Music streaming

Just get Qobuz or Tidal depending on which music library aligns better with your personal taste in music.  YouTube Premium music is low-res 256kb/s while Qobuz and Tidal offer minimum full CD resolution with a lot of music available in hi res, and as the others are about the same price as YT Premium it’s a no brainer if you care at all about sound quality. 

+1 for Qobuz.  I myself don't listen to Youtube, but I know many like the video with the audio.  It is easy to plug an optical input into your new Auralic Streamer.  This may not sound as awesome as a Qobuz stream, but would make it available without I think the complexity of casting from a laptop.  Just plug your TV into the Auralic and listen.  Premium is a decision that you can decide upon later.  The Auralic will also accept Bluetooth form you laptop, and while not as high rez is another option.  I do think the new Bluetooth is getting better.

+1 for Qobuz.  I myself don't listen to Youtube, but I know many like the video with the audio.  It is easy to plug an optical input into your new Auralic Streamer.  This may not sound as awesome as a Qobuz stream, but would make it available without I think the complexity of casting from a laptop.  Just plug your TV into the Auralic and listen.  Premium is a decision that you can decide upon later.  The Auralic will also accept Bluetooth form you laptop, and while not as high rez it is another option.  I do think the new Bluetooth is getting better.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I’am using a little cheap 4x4 inch streamer via Bluetooth from my laptop  to my preamp now.

The quality is not the best as you might imagine.

I will check out both services you mention.

If I subscribe I take it I can run right from my modem into my streamer correct?

HI @twangy57 .  Yes, you can plug an ethernet cable directly into the Vega and stream from there.  Remember you can also plug in an optical from a TV.  The newer Vegas (G2.2)  have HDMI arc input for sound from TV also, but the older versions do not.  For me, optical for TV sound is fine.  Once you stream directly from ethernet cable to Vega, you will forget all about the laptop!  BTW, the Vega was my first real upgrade into great sound.  I had a Bluesound Node before, and even a PS Audio Direct Stream I, but I found the Vega superior in all ways.  Your Vega is both a streamer and a DAC, but the emphasis on the Vega is the DAC.

If you want the ultimate in streaming sound quality (for me and my audio system, Tidal came out #1) go with either Tidal, Qobuz or both.  Happy listening.

If you want the ultimate in streaming sound quality (for me and my audio system, Tidal came out #1) go with either Tidal, Qobuz or both.  Happy listening.

Thanks,I will check Tidal out.

Yes, you can plug an ethernet cable directly into the Vega and stream from there.  Remember you can also plug in an optical from a TV.  

So if I watch a video on you tube premium on my TV ,and use the optical output to the Vega I shouldn't loose much audio quality?

I have both Tidal and Qbuz, they both sound great. I’ve had Tidal longer and am more comfortable navigating the site. Just pick one and do a Trial. One thing I discovered is when I stream in my car Siri does not support Qbuz. I downloaded about 80 gigs of Tidal to my phone that I can play and stream when I’m in the mountains or off coast fishing and lack a cellular signal. Happy Listening, Mike B. 

You will get all that You Tube gives, up to 96kHz.  This is better than YouTube output I think.  It will sound amazing, if your tv is centered between your speakers.

The reason we use AES (196kHz) or USB (DSD etc) is to send higher resolution files to the DAC if they are available.  Qobuz streams vary from CD quality (44.1kHz) all they way up to 196kHz.

You can Bluetooth Youtube from whatever device you're using to the Vega.

jond

5,963 posts

04-10-2025 at 06:01pm 

You can Bluetooth Youtube from whatever device you're using to the Vega.

Got it!Thanks.

I also was wondering if I can expect much of a improvement from running my 25 year old Nakamici CD player using the digital out into the Auralic DAC?

Yes

do you have the Vega?

Qobuz

You can likely get free trials with both Tidal and Qobuz. 

I prefer Tidal. 

99.9% of my music listening consists of 1970's to Current Day Progressive Rock, 1960's to 1980's Classic Rock, 1980's to Current Day Prog Metal, Art Rock, Post Rock, and Bete Noir Jazz from all Eras (Bowie, Roxy Music, Talk Talk, Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Distant Dream, Soup, My Bloody Valentine, Gift, Bohren & der Club of Gore, etc.), and Industrial/Hard To Classify Rock (Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Killing Joke, Psychedelic Furs, Satellite Paradiso, etc.).  I gave examples so you could see the pretty eclectic variety of my tunes.

I am pretty certain I can count on one hand the number of times I looked for music I listen to and was not able to find it in Tidal's library.  Happy listening!

fastfreight

905 posts

04-10-2025 at 06:26pm 

do you have the Vega?

Its on the way

overthemoon

464 posts

04-10-2025 at 07:42pm 

You can likely get free trials with both Tidal and Qobuz.

Yes,I signed up for a 60 day trial with Tidal.

Sounds pretty good so far.

thanks

allenf1963

379 posts

04-10-2025 at 07:43pm 

I prefer Tidal. 

99.9% of my music listening consists of 1970’s to Current Day Progressive Rock, 1960’s to 1980’s Classic Rock, 1980’s to Current Day Prog Metal, Art Rock, Post Rock, and Bete Noir Jazz from all Eras (Bowie, Roxy Music, Talk Talk, Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Distant Dream, Soup, My Bloody Valentine, Gift, Bohren & der Club of Gore, etc.), and Industrial/Hard To Classify Rock (Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Killing Joke, Psychedelic Furs, Satellite Paradiso, etc.).  I gave examples so you could see the pretty eclectic variety of my tunes.

I am pretty certain I can count on one hand the number of times I looked for music I listen to and was not able to find it in Tidal’s library.  Happy listening!

Yes,that’s why I ended trying tidal.

I stumped them with Ground Hogs -Soldier.

They do have about six albums,just not Thank Christ for the Bomb.

Qobuz hands-down ... 

For an inexpensive streamer look at Wiim Ultra ... some compelling reviews and I have heard it ... easy to use, compatible with Qobuz et cetera.

https://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2024/07/19/the-wiim-ultra-review-unreal-hifi-value-for-real/

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_399WMULTRA/WiiM-Ultra-Space-Gray.html?awcr=699109337249&awdv=c&awnw=g&awug=9023020&awkw=kwd-2277443742925&awmt=p&awat=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw--K_BhB5EiwAuwYoyj7s-LK-XoZop015dPpAoK1SVrVHMpkuoy3PSz5MILP8GKVVyhoEehoCSrkQAvD_BwE

+1 for Qobuz

Cambridge Audio streamers support Chromecast .  I just bought a Wiim Pro for $109 that does as well.  It isn’t hard to find 

I own the Vega, and enjoy the Auralic app and Qobuz.  I tried adding Roon, but it didn't add much to the experience for me, and was another layer to deal with.

I also subscribe to Youtube Premium and enjoy the wide variety of performances available through my TV.  You may encounter some syncing issues (video and audio) with the Vega, since there is buffering taking place.  I ended up adding a pair of JBL powered speakers for TV and swap my REL sub between my primary system when what members here refer to as "critical listening".. 

Qobuz for sound quality, but sometimes they don't carry an artist's best work. For example, Tom Russell Band, Poor Man's Dream album. All you get are shabby, feel-good live recordings of some cuts from that record. They also don't have the Poco album Cantamos. Two years ago they didn't have the Amplified Heart album by Everything But the Girl, nor the single We Walk the Same Line from that album. Now they do, but it took a while. Though they did impress me with Brother Wiley's Murder the Mystery album, which I strongly recommend, especially for the rock 'n roll cover of Cohen's First We Take Manhattan. And they had another rarity, Air Loom, Seeds, for the single Forgive This Town. Qobuz is missing some of the best Albinoni and Telemann as well.
That said, Apple has the more comprehensive library. MQA put me off Tidal forever, and Spotify doesn't seem to take SQ seriously.

I have Qobuz and Tidal and they both sound excellent.  I have both because sometimes I will play something on one platform that is not available on the other.  

I prefer Qobuz but Tidal has great exclusive live content with artists.  

Been using Tidal for years. Love it. I listen to everything from rock to opera. Music library 970 and counting. 

Many Tidal vs Qobuz debates here...but with your streamer, you should get the one that works best for you...

I had subscriptions to Tidal and Qobuz together for about 4 months. I settled on Qobuz.  I preferred its library format better and thought its SQ marginally better.  

+1 @soix 

I have both and like Qobuz, but you won't likely notice much difference. Look at the music library and the interface that suits you best. Amazing that we have all that music at CD quality or better for what we pay.

I have two systems. One has a Bluesound Node N130 and I’m using Amazon HD and Qobuz .   The other has an Arunder N200 in it and it doesn’t play Amazon, so I just use Qobuz.

All the best.

Another vote for Qobuz.  I’ve tried all the services.  It has the best combination of selection including HD content, ease of use and price in my opinion.  

I prefer Qobuz for sound quality and they pay musicians higher fees when they are streamed on this platform. I have several relatives that are musicians and they appreciate getting checks.

blackbag20

534 posts

Thanks for the info but I already bought a Auralic Vega g1

Thanks to all the help,

I ended up signing up for a 60 trial with Tidal just to get going with something.

One thing I already notice ,to me it seems to weigh heavily towards modern pop and r&b,

But that was just a first impression

Does Qobuz have a deeper catalog of old stuff like 70's hard rock?

I use Qobuz, love it very easy and great SQ.  I have the Cambridge Audio CXN on one system and I just bought the Rose 250A to do hi res video as well.  Not sure I am going to keep.  Great build terrible app and remote.  Wonky

If anyone has one, would love to get some feedback on the Rose RS250A, may be going back to Crutchfield, who are world class

@speedysteve4 i had the RS250A for a short time.  It sounded excellent but the software was wonky.  After a couple of days with it Tidal tracks started streaming at incorrect bit rates and everything sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks.  Qobuz worked flawlessly though and playing from the internal SSD was flawless as well.  I decided it was too much money to spend for it to not work correctly out of the box so I returned it.  Had the software been better I would likely still have it.

@twangy57 i have both Tidal and Qobuz.  I think Tidal has a ton 70s rock.  I would say the only content that Qobuz has a better selection of is classical (and maybe Jazz but I wouldn’t bet on it)..

jastralfu

477 posts

Yes,I have been doing some more searches  and their tracks go pretty deep.

@twangy57 When I find an artist I like i use related artists a lot.  It’s easy to find similar artists that way and easy to spend hours doing it.

jastralfu

478 post

I will try that and see what comes up.

Thanks

I've recently settled on Deezer. In my current home system it is clearly better than all others. And, I am still surprised by this. Qobuz had been my preferred service for some time.  

nrthomas2

46 posts

What do you like about it,I have never heard of that one.

Surprised no one has said it yet. Bluetooth for listening to music is not good. Once you go Hi-rez audio natively one a streamer, you will never go back!

Youtube is horrible for audio. But can usually be cast over bluetooth. Have done it from my laptop a few times. 

If you like to watch videos, Tidal, has them, and sounds good. 

Only time I use Bluetooth is the sound bar in my bedroom, every time it makes my appreciate my 2ch system more.

@mswale 

+1 

Wow. I missed that somehow. Thanks for bring it up. 

It is bad enough having a laptop involved for sound quality... but bluetooth... an absolute no-no for any kind of sound quality!

Ok,I have my streamer hooked to my router via a Ethernet cable .

What do I have to do next to get my music from Tidal to play on the streamer?

@twangy57 does your streamer come with a manual? it will tell you how to use it. 

generally, you open either the streamers app, or the streaming service app, there will be a connect button. Click that, then select your streamer. After that click on play. Sit back and listen....

The streamer app is called Lightning DS. You want to load it to your iPad. iPad is the preferred control device and I am sure will be much easier. If not there is a technical way to control from Macs and PCs. Here is an AI Summary:

The Auralic Vega G1 streamer app is called Lightning DS. It's an iOS app designed for controlling the Vega G1 and other Auralic devices. While primarily designed for iOS, Auralic streamers also support OpenHome UPnP protocols, allowing them to be controlled by other compatible apps on Android, Mac, and Windows. 

Key features and functionalities of Lightning DS include:

• Native streaming: Supports Qobuz, Tidal, and HRA. 
• Other streaming options: Supports Spotify Connect, AirPlay, and Internet Radio. 
• Roon ready: Auralic streamers are Roon-ready, allowing them to seamlessly integrate into Roon systems. 
• Web browser control: Device setup and configuration can be done using a web browser on any PC or Mac. 

ghdprentice

Thanks for the info.

I tried using lightning,but I have a chrome laptop and I could only use it in my browser.I have just been using my phone through tidal and it works well.

I think I will get a I-pad or Android tablet soon..