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Any one received this email update
- Thread starter prince albert
- Start date
Rodolfo
Well-known member
Maybe competition or inspiration from Amazon Music Unlimited which has been offering lossless HD and UltraHD listening, with Dolby Atmos and Sony Spatial for a couple of years --I think it is. Amazon Unlimited also offers an $89 annual plan for even lower net cost. (I'm a prime member in the US, so I don't know what non-prime, non-US offerings are.)
Admittedly, Amazon plans do not come with tidal socializing features nor bragging rights.
I wonder is Spotify will ever catch up/on...
Admittedly, Amazon plans do not come with tidal socializing features nor bragging rights.
I wonder is Spotify will ever catch up/on...
Revolutions
Well-known member
I signed up to Tidal Hifi for a trial today. As a Spotify user it’s pretty intuitive, which is nice. Far slicker than Qobuz & it works really well on 5g, which the former cannot do at all.
Did another obligatory test between 320kbps & 16 bit on the AirPods & the hifi. Still just a super subtle improvement on cymbal hits on the higher-res version that I’d never notice without a side by side comparison.
Pleasantly surprised by Tidal. But for ease of not moving libraries and sharing tracks/playlists with friends, no reason for me to make the switch.
Did another obligatory test between 320kbps & 16 bit on the AirPods & the hifi. Still just a super subtle improvement on cymbal hits on the higher-res version that I’d never notice without a side by side comparison.
Pleasantly surprised by Tidal. But for ease of not moving libraries and sharing tracks/playlists with friends, no reason for me to make the switch.
daveyjay
Well-known member
Yes, I've had a similar message. Looks like the Family Plan is going from £29.99 to £16.99! That's one helluva price drop.
skinnypuppy71
Well-known member
Gray
Well-known member
Would make me think I'd previously been overcharged 🤔
nopiano
Well-known member
Revolutions
Well-known member
I’m super pleased to have Tidal after seeing this article & in the first paragraph is a playlist.
Has kept me busy for the last few hours 🥰
www.whathifi.com
Has kept me busy for the last few hours 🥰
We asked top British hi-fi engineers for their favourite test tracks – this is what they said
All the tracks that test the best kit in the business
www.whathifi.com
My2Cents
Well-known member
How does Qobuz not work on 5G? Or did you mean Tidal?
I believe that Tidal has a dedicated transfer playlists page with all the major streaming services listed, including Spotify.
Revolutions
Well-known member
Sorry, didn’t word that well. I found the Qobuz app really slow on mobile network & it took ages to buffer tracks, was constantly stopping to load. Unusable for streaming on the tube as it only seemed to have 10 seconds of a track loaded ahead of time. Spotify & Tidal can go 1-2 tracks between connections, and load far faster when they have network.
Witterings
Well-known member
I think what you fear may possibly be the outcome, they'll probably discount until the competition can't compete and have to throw in the towel ... then crank the prices up.
I just think it's a shame that Qobuz haven't developed Ultra HD, Lossless and Connect and whilst a lot of people don't like Amazon's inteface App I find it more usable to find albums you've added to your library than Qobuz.
Spotify ... just a shame they haven't developed higher quality because they pretty much have the rest.
In the long run I personally think they'll have to if they want to survive ... unless the market remains dominated by Spotify as it's just the "music enthusiast" that's concerned about the higher quality.
Shame Tidal, Qubuz and Spotify don't merge, take the best bits from each and have a combined effort to develop the parts that aren't quite there and take on "The Big Boys".
My2Cents
Well-known member
How is Qobuz not Ultra HD/lossless? It streams FLAC at up to 24/192.
They are currently developing Qobuz 'connect'.
Witterings
Well-known member
You can stream Qobuz to Chromecast from their App but it's limited to 24/96 ... you can use a 3rd party App like MConnect or the WiiM App if you're uisng their streamer I believe for full res but most of those Apps are pretty clunky to use so are knockouts for me.
They "claim" they're developing Connect but it's been in the pipeline a long time, it was due out last year, then last Qtr of last year then 1st Qtr of this year, I hope their promises materialise a little quicker than Spotify's Hi Res which seems to be stuck with Peter Pan and not a spec of Annabel's pixie dust in sight ...... unfortunately.
Certainly if Qobuz do pull a rabbit out of the hat I'll definitely give them another try (and would rather give my money to them than Amazon) but I think the App could be improved as well so hopefully that's being worked on at the same time.
Witterings
Well-known member
I've never tried Tidal but must admit am tempted to give it a trial .... what are other people's opinions of it, if you google best quality streaming service or is Amazon or Tidal or Qobuz or Tidal better sound quality, Tidal seem to often come up as the least preferred with Qobuz often being top of the parade.
My2Cents
Well-known member
Anything greater than 16/44.1 is considered Hi Res (what you call Ultra HD).
Well recorded, mixed and mastered music sounds fabulous in 16/44.1 anyway.
That same 'well recorded, mixed and mastered music' ain't going to sound any better at 24/192 unless you have 'bionic' ears and are listening in a perfect listening room through a $100,000 stereo!
And 90% of the popular music currently available today is 'junk' mastering.
Witterings
Well-known member
I had 3 WiiM minis that could only play mutiroom music at 44.1 ... I set them up with one using the lower 44.1 resolution and another using a 2nd Amazon account using the higher quality 24/192 resolution and whilst I accept it wasn't a life changing difference it was definitely there.
The higher Res was richer / warmer and the tiniest amount more detail, you'd never be able to walk into a friends house and say .... Ahhh .... you're only playing 16/44.1 it's more about if it sounds good or it doesn't but side by side I genuinely believe there is a minimal difference.
Whilst some things can't be measured I think humans senses and 6th sense are way above what can be measured and sometimes there's just a feeling, for years there have been supposidely identical photos of the same very attractive girl side by side and they ask people which is more attractive and like 98% of people choose the same one but don't know why.
They've photoshopped the pictures and made the girl's pupils 1/10th mm larger or they've adjusted the backgound colour by the same miniscule amount ... both levels that can hardly be measured and yet there's a leaning towards one that people can't explain.
Personally whilst the difference between 16/44.1 to 24/192 may be miniscule I do believe in humans ability / 6th sense to pick up on something that maybe machines can't measure.
Revolutions
Well-known member
It’s literally been measured: 16/44.1 to 24/192.
Humans make way more unconscious choices than conscious, so your 6th sense theory holds weight. Until you consider that your brain is so energy hungry it’s evolved to guesstimate in order to be more efficient. The result is an intake of senses that unconsciously filters anything it deems not immediately relevant; feeding you a narrative that makes its shortcuts seem correct & then post-rationalising to seek coherence in your decision making. This last part always blew my mind, given it’s not optimised for learning in a world of predators. Evolution seems to have preferred brains that make quick decisions rather than the ‘right’ decision. I like to think what would happen to the brain if you actually considered all options at a decision point: endless variables would lead super slow choices or even option paralysis. Playing chess would be ‘combinatorially explosive’, to quote John Vervaeke. AI can run through every possible move by probability in a heartbeat, whereas our brains rely on patterns to give us cues. It’s v clever, but also flawed at the same time.
The good news is that when I say my ears are good & I barely hear a difference between 320kbps & 16/44.1, you can point out that it’s a subjective view. So, as with all things, carry on & be happy with whatever you enjoy listening to the most 😊
Humans make way more unconscious choices than conscious, so your 6th sense theory holds weight. Until you consider that your brain is so energy hungry it’s evolved to guesstimate in order to be more efficient. The result is an intake of senses that unconsciously filters anything it deems not immediately relevant; feeding you a narrative that makes its shortcuts seem correct & then post-rationalising to seek coherence in your decision making. This last part always blew my mind, given it’s not optimised for learning in a world of predators. Evolution seems to have preferred brains that make quick decisions rather than the ‘right’ decision. I like to think what would happen to the brain if you actually considered all options at a decision point: endless variables would lead super slow choices or even option paralysis. Playing chess would be ‘combinatorially explosive’, to quote John Vervaeke. AI can run through every possible move by probability in a heartbeat, whereas our brains rely on patterns to give us cues. It’s v clever, but also flawed at the same time.
The good news is that when I say my ears are good & I barely hear a difference between 320kbps & 16/44.1, you can point out that it’s a subjective view. So, as with all things, carry on & be happy with whatever you enjoy listening to the most 😊
Gray
Well-known member
Its quite simple as far as I'm concerned:
Whatever you're comparing, if you can't consistently, blindly tell them apart (or if you have to really make an effort to do so) - then whatever difference you may perceive, is a 'difference' I can do without.
daveyjay
Well-known member
Personally, I find Tidal to be extremely detailed but a little 'bright' sounding when compared to Qobuz which I reckon sounds 'richer'. Don't know why this would be.
Slap My Daddy
Member
Slap My Daddy
Member
For a new subscriber such as myself, would I be obligated to continue paying ~$20 bucks for Tidal HiDef?
Gray
Well-known member
Another contender for best first post
(Always interesting to see what people take the trouble to sign up and say).
Slap My Daddy
Member
Or should I unsubscribe and rejoin? I mean, can anyone explain this better?
Last edited by a moderator:
Slap My Daddy
Member
I'll be getting charged the premium (~$20.00) on April 5th
Last edited by a moderator:
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