Tidal flac is now a reality for hi-res streaming. With the demise of MQA this was inevitable and I for one couldn’t be happier. I have never been convinced by MQA. I could see the point of it if bandwidth was an issue but it isn’t so all I and many others have wanted from Tidal is hi-res flac. Neither of my external Dacs are MQA compliant that’s how much I deemed MQA a necessity. So here’s the burning question Can I hear a difference? I played the latest offering from Terrace Martin this morning through headphones and it sounded sublime at 24bit/64k but it’s early days yet and I need to do a lot more listening before I finally nail my colours. Why you may ask haven’t I simply switched to Amazon or Qobuz instead of waiting for Tidal to see sense and ditch MQA? Well firstly they haven’t exactly ditched it. It’s still available as they add hi-res flac alongside it. I believe they currently have an offering of six million songs in hi-res flac with more being added all the while to the current catalogue of over 100 million tracks. Secondly I just prefer the UI of Tidal to the other services I’ve tried, that’s Spotify, Amazon and Qobuz. It’s just personal preferences.
Tidal have of course always offered very nearly the entirety of the catalogue in CD quality flac so this is probably yet another decidedly niche post from me but I thought I’d give those who may be interested in this kind of malarkey a heads up.
Tidal Flac.
by 116 Comments
As you say, this was only a matter of time. MQA was a solution for a problem which no longer exists and I’m surprised it hung on for so long.
My Naim streamer is so long in the tooth (9 years old!) that it only supports Tidal natively, so I’m looking forward to this.
I think they painted themselves into corner with it probably because they felt it a useful marketing foil at first and not anticipating how much flak, see what I did there, they would get from pernickety bleeders such as me and others who actually give a toss about this fol-de-rol.
Another reason it’s Tidal for me is Tidal connect which I find very useful and Tidal is of course very niche. I like niche. It’s so uncrowded, room to stretch out and in space nobody can hear you scream.
In space, no-one can hear you stream, shurely…
Yes indeed….smart arse.
Nah, not really – I thought tidal flac was something that built up in estuaries.
I don’t own a streamer – is it time I joined the 21st century, chaps?
In short. Yes (other prog is also available).
I subscribe to Tidal for political reasons (😉).
I don’t understand a single word of your post, pencil. What are you talking about?
All this is only relevant if you subscribe to the top tier of Tidal. That’s Tidal Hi-fi plus as the movement away from MQA to Flac is only applicable to hi-res streams. Tidal has as a matter of course streamed flac at 16bit/44.1k but due to MQA going out of business back in April Tidal have at long last realised that the time has come to offer hi-res flac instead for those of us who pay for the full fat version. I’ve never been convinced by the need for MQA which is basically a very high quality lossy format which ostensibly allows for the streaming of large hi-res files in a smaller package with the file being unfolded at the listeners end of the chain by audio kit that is MQA compliant. It sounds very good BUT imho not superior to hi-res flac and it frequently came at added cost to the equipment price. An example…the Dac I use for my headphone listening is a full £100 more expensive for the MQA compliant version. I bought what is basically the same device but without MQA and put the £100 saved towards my headphone amp instead.
Ok.
If, and this is big if, I want to upgrade to full fat, how much extra cost is it? Add in Bluesound Node 2i and Hifiman Arya V3 and the total would be?
Ok are you sitting down?
Tidal hi-fi plus is £19.99 per month. I think the latest version of the Node can be had for £750 and the Hifiman Arya V3 have been reduced from £1500 to just under £1000. However it doesn’t end there…you would need a decent headphone amp to drive the cans and some cabling to hook the amp to the Node.
Come and see me then you can judge if you think the expense worthwhile. There are always ways to do this cheaper. My way may not suit plus I can help you out with a couple of bits of kit.😉
😃 Wow! I’ll have to clear my diary. And rob a bank.
You could try being a painter during a pandemic lock down and having a literally captive audience in places like Japan and the USA. Sales took off for a brief period. 😉
Well done and well deserved. Are you now famous? 😺
Nope and a good thing too. I can’t think of anything worse than fame. Sales fell of a cliff when everyone decided to return to normality whatever the hell that is anymore.
I made hay while the sun briefly shone.
I’m happier just painting for myself tbh. All I need now is a hip replacement so I can return to doing just that.
Good luck. Some people swear by herbal remedies. You’re an old hippy, aren’t you?
I am awash with Omega-3. Everytime I burp I taste like a Saturday night in downtown Grimsby.
Agree that Tidal’s interface is the best of the bunch that I’ve tried out. Unfortunately, my cash is a bit strapped currently so I’m on Amazon, whose interface is surely the worst of them all. Their catalogue is pretty impressive, mind.
It’s all about needs and preferences isn’t it Mike? I really cannot get along with the Amazon UI and Qobuz has no connect feature like Spotify and Tidal which I find useful because I can use the Tidal app when listening via my Bluesound Node 2i rather than the Bluesound app which is fine but I much prefer the Tidal app UI all day long. The issue with Spotify for me is mostly SQ but I have other issues with it too which I won’t mention here as they aren’t really relevant within the parameters of this thread. Also I find the Spotify UI overcrowded and confusing to navigate. Evidently Amazon’s catalogue is compatible in size with both Tidal and Apple. I did find the SQ on Amazon a little variable when I used it but that was a few years or so ago and that may be rectified nowadays.
“Connect feature”? Wassat?
It means that you can connect to any device that recognises Tidal and control the device(s) directly from the Tidal app. So smart speakers etc. I use it in conjunction with my Bluesound Node 2i. Doing so gives me full access to all the bells and whistles as opposed to the slightly more basic UI offered up in the form of BlueOS.
👍
I find the Tidal Connect app very unreliable compared to the Spotify app. Tidal app very often loses track of what it started playing on my Sonos speakers and I have to switch to the Sonos app (which has a crappy UI) to rescue it.
It’s rock solid on Bluesound. I’ve never had a problem. Have you flagged this problem up with Sonos and Tidal? Perhaps it’s a known issue and they can offer a solution. I assume you’re using the latest version of the Tidal app and have done the usual stuff such as clearing the cache.
I’m referring to the iPhone app which updates as and when automatically.
As you refer to cleaning the cache, I guess you are talking about the desktop app which I have also, but it doesn’t work with Sonos, unlike Spotify.
I don’t use an iPhone but on my android phone along with my tablet and my DAP which has Android 10 integrated into it’s OS I can easily clear the cache on each for any app I have installed including the Tidal app. Maybe that isn’t doable on an iPhone but not having experience with one I simply don’t know. I mostly use my tablet at home to access Tidal and I occasionally empty the cache on the app to ensure it runs smoothly which it does. As I said I’ve never encountered a problem. The same thing with my DAP which I use when out and about. Maybe it’s a Sonos thing. Bluesound has Tidal along with virtually every other streaming service integrated into it’s OS which makes running Tidal connect a doddle. I’ve tried it with a few others including Spotify connect, Amazon, Qobuz, Tune-in, Paradise Radio to name just a few and it has worked flawlessly everytime.
Thanks for the info. While clearing the cache is possible in some apps on iOS, I looked and it does not seem to be an option with Tidal.
It occurs to me that i have an Android phone that I use for Nav duties on my motorbikes. I might give that a try and see if that is any more reliable.
I’d be interested to know how you get on so if you find the time please let me know.
Unscientifically I tested my iPad v my android phone with my Cambridge Audio speaker and the iPod succeed noticeably better. No idea why but I think Fenton said something about Bluetooth versions at the time.
@Twang
That’s interesting as Apple doesn’t have anywhere near as many options for Bluetooth codecs as Android because Apple won’t allow Snapdragon hardware or others to be used on it’s devices. So no Aptx codecs and no LDAC from Sony for the same reason. Apple devices only support their own AAC or ALAC and bog standard SBC. It’s probably got more to do with the dac CA have used than otherwise but I’m just guessing. I use Bluetooth to relay the sound from my TV to my CA speaker amp which has a dac built around an ESS Sabre chip and that sounds most impressive and easily of high enough quality for TV.
I couldn’t have put it better myself, Peter. I can take a week off!
I have since done a quick google on the issue and it seems to be pretty widespread for some time. Both iOS and Android affected. No real solution that i found.
Seems to affect playlists mostly. I start playing one and then after a few songs the app stops sync with the Sonos which carries on playing happily. Occasionally it works all the time, but almost guaranteed to fail if I tweak the playlist as we go.
Sonos app works fine but is something of a horror to use.
Yep. I had a look around too and found some Reddits from folk reporting the same problem you’ve raised. Seems like a common fault. That’s a shame if you wish to use Tidal in particular. Do Sonos support Qobuz or Amazon? If they do then maybe try one of those on a free trial if you really desire lossless higher quality music reproduction. Alternatively Spotify keep reporting that they intend offering a lossless option but they have been saying that for over a year now with no sign of it appearing.
Sonos supports both and up to 24 Bit/48 kHz FLAC (certainly for Qobuz anyway) and I think it supports spatial audio via Amazon.
I have to say I’ve found Spatial/Atmos music via streaming very hit and miss and more often miss. Often sounds like they’ve just moved the vocal into the ether, detached from the rest of the mix. Atmos music via Blu-ray is a different beast altogether although my resources for listening to it (4 Blu-rays) doesn’t make me a very reliable source for the comment !
My presumption is that there’s a pesky algorithm doing these “mixes” automatically, as opposed to the SDE Atmos mixes which are actually done by real people actually remixing the music. I can’t find anything to verify that on t’web, however.
I have found some Grateful Dead Atmos stuff on Tidal, mind you, that sounds great.
That’s useful information Ainsley. I don’t use Sonos devices myself but obviously others here do.
As I wrote elsewhere I’m unconvinced by spatial audio when used for music. Admittedly my exposure to it is only slight but it seemed to to be far too focused on excessively panning the sound around for effect rather than employed more judiciously in actual service to the music. I’m sure there must be more careful mixes out there in the wild but my small sampling of it hasn’t convinced me that it’s going to supplant a well set up two channel stereo rig anytime soon for me at least. We are all different with differing tastes and preferences and there isn’t a wrong or right way in this it’s just a matter of whatever floats your particular boat.
I’ve got 3 Bluesound devices areound the house and have just realised I need a NAS drive. Are you happy with the Node? Any idea if it will function as a NAS for things other than music files, like video? TIA 😊
I don’t use the Node as anything other than a digital transport. I disabled the Bluetooth on it and I don’t use it’s digital pre-amp functionality. I’ve never hooked up a NAS to it as I don’t have enough locally stored files to need to do so although I know you can if you wish. Bluesound make a device called a Vault which I think has the functionality of the Node with a NAS built in. I don’t know how large the storage is though. I doubt it will be configured to store video. In short I’d imagine you’d be looking at buying a Node X and separate NAS storage if you want to keep everything in the Bluesound eco system. @Fentonsteve may have better advice than I tbh.
Ta muchly.
When it comes to NAS, “Buy a Synology”.
My latest was a DS1520 (I think) which has 5 empty bays, I have fitted two drives so far which allows me years of expansion if I ever need it. The only downside is the drives are noisier than the ones in my old DS414 (I think) so it makes a racket when it spins up (it sits in the corner of my office). I’m pleased it isn’t in the same room as the hifi.
Seems a bit much for my needs (I can’t see myself needing more than say 4Tb), but thanks.
They do smaller ones! The main advantages of a NAS are longer life (due to case fans) and the ability to do RAID (auto backup) if you have more than one drive fitted.
Since this thread has bubbled back up I’ve taken the plunge with a Synology DS218play with mirrored 4TB @fentonsteve, which seems to be aimed at the home user who just wants to serve up music and movie files without too much fuss, or indeed noise.
Now to figure out how best to load it up. I sense a Youtube session in my future.
Good choice. A top tip: these things run on Linux and run Apps and, like any Operating System, they get regular updates. So do ‘check in’ to the NAS routinely. I know when I need to get involved because the file server app on the NAS stops delivering files to my streamer.
Can I ask, what headphones does Pencilsqueezer use?
Daily drivers at the moment are Hifiman Arya V3. A very well balanced set of cans. They don’t do any aspect of headphone listening in a particularly standout way they just do everything very, very well. I love open backed maggies.
Thank you
Nay bother, my pleasure.
Having read this thread more than once, I still say ‘wha?’
But…Tidal Flac – TMFTL.
Ha
Seconded.
This has nothing to do with Pencil’s concerns, but beg to report that my spiffy new AirPods Pro 2 (a huge improvement on Pro 1) came with 6 free months of Apple Music, after which it will be a positively friendly $12.99 (£6.70) a month. So I’ve ditched Qobuz and Spotify in its favour, mostly because of spatial audio, which is a lot of fun. Lots of hi-res too. Not being equipped with platinum eardrums I can’t tell the difference between hi-res Qobuz and hi-res AM, so I’m happy. The app seems to assume I’m 17, but presumably it’ll learn.
I’ve not had first hand experience with the AirPods Pro 2 but I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. I may give Apple Music a try as I can get a three month trial of it for nowt and I’m curious as to how it stacks up against Tidal. It all depends on if it will play nicely with my Bluesound Node 2i which I know has Airplay 2 onboard but I don’tknow if that’s relevant or not tbh. I shall dig into the feasibility later today. It’ll give me something to do and scratch an itch.
Tidal offers Sony 360° and Dolby Atmos for spatial audio nerds but I’m not convinced. I use Atmos when gaming but I’m not keen on it for music listening, I find it unconvincing. Far too much panning around of the sound just for the hell of it. Maybe Apple implement their version more judiciously.
The app confronts you with a multitude of playlists, very few of which are suitable for the mature gentleman’s listening taste. But the search function works well enough. I’ll be interested to hear how you get on with AirPods should you try them.
I doubt I’ll buy Airpods as I prefer wired iems nowadays. I did some digging around about the feasibility of getting my Node to play nicely with Apple Music and found that I can utilise Airplay 2 on the Node to access Apple Music via the Bluesound app but unfortunately it isn’t bit perfect and downsamples hi-res streams to 16bit/44.1 so I won’t be taking my interest any further. Apple’s attitude towards allowing access to anyone other than those locked into their ecosystem is a pain in the butt.
I use Apple Music with the Bluesound Node and it sounds great.
I’m sure it does. I assume you are using Airplay 2 to connect?
I decided against it as I’m paying Tidal for access to hi-res content alongside CD quality 16bit /44.1 and that’s exactly what I’m getting for my money using Tidal connect via Bluesound. Evidently when connecting to Apple Music via Airplay 2 which is the only way to access it via a Node2i everything is downsampled to to 16bit /44.1 so no hi-res from Apple via those means. For that reason I’ll stay with Tidal for now at least.
Hilarious! To a low-tech Neanderthal like me, this thread is like an episode of Star Trek or a scene in Dr Who where he explains about worrying disturbances in the space time continuum.
To my great amusement, the only sentence I understand is the one where you comment that you made a lot of sales during the pandemic. Well done!
I was delighted to hear that but sorry to read that they have fallen off a bit since then.
I do hope you can get your hip replacement sorted soon, Pencil.
Tread boldly!
Or carefully, for now!
I have discovered that sitting on my couch listening to oodles of music whilst surrounded by books is doable. Who knew?
Thanks KFD. I shall expect a playlist of ‘hip’ music from you when I get carved up.
Yes I feel like that Gary Larson cartoon with the man taking to his dog and the only word the dog understands is “Ginger”.
https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/webteam/files/2009/06/larson_what_dogs_hear.jpg
My problem is I’m not really an audiophile. I just want it to sound “good”, an unhelpfully subjective word but I know it when I hear it.
Some audiophiles are frankly stark raving mad. I find those like most true believers in anything best avoided. I’m like you Twang I just want sound to be to my liking, how I prefer it. I’m prepared to take that as far as my living conditions and budget will allow. I’ve stopped upgrading for now at least as I’m content with how I’ve got things set up. That’s the way I differ from the fanatics. They just never stop upgrading, forever chasing slight ‘improvements’. For me the kit I use is in service of hearing the music I love the way I want to listen to it. It’s about the music not about the expensive boxes.
“For me the kit I use is in service of hearing the music I love the way I want to listen to it. It’s about the music not about the expensive boxes.”
Most “audiophiles” would say the same – at least out loud and in company – ‘cos’ no-one wants to be that guy…
I think we are as one. Now I’m retired I’m starting to think darkly about my listening position etc…
In my music room it’s all golden triangle and sound treatment etc but I don’t hang out there really. If I change anything I want to make my normal listening better, whatever that means. The average living room is generally a disaster area for music as any free download of audio test frequencies will show. Whilst each band of frequencies is exactly the same level they will jump around all over the place due to room modes etc.
Fill your boots here:
https://www.audiocheck.net/audiofrequencysignalgenerator_index.php
Graphic equaliser sir?
Room treatments? Why, @Twang – you’re an audiophile, sir…
Only in the MR. I have a nasty hump at 170hz apparently. I can’t hear shit above 5k so it’s slightly academic. That’s where I bring in Twang Jr to help – he sets the levels for percussion and I can’t actually hear it.
The best sonic upgrade I’ve ever made is the couple of hundred quid on a pack of Studiospares absorbent panels I stuck up on the walls of the garage. Mrs F hates the sight of them, the walls are white and the panels are beige, but the white ones were twice as much. Luckily she doesn’t go out there much.
I would definitely look into room treatments if I wasn’t living in social housing but I do so that’s not going to be happening. If I ever change my amp I will look into the increasing number of manufacturers who are building in some form of room correction software into their amps and possibly try that depending upon cost of course. In the meantime my space doesn’t sound too bad and if I really want to remove any considerations about the room headphones remove that variable of course.
I’ve got some software that removes the bias inherent in headphone design.
*Goes mad*
I have Wavelet installed on my DAP which has EQ settings for oodles of headphones, iems and Bluetooth headsets ready to utilise. Simply type in the name of any of the above and away you go. A pretty extensive equaliser is included too if you’d rather set your own parameters plus a decent suite of other bits and bobs to fiddle about with. I have the android version I am unsure if it’s available on ios but there is probably something similar if not. Oh and it’s free. There is a paid for version that adds a couple of further tweeks but nothing one can’t live without.
It’s a dark art inhabited by mad people spending their time on forums talking about Corning 703 and sneering at foam. I know one bore who never made any music but spent hours gibbering about his room.
Audio/music obsessives are all a bit touched. I’ve heard there are even some who get all over excited about ancient ABC albums getting reissued…again. 😉
I just gave this excellent thread a thumbs up.
😉
Would that be a thumb encased in a gold lamè driving glove perchance?
It’s a thumb which was recently remixed by Steven Wilson
I am fascinated with the way that the “audiophile” obsession with black boxes has simply transferred to software, apps, room treatments, equalisation (once forbidden!), streaming rates and quality…but escapes the opprobrium of old! Very odd…
It’s all very, very niche. Probably less than 1% of the population nearly all of whom will be male could care less. A bit like listening to Prog. Very, very niche. 🙂
Touché! But you’ve neatly avoided my point…
@fitterstoke I guess with any interest/hobby it’s about degree of commitment and adherence to particular strands within that interest/hobby and those strands are prone to ‘fashion’.
I’m a music first audiophile and I have no qualms in calling myself an audiophile because I think those that use the term in a pejorative way are simply wrong to do so if they consider themselves to be a lover of music. You can divorce sound from music but you cannot divorce music from sound. I paint and I need to wear glasses therefore I buy the best glasses I can afford so I can see better. I do the same for listening to music so I can hear it better. That’s all nothing more elaborate than that.
@pencilsqueezer – nicely put!
I could have used your eloquence in my corner when I was defending my audiophile tendencies against the Philistine hoards!
I haven’t half done a lot of blethering on’t Dafterword in the past couple of days!
Must be my enforced couch based installation. I shall shut da f*ck up now and give my attention over to Cecilie Strange’s latest offering Beyond which is rather lovely and yes it sounds splendid. ✌️
Always a pleasure. Sorry about the gyppy hip, but art’s loss is our gain.
It’s been most enjoyable – even for those of us who don’t stream…🙂
And for those of us that do.
It’s lovely having you blethering on. More of it!
Seconded. Blether away!
I’ve enjoyed this thread and haven’t understood 99% of it.
Understanding things is deffo overrated.
The excellent John Darko always makes the point in his videos that when he talks about differences in audio quality between bits of equipment he tests, he’s only talking about “audiophile” differences which are very minor and even then dependent on room conditions etc. That’s always been my experience and it comes down to a question of how much you’re prepared to pay for those minor differences.
Personally, I just have the Tidal HiFi tier (CD 16/44 quality) and I’m more than happy with it. I’ve never been convinced by Hi Res audio, particularly with unavoidable hearing deterioration with ageing.
Agreed. Diminishing returns ramp up pretty quickly in audio. I think it’s a matter of stopping at the point when it becomes obvious that money spent on kit that exceeds your ability to perceive a preferable difference becomes apparent. I can ascertain a difference when listening to hi-res. It’s a very slight improvement and not always apparent on every recording but for me it’s worth it plus a little more of my money gets kicked back to musicians and I like the idea of that even if it is hardly a life changing amount.
It’s akin to the difference between DVD video and Blu-ray video. Most people don’t notice or, even if they do, simply don’t care.
I like to listen loud, and I don’t really get on with headphones, so my main requirement is big speakers. Big speakers need powerful amplifiers. Big speakers and powerful amplifiers cost more money than small ones.
I thought I’d see how much I could notice a difference after posting the above and selected a Tidal curated playlist of predominately Americana that the algorithm had put together for me. So pretty standard recordings, pretty average mastering but a mix of hi-res and CD redbook. I have two Dacs connected to my Node and both display the bitrate on the respective displays. I listened via headphones while I watched the football. I didn’t look at the displays on the Dacs until I had decided if I was listening to hi- res or CD redbook then took a look to confirm if I was right or wrong. So same headphones playing at the same volume from the same amp connected to the same source. I could tell one from the other at least 95% of the time. To my ears hi-res presents better staging and more etched detail with an increase in the soundstage hight, width and depth. It not that CD redbook files sound bad far from it and it’s not a huge difference just slight but it’s certainly discernible to me on the majority of the Tidal streams I’ve heard.
That is as good a description of experiencing hi-res as I’ve read and much more realistic than some of the over-heated experiences of hi-res that I’ve come across.
Personally, I’m more than happy with CD quality but each to their own.
If you get a chance, check out ‘After Midnight’ by Hanne Boel from her ‘Outtakes’ album. It sounds wonderful on my system (Bluesound Node, Rotel amp, Quad speakers) at CD quality – one of the best sounding tracks I’ve heard. I’d be interested in the comparison with a hi-res version, if that’s possible.
Diolch. I shall make your recommendation my after watching Only Connect first up for listening. I love a good recommendation from a trusted source. ✌️
Found it and it is available as a hi-res master. I won’t know what bitrate until I hit play later today as Tidal just label all hi-res under the blanket heading of “max” I wish they’d change this. It irritates me probably far more than it should but it just does. My Dacs will fill in the details.
Try the ABC remix. Just sayin’.
I will in the fullness of time.
It’s presented as 24/88.2 so I’d guess it’s been mastered from DSD but that really is a guess.
I switched the rate in app and played it again at 16/44.1 and unsurprisingly the differences are very minimal and in keeping with my description above. Very much as Darko would describe it not exactly night and day. It’s a very clean recording whatever the bitrate.
Thanks for checking it out. I couldn’t imagine it being improved significantly from the CD quality version but it’s nice to have it confirmed by someone who knows what they’re talking about.
Come on Snr Squeezer, you’re making this up!
Nah. Most jazz records are beautifully recorded. 😉
I’ve always liked this description of the benefits of hi-res from Kate Bush’s people….
https://www.katebush.com/shop/digital-downloads-audio/50-words-snow-high-resolution-24-bit-download
Headroom. So many things in life audio included are so much better with sufficient headroom. 🙏
10cc agree…
Hmm. Perhaps they are going a little too far here?
“we have chosen only to make available 24/96 .wav files in an uncompressed format. By not using compression we avoid any further possibility of introducing errors or noise into the files”
Talking about taking things too far…
Actually, I don’t see the problem with my groovy Crosley turntable…*huffs*
**Joking, folks!
Seeing all the photos and videos of Swifties proudly playing their ultra-expensive coloured vinly on those infernal machines makes me shudder.
Hamper!
Amper more like.
I generally just put my old records on. If there’s nothing I fancy I succumb to joyful silence.
Huzzah!
Addendum.
This is an interesting video from John Darko in which he compares the various incarnations of Stop Making Sense from Talking Heads. The point he makes about the mastering of any piece of recorded music especially regarding the amount of compression that’s been applied and the resultant effect that has on dynamic range being the most important factor is entirely correct. I stopped listening to much of the recorded music that was released at the height of the loudness wars and I still find myself struggling with some of the releases of today simply because of the often excessive amounts of compression that is still present on some recorded music. I find it exhausting to listen to for more than approximately fifteen minutes and downright annoying after that. Give me well recorded music that’s been sensitively mastered or count me out regardless of the format.
Hard to disagree with any of that, other than to add Dynamic Range is not the be all and end all of Sound Quality. A shame he didn’t rip the vinyl to 24 bit and run that through the DR analysis.
I have that Blu Ray disc, which sounds fab, and includes moving pictures. Whatever will they think of next?
A note for purists: the live sound was recorded to 24-track analogue tape and bounced to PCM-3324 (CD-quality 24-track digital) for mixing of the original LP, CD & VHS. The 1999 version was remixed.
Of course it’s not all there is to SQ but on a completely personal level I cannot abide overly compressed music. I find every aspect of a recording pushed at me with same levels of loudness with little respite grating and very tiring. I think the situation has improved since the loudness wars but I still find examples of heavy-handed use now and again. It’s surprising how many people mistake an increase in volume for an increase in clarity or detail. Sure it creates an immediacy but it lacks nuance and for me it’s more like being bludgeoned by sound rather than listening to music. It’s akin to leaving a TV on shop settings in your living room.
I quite agree. You mentioned “sensitively mastered” above and that’s the key phrase for me. There’s more to good mastering than just running it through a software plugin (set to defaults), and no plugin ever says “this mix already sounds great and there’s nothing more to do”.
Take Back To Black as an example. The master tape sounds pretty great. How do we know this? Because Miles Showell at Abbey Road mastering did a 24/96 transfer and cut vinyl (at half speed) from it. Nothing to do with the vinyl, or the speed of the cut, or the resolution.
The CD, orginal vinyl, “audiophile” Blu Ray Audio, 24/96 “hi-res” stream, deluxe CD, Spotify all sound atrocious; all are various formats of the original “brick walled” CD master.
Fine, go ahead, master for Spotify on an iPhone speaker or earbuds, but don’t sell me that same mastering for hi-res or vinyl.
If the recording industry were to start today, it would probably choose Dolby Atmos, which adapts the playback quality to the “end-point” hardware capability.
Yep. In the end I trust my ears despite years of use and abuse they are the final arbiters for me. I lack your expertise but it’s always seemed to me that unless the recording and mastering is handled sympathetically no amount of fancy kit further down the chain is going to improve matters. Truth be told good quality kit often lays bare just how shoddily recorded and mastered some stuff is. I’m guessing that it’s deemed passable due to it being accepted that the majority of listeners aren’t that bothered and that that is in all likelihood depressingly true. Have a listen to Rhiannon Giddens latest You’re The One produced by Jack Splash and mastered by Steve Fallone & Greg Calbi it’s a pretty damn good example of excellence quite apart from the fact that the album is a corker.