That’s really interesting, the Qobuz variant is louder and actually seems to be clipping at one or two points.
It’s difficult to judge from only graphs, but on first glance the Tidal variant looks a bit more healthy to me…
[edit] this illustrates why it’s so difficult to compare streaming services. Many people who hear the above two tracks would perhaps say “Qobuz sounds better”, simply because it is a bit louder. That doesn’t mean the quality is actually objectively better.
CD ripping on a Core and local streaming is looking quite attractive right now. In fact, I have just got Anette Askvik’s CDs today and local steaming certainty beats the Tidal stream. Quite delicious really.
I just did an A B listening comparison between Qobus and Tidal with the same track. In the apps labelled Hi-Res and Master respectively (had no other choice).
They’re close but indeed different. I don’t hear a clear difference in volume. Tidal sounds better to me though. A touch smoother and more natural. A bit more detail too, specifically in the drums. The brass from the cymbals/hi hat(right word?) sounds more ‘splashy’ from Qobus (as in less less good). Imaging seems very close, no clear winner there. All on my fairly modest setup of course.
Two versions of Tango in the Night. The MQA rate is different but the ‘flac rate’ is the same. Will they sound any different? (Roon/ Uniti Nova/My ears )
Thx
As you already know, the old streamer will have 4.8 update and it will come with Tidal Connect. I am very curious to know if Tidal sound through my Nds will be notably enhanced, or not.
Maybe @Naim.Marketing can have an idea on it. Mme Claire ?
If you want a (temporary) fix right now, until firmware 4.8 is out — and reading between the lines it will include Tidal Connect —, you could try to install Audirvana on a computer or laptop, or MConnectHD on an iPhone or iPad, or BubbleUPnP on an Android phone, and stream Tidal through those apps to your 272.
I thought it was true. So sorry. As no one corrected this post above…
Worth noting, however, that while legacy products are unable to stream TIDAL Connect directly, they can enjoy a TIDAL Connect stream via multiroom, where a current Naim product is the master.
It’s good to keep the pinned announcement separate and clean so it’s easy and clear to read. If members wish discuss then there’s already a Tidal Connect thread running.