into my two smart TVs/HT systems, my (recording) computer, and my Android cell phone. However, I will keep all these (streaming services) separate from my new two channel audio system. It will have a Lumin D2 and dedicated streaming service/s. I just want it to sound as good as possible. I do have a Technics direct drive automatic TT (SL DD33) from the early '90s but, thinking I'd never need them anymore, I gave away all my vinyl 10 years ago. Huge mistake! Oh well. We'll see how the TT sounds. If it sounds pretty good it'll give me a reason to do some vinyl searching. But, for now, streaming will be my main source.
 
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