Most HQ music purchasing app??

[RaceDVS]

Hey all, new here... I have an overhaul in the works for my car system (I know I know, so many people say an audiophile wouldn't waste their time on car audio, but it's where I spend most of my time jamming out... over-the-top home system will come soon).

 

I am at the point where I could use some tips on where to begin purchasing music instead of streaming. I've been streaming/downloading via Tidals lossless master quality for a while. It has been better than any other streaming service I've used BY FAR once I had a head to toe custom sound system installed in my car.

 

I would like to find a way to purchase and download the highest fidelity music possible to my phone and organize as I'd like onto my Android and once it inevitably has too much storage used for music - transfer it to some kind of device that can hook up to my system the same way as well as keep an external hard drive loaded with the files as a backup.

 

Currently I hook up to a Sony XAV-5500 which routes to my Mosconi DSP and of course amplifiers, unique crossovers and finally drivers. I connect via USB.

 

TLDR: What are the best ways to purchase and own the most high quality tunes possible? And should I consider hooking up to the head unit via another method when i switch from streaming to owning? (The head unit is by far the cheapest part of the system, so I wouldn't mind swapping it out for a better one)

[AudioDoctor]

QOBUZ. Stop streaming Tidal and listen to real HI Res. You can also purchase music from Qobuz as well.

 

There are also a lot of others, I don't think any of them are the "most HQ" sadly, now that Acoustic Sounds closed their download store, but there are many high quality sources for downloads. These will be in alphabetical order only because I am going through my bookmarks to list them here.

Bandcamp
CD Baby
Channel Classics
eClassical
HDTracks
HighDefinitionTapeTransfers
High Res Audio
Linn Records
NativeDSD
Qobuz
 

And I am sure there are others that someone else will chime in with as well.

[Kal Rubinson]

chandos.net

[semente]

These are sites I've bought downloads from (I'm based in the UK):

https://www.prestomusic.com/jazz - jazz

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical - classical

https://www.eclassical.com/pages/daily-deal.html - classical (daily deal)

https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/ - classical

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/discover - all genres

https://www.junodownload.com/ - rock, pop, etc., some jazz

https://bandcamp.com/ - rock, pop, etc., some jazz

 

https://uk.7digital.com/ - all genres

.

A few other stores and labels I know of and some I copied from another place:

https://www.arkivjazz.com - jazz

https://www.linnrecords.com - classical, jazz

https://referencerecordings.com - classical

https://www.arkivmusic.com - classical

https://www.chandos.net/Home - classical

https://www.channelclassics.com/shop/ - classical

https://www.cedillerecords.org - classical

https://www.dacapo-records.dk/en - classical

https://www.pristineclassical.com - classical

https://www.nmcrec.co.uk - classical

https://www.analekta.com/en/ - classical

https://toccataclassics.com - classical

https://www.hdtracks.com - all genres

https://www.nativedsd.com - all genres

https://www.highdeftapetransfers.com - all genres

https://www.itrax.com - all genres

http://www.gubemusic.com - all genres

https://www.emusic.com - rock, pop, etc., some jazz

https://bluecoastrecords.com - rock, pop, etc., some jazz

http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.com - rock, pop, etc., some jazz

http://hifitrack.com/en - rock, pop, etc., some jazz

https://www.roughtraderecords.com - rock, pop, etc.

https://shopuk.matadorrecords.com - rock, pop, etc.

https://bleep.com - rock, pop, etc.

https://shop.thisisdig.com/uk/ - rock, pop, etc.

https://curated.audio - rock, pop, etc.

https://crammed.greedbag.com - rock, pop, etc.

http://www.allcelticmusic.com - rock, pop, etc.

[RaceDVS]

So I've compared Qobuz with their trial to my current Tidal (master quality subscription with the option to level volume across tracks turned OFF).

 

I actually can't hear any difference between the 2 when checking out the same tracks (at a reasonable volume at least for my neighbors sake)... could my head unit (Sony XAV-AX5500) be the bit getting in the way? I know it's not rated to play "Hi-Res but I don't know how that works or doesn't work when playing through android auto via usb... Or maybe my overall setup just isn't as badass as I thought it was... (mosconi 6 to 8 pro DSP, Arc audio X2 1100.1 and Arc audio x2 600.4 amps with 2 sets of Focal PS165FX Pro components including their unique crossovers)USB...

 

Or maybe I just can't tell the difference between qobuz and tidals quality despite it being so noticeable according to those here and elsewhere... or I just need to turn it up and let the neighbor complain again while I check things out . xD

[DuckToller]

Why don't you park your car in the lower level of a parking garage for testing?

You may want to look into Android Auto's re-encoding to understand more about your situation.

[AudioDoctor]

Oh, this is in a car? Then it will probably never matter, just stream Spotify or something and be done with it.

[RaceDVS]

15 hours ago, DuckToller said:

Why don't you park your car in the lower level of a parking garage for testing?

You may want to look into Android Auto's re-encoding to understand more about your situation.

I will look into this, thanks!

 

Once I have the patience to sit down and really fine tune the dsp with my laptop I will be taking it to an empty parking lot to dive in again. I want to have the source decided in stone before I spend hours upon hours completing the setups tuning to what I'd consider 100%.

 

6 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

Oh, this is in a car? Then it will probably never matter, just stream Spotify or something and be done with it.

Oof, I had spotify for a while... changing to tidal made a night and day difference in quality AND loudness.

[AudioDoctor]

3 hours ago, RaceDVS said:

I will look into this, thanks!

 

Once I have the patience to sit down and really fine tune the dsp with my laptop I will be taking it to an empty parking lot to dive in again. I want to have the source decided in stone before I spend hours upon hours completing the setups tuning to what I'd consider 100%.

 

Oof, I had spotify for a while... changing to tidal made a night and day difference in quality AND loudness.

 

Loudness is an artificial EQ... Ever notice some songs are louder than others while your volume control stays at the same level? 

 

edit: Making something louder is also a trick to make people think some thing, music or equipment, sounds better than some music or equipment.