Can you tell the difference? streaming services

Dear Esteemed panel

 

Ive just started playing with streaming services, namely , spotify free, spotify premium, deexer free, deezer premium (320KBS) and deezer hifi  and tidal.

 

Dont want to get into the debate about which is better technically  but canwe have any real world experiences of users

1. Can you tell the difference between free versions and higher bitrate at 320kbs

2. can you tell the difference between pemium and hifi in deezer for example

3, are  any services 'superior in your view

 

The only difference that people seem to consistently hear is the step up from 320 to CD quality streams (i.e the higher paid tiers).

As for whether any streaming services are better than others, the principal difference is one of UI preference - thats a largely subjective issue, though some have a view on which does the best job with their own suggested playlists.

Why dont you try out a higher paid tier for yourself - even if only for a month or two.

In the end, no one can tell you a definite answer.

Thank you . yes i have tried them and, from my limited experience deezer hifi for example seems to offer a significant difference over 320 and i can hear it- lets just say its fuller

Well then - stick with Deezer Hifi, unless you hate the interface.

I've been using Qobuz for 9 months now, and like it UI wise.

I was using Tidal before, but didn't love the UI and the pages are too loaded with urban music, which I grew out of a while ago.

Qobuz seems a little less US centric, and grown up.

But UI's are all a matter of preference really.

I’ve trialled Qobuz, Deezer and Tidal and prefer the Q and D. As said Tidal is USA centric and urban. The classical is better on Q but of course no match for dedicated classical services like idagio or primephonic. New wave synth better on D. Jazz - I don’t know which holds the deeper catalogue.

Trialled through Beosound Core and Moment through BL90 at home. I couldn’t hear any difference between the services after many hours.

Being a child of the 80s/90s, nothing beats spinning a CD on Beogram CD7000. I’d like to get a great SACD player one day like a Denon A110 or Marantz s10 or even better a Luxman D-10 but with a young family, that’s not on the radar at the moment.

The jazz offering on Qobuz is excellent, and far ahead of Tidal for sure.

 

 

seethroughyou:

I’ve trialled Qobuz, Deezer and Tidal and prefer the Q and D. As said Tidal is USA centric and urban. The classical is better on Q but of course no match for dedicated classical services like idagio or primephonic. New wave synth better on D. Jazz - I don’t know which holds the deeper catalogue.

 

 

Trialled through Beosound Core and Moment through BL90 at home. I couldn’t hear any difference between the services after many hours.

 

 

Being a child of the 80s/90s, nothing beats spinning a CD on Beogram CD7000. I’d like to get a great SACD player one day like a Denon A110 or Marantz s10 or even better a Luxman D-10 but with a young family, that’s not on the radar at the moment.

 

This is, unfortunately, a simple question with a complicated answer... There's more to it than just 320 kbps Ogg Vorbis vs. 44.1/16, since some of the services offer different sampling rates, CODECs, on a track by track basis.

The thing that complicates the answer is the way different hardware devices, software players, and firmware versions deal with things like sampling rate conversion - to mention the most usual suspect.

So, although one service running at one sampling rate at one bit depth with one CODEC might behave better than another service/sampling rate/bit depth/CODEC on one playback device, the opposite might be true for another playback device - and the results might swap places tomorrow with a firmware update that happened while you were sleeping.

My recommended strategy is to find the streaming service that gives you the catalogue you like most at a quality level that good enough such that it doesn't cause you to be distracted from listening to music.

Cheers

-geoff