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Tidal WiFi not as good as cd

Hi all,

Trying out tidal hifi and noticed that the same music airplayed to my dac is not as good as my CD ripped to the computer and airplayed to the same dac. Almost sounds like a lossy file. Am I doing something wrong or is this what is to be expected because of streaming. Not exactly sure what Roon is but heard it should make tidal streams better. If so, would it still be worse than ripped CDs?  


jaferd
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astewart8944
499 posts
 
In my system ripped CDs in WAV files stored in either Innuos Statement or Antipodes DX3 then to DAC (both using Roon software and both streaming Tidal) is significantly better SQ (IMO) than Tidal 16/44 FLAC files through the same DAC. WAV files tend to always sound better than FLAC files in my system.  
dougsat
366 posts
 
So download the Tidal app to your Laptop or PC and play Tidal through your USB connection into your DAC.
Problem solved. Streaming wirelessly is something I only do as a convenience not when I sit down to seriously listen.
Give it a try - Tidal app on your PC.
DS
lukaszwk
56 posts
 
I think that the general consensus is that tidal lags slightly behind in sq from locally stored files, streamer or not. Although miles better than hq from spotify it’s not really red book quality. I think it’s still worth it. The op should try roon. It will improve both sources and might bring tidal sq closer to local files. In either case, both will sound better.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 
Tidal sounds slightly better than CDs for the most part on my rig. This is completely system dependent. I have an Innuos Zen 3 server and Sotm Switch and Ethernet cables.  Again, the answer to this question is 100% system dependent. Meaning what your front end is including cabling and LAN network gear and tweaks. In digital it all matters. 
hughp3's avatar
hughp3
75 posts
 
Tidal sound excellent on my rig. Window10 tower JCAT FEMTO USB card, AR Ref 6, dCS bartok with hardware MQA decoding. I also have Jriver with 24bit files. The same 24bit on TIDAL is just as good. Very pleased with it.

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