Where to get higher quality music

High resolution streaming services will automatically downsample their files to the highest resolution your DAC supports. If you want to sacrifice some portability and power efficiency for Kz support, I recommend the Fulla 3 from Schiit audio.

The combination DAC, streamer, and amp is a pretty good all-in-one solution for someone who wants to get serious about high-resolution music streaming. You will need to connect the Powernode 2i to your WiFi network to stream music through it, but the app walks you through the process, which takes about five minutes.

One of the things I really like about this amp is that Bluesound continues to push software updates to it to improve its performance. The company can also push updates that add support for more high resolution streaming services as they become available, which future-proofs it a little bit. Buy: Bluesound Powernode 2i at. This defeats the point of listening to high resolution music. To avoid this, I recommend getting the Fiio M6 , which is a dedicated portable music player that supports files up to kHz.

It looks like a mini smartphone, complete with a touch screen, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, and an app store. You can load its internal storage with music files, or play tunes directly from high resolution music streaming services. If you plan on carrying all of your music locally, you should get a high-capacity MicroSD card for additional storage.

All of the services offer many of the same great features: On-demand streaming from a library of millions of songs, lossless CD-quality music of albums not available in high-resolution, and the ability to download music to some devices for offline listening. And do we still want a lossless Spotify tier? Here's a superb-sounding hi-fi system with streaming skills. Best hi-fi systems What Hi-Fi? See all comments Do I need to hook one of the music streamers up to my receiver in order to make this happen?

Thank you and appreciate any help. Presto Classical prestomusic is an excellent site and has a large library of classical and jazz flac downloads to purchase. For various reasons, including downsizing, I have just discovered high-res streaming and downloading. So I got what I thought was a pretty good set up but none of the elements featurin your review!

I'm using my old Arcam amplifier and I listen through my Lyn Keilidh speakers. For audio I subscribe to Primephonic. I found Tidal more difficult to navigate. I am not allowed to take downloads to my laptop but only to my phone or tablet. All this is very new to me.

I'm disturbed that you haven't reviewed my streaming services or the firefly and I wonder if I made some big mistakes? The amount of misinformation in this article is astounding! I'm not sure where to start. And it doesn't matter anyway because virtually every recording available in download or streaming format fail to meet the frequency response and dynamics of a standard compact disc. The statement "going 16bit to 24bit can deliver a noticeable leap in quality" is patently untrue.

I survey over audiophiles in my research and the results showed that people had as good a chance at picking a native HD file over a CD as a random coin toss. Hi-Res audio and MQA are simply attempts by those in the music and audio business to grab more money. It's a shame that the authors of this piece failed to do adequate research before writing a useless article.

DrAIX said:. I am learning a lot about HiFi streaming in articles such as these, but difficulty figuring out how best to use my current equipment. I subjectively think 1 sounds better than 2 2 is a lot easier and simpler to use I suspect the best is option 4, but I am not ready for the cost.

I realize that all of the above probably do better than my middle age ears can resolve, but they also definitely sound better than my Youtube Music subscription did My Question: Can someone advise me on the difference in audio quality between the Chromecast Ultra and the Chromecast Audio?

Dan J said:. I'll give the Toslink on CCA a try. You're right, by the way, I've caught myself enjoying the louder of two choices a few times so I turn up the Chromecast all the way when comparing Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Two Creatives on Their Journeys to Sustainability. Chandler Bondurant.

The Best-Sounding Bookshelf Speakers. Wharfedale EVO4. Related Story. Also while Deezer was the first music streaming service to offer Reality Audio, it has since been joined by others including Tidal and Amazon Music HD making it no longer a unique offering. Thankfully, Deezer's extensive catalogue, vast device support, user-friendly interface and decent non-music content lays the foundations for a service that can still rival the best.

And there's a free tier if you want to try it first. Read the full review: Deezer. Qobuz might not be the most well-known streaming service, but it is arguably the most advanced in terms of file quality. Qobuz is available on lots of devices. There's a web player, desktop and mobile apps, plus a number of networked streaming products that are also compatible with the service. The interface is nice to use across desktop and mobile although the curation could be better. When it comes to the catalogue, Qobuz isn't quite as pop-heavy as its closest rivals and has some pretty major blind spots in its catalogue, but there's still a decent balance and it's worth the free trial to see if most of what you want is on there.

The only other issue is that, while Qobuz claims to have more hi-res tracks than rivals, Tidal 's hi-res streams also sound marginally better for timing and dynamics. Read the full review: Qobuz. The user interface is solid, and the search function is terrific, turning up long-lost musical gems through its video vaults. The problem is that the competition's quality remains an issue: Spotify and Apple Music are the mass market titans to tackle, and both already offer five-star services.

There are a few good reasons to choose YouTube Music, though. As for sound quality, the kbps streams are far from unlistenable but sound compressed in a way that main rivals don't.

Still, if you like the USP here — music videos, rather than audio — and the ability to seek out a recording played live at a certain venue on a certain date, YouTube Music has plenty to offer. Read the full review: YouTube Music. What Hi-Fi? Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies.

Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence. Read more about how we test. Platforms: iOS and Android apps, desktop app, web player. Reasons to avoid - Hi-res tier undercut by Amazon. Quality: kbps. Platforms: iOS and Android apps, desktop app, web player, smart TV apps, connected speaker support, cars.

Reasons to avoid - Others sound better - No lossless or hi-res yet. Apple Music. An appealing streaming service with intelligent curation, a vast catalogue and good sound quality. Platforms: iOS, desktop app.