Streaming service

We use the Tune Method to evaluate performance

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Ron The Mon
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Qobuz vs. Spotify

Post by Ron The Mon »

papillon wrote: 2020-11-18 16:42 I see many posts indicating that Qobuz is great.
papillon,
Maybe I can help.

Qobuz is not as good sounding as Spotify.

Spotify is the best sounding streaming service out there; I have been saying this for at least seven years. I have not once ever compared it against Tidal, Google Play, Qobuz, etc. and thought otherwise. I have compared over computers with various players, in addition to iPod, iPhone, iPad, and several Android phones. I have played back through attached speakers, bluetooth speakers, headphones, and hi-fis.

Spotify always sounds best.

Occasionally, on first listen, a competing streaming service sounds *impressive* or more "hi-fi" or seems to have more bass.

The absolute best I've heard Spotify is over a Windows XP computer on a player called Fidelify, which sounded great. That player alerted me to the importance of removing digital volume controls and features from a player which greatly improved Spotify's musicality. The search and recommendation features are nice on a player, but if you want to just listen with the absolute best quality, there should be a selector to turn off all features and enjoy a playlist in the purest, best quality possible.

I am a firm source-firster and find ethernet cables, switch, and wi-fi makes a larger contribution to sound quality than some streaming service differences. This also includes the combinational order in which items are connected.

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Re: Streaming service

Post by u252agz »

When I switched to streaming in January this year, I definitely thought Spotify was much more musical than Tidal ( in comparision Tidal sounded quite poor), but Qobuz was better.

I thought it had the edge in musicality ( definitely not worse) and was much better with the Hi Fi sounds.

I will sign up to another free trial of Spotify and compare again with Qobuz.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Spannko »

There’s only one way to sort this out .............. FIGHT!!! (for those who don’t know, this is an infantile Harry Hill joke 😂)

However, there is another way .......... VIDEO!!! It stops all this I know more than you, my dad’s bigger than your dad, my cocks fuckin’ massive and all that bollox.

This evening I’ll record Spotify ported through a DS and native Qobuz on the Linn app.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by u252agz »

Great idea.

I think it is worth having a fight over this.

The signal feel to the DS ( along with the rest of the digital installation) is absolutely key to getting a musical sound out of these expensive devices.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by matthias »

Spannko wrote: 2020-11-19 11:41 This evening I’ll record Spotify ported through a DS and native Qobuz on the Linn app.
Spannko,
great, looking forward :-)

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Re: Streaming service

Post by Spannko »

Any requests for music?
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Re: Streaming service

Post by matthias »

Spannko wrote: 2020-11-19 17:42 Any requests for music?
Jazz

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Re: Streaming service

Post by macrotech2 »

All of it? :-)
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Re: Streaming service

Post by tokenbrit »

u252agz wrote: 2020-11-19 12:54 Great idea.

I think it is worth having a fight over this...
Do we need a first rule? ;)

I'd be interested in the outcome but wouldn't be surprised if the results suggested regional variability: Spotify better in US; Qobuz better in EU, for instance, and/or that the results might change over time...
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Re: Streaming service

Post by John »

I signed up years ago to the Spotify Premium family plan for my wife and children. I now have a setup that makes streaming overwhelming easy and have really been using it significantly more. I find the sound quality to be very listenable but realize the bitrate is 320Kbs.

I just wonder how a streaming service providing lossless files of the same music doesn’t sound better. Is the bit stream being altered by the time it gets to the DAC?
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Charlie1 »

Spannko wrote: 2020-11-19 17:42 Any requests for music?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cock-Bigger-Yo ... B07ND8BFXJ
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Spannko »

Charlie1 wrote: 2020-11-19 20:54
Spannko wrote: 2020-11-19 17:42 Any requests for music?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cock-Bigger-Yo ... B07ND8BFXJ
I’ll see what I can do! 😂
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Re: Streaming service

Post by OscarH »

Spannko wrote: 2020-11-19 21:34
Charlie1 wrote: 2020-11-19 20:54
Spannko wrote: 2020-11-19 17:42 Any requests for music?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cock-Bigger-Yo ... B07ND8BFXJ
I’ll see what I can do! 😂
It’s on Spotify, with <1000 plays. That’s one rare find Charlie!
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Charlie1 »

:)

Come on - we can push it over 1,000 !
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Re: Qobuz vs. Spotify

Post by lejonklou »

Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-11-19 01:37 Spotify always sounds best.
I disagree.

I don't yet have any experience with Qobuz and I know some of you have been nagging me about it. But when it comes to Tidal, Spotify and YouTube Music (formerly Google Music), I rate Tidal the worst. It's often polished, sterile and lifeless.

Between Spotify and YouTube Music, I find that it differs between songs. I mostly use Spotify, but sometimes there's a song that just doesn't convince me. And then I switch to YouTube Music and play that same song. Often it's worse, but sometimes it's quite a bit better. Sadly I have the impression that Google Music was a little better than YouTube Music.

There are reasons for the difference in performance between these streaming services, even if they are using the same master. It's about how they deliver their data. Interestingly, this often matters more than whether the file is compressed with a lossy scheme (up to a point where it really starts to matter a lot) or if it's a lossless version.

Then there is a difference in how the streamer receives the stream. Lots of differences there. One can fine tune that end to make it more musical.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Spannko »

Here’s the Spotify Vs Qobuz clips.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B12GWZuqDuNCULd

[Qobuz is streamed directly into the DS. Spotify is streamed wirelessly to an iPad, then AirPlay’d to the DS. This is the most convenient way of using Spotify with a DS, but not necessarily the best for sound quality. Tomorrow, I’ll repeat the test, but by using a computer with a wired connection.]

EDIT: it appears that the Spotify app doesn’t work as I described above. I switched the HiFi on this morning and the Spotify playlist was stored on the DS and started playing. The iPad was switched off, so it couldn’t have been AirPlaying.
Last edited by Spannko on 2020-11-20 10:55, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by tokenbrit »

Haven't listened yet, but will do... One thought: is it possible to stream Spotify directly to the DS, rather than Airplay'd, to make it a fair 'fight'? Or Airplay each in turn to change only the stream service? (assuming the same recording)
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Re: Streaming service

Post by anthony »

Spannko wrote: 2020-11-20 01:24 Here’s the Spotify Vs Qobuz clips.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B12GWZuqDuNCULd

Qobuz is streamed directly into the DS. Spotify is streamed wirelessly to an iPad, then AirPlay’d to the DS. This is the most convenient way of using Spotify with a DS, but not necessarily the best for sound quality. Tomorrow, I’ll repeat the test, but by using a computer with a wired connection.
That will be much worse than streaming Spotify directly. I think you should add the direct version as well.
The size didn't come across due to airplay.
Last edited by anthony on 2020-11-20 09:03, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Matteo »

tokenbrit wrote: 2020-11-20 02:46 Haven't listened yet, but will do... One thought: is it possible to stream Spotify directly to the DS, rather than Airplay'd, to make it a fair 'fight'? Or Airplay each in turn to change only the stream service? (assuming the same recording)
IME, Spotify sounds best with the desktop app on a wired PC.

M.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by matthias »

Matteo wrote: 2020-11-20 07:03 IME, Spotify sounds best with the desktop app on a wired PC.
The desktop app is a must, but WiFi into a Macbook Pro with desktop app sounds very good as well.

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Re: Streaming service

Post by Charlie1 »

I can't see which clip is which as neither is labelled.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Spannko »

The plot thickens. It looks like Spotify sends a playlist to the DS which then requests the files directly from the Spotify servers. This morning I discovered that a Spotify playlist was still on the DS and was playing with the iPad switched off, so there couldn’t have been any AirPlaying involved.

So it seems the comparison is valid after all 😁


EDIT: Spotify still streams with the iPad completely powered down, so definitely no AirPlaying going on.
Last edited by Spannko on 2020-11-20 11:18, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Spannko »

Charlie1 wrote: 2020-11-20 10:57 I can't see which clip is which as neither is labelled.
Hopefully fixed
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Charlie1 »

Spannko wrote: 2020-11-20 11:03 The plot thickens. It looks like Spotify sends a playlist to the DS which then requests the files directly from the Spotify servers. This morning I discovered that a Spotify playlist was still on the DS and was playing with the iPad switched off, so there couldn’t have been any AirPlaying involved.

So it seems the comparison is valid after all 😁


EDIT: Spotify still streams with the iPad completely powered down, so definitely no AirPlaying going on.
Maybe that's why I don't suffer regular drop outs like I did with Google Play.
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Re: Streaming service

Post by Charlie1 »

Spannko wrote: 2020-11-20 11:11 Hopefully fixed
Thanks - will compare again later on a better laptop.
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