With Spring just around the corner, the days are remaining lighter for longer and the urge for many to get outside and enjoy some nature is ever increasing, meaning that the most hardened vinyl enthusiast is reliant on streaming services for their musical listening pleasure whilst out and about. Or, perhaps you’re one of our customers who utilises the convenience and ease of streaming playback everyday on a multi-room or two channel hi-fi at home?

Regardless of your prefered form of media playback, I thought it may prove useful to review some of the more common music streaming services from a personal perspective. I do actually use all of the services mentioned in this blog at various times and in differing use cases depending on my needs at the time. I have my personal favourites for different reasons and not all at the same time. Please remember that ratings are very subjective and your mileage may vary, so to speak.

Qobuz

Putting the cat amongst the pigeons, I’ll come straight out and say it - Here at Audio T Brighton, it is our humble opinion that Qobuz is the best sounding streaming service. The hi-fi equipment on sale in our store offers playback options on many of the competitors to be mentioned in this blog and our ears tell us that Qobuz is the way to go when we want the best performance from a streaming source.

Qobuz offers an extensive, if not exhaustive, music library and despite probably losing out to Apple Music and Spotify in terms of library size, sounds so much better through a quality sound system. It’s worth it when you are listening seriously and value those sonic qualities. However, don’t just take my word for it, below is a review written by one of our very own customers:

“I purchased a Powerline recently from the ever helpful and good people at Audio T in Brighton and mentioned to John that as this is the only upgrade available for my Naim Uniti Atom, had I obtained the best sound possible for my headphone listening? I mentioned that my source was Apple Music being streamed losslessly over Airplay 2 via my Macbook when John suggested that I might like to try a different platform and that my Atom has built in native support for Qobuz and as the quality is very good indeed, I might find it a better option. I appreciated the thought as Audio T have absolutely nothing to gain by making such a recommendation, other than better sounding music for me and to get the best out of my equipment. Having conducted an AB test between Apple Music and Qobuz, I can honestly say the difference was incredible! So much so, that my Beyerdynamics now sound much cleaner and smoother (and I really do mean a lot more cleaner and smoother!) taking my listening experience to the next level. In short, it has been a game changer and I am really very grateful indeed to John for his recommendation as otherwise I suspect I would have simply carried on with Apple Music completely unaware of a hugely significant upgrade at very little cost and thereby missing out on an awful lot!”

Advantages and disadvantages:

Qobuz serves up lossless files in a bit perfect range of formats.
Offers Roon and Audirvana support.
Supports bit perfect on Android(with a plugin)
App isn’t the most intuitive to use.
Qobuz store offers CD/HiRes downloads.
No official Qobuz Connect option just yet, requiring Chromecast to playback through the Qobuz app. However, some manufacturers, Naim and Auralic spring to mind, do allow member login from within the device app with the attached functionality of playback that may offer.

Sound quality rating: 9/10

This year, Qobuz became The Official Streaming Service of The Bristol Hi-Fi Show, and as such, we’re able to offer all of our customers a free 90 trial. Sign up Now!

Tidal

Tidal music services are big proponents of MQA playback, with many suggesting it is the best thing since sliced bread. Undoubtedly, many pieces of music sound great on Tidal and its catalogue is extensive but not all DACs offer an MQA playback option. This can be remedied to an extent by software solutions, such as ROON. The Tidal Connect option is a fine competitor to the ubiquitous Spotify Connect. Unless you have an affinity for rap/hip-hop and require MQA playback, then I would personally choose Qobuz over Tidal for sound quality, although the Tidal app may be a bit more slick in operation. Not a dealbreaker or clincher though.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

MQA playback with encoded MQA digital to analogue converters. Remember that MQA is a “lossy” format despite the hype.
Bit perfect playback on all platforms.
Tidal Connect is a useful feature if your playback device offers it. Fortunately, more companies are building this into their playback devices.
Lossless files only if not in “Master”.
All “Master” tracks don’t have a lossless copy.
TIDAL app tends to favour Hip-hop/Rap genres by default. Depending on your personal preferences, this could fall into either category.

Sound quality rating: 8/10

You can try Tidal for yourself for 30 days free Here.

Apple Music

If you’re an Apple device user and live in the Apple ecosystem, then the extensive library and inter-device flexibility of Apple music may well just be your cup of tea. Within Apple’s “straight-jacket” philosophy there is plenty to offer and it offers fine audio playback providing you’re happy to use Airplay as your playback wireless option. This does mean that your iPad or iPhone are “tied” to playback duties, draining your device battery whilst remaining coupled to your network, when you may wish to use it for some other purpose. Not an insurmountable problem but one to consider before making your choice.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

Lossless files available up to 24bit 96Khz, although these may have to set independently in your system preferences if you’re not on an iOS device.
Spatial surround sound audio on some music.
Bitperfect on Apple devices
No lossless on Windows
Only Bit Perfect on Android with some songs
No exclusive mode(on desktop) plugin fix
Requires the use of Airplay 2 to stream music in your home.

Sound quality rating: 8/10

Spotify

With good reason the most popular music streaming service in the world. Spotify offers an extensive library and its “coup-de-gras”, in my opinion, are it’s fantastic music suggestions based on your listening habits, sending you to music you’ve never heard before with a fantastically high hit rate. Of course, your mileage may vary in this regard, but there is a reason why Spotify is so popular and this is the main one. On sound quality grounds it cannot really win out over its competitors but it’s still plenty good enough for most commercially available wired or bluetooth headphones.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

Probably the most user-friendly streaming service, with Spotify Connect allowing independent of device streaming via the Spotify app.
Very intuitive app with a music A.I. suggestion service that is far superior to its competitors at the time of publishing this blog.
Great connectivity with manufacturer devices and Internet streaming or radio services.
No lossless streaming service yet and there maybe a premium to pay when it does. This may be an advantage if your data allowance on your mobile service is a bit stingy. Standard bit rates are 160kbs or 320kbs using an Ogg Vorbis mp3 codec depending on how it is set on your account.
Can be glitchy.

Sound quality rating: 7/10

Alternatives to streaming...

This blog wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the alternatives to streaming music, which have advantages for most people, in convenience, music access and portability/storage.

If we go “old school” for a moment, don’t forget about records and CDs... Even cassettes! I know these lose out on convenience, portability and storage in the strictest sense, but there are other reasons why you may stick to these over streaming services.

Here at Audio T in Brighton, we have many pieces of hi-fi equipment, from the more modest to really serious. I have written a previous blog to compare vinyl versus streaming system options at the more budget end of the market and that blog can be found here.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

When the internet goes down . . . what then? We’ve all been in that situation from time to time, the irritating outage by your ISP for “maintenance”.
Records have been back in fashion for a number of years and some may say that they never went out of fashion. There is nothing that can match the musical sound of vinyl playback, or the tactile quality and legibility of the text on a vinyl album cover. That lovely artwork, lyrics and the interaction every 20 mins or so. Downsides are the increasing cost of vinyl purchase and possible bent cantilevers on your pickup cartridge, especially during the Christmas period.
CD’s are generally cheaper than LP’s, offering a somewhat watered-down version of the tactile experience of LP’s and can be ripped onto a hard-drive for playback on modern devices, offering better than streaming quality in many cases but with equivalent ease of use with an app based functionality. Especially useful when your internet goes off.
Sound quality is often better from local devices because you have ultimate knowledge and control of where the data comes from and how you choose to play it back over your hifi system. Many of the streaming services have several versions of the same recording with massively variable playback quality. I know because I have experienced this for myself, often in total disbelief at the differences between what is, essentially, the same recording session.
You own the music you’ve bought and are not subject to the frivolity of artists and streaming service licences, where tracks and albums you like are suddenly unavailable for streaming. Annoying!
Buying records and cd’s or downloading paid for new music content contributes far more to the pockets of the artists who composed and recorded the music. The paltry sums offered by some streaming services are reason itself for the periodic unavailability of music online - refer to point number 5. Services like Bandcamp offer better ways to get money into the pockets of the artists.
Go and see live music as often as you can. Tickets are expensive for the big venues, so try and get out to support local artists as much as you can. The performing artist industry needs a big shot in the arm post COVID, so be part of the revival whenever you can.
Failing all of the above, get that guitar out of the bag, tune it and burst into song.

Sound quality rating: 9.5/10

Recommended vinyl/cd playback systems...

Here are a few vinyl playback systems we recommend at Audio T in Brighton. The list certainly isn’t exhaustive but it is what we have on demo at our Brighton store.

Starter system: Rega System One consisting Rega Planar 1, Rega IO amp and Rega Kyte speakers.

Enthusiasts system: Rega Planar 3 with Audio Technica AT95ML, Naim XS3 amplifier, Audiolab 6000CDT transport with Proac DB1 bookshelf speakers on Linn Majik speaker stands.

Next level: Rega Planar 8 with Apheta 3 cartridge, Rega Aria phono stage, Rega Aethos amplifier, Rega Saturn CD player/DAC with Proac D20 floor standing speakers.

End game: Linn LP12 Klimax turntable, Naim NAC552 preamp, Naim NAP500DR power amplifier, ATC SCM50 speakers.

Recommended streaming systems...

Here are a few streaming playback systems we recommend at Audio T in Brighton. The list certainly isn’t exhaustive but it is what we have on demo at our Brighton store.

Starter system: Triangle AIO active speakers.

Enthusiasts system: Naim Uniti Atom with Dynaudio Evoke 10 speakers on Linn Majik stands.

Next level: Naim NSC222 streaming preamp with Naim NAP250 power amp and Naim NPX300 power supply into ATC SCM40 floor standing speakers.

End game: Naim ND555/555PS streamer, Naim NAC552 preamp, Naim NAP500DR power amp into ATC SCM50 speakers.

Final thoughts...

I’d just like to reiterate that this blog are of my own personal thoughts on the advantages/disadvantages of streaming or not, so whenever possible use your own ears to decide.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…