Thankfully I'm immune to all this as I simply play/listen to "records" and "CD's" that I physically place on the TT and in the CD tray.
DeKay
bits is bits
Being a retired IT tech, Iʻm a "bits is bits" guy. I keep seeing people rank different streaming services against each other and I have to say, Iʻm mystified. Modern recordings are all digital masters and remastered. If two different hi-res streaming services, say Qobuz and Tidal, have the same track available, why would one sound different from the other, let alone better?
The stream is being fed over TCP/IP from the source, and I see no reason that it you were to do a cksum on the same file/track being delivered by either streaming service, that they would exactly match. So why do people claim better sound from one streaming source over the other. Iʻm assuming they are both full resolution sources, not mp3.
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“If two different hi-res streaming services, say Qobuz and Tidal, have the same track available, why would one sound different from the other, let alone better? Possibly because the labels may provide different masters to each platform. This isn’t unique to streaming — the same thing happens with physical media too, where variations in mastering can lead to noticeable differences in sound quality. In case of physical media like vinyl, you can usually trace the provenance of a recording. With streaming, though, we’re left guessing. They don’t disclose which master or source file we’re actually hearing. As @ghdprentice pointed out, Qobuz in general, have a better SQ. These differences are more apparent in well appointed audio systems. Cheers! |
The only problem I see here is that the OP is using an HP laptop to Use as a streamer. Until you’re ready to jump into the deep end of the pool, you are always going to have this kind of conversation of bit is bit. Getting a dedicated streamer from any of the big three InnuOs, Aurender or Lumin You’re just spinning your wheels. I have no clue what Tom foolery these guys are doing, but they’re smacking the heck out of a laptop streamer. |
@gkelly The reason I brought up this question is that I saw someone else making the claim that Tidal was better than Qobuz. So I was just curious.
I donʻt do any streaming myself. I just play back digital files from a hard drive. I have a miniPC running Ubuntu Linux and JRiver, which feeds into a Peachtree DAC. I have far too much in my collection to ever consider streaming. I just donʻt need it. |
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