High res albums that really highlight the strength of streaming?

[Hawkmoon]

Please share album titles, artists and streaming platform. I’ll start the ball rolling. The high res version of Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark sounds phenomenal on Amazon HD

 

[Deleted member 108165]

None!

 

[simonali]

Ditto. I'm in my fifties and probably wouldn't hear any difference and ain't falling for the big sell that it sounds better.

 

[Hawkmoon]

In my 50s too. Attraction for me is more because I’ve run out of physical space for more CDs. However can hear that some high res streaming albums sound better than my CDs - some also sound worse ! But the point here is perhaps give streaming a chance before writing it off completely

 

[Al ears]

Yes I own hires files but they've been downloaded, streaming? No.....

 

[Willsmusic]

If you are into electronica the new Fourtet album Sixteen Oceans sounds fabulous in 96/24 via Qobuz.

 

[Moree Spingato]

Convergence by Malia. On tidal, it sounds as clean as it can. I also have it in lossless audio files which when played via a DAC that upscales, sound remarkably similar to the Tidal version. Boris Blank is a genius.

(Just to add, people who still in 2020 spew CD-hugging drivel about how streaming is not for them are either bloviating about their aural abilities, or have a weak doohickey in their component chain. I’ve seen “audiophiles” who have a preamp, amp and speakers that cost upwards of 20,000 bucks, but because their amp is older, to give it Bluetooth capability the adapter they have is a 35 bucks Logitech. Seriously. No wonder streaming doesn’t sound good to these Einstein’s.)

 

[Deleted member 108165]

Just to add, people who still in 2020 spew CD-hugging drivel about how streaming is not for them are either bloviating about their aural abilities, or have a weak doohickey in their component chain. I’ve seen “audiophiles” who have a preamp, amp and speakers that cost upwards of 20,000 bucks, but because their amp is older, to give it Bluetooth capability the adapter they have is a 35 bucks Logitech. Seriously. No wonder streaming doesn’t sound good to these Einstein’s.)

I could say the same about the stream-hugging drivel posted by you but I won't... Each to their own. Who gives a sh*t about bluetooth if you happen to have an extensive CD collection anyway. It's all about the recording, NOT the method used to play it, so go spout your drivel elsewhere.

 

[Moree Spingato]

Touchy I’m glad you have the space to keep CDs. Let me know when you discover a technology to make your own playlist sequence.. some of us prefer not to be stranded with a sequence of songs where 2 out of 10 are worth the time. Good for you. Meanwhile for 99% of the world there’s no discernible difference between a Tidal sourced sound and that from a CD. You’re in the wrong thread. Find another tiny niche.

 

[Deleted member 108165]

I'll go and crawl back under my stone and leave you with your millennial snowflake view of musical appreciation.

As to the OP of this thread I have several hi-res files all of which sound no better than their CD counterpart and significantly worse than their original vinyl pressing. So fundamentally a waste of cash unless you know which master the recording is taken from.

 

[Moree Spingato]

Right, because everyone who has moved on from the morass of CD racks and can find even greater joy in the freedom and flexibility of high-res streaming while getting the same audio quality as the past is a snowflake and a millennial. (I'm 50.)

My Monitor Audio Silver 200 speakers powered by CXA81 do just fine with the source being Tidal on a Mac Mini, connected by cable.

Look forward to more sensible responses from people who're actually responding to the OP's question.

 

[Hawkmoon]

OK folks let's keep it civil - I'm not a Moderator but I didn't want to start a thread that would create problems between members. DougK - thanks for your input - it's interesting that you find no difference between high res files vs CD. I sometimes do find the high res files to be better, sometimes worse. I agree that the quality of the original recording and mastering is perhaps more important than standard vs high res. But my post was not really intended to be a debate about streaming - it was kind of aimed at those who enjoy streaming and wanted to share good experiences - your post was a bit provocative, no? I'm not sure if there was a similar post about vinyl I would want to drop in and stir things by saying similar things to what you have said about streaming, even though I am not particularly a vinyl fan (I lived with vinyl in the 70s through to the 90s BTW so am not 'snowflake' gen). You don't rate streaming or downloaded files, and you prefer vinyl - I hear you, you are entitled to your view.

 

[Hawkmoon]

Convergence by Malia. On tidal, it sounds as clean as it can. I also have it in lossless audio files which when played via a DAC that upscales, sound remarkably similar to the Tidal version. Boris Blank is a genius.

Thanks I will check it out

 

[Moree Spingato]

So. Back to the OP. I find Tidal’s rendering of Bela Fleck is sublime with the right components.

 

[Al ears]

OK folks let's keep it civil - I'm not a Moderator but I didn't want to start a thread that would create problems between members. DougK - thanks for your input - it's interesting that you find no difference between high res files vs CD. I sometimes do find the high res files to be better, sometimes worse. I agree that the quality of the original recording and mastering is perhaps more important than standard vs high res. But my post was not really intended to be a debate about streaming - it was kind of aimed at those who enjoy streaming and wanted to share good experiences - your post was a bit provocative, no? I'm not sure if there was a similar post about vinyl I would want to drop in and stir things by saying similar things to what you have said about streaming, even though I am not particularly a vinyl fan (I lived with vinyl in the 70s through to the 90s BTW so am not 'snowflake' gen). You don't rate streaming or downloaded files, and you prefer vinyl - I hear you, you are entitled to your view.

OK folks let's keep it civil - I'm not a Moderator but I didn't want to start a thread that would create problems between members. DougK - thanks for your input - it's interesting that you find no difference between high res files vs CD. I sometimes do find the high res files to be better, sometimes worse. I agree that the quality of the original recording and mastering is perhaps more important than standard vs high res. But my post was not really intended to be a debate about streaming - it was kind of aimed at those who enjoy streaming and wanted to share good experiences - your post was a bit provocative, no? I'm not sure if there was a similar post about vinyl I would want to drop in and stir things by saying similar things to what you have said about streaming, even though I am not particularly a vinyl fan (I lived with vinyl in the 70s through to the 90s BTW so am not 'snowflake' gen). You don't rate streaming or downloaded files, and you prefer vinyl - I hear you, you are entitled to your view.

Thanks for being so thoughtful, I am a moderator and have been following this thread closely.
You raised a question that seems to have acquired some posts that were slightly wayward from the post and some were indeed unhelpful.
Should any members continue antagonistic posts I will do something about it.

 

[Imac71]

Convergence by Malia. On tidal, it sounds as clean as it can. I also have it in lossless audio files which when played via a DAC that upscales, sound remarkably similar to the Tidal version. Boris Blank is a genius.

(Just to add, people who still in 2020 spew CD-hugging drivel about how streaming is not for them are either bloviating about their aural abilities, or have a weak doohickey in their component chain. I’ve seen “audiophiles” who have a preamp, amp and speakers that cost upwards of 20,000 bucks, but because their amp is older, to give it Bluetooth capability the adapter they have is a 35 bucks Logitech. Seriously. No wonder streaming doesn’t sound good to these Einstein’s.)

just listened to this on Amazon HD. What a fantastically well recorded album.

 

[Moree Spingato]

just listened to this on Amazon HD. What a fantastically well recorded album.

I’m surprised it’s on there! Amazon lacks so much of the music in my playlists. Even Spotify doesn’t have this album anymore, not in my region anyway. It sounds spectacular on Tidal anyway. Enjoy!

 

[simonali]

Malia was one of those artists where I liked a single track and then got added to every playlist on Spotify until I was forced to click the 'don't play this' button. Now I can't hear the track I did like!

 

[Hawkmoon]

I’m surprised it’s on there! Amazon lacks so much of the music in my playlists. Even Spotify doesn’t have this album anymore, not in my region anyway. It sounds spectacular on Tidal anyway. Enjoy!

It’s there on Amazon HD in CD quality but not high res

 

[Imac71]

Right, because everyone who has moved on from the morass of CD racks and can find even greater joy in the freedom and flexibility of high-res streaming while getting the same audio quality as the past is a snowflake and a millennial. (I'm 50.)

My Monitor Audio Silver 200 speakers powered by CXA81 do just fine with the source being Tidal on a Mac Mini, connected by cable.

Look forward to more sensible responses from people who're actually responding to the OP's question.

I have the MA Silver 200's as well (in white). They made me fall in love with listening to music again!

 

[Leon Martin]

Hunted by Anna Calvi. I have both Qobuz and Tidal ( thanks to their spring £4 for 4 months offer). TBH I've tried both CD (Tidal) and hi res (Qobuz) versions and I can't honesty say I can tell the difference.
Streamer is a CA CXN V2, amp is a CA CXA81 and speakers are Oberon 5

 

[Hawkmoon]

I’ll give that Anna Calvi album a go - it’s available on Amazon HD in high def

 

[EricLeRouge]

I have been following hi-rez since 1999 and have a terabyte of music recorded, ripped, downloaded, purchased, over the past 20 years. Here's my 2 cents on this :

- Everything that was mastered or remastered for the high resolution formats (SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu-Ray) by the labels is likely to have a higher quality than the equivalent CD editions, and even more so for the early CDs (pre-1996, give or take), but there's no guarantee that the streaming services are using the best available master

- Small labels give the most honest high-resolution masters, so it's worth checking those in greater detail (Harmonia Mundi, Alia Vox, Naim, Linn, ECM, Opus 3, etc).
All of the ECM remasters, bitrate varies from 24/44.1 to 24/192, but quality is consistently high, or very high. Alia Vox and Harmonia Mundi SACDs have been released in high rez PCM, the wpn't sound as sweet as the SACDs but better than the CDs

- Some artist keep a close eye on the quality of their work circulated by the labels - for example Neil Young or Ben Afleck (who always let people record his concerts and circulate the files) : Neil Young Best Of (originally remastered at 24/96, can still be found used for a decent price so you can compare the DVD with the streaming versions)

- Many Warner Music (Japan) remasters, also reissued in SACD and Blu-Ray, are great improvements over previous editions (Callas catalogue, the most striking example is Carmen, Böhm's Zauberflote, etc).

If you can afford them, all the DSD download files from Analogue Productions (including the RCA Living Stereo series), will blow away any CD edition, and in fact most vinyl editions. Highly recommended, although quite expensive.