Spotify - Connect vs Bluetooth

StingRay

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Apr 27, 2016
13,040
8,522
163
Suffolk coast, UK
AKA
Ray
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I have the fibre BT connection.. Using same streaming app and streamer and don't suffer these issues on tidal... Is a strange one I may have signed up for 12 months with qoboz otherwise
Seems to be the DNS address, people who switched to Google or Cloudflare, reported they had no more problems with Qobuz. BT router you can't change the DNS unkess you have tge business account. Don't know about fibre.
I have used Tidal and Deezer without any problems.
 

2010*zuma

Super Wammer
Wammer
Nov 12, 2011
1,642
1,705
158
Caerphilly castle
AKA
Young Neil
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Seems to be the DNS address, people who switched to Google or Cloudflare, reported they had no more problems with Qobuz. BT router you can't change the DNS unkess you have tge business account. Don't know about fibre.
I have used Tidal and Deezer without any problems.
That’s interesting, you 100% have more knowledge than me on the technical side…I’m clueless… having competition with various steaming platforms can only be a good thing.
 

DomT

Food and coffee and rock n roll
Wammer Plus
Jul 23, 2019
10,327
9,595
198
Village near Nottingham.
AKA
Dom
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The streaming services sound different to each other.
Some folks prefer Tidal, others prefer Qobuz. It is a noticeably different presentation, imo.
Well worth trying with the free trial periods - once you can make the time for it!

For me, music catalogue is the final arbiter of streaming service provider, and that preference will be down to your own music preferences. All the streaming services differ on the music that they offer.

For me, on balance, Spotify is the clear winner - and I use Bluetooth to listen to it.
As @MartinC says, you need to be listening to the more recent Bluetooth codecs to get as near as damn it CD quality. And a good Bluetooth receiver such as AudioEngine B1 or iFi Zen Blue is also critical in maximising sound quality imo. I feed their digital output into my DAC of choice.
Thoroughly enjoyable!
Totally agree that they sound different. I had assumed that Tidal and QuBoz CD quality would sound this same but markedly different. Depends on your system and what you prefer. I found Tidal and QuBoz to be a big step up in quality from Spotify.
 

StingRay

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Apr 27, 2016
13,040
8,522
163
Suffolk coast, UK
AKA
Ray
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
That’s interesting, you 100% have more knowledge than me on the technical side…I’m clueless… having competition with various steaming platforms can only be a good thing.
Not technical at all. This is not streaming platforms, this is to with the internet, ISP. I don't really understand it but seems Google and Cloudfast are more stable than what BT use.
 
Last edited:

Warszawa

Wammer
Wammer Plus
Mar 12, 2013
2,015
1
2,707
193
UK
AKA
Joe
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Presumably you can change the DNS in the playback device's settings to overcome this.
 

StingRay

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Apr 27, 2016
13,040
8,522
163
Suffolk coast, UK
AKA
Ray
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Indeed. People who report differences between lossless services are usually comparing apples to oranges.
How can you tell they are the same master? Most of Tidal's catalogue is MQA. What matters is the sound on different streamers. I generally preferred Qobuz, Tidal seemed more variable in quality.
 

StingRay

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Apr 27, 2016
13,040
8,522
163
Suffolk coast, UK
AKA
Ray
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Presumably you can change the DNS in the playback device's settings to overcome this.
Can you? How would you do that? The settings are on the router. You can't change it on the BT homehub.

The only way, apparently, is to change the router and then change the address.
 
Last edited:

DomT

Food and coffee and rock n roll
Wammer Plus
Jul 23, 2019
10,327
9,595
198
Village near Nottingham.
AKA
Dom
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
IME, they don't. If you're listening to the same master, at the same bitrate, there is absolutely no reason why they should sound any different.
We all hear things differently. Many people also say that DAWs (the multitrack software used by studios) sound different as well. It’s just software recording exactly the same instrument. Digital is weird.
 

newlash09

Iam deaf at the ears, but way more dumb in between
Wammer
Aug 10, 2018
3,379
3,333
183
45
India
AKA
Y.Manohar / mike
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Just started a free trial of Premium (after months of cursing adverts) but as my Gato DIA-250S doesn't support Spotify Connect it's playing over Bluetooth.

Not that I can do anything about it, but it did get me wondering if there's any sound quality disadvantage using BT over wireless? A quick Google has some people suggesting there will be, but that seemed like more of a theory rather than actual evidence. Bandwidth certainly isn't an issue - anybody ever tried?

The Gato does support Qobuz & Tidal though - I've signed up for Qobuz but holding off on the free trial until I know I can get some decent listening time in. Work / DIY / family commitments get in the way quite regularly!
To be honest, I've been using Bluetooth for quite some time now. And the newer ones with the latest codecs sound superb. I use a auris blueme HD ( with a 5V lpsu). Feeding optical to my dac. My Samsung s7+ tab also supports these codecs. So the quality is really good. To my ears, feeding tidal from a azur 851N via coax vs optical from blueme HD to a overly resolving esoteric dac are virtually identical.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MartinC

paulbfd

Wammer
Wammer
Feb 16, 2011
242
347
78
Halifax
AKA
Paul
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
At last, all the planets aligned and i got some free time to trial Qobuz.

After a fews days listening I did some back to back comparisons with Spotify over BT.

I used some decent recordings that I'm used to (ie. Chris Jones, Moonstruck) and some God awful tat that the wife listens to (The Killers, Hot Fuss). Safe to say hi-res can't polish a turd - but Qobuz was the clear winner. Even the wife could tell.

So that's me a tenner down each month!
 

StingRay

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Apr 27, 2016
13,040
8,522
163
Suffolk coast, UK
AKA
Ray
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
At last, all the planets aligned and i got some free time to trial Qobuz.

After a fews days listening I did some back to back comparisons with Spotify over BT.

I used some decent recordings that I'm used to (ie. Chris Jones, Moonstruck) and some God awful tat that the wife listens to (The Killers, Hot Fuss). Safe to say hi-res can't polish a turd - but Qobuz was the clear winner. Even the wife could tell.

So that's me a tenner down each month!
Qobuz is only about 80p per month than Spotify.
 

paulbfd

Wammer
Wammer
Feb 16, 2011
242
347
78
Halifax
AKA
Paul
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
Qobuz is only about 80p per month than Spotify.

Definitely worth it. Though the app experience on the Gato using mcontrol isn't super slick it does the job.

Will be keeping Spotify though. It has some artists on which Qobuz doesn't and it's better for in the car as it just continues to play tracks you're likely to like (and 9/10 it's right) which introduces to new material.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
113,444
Messages
2,451,263
Members
70,783
Latest member
reg66

Latest Articles