[BikeFi10]

New to streaming.
Working with hardwire cat cable, Qobuz, bluesound Node 2i / blueos, ipad. A Geshelli J2 DAC coming.
Qualitys been hit or miss. I always select HiRez, but Qobuz indicates "cd quality" most of the time. I save to playlist ok - good to pretty good sounding songs. Maybe 4 out of 12 have that HiRez symbol.
Note: I have some good to great sounding vinyl, so thats my reference.
Now after a couple weeks streaming, theres been a few songs that sound like they were recorded in a cathedral, WT....
The only great thing so far is the huge selection of songs.
Am I expecting too much from this level of components? Everything above had very good ratings.
Any advise?

.

[WGH]

Am I expecting too much from this level of components?

No, you are expecting too much from streaming.

I had the $20/month hi-res Tidal for over a year, always hoping the sound quality would improve but music was just OK. I never was enthralled like I am with ripped or downloaded music, something was always missing, streaming somehow removed the magic.

I ended up using Tidal like a radio station, playing in the background while I did something else. Since Tucson already has an excellent non-commercial free form FM radio station I didn't meed to pay for another so I cancelled Tidal and put the money saved into downloads. If you hear music you like check out Bandcamp, 44.1 kHz downloads for real cheap.

[newzooreview]

New to streaming.
Working with hardwire cat cable, Qobuz, bluesound Node 2i / blueos, ipad. A Geshelli J2 DAC coming.
Qualitys been hit or miss. I always select HiRez, but Qobuz indicates "cd quality" most of the time. I save to playlist ok - good to pretty good sounding songs. Maybe 4 out of 12 have that HiRez symbol.
Note: I have some good to great sounding vinyl, so thats my reference.
Now after a couple weeks streaming, theres been a few songs that sound like they were recorded in a cathedral, WT....
The only great thing so far is the huge selection of songs.
Am I expecting too much from this level of components? Everything above had very good ratings.
Any advise?

Are the tracks that "sound like they were recorded in a cathedral" ones that you are familiar with? When exploring Qobuz, I have definitely run across things that interested me that were poorly recorded. It may have nothing to do with Qobuz.

Qobuz does let you download tracks to play locally as part of the subscription. I haven't tried it, but it might be worth trying if you run across an echoing track. If it sounds better when downloaded locally then it is something likely related to the stability or bandwidth of the internet connection. Even if connected by ethernet, it's possible that other devices are using the connection and the steady stream of Qobuz data can't be maintained. I have a 1Gb fiber connection, so I don't know what symptoms bandwidth problems might cause.

Qobuz has high-res for almost everything in their collection that is available in high-res from the record label. That is maybe 30% of everything in their catalogue (guesstimate), and it is no better or worse than any other streaming service.

When I have had an issue with high-res playback (a long while ago with a glitchy piece of hardware), the symptom was either a dropout in the playback or a clicking sound. An echo effect is not something that I've heard with streaming, but that doesn't mean there aren't ways that it could happen (like a bad cell phone call).

Do these problems occur when listening to something on Qobuz that you also have on vinyl?

[newzooreview]

Try this album: "Charlie Byrd at the Village Vanguard"

It's only available as CD quality on Qobuz (or anywhere else), but it is a very good live jazz recording with good soundstage and imaging.

If it doesn't sound good then something might indeed be off in the new setup.

[Letitroll98]

Qobuz also had releases in THX Spacial Audio that could possibly sound like you're describing.  I can't imagine you would be running into that accidentally, but one never knows what's happening on the other side of the internet.

[BikeFi10]

WGH.. My wife has used Bandcamp in past. I can tryout a download.
Newzoo... Yes, the echoy songs were ones Ive heard before so they werent recorded that way. They were so bad they were unlistenable. At least its only been 3 songs since I started streaming a few weeks ago.
Ill checkout Charlie Byrd. I like jazz, but havent streamed it yet.
Hopes arent too high, but gonna try out the Geshelli J2 DAC with new AKM chip. Reviewed as good as Schitt Modius.

[newzooreview]

WGH.. My wife has used Bandcamp in past. I can tryout a download.
Newzoo... Yes, the echoy songs were ones Ive heard before so they werent recorded that way. They were so bad they were unlistenable. At least its only been 3 songs since I started streaming a few weeks ago.
Ill checkout Charlie Byrd. I like jazz, but havent streamed it yet.
Hopes arent too high, but gonna try out the Geshelli J2 DAC with new AKM chip. Reviewed as good as Schitt Modius.

Is the echo sounding playback reproducible for those tracks streaming from Qobuz?

If it is not reproducible then it is likely an artifact of an issue in streaming the data, whether a hiccup with your service provider or a sporadic bandwidth bottleneck in your router (maybe dependent on other devices using the internet at the same time).

I don't know how much data, if any, the Node will cache to mitigate such issues.

If you put some tracks on a USB stick and plug it into the Node, you could eliminate the internet as an issue. If echoing still crops up then it could be something going on in the Node itself.

[BikeFi10]

I havent replayed the echoy songs. Actually forgot which ones they were.
Only the Node and maybe wifes iphone were using the internet at the time. We rarely use it for phones, just tv and now Node, but not together.
Maybe it was an oddity.
Im curious to try the Bandcamp download.
 Enjoying last of pool weather in my area so  music room is not in daily use.

[BikeFi10]

 Tried Charlie Byrd that Newzoo recommended. Sounded great, so my Bluesound Node2i is capable of very good quality plus I have a Geshelli J2 DAC on the way.
During last listen, I searched for only HD files and 5 out of 7 sounded very good.
Feeling better about streaming music now.

[77SunsetStrip]

New to streaming music.  Starting slowly with Amazon Prime Free music and Laptop connected via USB to DAC.  The music quality is pretty good.  However, comparing the same track streamed versus CD there is an unmistakable difference.  CD transport is sending digital to the DAC.  Laptop is sending digital to the DAC.  If Amazon is supplying 16-bit digital that is the same as CD quality, correct?  What could be causing an audible difference?

[Mike-48]

I could not disagree more with the view that streaming is a compromised way of listening to music. My own system has been streaming-only for more than ten years. A visiting mastering engineer (a professional) had this comment about the sound: "I'm jealous."

Streaming can give excellent quality . . . as good as any medium. In my system, Qobuz is indistinguishable from playing a CD or a local file.

As to why you are getting such poor results, it's hard to say. A Bluesound NODE seems to be a fine entry-level streamer. I don't know the DAC you have on order, but it will likely be better than the one in the NODE. Since the signal is not passing through the iPad, that should not be a problem. Perhaps a networking issue is causing the problem. Those who have fast, reliable Internet service; an up-to-date cable modem; good network wiring; and a fast router rarely complain about stuttering, echos, etc.

New network equipment is not cheap, but it's a lot cheaper than a new tone arm, cartridge, etc., or those high-priced cables that many use.

So once you get your DAC, if things don't improve, maybe make sure your network is OK. Do you get better results when audio is the only major network use? If the problem occurs when others are streaming videos, e.g., you may need to add a managed switch that will let you prioritize the audio stream.

One more thought . . . A hard-to-diagnose problem at my end was once caused by a network cable that failed. So either test the cable or try another one, using a good-quality cable of Cat 5e, Cat 6, or Cat 7. Category 8 Ethernet cables are unnecessary and can cause grounding problems.