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Hi Res Digital - What are you using?
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    Posted: 08 Aug 2024 at 9:02pm
Hi There.

I'm interested in hearing what hi res services forum members are using.  I was thinking of adding a streamer to my system but I'm a little underwhelmed by what I've heard to date.

With CDs now so cheap I can buy much of what I want to listen to for peanuts, so I've yet to be convinced that the hi Res services from the likes of idagio are worth paying for.

It seems that so few folk are prepared to pay for high quality audio these days that those premium services are struggling and the likes of Spotify are dominating the market with an astounding variety of low quality digital files.

What is your experience of 'better than cd' quality music services?  Is it an investment worth making?  In time I expect CD will largely die out but for now it seems the best way of getting decent quality digital audio files.
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I am happy with Tidal and have almost stopped buying CD's since I can find almost anything on there and add it to my library in Roon.
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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I use Qobuz.I find it has all the music I'm looking for and provides good sound quality. From exprience the biggest factor influencing user experience has been the streamer software. It is the reason I moved to Innuos as their Sense app has proved simple to use and stable.
Mike

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Points: 14 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Davywhizz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Aug 2024 at 11:17pm
Amazon Music HD through Bluesound Node streamers. I have one in my main hifi and another in a headphones system which also contains my Solo headphone amp.

I spent a lot of time either side of the first Covid lockdown listening to the albums I know best on Spotify, on CD and on high res files I bought for the testing. Those files are now on a USB stick attached to one of the streamers, and the Bluesound app catalogues them and plays them back.

I realised that, at least for music I know well, I can still hear subtle differences in the higher res material, if it was well recorded in the first place, but CD quality is more than good enough. Amazon HD is cheap, has a huge catalogue and I was surprised how much of my favourite music is available at higher than CD quality. The only slight irritation with Bluesound products is that their app shows a version of the Amazon library, which works well for playback, but I have to go back to the Amazon app itself to edit the library and my playlists.
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I tried out both Tidal and Amazon HD for a few years, back and forth.

The thing about "hi-rez" is that it's not the "hi-rez" part that makes any positive difference, it's the way the material was recorded, mixed, and mastered.

I've bought plenty of hi-rez files from HDT, PSM, and compared them with versions I converted using software to 16/44 as well as CDs from my large CD collection. In no case was the format itself a game-changer.

The only reason I buy those types of files anymore is if they have exclusive bonus material or an exclusive mastering I want but cannot get on another format.

Around 3-4 years ago I canceled my streaming sub as I was spending too much time checking out newer music that did nothing for me with very little payoff. Out of 20 albums or so there would be 2 I liked enough to buy, if that.

I decided to focus more on my existing CD collection and fill holes instead. I find that much more rewarding than a streaming sub, personally. I like having total control over my music library.

I should also mention that I specifically seek out great sounding, dynamically mastered CDs even where it requires some effort to get them. I usually don't buy random copies or whatever is at the store. I research first.

Recently there was one band whose catalog I wanted to fill out and I decided to purchase older editions from the 90s rather than do the easy thing and just buy the latest reissues. I did try one of the later reissues and it was horribly compressed - ended up returning that one. If you stream only, that's what you get stuck with as the old masters are not on streaming platforms.
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I did think of streaming but didn't do it in the end as I too was worried the quality, that and what service to use. All very confusing.
Reflex M, Solo (both with PSU-1) CuSat50, Lautus, Spatia & Spatia links cables. Ortofon Bronze.
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