Qobuz or Tidal or AmazonHD

Good morning all and @Maurizio (hope you are not a victim of the flood in Northern Italy i read about this morning?!)
It's exactly my question: Believing that all the services get the same source material from the record companies a listenable difference only could come as a result of somewhat a "manipulation" of the source. Is there any evidence?
And, again, only for the 16/44,1 "cd quality"!
 
Surely someone somewhere has captured the bitstream from multiple providers and compared them (where the source is supposed to be the same).
But maybe that research has been suppressed to hide the truth....
 
I'm usually surprised when I see claims about differences between services which offer lossless content like Qobuz or Amazon Music. Lets take 192 kHz song first, I've just captured Holly Rock (Edit) by Prince, released in 2019.
A rough comparison in Audacity shows usual differences for fade-ins / fade-outs. But after trimming 1s at the beginning and at the end I'm getting a bit-perfect result of the comparison.
 
Next try will be pure CD 44.1/16 Daylight by David Kushner, released in 2023.
 
It's not a proof that there is always no difference. But on the other side there was no special selection, I've just taken first songs I've found for 192 and for 44.1.
I think there is a common rule that there is no difference if source material is the same and if there is/was no need to resample from the source to the resolution requested by the player.
 
In between i tried it with the mentioned Kushner track in Amazon and Qobuz with my setups #1 and #3 each time with the HD820.
Allthough there was a 2 second estimated time difference 3:31 to 3:33 it was in no case a listenable difference wether with the Node or with the Wiim Pro and their own software, Bluesound and WiiM. For me this chapter is answered. But as always if anyone can identify differences he might be right and i might be wrong.
 
Achim1811 said:
Good morning all and @Maurizio (hope you are not a victim of the flood in Northern Italy i read about this morning?!)
It's exactly my question: Believing that all the services get the same source material from the record companies a listenable difference only could come as a result of somewhat a "manipulation" of the source. Is there any evidence?
And, again, only for the 16/44,1 "cd quality"!
Click to expand...
Hi @Achim1811
Luckily no flooding in my area. I am more to the North West than the flooded territories.
Yes, I am convinced of 2 things:
1) Of course there has to be some kind of manipulation :unsure:
2) If it weren't for the fact that, like you, I too want the highest quality possible, whether or not it is currently heard today, the HD subscriptions would have to be canceled to switch to the basic subscriptions ;)
 
merifon said:
it was near me, a little bit eastern than you...
A very large amount of water after a year of a drought never seen here . Some traffic delays but i'm safe and Tidal didn't stop working, just to stay on topic...
Click to expand...
merifon said:
it was near me, a little bit eastern than you...
A very large amount of water after a year of a drought never seen here . Some traffic delays but i'm safe and Tidal didn't stop working, just to stay on topic...
Click to expand...
Ciao @merifon
Così sei italiano anche tu, di Bologna mi par di capire. felice che da te non sia successo nulla.
Non sò cosa succede con la community, ma se provo a rispondere dal tablet non viene più su la tastiera e sul PC, che stò usando, il messaggio cui rispondo è venuto doppio e non c'è modo di cancellarle
Ciao
 
Hi @Achim1811 , my friend
I see you have changed your logo with a pretty Donald Duck. Very nice.
Maybe me too will use a logo or avatar one day, but i'm very lazy so.......i don't know when :)
 
Hi @Maurizio
this duck accompanies me since the late 50s of the last century 😉
I am an active member of the D.O.N.A.L.D, a German organisation which is obsessed with the scientific research of the Duckburg (Paperopoli? Topolinia?) universe. Its big fun and another pastime for an retired grandpa.
Take care!
 
Hello. Just adding my 2 cents. Wouldnt age, hearing loss, tinnitus, or being married for do many years also affect perception of sound? Used to play with oscilliscopes and wave generators so would dump alot of analog into these to measure.
To me it goes back to when one would buy gold cd that they had better recording/playback. There was also a time when a green magic marker edged around the disc would enhance playback fidelity supposedly. Records would be played with direct drive, strobe corrected for speed turntables to get the best playback. I had direct to disk record recordings...couldnt tell the differerence. Reference Rudy van Gelder a whiz of a recording engineer for jazz, whos recordings are still sought. To me it all comes down to my hearing or now lack of it. I dont know, what do u think?
 
@WiimNoob Agree!
It all comes to the point that no one can lend his ears to another one. You can measure and research as long as the earth spins. You may be able to bring a speaker or a headphone in any kind of direction. You may be able to develop electronics with measurable numbers. You may be able to sell nearly all kind of snake oil. You sure will never be able to decide or know what another one hears! This was one of my reasons for this thread to point on this subjective impressions. If the green marker or a golden disc makes you happy: Go for it! I always got angry when someone told me i spent to much money and are an idiot because i do not go his way. My money, my ears.
Greetings from sunny Germany.
 
onlyoneme said:
It's not a proof that there is always no difference. But on the other side there was no special selection, I've just taken first songs I've found for 192 and for 44.1.
I think there is a common rule that there is no difference if source material is the same and if there is/was no need to resample from the source to the resolution requested by the player.
Click to expand...
I see a lot of comments on forums where people assert that Qobuz is the best quality.
Maybe Qobuz have better network switches and ethernet cables at their end...🫤
 
Mr Ee said:
I see a lot of comments on forums where people assert that Qobuz is the best quality.
Maybe Qobuz have better network switches and ethernet cables at their end...🫤
Click to expand...
Only LPSes in their cloud.
 
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