Tidal doesn't sound as good as a CD Rip

[blownsi]

I've heard a few others mention this elsewhere but I thought I'd bring it up here. Has anyone else found that Tidal is not equal to redbook sq? I'm not sure if it's a by-product of streaming, a software issue or what but Tidal sounds lifeless compared to Redbook from my NAS.

Just for reference I have a Vortexbox NAS feeding a CAPS v3 Topanga. DAC is a Peachtree Dac-it w/Teradak linear power supply being fed by a Gustard U12. My software of choice is JRiver w/Fidelizer although I can hear this same difference using itunes with my MBP/Dragonfly/o2/AKG 701 setup too.

 

[Vintagear]

Check out this Squeezbox thread. The OP shared your experience until he made some recommended adjustments to the player, then the resulting SQ was equal. I'm not saying this is your issue, but it may give you something to go on.

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?103455-Tidal-Ickstream-sound-quality

 

[lizard84]

What he said, check your settings. What I hear is CD quality with a few exceptions on Deezer Elite (90% flac lossless the other 10% are MP3 and that is clearly labeled as such by clicking the track info button)

 

[ictwoody]

Also it should be noted that if you are streaming through a browser that tidal is only "HiFI" when streamed through Google Chrome. And even then you need to make sure you have your settings in tidal set to HiFi. By default it's not.

- Woody

 

[RichPA]

I listen to Tidal, as well as ripped CDs, through a Wyred4Sound-modded Sonos Connect and a Benchmark DAC2. I agree that ripped CDs sound better - although the difference is sometimes subtle, the ripped CD sounds better every time. Nevertheless, Tidal's sound quality is certainly fine for checking out new music and for listening to those things that I only very occasionally want to hear, so I'm happy with it.