[PreethamB]

Originally Posted by RSM_TorqueZoner

Which is the best purely from a sound quality standpoint? How do you extract the best from a 10 speaker Harman Kardon system? I've been using Gaana (Free version) and Youtube music here in the US but nothing seems to be satisfactory. I enjoy all kinds of music, Regional to Bollywood to Western. I'm definitely going in for a paid subscription to ensure the best quality. Also, does playing over BT instead of a hard-wired AUX plugin or Apple Play significantly impact output?

I use Tidal and Apple Music. In terms of sound quality, I find Tidal to be quite good, provided you set the streaming quality to HiFi or Master.
Playing over BT does affect the quality unless the devices support and use AptX codec. If they don't, you are better off with using a high quality aux cable.

[RSM_TorqueZoner]

Originally Posted by PreethamB

I use Tidal and Apple Music. In terms of sound quality, I find Tidal to be quite good, provided you set the streaming quality to HiFi or Master.
Playing over BT does affect the quality unless the devices support and use AptX codec. If they don't, you are better off with using a high quality aux cable.

Tidal, for lossless quality, is $25 a month. In addition, they don't have a great Indian library either. What would be a second-best option, considering the need for a regional and Bollywood library with good sound quality?

[PreethamB]

Originally Posted by RSM_TorqueZoner

What would be a second-best option, considering the need for a regional and Bollywood library with good sound quality?

Try Apple Music if you predominantly stream using Apple devices. You can also use it on Amazon echo and such.

I am not an audiophile, and to be honest, I don't notice the difference between Tidal and Apple Music unless, I play a known song back to back, and pay full attention. Even when I do notice the difference, it is only a slight lack of ,what I can at best describe as, depth; a lack of separation of certain notes, if I could call it that. Well, that could just be me.

Unless you are an audiophile who, expects to be instantly teleported to a philharmonic orchestra the moment you press play, the choice of subscription comes down to features other than the apparent audio quality.
Personally I like the recommendation engine that Tidal offers. I often use the option to create a station from the song I am listening to, and more often than not, the resulting playlist is spot on. It also keeps creating and updating a number of personalized playlists under "My Mix" which I absolutely love. The songs tend to be related within a given playlist, and is based on my listening history. It helps me discover new songs or rediscover forgotten ones.

In fact, my biggest complaint about Apple Music is this: Their radio stations tend to be repetitive, while the personalized playlist is always confused about genres. One moment you'll have Iron Maiden screaming Aces high and the next moment you'll hear Lata Mangeshkar proclaiming Satyam shivam sundaram. That said, Apple music has it advantages, the biggest of which, is the considerable Indian language content. Not to mention, the ability to stream on all devices I own, without the need for additional apps to be installed. It is cheap too, particularly if you have an Indian credit card. The family subscription costs just Rs.149 a month.

The best suggestion anyone can give you, is to make use of the trial periods offered by all these services, and decide for yourself, which one you like best.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by RSM_TorqueZoner

Which is the best purely from a sound quality standpoint? How do you extract the best from a 10 speaker Harman Kardon system? I've been using Gaana (Free version) and Youtube music here in the US but nothing seems to be satisfactory. I enjoy all kinds of music, Regional to Bollywood to Western. I'm definitely going in for a paid subscription to ensure the best quality. Also, does playing over BT instead of a hard-wired AUX plugin or Apple Play significantly impact output?

On sound quality standpoint it has to be a Tidal stream or a Qobuz Hi Res 24/96 or 24/192 stream. I subscribe to both these Hi-Fi streaming services and they have their own advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage being cost when compared to the Indian avatars of international streaming services like Google, Apple Music and Spotify. Jiosaavn is also pretty good, way better than Wynk and Gaana IMHO.

If you listen to regional music the best you will get is CD quality i.e. 16/44 so the choice of streaming provider doesn't matter. Even 320 Kbps MP3 (Google Play Music) or Ogg Vorbis (Spotify) sound very good and only some tell the difference from CD or Hi Res streaming.

Just subscribe to the service that offers the content you want, sound quality is secondary unless highest SQ is absolutely compulsory for you.

[punny.guy]

Spotify for me.

It has a great, simple and efficient UI along with a nice Car Mode that makes it easier to switch songs if you're driving.

Another benefit for me is the cross platform availability, I use it on my phone, android auto, laptop and PS4 as well.

Used to be a Soundcloud and Wynk user before.

[abinashnanda]

Voted for others as Apple Music is my 1st preference and then YouTube

Abinash

[rageshgr]

Tidal. Unbeatable collection of Lossless HiRes and even master quality audio.
Tidal=>Fiio X3 as USB DAC=>AUX IN

[ach1lles]

Originally Posted by R2D2

On sound quality standpoint it has to be a Tidal stream or a Qobuz Hi Res 24/96 or 24/192 stream. I subscribe to both these Hi-Fi streaming services and they have their own advantages and disadvantages

I'd love for services like Tidal which work on offering superior quality to offer a music store on a per song basis.
There are only a few days a month I find the time to just sit and listen to some of my favourites, and I finally have a system that can take advantage of superior quality.
Do you know of any service that offers 24/96 or higher and offers no-strings-attached purchases?

[condor]

Originally Posted by Time_Machine

Have been using Saavn (JioSaavn now) for a long time now ... .

Originally Posted by antz.bin

I have used Jio Saavn and Gaana+ in the past. ..

Have you guys downloaded music from the Pro versions of these ?

Gaana seems to limit the download to Android / iOS devices. Can this be transferred to iTunes ?

Can Saavn downloads be ported to laptop ?

[KaandBaaz]

Originally Posted by condor

Have you guys downloaded music from the Pro versions of these ?

Gaana seems to limit the download to Android / iOS devices. Can this be transferred to iTunes ?

Can Saavn downloads be ported to laptop ?

I have downloaded songs on Wynk, Gaana+ as well as JioSaavn Premium and there are were no limits (I am talking 2 years back)


And no Saavn/Gaana+/Wynk songs cannot be transferred to any other device.(They use some file type that is only usable on their app)

[roamer]

Went ahead and renewed the Spotify for next year in prepay format. Rs 1189/- for a year. Have been using Apple Music also from last few months, but Spotify takes the money.

[AnandB]

Saavn finally allows HD quality on browser so am not renewing Gaana anymore.

[CliffHanger]

So my Jiosaavn yearly subscription expired a few days back and I quickly renewed it, but unfortunately the payment was made but the subscription renewal failed. Contacted them on their Web portal and the issue was resolved in 2 days, good communication and quick resolution. Looks like Jio is in song, good to see a home growing company doing so well. Good luck Jiosaavn team, in case you are reading this message. Just realised in these 2 days how much I miss the app and its useful features.

[Sree73]

I use almost all of them. But, Amazon Music is the preferred one. I generally listen to Music in Hindi & Malayalam.

On both these languages, the collection in Amazon is pretty good.

[GTO]

Even as a big Spotify fan, I am now spending 50% of my music time on https://music.youtube.com/. My god, they have really made some giant strides & its now ended up as a top-class music destination. YouTube's algorithms are today on par with Spotify's in terms of finding new music for you. I love their "discover" and personalised mixes. Have subscribed (it's dirt cheap) and am enjoying the ad-free experience while working.