Do streaming services sound good?

[sailor]

I made the decision to go for streaming music on my system a couple years ago. I signed up for the free month on both Tidal and Qobuz.
I did some comparison listening to what I hoped were the same tracks on both services. After a couple of weeks of listening I felt that Qobuz sounded a bit better, but not quite the same as the music files off my NAS or CD's. I know there are all kinds of reasons why music sounds different from different sources, and all was quite good. I have put a lot of effort in my digital source (Still have more to do). I feel I have a good sound.
There has been quite a bit of audio press that claim that Qobuz is one of the better sounding digital streaming services, so I felt encouraged in my choice to sign up for a paid subscription to Qobuz.
We now may have answer on why streaming music sounds different from different sources.
Here is a white paper including sample files.
Watermark on Digital files

Be careful of anything you read on the Internet!

[speakertom]

Thanks Paul. Great info. I only use streaming for background music or if someone wants to hear a piece I don't especially like and would not have it on my NAS.

Tom

[larrys]

May 2, 2022 11:21:08 GMT -5 speakertom said:

Thanks Paul. Great info. I only use streaming for background music or if someone wants to hear a piece I don't especially like and would not have it on my NAS.

Tom

I use it mostly for background as well.  But it's also very useful for listening to new releases.  If it turns out I like the new release I'll put it in my library (usually the Qobuz version - MQA/Tidal kind of left a bad taste in my mouth).  If it's something I more than like, I'll see if it's available for purchase in hard copy of some sort (preferably an LP).