Pre-amp and DAC advice requested

AJ - are you saying that in your experience blind testing yields no discernible difference between lossy and lossless?
 
AJR said:
Not sure what “levels matched” means.
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It means voltages were measured equal as not to throw an unaccounted factor into the test. Unequal voltages/levels will not be perceived as "louder" or "softer", but rather "better" or "worse". It's critical to account for all factors (and mitigate) when testing for one specific thing, which is the SQ of 320 vs lossless.
As I mentioned, with a good system and proper training, it's entirely possible...but definitely not "easy". Tracks usually have to be cherry picked for certain attributes. If differences are "easily" heard during casual listening, that is a very strong indication of test errors. YMMV.
 
How do you do that, practically speaking? Call me simple but using the same gear and only switching (the same track) between streaming providers seems robust enough to me. Maybe there is a difference with the quality of recording of the track itself, so that it is not the format but the source on the books of the streaming provider. Ultimately though, whether it is the quality of the track recording or the format, Tidal just sounds better (to me).
 
AJR said:
AJ - are you saying that in your experience blind testing yields no discernible difference between lossy and lossless?
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Not at all. Obviously lower bitrates can be easily identified...no test even needed.
But this is the very specific case of 320 Ogg Vorbis vs lossless, again, not "lossy vs lossless".
320 OV is far more difficult to discern vs lossless. If it's "easy", then this would show in the results.
 
AJR said:
How do you do that, practically speaking?
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Usually by comparing 320 (Spotify) to the same lossless file via a rip, then making sure the levels are the same.
Spotify vs Tidal would be tricky, because there is no telling whether the same masters were used etc.
Btw, if Tidal sounds better to you its a no brainer, use it. I found some tracks did, others didn't, just like with MQAs manipulation (mastering, aliasing artifacts and reEQ).
 
AJ Soundfield said:
It means voltages were measured equal as not to throw an unaccounted factor into the test. Unequal voltages/levels will not be perceived as "louder" or "softer", but rather "better" or "worse".
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How do you do that? Seriously. Might be getting too technical for me. But am interested.
 
So you are saying Spotify is the same bit rate at Tidal? Also, Tidal Premium is not the lossless service, the lossless if Tidal High Fidelity, then they even have "Master" wich carries MQA. So I guess we should first clarify which Tidal we are referring to. Tidal High Fidelity that claims to be lossless, is that only 320 OGG? I was told Tidal High Fidelity is CD quality. Is 320 OGG the same as 1411 kps?

wklie said:
In the same way there are multiple lossless formats such as WAV FLAC AIFF Apple Lossless, there are multiple lossy formats such as MP3 OGG AAC.

Spotify Premium (lossy) uses OGG instead of MP3.
Tidal Premium (lossy) uses AAC, but in some rare cases MP3 as well.
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PREMIUM OR HiFi?

TIDAL comes in two variations, Premium and HiFi, the difference comes down to sound quality

HiFi1411

$19.99

Utilizing the file formats FLAC and ALAC with a bitrate of 1411Kbps, TIDAL HiFi offers uncompressed sound and the ultimate streaming experience for anyone who owns high quality headphones or stereo equipment.
Premium320

$9.99

With its higher than industry-average bitrate, TIDAL Premium is offered at great value to anyone who want’s to get started with ad-free streaming. Premium streams in 320Kbps using the file format AAC

OGG is just a container, the bit rate is still low at 320. Now OGG FLAC or PCM, then you may have a comparison.
 
Mr Peabody said:
So you are saying Spotify is the same bit rate at Tidal? Also, Tidal Premium is not the lossless service, the lossless if Tidal High Fidelity, then they even have "Master" wich carries MQA. So I guess we should first clarify which Tidal we are referring to. Tidal High Fidelity that claims to be lossless, is that only 320 OGG? I was told Tidal High Fidelity is CD quality. Is 320 OGG the same as 1411 kps?
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In my previous post I specifically stated Tidal Premium lossy, so I was not talking about Tidal HiFi lossless.

Aside from codec difference, Spotify Premium lossy in the best setup has a similar bitrate to Tidal Premium lossy, i.e. 320kbps (lossy, not lossless).

Tidal HiFi has lossless 16/44.1 streaming so technically it's better. After lossless decompression it becomes 1411kbps. Master albums use even higher bitrate. Tidal HiFi lossless is FLAC (in most cases).

For the sake of completeness, there's also Qobuz Sublime+ lossless 24-bit streaming up to 24/192, again in FLAC.
 
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