Engineers rank Music streaming services on a $30,000 Headphone System!

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Follow up video explaining these results kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoi4g5pte810rpo

[@mrpmj00]

Don't cripple your sound quality with compressed Spotify...instead use a quality lossless source like Apple Music.

[@gwine9087]

Just proves that different ears hear different things.

[@arturofustet5883]

the orange guy sells smoke.

[@hazi5961]

Qobuz is the best sounding to my ears. I've had memberships to all streaming services except Deezer. Amazon HD and Apple were both slightly below Qobuz to my ears.

[@GROBAS666]

Same for me... for my ears Qobuz sounds the best. I have had Spotify and Tidal earlier.

[@All3cannons]

Yep I agree

[@GeneralDante108]

which would you choose between amazon or apple

[@theLEGOguy22]

I agree

[@PocketDelicious]

Agree. I've bounced between them all and every time I use Qobuz I think it sounds better.

[@methadus]

The older gentlemen nailed it. Experience over youth. it really stands out here.

[@martyn_g]

Bear in mind that as we get older, we hear less. Particularly in the high frequencies😉

[@korolisc]

@@martyn_g I agree, we hear less, BUT, we have more ''trained'' ears...

[@rhalleballe]

@@korolisc There is nothing like "trained ears", its voodoo. The number of tracks is way to low, if you do the same test with 20 different tracks, its all the same. These tests already have been done years before and nobody could here real differences (i.e. already 128kb/s MP3 from Fraunhofer exceeds human capability).

[@DanLyndon]

@@rhalleballe Ok so that's just misinformation. What studies actually show is that there ARE such things as trained ears, as in, people with more experience can absolutely tell the difference more reliably. Second, they also show that most people significantly prefer CD quality vs low quality mp3, but less experienced listeners aren't too picky between a high quality mp3 (like 320 kbps) vs a CD, whereas more experienced listeners do still prefer lossless. This is all with blind tests of course. You also have to take into account the fact that there is a different presentation of the audio with each format. Also, some compression algorhythms are better than others. And, your notion that even an mp3 file exceeds the capacity of human hearing is with reference to an exceedingly narrow idea of what constitutes sound quality. It's like when people say "but you can't even see in 4k," while forgetting that 4k versions of films look very different to the HD versions for all sorts of reasons beyond just resolution.

[@rhalleballe]

@@DanLyndon Give us proper links to that kind of study. I myself took part in blindfolded longterm test mp3 vs. CD and nobody of all contestants (all appr. 50 of them with pretty knowledge and good equipment) could hear which is which. I simply dont believe what you are saying. You wont hear it as well, even its only 160kbit/ s, probably you wont even hear 128kbit/ s. Thats the truth.

[@mat.b.]

If you aren't comparing the same master version of the same track, then this comparison is useless.

[@ReggaeSpijkenisse]

Exactly. And they didn’t probably.

[@decaprio7421]

I was like wait, wheres the first song at? They should had compared 1/2/3 songs throughout all apps but I think Tidal still win in sound quality.

[@nick_heggoe]

@@decaprio7421Tidal is MQA bs, try Qobuz pure FLAC goodness and you will never look back.

[@AndrewSouthworth]

I'm not sure it would even be possible to ensure they were the same master version. In most cases artists upload one file that goes to all platforms, but as far as I know you can't tell from the streaming service with 100% certainty it's the same master (aside from any audible differences).

[@beomille509]

Also - there should be no comparison without level matching. I see the testers fiddling with the volume wheel - they should not. This seems mostly to be an advertisement for a particular headphone 😮

[@russcudmore9993]

I recently setup Tidal and am impressed so far.

[@tubadude07]

I heard shit i never heard before on Tidal (coming from Spotify)

[@PahEz]

​@@tubadude07I mean youtube sounds 2x better than spotify anyway lol. There are tracks where the details are completely gone on spotify yet crystal clear on youtube. Massive difference, which is why I just use youtube for free and get way better audio quality compared to spotify.

[@mgsee]

I really don't understand how anyone who works in the music industry cannot distinguish between say Spotify from Qobuz and Tidal. Although I should not be a surprise that the younger guys don't hear a difference. It's taken me a lot of years of listening to appreciate what makes different types of music sound really great, and also to appreciate qualities beyond the actual sound such as sound stage, ambience and 'musicality', etc. Such things take time and an interest in getting a deeper connection with the music one listens to.

[@MisterNoRng1]

What I've learned throughout the years is not that its important what sounds best but what i enjoy listening to most.

[@AndrewSouthworth]

If professional headphone engineers listening on a $30,000 headphone system struggle to pick Spotify apart from Apple Music or Qobuz, very few regular people probably can. Lossless audio seems silly in a world where the vast majority listen to music using AirPods and other bluetooth headphones. Great for those with super hearing but a feature that most probably never notice.

[@KrypteiaXi]

You are not supposed to bother with hi fi unless you have already invested thousands of dollars in equipment in the first place.

[@LeMerch]

@@KrypteiaXithousands? 😂😂 I have wired high end headphones, and the difference is massive.

[@CYCHIATRIC]

The hearing thing is often overlooked. Some people just have bad hearing. Weakest link in the signal chain.

[@BoOb-yd4dk]

@@LeMerchthe evidence of this video shows that’s bs. Professionals are literally saying they think Spotify is hifi. If you did a blind test you would likely fail.

[@Panda-masterr]

They can hear the difference. That's why you have to get a pair of good earbuds or headphones and then you'll be able to hear the difference.

[@LilView]

I've done this and Tidal is definitely higher quality than Spotify. Very noticable.

[@donvittoriosierra]

What I noticed is since apple doesn't have a setting where it only plays the highest bitrate and automatically drops down when the internet slows down, the sound quality can vary. When the tracks are downloaded though Apple music is great.

[@donvittoriosierra]

Tidal and even spotify can be set to stay at the highest bitrates so when the internet lags it would rather stop playing the music than go down to a lower bitrate. I really want spotify to get the lossless hifi tier though because of its cool remote control function combined with decent radio tracks selected based on the songs you play. Apple is also good with track and even similar artists but can have a little glitchy playback. Sometimes it repeats parts like a needle jumping on a turntable if the track is not downloaded.

[@Daniel-Robison]

@@donvittoriosierra sera que algum outro app tem função de controle remoto? é bem legal mesmo!

[@KarmaisReal-sm6bz]

I'd love to see an extended test that also features Deezer and Napster. Deezer ranks high in my book.

[@lalkaskar7147]

Yes indeed, crazy that Deezer not is included! 😮

[@fabinho.kisuco]

Deezer ia very very good! I tried the others except Tidal and deezer continues to sounds great.

[@ThorDyrden]

There are online comparisons, with some short music-snipplets comparing mp3/AAC 128kBit , 320kBit vs lossless (FLAC). With my setup and ears I always ranked the 128kBit worst - so that was obviously noticeable - but already between 320kBit lossy-compression and lossless I think it was 6/4 for lossless.... so already 320kBit was not clearly distinquishable (resp. not worse) in a direct comparison.

[@mrtrimbeast]

All this proves is for the most part they picked out what they are used to hearing.

[@newdevilman1167]

With AB-1266 TC Phi - WooAudio WA33 Elite - Chord DAVE - Aurender N20, I find Tidal = Qobuz > Bugs Music > Spotify. I just briefly tried with my desk-fi set up: KEF LS50W2, Tidal > Qobuz > Apple > Spotify

[@RocketLauncherwithInfiniteAmmo]

So they’re all good, and bad, and wide, and narrow, and detailed, and lacking detail, and it’s all track dependant.

[@jaimefernandes6811]

Or to put it in a single word, They are all subjective.

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Right, yet we have our preferences.

[@merrafieldjp]

This doesn’t demonstrate that. To call them preferences, your subjective impressions would have to be consistent across multiple blind listening sessions. I’m not saying that they won’t be; I’m just saying that there isn’t enough here to support the claim you’re making.

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

@@merrafieldjp We each mentioned what service we use (and pay for) daily. How about you, ever try this?

[@RocketLauncherwithInfiniteAmmo]

@@ABYSSHeadphones maybe it could be done again with the exact same song for everyone. The point was obviously to use music you know well for each person, but it might be more interesting to use just 1 or 2 tracks that are the same for everyone. I think you guys should investigate this further because it seems like there’s something here to investigate. As you pointed out, why are they all so different? Also was the transmission all the same because after watching this I had a mess around with Spotify and apple, (the two services I have access to) and they did sound different but then it turned out apple was automatically air playing it from my phone rather than direct from the MacBook like Spotify was, so all things that beg investigating.

[@zadsazhad]

I was using tidal to Spotify to utube music and now I'm happy with my apple music on my iem

[@bobsykes]

I did a comparison starting with high-res, high sample rate tracks that I had purchased from HD Tracks played from an Aurender music server via USB to a Benchmark DAC3, Benchmark HPA4 amp, and Audeze LCD-5. I compared that sound to the same tracks played on Tidal, and Qobuz, and Apple Lossless, all via USB as well. For Apple Music I had to use an iPad Pro as a source, as the desktop Apple OS does not allow a direct connect to the USB DAC, instead everything going through Apple's awful sample rate converter. The other two services are available on the iPad Pro where I could switch between all three streaming services, but I also listened to them on a desktop M1 Mac. Qobuz sounds hands-down identical to the purchased, uncompressed files from HD tracks. Tidal sounds like a shit-ton of dither has been added to everything, it's like playing an analog tape recording of the originally digital tracks (so I can see how some people might like that effect). Apple Lossless has less clarity, detail and definition. It sounds like Apple can't resist doing some kind of processing in their app, even if you turn off every option that they allow you to in Preferences. Qobuz is the best if you want to hear the track exactly as it was released by the label.

[@SoCalxSurfs]

Hi there. So are you saying the Ipad pro doesn't do the sample rate conversion that Apple OS on desktops does? Im aware of the SRC that my apple desktop does but I also assumed that the SRC would take place on other apple products such as the ipad or iphone. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[@sonnyvarioni1654]

@@SoCalxSurfs Original comment is a bit confusing; iOS devices automatically switch the output sample and bit rate acording to the song being played, while OSX devices output the sample and bit rate settings via the Audio Midi Setup app and this needs to be altered manually according to the song you're playing,

[@sonnyvarioni1654]

I don't hear any improvement in SQ from Qobuz to Apple Music and AM beats Qobuz hands down on UX so I use that.

[@SoCalxSurfs]

@@sonnyvarioni1654 Thanks for the reply. But I am aware of what you stated. What @bobsykes was saying is that apples OS does an (extra) sample rate conversion regardless if the sample rate of the music matches up with the output sample rate set in the Audio Midi setup. This is actually a very new discovery among a few consumers (mostly audio engineers) because they have noticed sound degradation when outputting audio from apple computers compared to Windows based. And with the use of music apps like Audirvana and its exclusive feature (bypassing the extra SRC) you can clearly hear an improvement in sound quality.

[@sonnyvarioni1654]

@@SoCalxSurfs That's interesting; my DAC displays the bit and sample rate it's being fed and this has always matched the Audio Midi setting for me . . .

[@triumphant_54]

What I learn from this video is to trust your ear. Music engineers are ranking Qobuz the least... Are we supposed to trust them? Just my thought of this whole audiophile Rabbit whole...

[@bladeofky]

I’m curious as why there are differences between them, especially the lossless options. Shouldn’t they theoretically all be the same unless the streaming client is applying some kind of in-house eq?

[@Vulkanodox]

the problem is tidal and others have a lot of "fake" lossless. Like they get the normal cd release mp3 version and then convert it into lossless. The result is technically lossless but lossless of an already cut down version. They have to acquire a proper, lossless mixed release which they often can't for older music and music where the studios do not much care about lossless releases. So my guess is that while they advertise it as lossless the majority of the tracks are not lossless and thus there are differences when they have certain music as lossless but other platforms don't.

[@nekomancer350]

Some of them have different masters but as you saw it was mostly placebo.

[@giulianogenovese1258]

@@nekomancer350 lmao "it sounds different from my cd" literally it can't..

[@nekomancer350]

@@giulianogenovese1258 lol I forgot about this video. reading through comments again is funny in how delusional many self-proclaimed audiophiles are.

[@nekomancer350]

Only if it was mastered quite differently you could hear a difference. Qobuz has a lot of different masters compared to what's available on other streaming platforms.

[@paulhunter6652]

Quite surprised at your picks. There all good but Qobuz blows Tidal away on my music system. I have compared Tidal and Qobuz side by side. Tidal MQA is muddy/distorted and compressed sounding especially at higher volumes. I don’t think Apple, Spotify or Amazon are in the same league as Qobuz and Tidal. I’m very glad that Qobuz arrived in Canada. Cheers

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Recently Tidal has been phasing out MQA and phasing in FLAC, per their CEO on social.

[@maegnificant]

​@@ABYSSHeadphonesi mean, that was about time. Them taking part in this scam made me immediately jump ship.

[@MasterofPlay7]

i use spotify, none of the streaming services has its massive library of content

[@rikkidgermano9640]

I have Tidal and nothing is muddy/distorted or compressed. I don't know what settings you use but you use it wrong.

[@VSN-wb2ly]

​@@MasterofPlay7quantity in Spotify is larger but the quality is questionable for a big company like Spotify, they could just add option for loseless audio and they actually would have increase in their sales. Also hi res audio is more noticeable once you used high tier audio set up

[@rossheard9446]

I have Amazon but I've tested the others and the difference IMO is minimal. in fact many times it's just a matter of volume it seems. Anyway, enjoy.

[@HermeticAscetic22]

I use Apple Music. It sounds great! Also offers Dolby Atmos, which I love.

[@misleadin0]

Well red shirt is sus is the only thing i get from this video

[@ScottoGrotto]

So interesting that Apple was the previous favorite, and the rankings fall out more on what type of presentation of sound each person prefers. The note on Amazon HD, which I use, is interesting about the leading edge of notes being soft. I have noticed that, but wasn’t sure for the reason. “The source player software” does make a difference… Like Amarra Luxe that I liked from my mac was worlds better than the basic iMac output. Streamers likely have that built into their streams. May have to demo a couple more services :)

[@davestevens4193]

The two young guys have lead ears.

[@thetribal697]

Music is like food. Some like blunt food like monks, spicy, chinese. Some like Bass, mid and highs. But i love a good stereo sound. I build custom amplifiers for my customers, they all have different tastes.

[@JtwasLuck]

Interesting comparisons! I've went from Tidal to Amazon Music, quite happy with my setup ATM.

[@MasterofPlay7]

not enough tracks on amazon though

[@carloslaraortiz8402]

​@residentzero Deezer basically has the same issues. Jesus the app really is a dogshit.

[@1eyejackffs934]

One thing I've learned after years of chasing guitar related gear and guitars is that this stuff is subjective, what sounds great to you may not sound so good to the next person, maybe even more so when you're dealing with music.

[@ConvinceMeAudio]

Qobuz Apple Music Amazon hd then title for me here. Warwick, acoustics, Aperio, Shangri-La, senior, AB 1260 6TC, SUS, camerton valkayria I find tidal, feels digitally touched up, there is a sense of uncanny valley in the dynamic range region is very odd And talking of AB1266TC, thanks for the review unit boys legends 😆😎🐅❤ ️🐅

[@HiFiInsider]

I also found Apple Music lossless to sound best. I made the comparison when Apple turned ON lossless.

[@paulmumford3397]

Can't escape the fact that Nils used the papyrus font on his album cover. Ugh.

[@michaelvanbuskirk8845]

Amazon music on my Sennheiser HD599's sounds fantastic to my ears. To each their own.

[@NathanDrescher]

These guys couldn't agree on the colour of the sky lol

[@BoOb-yd4dk]

So even people paid to do this can’t tell a damn difference.

[@victorsaenz9452]

I just left Spotify for tidal

[@Panda-masterr]

Based on my experience, listetfrom a pixel 9 pro xl and a pair of bowers and wilkins PI8 earbuds, i would rank them like this 1. Qobuz 2. Deezer 3. Amazon music 4. Tital 5. Apple music

[@watdanuqta-mf5ms]

I never heard a streamer that performed as good as a Compact disc(wav file) and those machines maybe one in ten, one in twenty cuts sound really good. Maybe auditioning thru a good stereo system would work better than headphones.

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Soundstage is definitely different between headphones and speakers and for sure recordings are mastered mainly for speakers. We did a video on this... kzbin.info/www/bejne/oofQpZ6NeLt7e9U

[@nick_heggoe]

When it comes to the sound quality Qobuz will always be the best. Just pure lossless FLAC.

[@gordonfreeman4491]

IMO: due to the MQA focus, I will never use Tidal and Qobuz is for me by far the best streaming service.

[@Milo_Molnar]

Tidal has FLAC now.

[@Haydos]

​​@@Milo_Molnaronly on some tracks. And even after the removal they still use mqa as a source for a lot of the file. They just don't label them as mqa anymore and they are just labeled as "high"

[@wittynclever]

So basically professional sound engineers couldn't tell one service from another and noticed huge quality variations from song to song within the same service. Imma just continue YT music

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

The source material is certainly a variable even within the same service. Album dependent, Atmos, MQA, etc.

[@vmpty]

1. They are listening to different masters. 2. When they pick their own songs, they bring the bias of how they are used to hear the song. 3. I know nothing of headphones, but in my stereo system, comparing Spotify to Tidal/Qobuz is like comparing std TV to 8K. You must be deaf not to recognize huge differences: dynamics, soundstage size and depth, instrument separation, detail and nuances, musicality, etc.

[@andysledge]

There is no way that that 256kbit Opus vs FLAC is like SDTV to HDTV you're full of shit. The fuck is even nuances and musicality. Go get some chakra stones too while you're at it. Even worse with Stereo Systems, a fucking chair in your room has a bigger influence on the sound quality

[@andysledge]

Everything above 192kbps is not recognizable. Keep believing your bullshit

[@MrRupret]

So folks "like" what they are used to... meh...

[@googoo-gjoob]

i subscribed to Tidal & Qobuz for 1 year. after dozens of A/B sessions...... i didnt renew Tidal. ive been with *Qobuz* ever since.

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Good way to go about it, long-term experienced decision.

[@dehacx]

I noticed some differences between Apple Music and Tidal when I was testing them. Generally, Tidal sounds more full, more detailed, while Apple sounds “smaller”. But it depends on the masters you’re listening to. Tidal is great with FLAC songs on Max, and it’s better than Apple’s lossless. Tidal’s Atmos mix is also way better than Apple’s. But Apple’s Hi-Res Lossless is also amazing to listen to (although there’s very few songs mixed on that version) and their standard high quality is also better than Tidal’s high quality. And Apple Music Lossless versions are better than Tidal’s MQA’s. But on standard bluetooth headphones, you can’t really tell any difference, except that Apple Music is louder. I’m gonna try Amazon next.

[@LatinoBigMan]

The only reason why i use youtube music is for mixtapes or any songs that didnt come to tidal or spotify. If it wasnt for that reason i wouldve used tidal

[@mike-uw6wt]

This video is out of date because Tidal now uses FLAC.

[@mrpmj00]

Don't cripple your sound quality with compressed Spotify...instead use a quality lossless source like Apple Music.

[@BoOb-yd4dk]

Literally this video shows there’s bigger all difference. Audiophiles can w@nk on about it but a music fan doesn’t care.

[@Haydos]

​@@BoOb-yd4dkbigger all

[@BenjaminSmith]

Were you using the highest quality setting on each service?

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

yes

[@DavidParker-jr5bd]

This only illustrates the limitations of subjective comparison.

[@Vantavimeow]

In essence use what you want because it's really not as big of a difference as you want to believe, especially when you're not listening on the financial equivalent of down-payment for a house. It would be nice is Spotify finally released higher bitrate like they said they were going to several years ago though.

[@elvysmontas]

My chemical Romance tiene una canción llamada Give 'Em Hell, Kid, en Tidal se escuchan voces que no escuchas ni en Deezer, ni en Spotify, y ni en KZbin Music, las demás no sé.

[@carloslaraortiz8402]

I've recently did the comparition between applemusic loseless hi res vs deezer and while it is true the difference is practically unnoticeable imo Deezer flac is just better than apple music alac, slightly but still better.

[@shadowofpain8144]

The older guy knows his business probably still has perfect pitch. The two younger guys I wouldn't hire to wash my car.

[@LautaroCaballero]

Can't wait to see when Spotify launches its new Supremium tier with Hi-Fi

[@Leon-lg7zm]

They've talked about this for years without a release. We all know Tidal is the best and its Roon integration is fantastic.

[@yashptel]

Maybe our grandchildren will have it. If we're lucky

[@gojira5411]

@@yashptel😂🤣😂🤣

[@PocketDelicious]

They've talked about this for years. You know what they did develop? Some stupid car device. Screw Spotify.

[@anuj.thakare]

Who else has a $30000 headphones?

[@josepalacios2344]

I only recommend Tidal to people who possess or know about IEM's and DAW's. Otherwise, pay for the platform you want

[@UncleChisel]

Guys basically we cannot hear differences. Just enjoy your music

[@rand9994]

Yeah.. It's more about the features you want and ease of use really.

[@bluecheckmiya]

Well you can’t hear a difference. Some of us can it’s all about how trained your ears are to the differences and how in tune your brain is at picking it up

[@BoOb-yd4dk]

@@bluecheckmiyado a blind test and post the results. 95 percent are proven to be unable to.

[@Panda-masterr]

I can hear a difference. That's why I use Deezer and a pair of good earbuds

[@MrAkella33]

But why *do* they sound different? Qobuz, and Apple Music both have hires and lossless so what’s affecting the sound?

[@nekomancer350]

Qobuz has some different masters

[@michaelrovner4165]

Tidal uses FLAC and that has issues

[@maximilianmustermann5763]

@@michaelrovner4165 What issues? FLAC can be re-converted to WAV with a bit-perfect match to the original WAV. I guess the differences lie in the apps/software. Can these apps use WASAPI, ASIO or other 1:1 bit perfect methods of playback to the DAC?

[@darrellross8609]

For "regular people" KZbin music is amazing.

[@rand9994]

The cool thing about YTM is that you can listen to a mashup video, or an album someone added as a vid that can't be found anywhere else. Rock City Angels album Young Man's Blues for example.

[@octavovisitare3439]

It's important to have a collection of your own test tracks. They don't have to be anything special, just something you like and are very familiar with, and then keep them with you at all times, on your phone, a USB, a CD, tape cassette even. Then consider those songs your team, or your tools. Don't look up a list of audiophile songs, because they might make a system sound too good. You also want to hear how well a good system can 'fix' a song. In the old days, producers often put their mix onto a tape and went outside to the car to hear how it sounded through their car system. Then they'd go back inside and keep working on it. It sounds counterproductive but the real world can do things to audio, both good and bad. You also want to hear how well a system synergises (if that's the word) with your ears and brain. Every second, our senses take in gigabytes of information and has to filter out 99% of it, so everyone really is different with sound. That's why we keep listening to music we like. It's almost like hearing a different song each time. Some test tracks I use are Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire because I like to hear how the song balances the left and right channels. I like the backing vocalist on the left and how the right balances her out. You don't really notice that on a 'narrow' hi-fi. I also like how vintage it feels. Another one is Donna Summer's I Feel Love as I like to hear how immersive it can feel with both the left and right channels bouncing around me. It makes me feel high. Another one is Off To The Races by Lana Del Rey. It can sound really layered, intense, vintage, and almost psychotic with how the vocal tracks almost compete with each other sometimes and then converge again to the main vocal. You can also hear people shouting in the background, like it's recorded during a riot or something. Panic Room by Au/Ra and CamelPhat I like to listen to. It's very atmospheric, perilous, spacious, and I like the bass. Another song I like for its bass is #SELFIE by Chainsmokers, which is sort of a novelty song but I'm really familiar with it now. I can't really put into words what I hear in my test tracks, but I know when I hear them how they've sounded in the past in different systems and what to listen for. Some other songs are: 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton Butterfly - Kinobe Lovely Head - Goldfrapp Journey To The Sorcerer - Eagles Gangster's Paradise - Coolio Ain't No Sunshine - Jackson 5 Convoy - CW McCall Gin and Juice - Snoop Dogg Until The End - Sub Focus Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals album Clean Bandit - New Eyes album Alabama 3 (A3) - Exile on Coldharbour Lane album Anne Marie - Speak Your Mind album That's all I can remember for now. What songs do you guys use?

[@carminedesanto6746]

DCS DAC/ Streamer ..a phenomenal unit 😉…but why are they so different ??

[@mgolabek89]

Great video!

[@TheZettaze]

Irrelevant test really, I currently have spotify and one of my favourite tracks has pretty apparent quality problems and then another song comes through nicely. There are too many source differences so you would have to listen to a lot of tracks and perhaps check sources and compression trickery. I'd be interested to know if spotify does alright on the music I listen to as opposed to the others streaming services.

[@_jaber1]

So what I just learned here is even with 30k in sound equipment, everyone hears stuff different and now Apple’s increasing my AirPods to 30k since no one can decipher a difference anyway.

[@TOMMYBOY6969]

I dont know man,,, i dont have $ 30,000 headphones !

[@Zhorellski]

Ear waxing is the best! Clarity and high resolution details 😂

[@sunewjenkuzo2835]

Where is Deezer at? XD lol but still picked a good amount of services idk which one I want to try out.

[@septiyanhariyanto]

was it significant if we are using wireless headphone and stream it using phone?

[@rashedali7618]

The one with orange t shirt should instead work at McDonald's

[@eUploads]

Idk why, but I prefer listening to 320kbit AAC over lossless on Tidal and 256kbit AAC over lossless on Apple Music. Imo it sounds better.

[@blacknightinkerala]

its not about bit rate its about codec which matter quality.I know very well that apple music has better than all other music platforms

[@JoshuaBarrio]

If you redo this test in the future include Deezer and KZbin Music. Plus have them pick two songs different styles/genres than have them listen to the same tracks.

[@MohsinWadee]

KZbin music sounds crap

[@nkanyezimasondo]

The guy in the orange t-shirt kinda looks like Bernd Leno (Fulham goalkeeper)

[@peterlynn3190]

Tryed most and Qobuz was the best though has recently become buggy.

[@vicentvanmole]

what about Amazon?

[@Bwvlog66]

the man in red... has no idea at all, has everything wrong, calls himself an engineer.

[@BumpNrun69]

There was a "man in red" ? 🤣🤣

[@RocketLauncherwithInfiniteAmmo]

Good video though, more like this, honest at least.

[@DatTruckinGuy]

Apple Music has its own EQ. It's in the setting for Apple Music. Was it used in this comparison?

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

No EQ, highest rez settings.

[@Illiyinmusic]

If you're not using a nice set up...nice headphones with an amp, or a great sound system...save your money and stay with spotify or something vs tidal....dont go off this video .. skullcandy, air pods, blue tooth wont make a difference enough to justify it

[@ChristopherSoltis5]

Proving that the pro's can barely tell which service on 30,000 rig. Now just play a local flac from a harddrive..... if they are "streaming" lossless why does it sound different?

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Local (NAS or hard drive) high rez files tend to be better than streaming. All of these digital formats are highly dependent on what you play them from. PC's are noisy devices, dedicated streamers or streaming DAC's work best to optimize digital layback.

[@vontreherumaiBH]

And out of all of them , listening to the songs on KZbin sounds better than all of them especially the music videos ! What’s really going on with the sound these days with the streaming services! Can’t even reference mix anymore ! Songs sound different on everything ! Update Qobuz sounds like the real mix ! Apple Music is sooo baaadddd compared to Qobuz .. dayummmmm Apple Music gtta do sumn or I’m leaving them

[@PaulBeetge]

Tidal wins hands down

[@Feliciano12v]

Tried Qobuz and tidal. Stuck with Amazon for stereo, Apple Music and Spotify for discovery And social features.

[@dpalma9]

So much rage on all the streaming services so I guess that they all listen music that they purchate right? Where and in which quality? I think this is important to mention.

[@A53entertainment]

Qobuz not available in my country😭

[@airyanawaejah2323]

Vpn

[@MohsinWadee]

​@@airyanawaejah2323 Qobuz is not available to me either, and I thought about getting a VPN, but it's one more faff I can do without

[@Searles007]

Joe has my picks.

[@klc2578]

the apple music play via Airplay or iPhone/ipad USB line in?

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Hardwired USB out to an external DAC with display showing data rate.

[@sonnyvarioni1654]

@@ABYSSHeadphones Well I guess that answers the question about whether a high end streamer is better than using an iPad with a good DAC - emphatically no. Guess that disproves Paul from PS Audio and John Darko with their scare talk about USB jitter, too.

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

@@sonnyvarioni1654 We did a follow up video explaining these results kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoi4g5pte810rpo

[@brunis_m]

My conclusion is that there is no objectively better service and the whole lossless thing is just silly. UX and content matter most.

[@alexvoiceover5985]

layoff this dude in orange t-shirt he put qobuz on the last place, epic fail

[@Haydos]

It's a very bad test. They didn't really prove anything

[@Panda-masterr]

Those headphones probably make anything Sound good

[@Aaron-wi4nq]

Where's youtube music?

[@m.b.6129]

High quality cd transport should be the way to go ...

[@jpined14]

While I partially agree; it’s not the 90s anymore.

[@maximilianmustermann5763]

@@jpined14 I rip CDs to FLAC with Exact Audio Copy and then play them through JRiver Media Player (WASAPI output to DAC). It's like the most perfect CD transport because not only does EAC do multiple read passes for every sector, it also compares the file hashes with 2 different data bases. If you're getting a 100% result on both, the bits were definitely copied 100% perfectly from CD.

[@KatySei]

Spotify is the ranks 4 to 5 . definitely the worst.

[@yeorges]

I haven’t been able to hear the difference between tidal vs Spotify and it’s not just me none of my friends can tell the difference either. Someone is lying

[@chrislj2890]

What the hell does it matter? Just pick the one that is the most suitable for you and enjoy the music. I use Apple Music because I use their products and it's logical for me. If I used a different brand I might use something else. It's all subjective anyway.

[@ErikMorset]

What they say when listening does not correspond to how they rate the services. All seem to describe Qobuz as clearly better than Apple music yet ranking Apple above Qobuz. This is just strange.

[@cocoasprinkles]

Music streaming services are inherently difficult to compare or grade because the value each listener derives from them is subjective.

[@Krell666]

Are all tracks the same master?

[@dustinmihalcheon5013]

Shouldn’t all tracks be ones they know and then the same or close to the same version played on each streaming service to be a fair test? It only seemed like the first guy was familiar with all the tracks played and had comparisons to what he was used to.

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Joe is the most experienced in the group, having done critical listening for as long as his 2 sons are old.