If you use the premium service of the big boys, Pandora, Spotify, quality for simply listening while doing other things is fine. By far, Spotify will give you the most control and variation in your music with song stations, artist stations, playlists, etc. Pandora is decent in this category. Qobuz is definitely tops in quality for critical listening, but even that can be limited depending on how you stream (iPhone, direct, streamer etc.) and I agree Tidal is definitely Hip-Hop oriented, but that would be expected given it is Jay-Z's baby (mostly). As competition increases so will services/quality. Streaming is here to stay though, and is a great way to easily access gobs of music that wouldn't necessarily be available otherwise.
Why stream?
OK, I've been around the low end of the high end for 40 years, but the learning curve for digital audio has been steep. Needing a better DAC, I acquired a Cambridge 851N and started streaming. Yeah, this device is now Tidal-friendly. But Tidal streams at 44.1kHz, while Cambridge plays everything from USB -- Tidal, Spotify, Pandora Radio, iTunes library -- at 96kHz. Last night I used Spotify to find and play obscure old stuff listed on cassette tapes I made from 1975-1989. The sound (better amplification and speakers now, of course) was revelatory. Rather than exposing a thousand flaws, in most cases the Cambridge DAC/USB found unsuspected delights in these old (NON-remastered) recordings.
So, my question is simply: why stream when you get better sound from USB? I know Qobuz does 96, but no way it can match my library, and it can't beat USB from Spotify, which found every selection except one obscurity from De Danann, which I probably mistyped anyhow.
So, my question is simply: why stream when you get better sound from USB? I know Qobuz does 96, but no way it can match my library, and it can't beat USB from Spotify, which found every selection except one obscurity from De Danann, which I probably mistyped anyhow.