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HDFan

Contributor
Original poster
An extensive technical analysis of the best music streaming services puts Apple Music at the bottom tied with Amazon Music. Qobuz wins the title. If you manually change the sample rate when it changes it is better.

Apple Music Screenshot 2026-02-10 at 19.50.13.png



 
This is an excellent comparison. I don’t understand why the sample rate switching was never implemented in MacOS. This is a shortcoming that has existed for decades.

I am pleased that DACs now display the bit and sample rate, as my Accuphase DAC does not. However, with headphones over USB-C (AirPods Max 1 and 2, Beats, etc.), we are not even able to know whether they switch sample rates or are fixed at 48kHz.

But then there DSP gets involved in all sorts of processing. I think the times of Bit-Perfect are over.
 
I've used everyone but not Q. I settled on AM. There's many interfaces that factor into what sounds best. If you're an audiophile, one may hear the differences. I have really good head phones, and equipment.
I find the streamer's interface most important. And AM is the best imo, Amazon the worst.
 
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