Spotify vs Audio CD

[chillumphile]

I think there's a world of difference between Bryers and Baskin Robins Ice cream because I prefer Bryers

Someone with a far better setup than yours could just as easily feel the opposite way. Or they could feel neither is as good as CD or vinyl. It's simply a matter of perspective (in this case equipment). And why I put zero stock in statements like the above.

I personally prefer listening to CDs over any streamed content. That's me.

Perspective.

Dude, Apple is lossless while Spotify is not.

If someone still prefers Spotify that just means they have bad taste or poor ears.

Not everything in audio is subjective, lol.


Thats like an ignorant person saying Kwality Walls sweetened hydrogenated oil is better than Baskin Robbins.

 

[chander]

Dude, Apple is lossless while Spotify is not.

If someone still prefers Spotify that just means they have bad taste or poor ears.

OOOOOOOOOH - that hurt!!!! I am one of those Don't do that to me please!!!!
***

 

[amrutmhatre90]

If someone still prefers Spotify that just means they have bad taste or poor ears.

Add me to the list too, I prefer Spotify over Apple Music anyday.
AM is like loudness button activated, most of these services add some sort of mixing on their end to make it sound good on any device.

That said, I have started collecting CD's again after I have heard a huge difference in the way streaming services have songs mixed.
And I was shocked !!!!

CD's have good instrument separation and details, which is missing in some streaming services.
I have done a A/B comparison of some songs, can suggest you guys to try it out too.

Now this I felt is mainly for Indian content, and western is still very good on streaming.

 

[mbhangui]

Oh my poor ears, but add me too to the list who prefer spotify over apple. The AM interface sucks and impossible to use if you have a large playlist and want to start next day exactly at the same song same position next day.

With spotify moving between rooms is seamless (I have speakers in every room). I can pause a song in one room and play the same song in the next room starting from the exact position I left off. AM just cannot do that becase every device is independent and has it's own mind on what music is being played by the end user.

 

[chillumphile]

Oh my poor ears, but add me too to the list who prefer spotify over apple. The AM interface sucks and impossible to use if you have a large playlist and want to start next day exactly at the same song same position next day.

With spotify moving between rooms is seamless (I have speakers in every room). I can pause a song in one room and play the same song in the next room starting from the exact position I left off. AM just cannot do that becase every device is independent and has it's own mind on what music is being played by the end user.

Yes, I had been a Spotify user for more than six years and was listening more than 1000 hours of music each of those years.

I am an Android user and AM's app it is just terrible.


But just because of SQ, I am listening to music solely through it on my hifi setup.

I do miss spotify and its frustrating to navigate for songs on AM and really miss the recommendation engine.

I demo'd Tidal and maybe its mine poor ears but didnt find it significantly better than AM. Maybe I will give it a try when they do away with the MQA bs.

 

[RRR]

One more to the list of poor ears that prefer Spotify.

 

[sbg]

Dude, Apple is lossless while Spotify is not.

If someone still prefers Spotify that just means they have bad taste or poor ears.

Not everything in audio is subjective, lol.


Thats like an ignorant person saying Kwality Walls sweetened hydrogenated oil is better than Baskin Robbins.

How about an individual preferring jiosaavn?

 

[MIOM]

Dude, Apple is lossless while Spotify is not.

Perhaps you should have clarified that as Spotify provides both lossless and lossy files.

If someone still prefers Spotify that just means they have bad taste or poor ears.

Or someone who simply uses Spotify as to preview before buying.

Thats like an ignorant person saying Kwality Walls sweetened hydrogenated oil is better than Baskin Robbins.

And ignorance is one who lacks perspective

Peace

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Dude, Apple is lossless while Spotify is not.

If someone still prefers Spotify that just means they have bad taste or poor ears.

Not everything in audio is subjective, lol.


Thats like an ignorant person saying Kwality Walls sweetened hydrogenated oil is better than Baskin Robbins.

I use spotify

As regards the lossy spotify vs lossless apple, again it depends on who has the better master tape rip. And all rips are not equal to start with. So the variance in rip quality is more important than difference in sample rates. Anyone can upsample anything to anything these days. And i upsample spotify to 24/192 too, which is beyond what apple music does. So on some tracks spotify might be better, and apple on the other. So it is definitely not black & white. If you still find it hard to believe, try streaming albums of U2 from the superior to both Tidal . You'll be shocked how bad it is.

And iam with @MIOM on the streaming vs CD sound quality debate. As it is gear dependent too.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Spotify was my go to streaming service for over three years. But once I got an AirPort Express to Airplay lossless from iPhone to my streamer, I’ve been a convert to Apple Music. The difference between lossless and lossy is stark to my ears. I even did a blind test with an amateur musician friend (who has also worked in live events streaming) and he immediately pointed out the difference - “this sounds compressed” when he heard the lossy versions.

Yes, ultimately the mastering matters as @Yelamanchili manohar points out. But then there’d be as many good and bad masterings on both platforms so that’s hardly a distinguishing factor. The lossless version of a well-mastered record will sound better than its lossy equivalent. Of course, CD sounds better than lossless streaming, but not by a huge margin. I doubt I’d have accumulated my 1000 odd CD collection if I’d started this hobby after lossless streaming was made easily and affordably available by Apple.

Spotify has a better recommendation engine, but AM is no dud either. Certain preferences are personal, so I like AM’s cleaner interface over the overcrowded one of Spotify. Am also not a fan of the signature neon green color of the latter. Spotify excels at podcasts (which I am not into) while AM provides high quality music videos if you play it on Apple TV. Yes, Spotify has native play on most streamers, but the minor SQ loss in casting (AM) is nothing as compared to the loss due to compression (Spotify).

Tidal and Qobuz are definitely audiophile streaming solutions, but they aren’t officially here yet.

I’ve been using AM lossless daily over the last 3-4 months now and feel satisfied with it. I’ve set Dolby Atmos, EQ and Soundcheck to OFF in the settings as I listen on my stereo system and 90% of the music I listen to was recorded before Dolby recordings came into being.

 

[MIOM]

That said, I have started collecting CD's again after I have heard a huge difference in the way streaming services have songs mixed.
And I was shocked !!!!

CD's have good instrument separation and details, which is missing in some streaming services.

One thing some conveniently overlook is quality of CD. Many early release CDs were overly bright and thin sounding. Today, not so much, and especially if you buy get the better recorded editions. I have lots of audiophile edition CDs from companies like DCC, MFSL, JVC XRCD, and many Japanese editions released via Sony International. Example these Blu-Spec 2 editions from Sony Japan....



Here the Blu-Specs sound better and livelier than the normal released versions....


Mobil Fidelity Sound Labs (Mo-Fi) And Impex SACDs (playable on normal CD players)....

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

BTW, has any of you tried download the song in any of these streaming apps and then playing it locally from the phone/laptop (in the same app)? Did you notice any difference in SQ from when you streamed the same song? Should you?

(Do ensure that the resolution etc settings for streaming and downloading are identical before you do the comparison).

 

[amrutmhatre90]

BTW, has any of you tried download the song in any of these streaming apps and then playing it locally from the phone/laptop (in the same app)? Did you notice any difference in SQ from when you streamed the same song? Should you?

(Do ensure that the resolution etc settings for streaming and downloading are identical before you do the comparison).

I can send you a song, downloaded from AM. I have same song as a CD rip. Let your ears be the judge. PM me your telegram I'd.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

I can send you a song, downloaded from AM. I have same song as a CD rip. Let your ears be the judge. PM me your telegram I'd.

Amrut, I can download directly in AM and listen. I’d like to know what was your experience? I wonder if some of the jitter (except that added in the transmission from phone to the streamer) must reduce when we download. Is that right to expect?

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Amrut, I can download directly in AM and listen. I’d like to know what was your experience? I wonder if some of the jitter (except that added in the transmission from phone to the streamer) must reduce when we download. Is that right to expect?

I am talking about exporting the file from streaming services and playing 1:1 i.e playing both files at 44khz or even comparing hi-res to CD.

The instrument separation is missing all together, the soundstage is narrow on streaming for some albums. Mixing matters a lot and how these streaming platforms have integrated these.

In simple words the instruments which should be behind the Right speaker are placed slightly right to the center, 80 degree on streaming vs 60 to 55 degree on CDs based on how speakers are setup. (somewhat equilateral triangle)

 

[MIOM]

BTW, has any of you tried download the song in any of these streaming apps and then playing it locally from the phone/laptop (in the same app)? Did you notice any difference in SQ from when you streamed the same song? Should you?

(Do ensure that the resolution etc settings for streaming and downloading are identical before you do the comparison).

Like any audio recording I'd imagine it's SQ is also dependent on the equipment it's played from. Listening to a file from a laptop connected to a pair of speakers or a cellphone certainly isn't going to speak file quality.

 

[chillumphile]

Perhaps you should have clarified that as Spotify provides both lossless and lossy files.

That is not factual, Spotify doesn't have lossless?

Or someone who simply uses Spotify as to preview before buying.

My comment was not about that? It was in the context of streaming for listening sessions and not random use cases.

And ignorance is one who lacks perspective

Maybe, if you stop trying to be cute then you may actually gain some perspective.

Peace

Yes sure, why not, since you are no longer responding to my observation and thoughts with rolled-eye emojis.

 

[manek]

BTW, has any of you tried download the song in any of these streaming apps and then playing it locally from the phone/laptop (in the same app)? Did you notice any difference in SQ from when you streamed the same song? Should you?

(Do ensure that the resolution etc settings for streaming and downloading are identical before you do the comparison).

Yes I did. Minor to no difference as AM buffers audio whilst streaming probably upto 60 seconds or more. So it should not be different ideally given that you have a stable internet connection as AM sometimes plays compressed versions of tracks in low bandwidth areas even though it shows lossless just above track list.

Quite a few albums have two to three releases called “other versions” which have same album cover and I have been tricked by those where SQ is different.

But I firmly believe Apple is the only company out there who has the $$$$, ambition and wherewithal to get to top rung quality and cover most if not all genres of music.

 

[manek]

You know what tickles me most about streaming services ? Its when the left and right channels get interchanged like in this one

 

[suku_patel_22]

I use Spotify, have tried Tidal. The seamless integration of Spotify connect with Heos and the huge library and recommendations is a big plus for me.

I couldn't tell the difference between Spotify and Tidal okayed through my equipment. Either my gear or ears are not resolving enough.