I've had Spotify Premium for many years and I got tired of waiting for their lossless offering, which may have been canned indefinitely for the foreseeable future. I've been supplementing Spotify with my own large lossless library with Bryston's MPD or Roon.
So right now I'm trying out Tidal Hi-fi (not Hifi Plus) again for the second time and Amazon Music HD. Unfortunately, Qobuz is still not available here in Canada. I know there is Deezer as well, but have frankly not considered that. Qobuz would have been nice to check out as it also integrates with Roon.
I've been reading up on regular Tidal's Hi-fi (non MQA) option and it turns out that anything that comes with a Master tag will basically be impossible to get away from MQA processing. It is not possible to hear the native FLAC lossless as it existed in the studio on Tidal. So like me if you thought you could play it smart and just get the regular Hifi option to avoid MQA...well you can't...not for anything that comes with a 'MASTER' tag. You'll essentially be getting a reduced version of that full 24 bit MQA stream made to look like the native FLAC 16 bit stream. That option does not exist. For older 16 bit releases that do not carry the master tag, those will actually be true 16 bit FLAC releases that were natively from the label without any MQA processing added on top.
https://goldensound.audio/2021/11/29/tidal-hifi-is-not-lossless/So I Tidal's 16 bit Hi-fi tier versions of 'Master' albums compared to the ACTUAL LOSSLESS untouched by any MQA processing on Amazon Prime. I made sure that the volume and sample rates etc were all matched...I preferred the Amazon releases each time over long listening. Although, I can see why MQA may be enticing to some listeners, especially in short durations and fast comparisons. There were clear differences in what happens to the depth and tonality between 24 bit MQA chipped away to 16 bit FLAC vs. native lossless on Amazon. I prefer Amazon.
I preferred both Tidal and Amazon to Spotify (as expected). However, I prefer Amazon over Tidal. With new releases, which are increasingly releasing in 'MASTER' version, it in simply impossible to avoid the MQA processing. I paid for the month of Tidal but have already stopped using it and will not be renewing it. I will keep Amazon Music along with Spotify (better playlists and bigger library - or more relevant to me).
Having said that, the Amazon Music app isn't perfect. Each time you open the app, you have to manually select "Exclusive Mode" or change to preferred audio device as it goes to default each time. This is true for both Windows and Mac.
On Mac, you can only download the app from the Amazon website. On Windows, you can download the app from both the Windows store or the Amazon website. There is actually a small difference between the two. If you get the Amazon Music app from the Windows store, you will notice that the volume level is unchangeable when enabling exclusive mode. I suspect better/different permissions in how the app integrates based on whether it's downloaded from Amazon's website vs. Microsoft/Windows store.
The other thing that I don't like is that there is no automatic sample rate switching on both Windows and Mac with this app. By default, Mac OS uses 44.1 kHz and Windows uses 48 kHz.
I do most of my listening on Mac, so there isn't an issue as most songs and albums are either 16 or 24 bit 44.1 and those play natively. However, Amazon also has a lot of songs in 24/48 and 24/96 as well. Depending on what you set as the sample rate in MIDI or sound settings, Amazon's app actually changes it behaviour in what file it will output and what kind of resampling is taking place.
If you set the sample rate of your device to 24/44.1, then 16 bit and 24 bit 44.1 will have no issues. However, for tracks that come available in 24/48 or 24/96, Amazon will instead opt to send you the 16/44.1 in those cases if you select your DAC output as 24/44.1.
If you set the sample rate of your device to 24/48, then all 16 bit and 24 bit 44.1 files will be resampled. However, for those (limited, but growing) 24/48 kHZ tracks, you will get perfect playback. If the file is 24/96, Amazon will still provide the 24 bit version even if your DAC is set to 24/48 as 48 goes into 96 evenly with resampling.
Due to this reason, I prefer to keep my DAC as 24/44.1 for Amazon playback. Everything that is 16 and 24 bit 44.1 (vast majority) will be played perfectly. The remaining 24/48 and 24/96 tracks will instead be sent in their 16 bit counterparts (also at 44.1), so this option avoids any resampling in the OS.
The playlists and library isn't exactly Spotify, and this sample rate not switching or having to select audio device and toggle exclusive mode each time the app starts again isn't perfect. However, as far as sound goes, this is best sounding option I've tried so far in a streaming service. If this could be brought to Bryston, that'd be most welcome.
If you're a Canadian and want the best streaming sound quality, give Amazon Music HD a try. (Do take a minute to make sure how things are set up within the app - turn off normalization and select highest HD/Ultra HD audio option, as well as optimizing the bit and sample rate of your audio device).
