Which streaming / Download service to use

ziggy

Wammer
Wammer
Mar 11, 2017
659
615
98
Cardiff
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I started with Spotify but found that Tidal was a night and day improvement. The worthwhile improvement Qobuz brought was far, far less.
 

tuga

. . .
Wammer
Aug 17, 2007
14,341
7,001
173
Oxen's ford, UK
AKA
Ricardo
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I stream occasionally from the kids' Spotify family account. Sound quality is OK but mastering-dependent (usually a bad remaster) and the treble is audibly a bit dogy.

I buy downloads from Presto, Qobuz and eClassical.
I've also downloaded from Bandcamp and 7digital a couple of times.
 

unclepuncle

Wammer
Wammer
Apr 11, 2007
14,654
492
143
Northants
Tried Qobuz three times but always went back to Tidal. Not much in it soundwise, even when comparing high res Qobuz albums to non hi res versions on Tidal, but Tidal had more of what I listen to and the integration in the Auralic app is much better than it is with Qobuz which had some quirks.

I’ve only ever used the streaming through the Auralic Lightning app which means I get none of the recommendations, adverts etc that lots of people moan about when playing via the websites.
IMO the control interface / app is as important as the music selection and sound quality. No idea what Musical Fidelity use to control their gear.
 

StingRay

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Apr 27, 2016
13,040
8,521
163
Suffolk coast, UK
AKA
Ray
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The thing to do is some free trials and see which suits you best. I was going to do the Qobuz 1 year sub. but some others have had problems with Qobuz streaming on their Bluesound Node, so I did 1 month to check, everything was fine until they did an update, after that had problem, switched to Tidal and no problems so far after 10 days, so seems to be BluOs Qobuz problem which is affecting some users.
I prefer Qobuz to Tidal for catalogue and sound quality.
 
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luxury_scruff

Newbie
Wammer
Sep 14, 2020
212
318
83
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Tidal for the interface for me. I pay full whack and I ain't even got a MQA DAC. Middle class aspirations - might buy some of that Mo-Fi stuff they are raging about on here.
 

MickyP

Wammer
Wammer
Aug 22, 2015
173
51
33
Darlington, County Durham
AKA
Mick
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Spotify or Tidal over here. Tried both, prefer (a bit) Spotify interface, but no hi res, so ballix to them! I'll stick with Tidal. (Not that I'd hear any difference, mind!)
 

Slipkoot

Newbie
New Wammer
Aug 29, 2022
1
0
16
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
  2. No
I feel like, depending on your needs, you have to research most of them to find your "perfect match," but if you want my opinion, I highly recommend http://streamingfamous.com. The selection of channels is fantastic, and the quality is always top-notch. I've never had any issues with buffering or lag, and the customer service is super responsive. In general, if you want something good, there are some factors you should consider some factors when exploring, like the quality of the video and audio, the selection of content, the price, and the ease of use. Hope this was helpful.
 
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JAD

Wammer
Wammer
Mar 5, 2022
342
749
98
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Tidal at the moment. Was going to switch to Qobuz but it didn’t play nice with my JBL Charge for whatever reason. Frustrating as I preferred Qobuz SQ over Tidal when streaming through my HIFI proper.
 

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