Streaming Atmos: Do you lose any fidelity with a Tidal Atmos stream compared to a Blu-ray Atmos?

[jimfisheye]

It really is all about caring about the music. Something I like? Of course I want the best seats in the house (Atmos)! Don't care? Well, I don't really care if I even hear it! Atmos. Mono. From the bathroom. Parking lot. All good.

On the other hand it's kind of decadent to hear something in full glory even if it's low interest. Since it was only going to be heard once anyway.

 

[sjcorne]

It is definitely great being able to hear how an Atmos mix sounds before purchasing an expensive deluxe edition just to get the Blu-Ray (it wasn’t so long ago that you had to take a chance on a big box to hear the surround mix).

Quite a few of my favorite Atmos mixes remain streaming-exclusive (Grateful Dead, Tori Amos, etc) and I’m certainly glad to have them up on Apple Music rather than non-existent.

 

[quicksrt]

I actually believe it does matter, but for different reasons.
I think the suits are watching to see if the can lose physical optical disc and just go with streaming so they no longer have to invest in physical media. Just my theory though.

I would think that they are watching the numbers and seeing if they can have streaming income while still soaking the collectors with physical releases as well.
I think we've seen the decline of CDs and the leveling off of everything else and come now to where we are as a music market. It's collectibles, limited runs until it sells out quick and another fast pressing run if need be, and priced accordingly. Look at the Rhino site, so much colored vinyl, picture discs, big box sets, surround mixes in a few formats, nice deluxe 3LP sets with outtakes and a live platter included. Lot of physical product being released - which appears limited until it ain't. But it's an exciting time for physical media in a sense.

 

[marpow]

I have all the equipment to listen to all high quality and low quality digital recordings, no analogue (record LP's) recordings in my collection.
I appreciate the push for surround sound with Tidal and my go to Apple. I have a large library of Atmos Apple recordings saved, while they are still there, sometimes they leave.
My problem, is call it placebo or whatever but when a version is both on streaming and physical, I can hear the difference and prefer the latter.
I have no regrets of my home rig, I rip everything, I read everything, standalones to box sets.
I envy people that are able to go back and forth, but I just prefer what is mine, that I know intimately, to stick with my own purchased music.
I am aware of some examples of stellar streamed ATMOS versions, American Beauty, etc, but I just can't seem to go back and forth, some kind of block I have.
My home style with my JRiver and all my zones, filtersets, volume levelling, etc just keeps me locked into my physical world.
I have spent a lot of time improving my home listening experience over the years, and have been successful in my improving ventures. The physical format (includes digital downloads from quality companies) is specifically designed for a listener such as myself and I feel it is well appreciated by me. The streaming is for the sound bars, the casual listener, headphone spatial audio listener.

There are very few people on QQ that I know, that are streaming surround only, never to buy again.

I like everything and listen to everything, but is always mood based for me. Surround in any format 4.0, 5.1, Atmos is a mood, just like jazz or rock is a mood. Sometimes with surround, I am not in the mood to listen to an immersive setting, and I go for days while preferring stereo and vice versa.

I am very appreciative for the physical format as that is for me and compliments the energy I have spent in creating the listening environment for physical and lossless downloadable media.

Not trying to sway or debate anyone, just happy to be a small part of the conversation, but to answer the question of this thread, yes, I do lose fidelity, sonic bliss, 99 out of a 100 times, streaming vs physical and so far I have not been swayed to give up buying physical discs and lossless surround downloads.

 

[MrSmithers]

Wondering if anyone has compaired a Tidal Atmos streamed cut to a Blu-ray Atmos of the same? Do you lose any fidelity while streaming?

Yes there's a big difference and the lossy DD+ stream at 768kbps sounds much worse. Quite tinny and hollow by comparison.

Of course it's far better than having no Atmos mix available at all but the point is there really is no need for the data to be compressed to that level today... The codec even allows a bitrate up to 1664 kbps and your normal Netflix video stream would be in excess of this. There's no harm in allowing for a buffer before you play content either.

When listening to a similar 1600 kbps bitrate with MPEG-H content - it's a far more acceptable level and closer match to lossless.

Hopefully someday we get a better streaming bitrate...

 

[perzon57]

Yes, I can hear the difference but it's not so much that it bother me, and tinny and hollow is nothing I hear on my modest setup. Maybe it's good not to have a super rig.