Perhaps this is related to Tidal recently removing MQA, which always displayed in bit resolution with the standard CD sampling rate.
The bitrate is the same everywhere and is 651 kbps for the first track
Yes, I read about MQA. They are apparently bankrupt.
Yes, and Tidal is slowly changing everything from MQA to Hi.RES.
But I don’t understand why my “Apple system” and yours show different results. For me, the album Yello - Live in Berlin is shown in Hi.RES (i.e. in Max).
Do you also have the latest Tidal app on your Apple device?
I don’t understand why you don’t have high resolution.
I can also convert an mp3 file from 128 Kbit/s to 320 Kbit/s.
Even with video streaming, there is a lot of corruption going on.
Are the films really always in Dolby Vision??? They are also diligently converted to entice people to sign a streaming contract.
Netflix & Amazon once said that they want/can reduce the data rate even further in order to keep the download rate as low as possible…snake oil???
Of course, technology is unstoppable and is making huge progress, but since everything is always just about money, it is manipulated and brainwashed.
If you didn’t pay a little attention in physics at school, you can quickly fall for what I always call the “HiFi & High End Mafia” and possibly spend money that would be better spent on family, housing or health.
That’s what @BorisM wants to say here and it’s not just about Master Quality Authenticated or HiRES!
It’s simply about the fact that a lot of it is snake oil, and a large proportion of people then imagine it sounds “better”… because I’ve now paid 1000 euros for a USB, RCA, or power cable.
It doesn’t matter, everyone has their hobby and has to judge for themselves:
How much money do I spend on music?
Do I send it to my family or do I use it to keep my home?
Everyone decides for themselves!!!
“Everyone is the architect of their own happiness”
Intersting topic. I’ve done some tests regarding sound quality of different streaming servicec and devices. First of all, lets make some facts - there is no audibile difference between so called hi res and “ordinary” 16/44 sample rate and 16 - 24 bit depth. This is well known in professional world, but music industry is making perpetual “new” standards in order to sell old music again. MQA was one of greatest frauds lately in that sense - selling format which is technically and audible inferior than ordinary cd quality sample rate and bit depth. Tidal is not slowly moving away from MQA, they are moving away with a light speed
About sound quality from Tidal - recently I have done some tests. Comparing ordinary resolution Tidal with original CD rip - they are identical, bit to bit, sample to sample - 100% identical. But, when we come to so called Hi Res, the things change. When you consider so called Hi Res you must consider its source. If the source is some older master there is a big chance that Hi Res is much worse sounding than standard res. For example - Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of the Moon we have original standard resolution audio which is great, perfect, one of best productions ever. On other side we have a hires 2023 remaster which has ruined sound because someone played with EQ and other things. There is less energy in mid range, resulting cymbals and hihat lost in the mix and snare is burried too. So, songs do not have drums (except bass drum which is now super accented), lost rhytm and we have ruined sound. There are many examples with so called hi res audio which sounds worse than original.
Second way to loose quality is to simply upsample original 44/16 to hi res. Because of the way algorithms are doing this, it is a possibility that this process can ruin the sound quality. It is not the same thing as uncompressed sound, but youu can not code mp3 from 128 to 320 and expect better sound quality. It will be worse because you made another lossy compression. The marvel of digital world is that every copy can sound the same, but only under condition that is not altered in any way.
Best case scenario is that hi res is obtainted by directly recording an album in hi res. Sound is always the best in original sample rate and bit depth as is originally recorded. Additional problems come from myriad remaster or remix versions of the old albums. It is a pure lottery to pick which is the best. Sometimes is original, but sometimes there is a good remix or remaster done. And on the end, too judge which is better - it is apsolutely matter of taste.
On the end - Tidal is not displaying resolution on computer or mobile phone. You must have a streamer or DAC which is capable doing that. So, you can not judge versions from original Tidal app on computer in which format is the sound. A “max” remark means nothing. If you still think that HiRes matters you can try Roon version of album which plays perfectly on Rose.
Very good article and I hope many people will read it.
You are absolutely right.
I read an article that was about exactly that. I also read something on discogs that certain albums from the 70s, for example, sound better than the remastered stuff.
I don’t want to say anything bad and that’s why I’m testing my first pure music streaming service.
Music is important for the mind and well-being, but I always spent a lot of my life looking after my music collection. Be it entering tags in a number of different titles, editing cover images and so on.
Now I have to (test) reach for the money and “buy” finished titles through a music streaming service because I simply waste too much of my life editing music. But it is/was… still nice when you can see your work on the computer on such a nice display (Rose) and the cover images looked much better after editing than many in discogs, my work was worth it for me.
At some point, it gets quieter in the ear!!!
The full frequency spectrum is maintained until about age 20. Middle-aged people can usually still hear sounds up to a frequency range of 12,000 to 14,000 hertz. In general, we humans hear sounds in the middle frequency range much more strongly - i.e. louder - than very low and very high frequencies.
Many factors influence the development of hearing. Among them, how well we treat our ears. The job also plays a role - some people are regularly exposed to higher noise levels at work.
This can also lead to premature hearing loss. Bad news for all men: on average, their hearing deteriorates faster than that of women
That’s how I feel too…in the morning when I get up, music sounds best with coffee. In the afternoon, when I come home from work exhausted, it sounds muddy.
We are the ones who change (the perception) and not overpriced fuses or USB cables, where psychology plays a big role.
One aspect of the TIDAL app which not great is when you search for an album / track there is no way of setting a filter to see only “HiRes” content - all quality material is presented to you with no indication of quality. Would be good to know if anybody has a workaround for that?
However, for now for me I go and search and test play in the TIDAL app and then add to my Favourites with the heart symbol. For a track I could also create a Playlist with the selected tracks.
When I go to my RoseConnect via the App on. my iPhone or iPad go to TIDAL >> ‘My TIDAL’ >> ‘My Albums’ and there the correct album is. Similarly I could select ‘My Playlist’ in that last step.
Another curious detail I noticed while browsing Yello albums in the RoseConnect app:
If you view the album Live in Berlin directly from its profile, it doesn’t have the HiRes label. However, if you check the full list of albums, it appears with the HiRes tag. This phenomenon occurs both on the phone app and on my MacBook using the iPad app. I believe it might be related to expired tokens on Tidal itself.
great that the topic isn’t leaving you alone. You’re ambitious, that’s what I love about people!
You’re right, from your first answer. It’s definitely all to do with the switch from MQA to HiRES.
But for me it was just strange: we both have the latest MacOS and different information. OK, it also depends on the country or region where the first changes are available over the net.
Yes, I confirm, today I also have the HiRES log for the album in the Rose app (Tidal). Maybe “something” synced or updated.
So what does it look like now on your Mac…in the Tidal app?
Do you also have Max now when playing Yello - Live in Berlin?
Today, in the original Tidal app, HiRes tag is displayed even during playback, but the RoseConnect app reveals the truth and shows that the playback quality corresponds to a standard CD. Strange, isn’t it?
As they should be, assuming that you have the same mastering that Tidal uses (and streaming services aren’t necessarily forthcoming with that info).
To be fair, this is not a Hi Rez problem, this is just a crap master, and would sound bad in Red Book as well.
It can, but unless you are doing something quite crazy, unlike recoding MP3, it should produce something that sounds exactly the same as the original.
I believe there’s a rather major online store selling “high definition” tracks where many a track are produced in exactly this way, they just charge quite a bit more for an upsampled version.
