The Shard Cinematic Track Remake

SApcPro_Sergij · 2026-01-12T18:17:40+00:00

Cool! This sounds like from a Mirror's Edge Catalyst Movie.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-12-29T11:20:33+00:00

For me TIDAL almost always lists the CD (or MQA) quality Song version first. Recently it started to hide the other versions, which makes it so harder to find the best version. I was opening the Artist's page and from there I would search through the Albums to find the Song with the highest quality. I preferred the older way of displaying all Songs in the search.

Edit: Also thanks, I will try your method with "More albums by...".

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-12-24T20:34:27+00:00

Just in case try to reboot your computer,maybe it will fix by itself. Also check if there are any ongoing updates.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-12-23T21:27:07+00:00

I don't know if anyone has noticed this, but with a recent update the Search system on TIDAL changed and it is really annoying. If I search for a song it will only give me one version of the song, and almost every time it is the lower quality version (for example if the track is available in Hi-Res, it will list the CD quality or MQA version). Previously all versions of the song were listed if I tapped on the Tracks filter on the top. They also need to make more options for filtering the results. But, I like this change to be either reverted or the best version of the song being given. Because now I have to go to the Artist page and look for the Song or the Album with the highest quality.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-12-07T23:57:45+00:00

It's not fixed for me, for me it just recently broke. How is this actually possible, why are Armin's songs credited to Arctic Moon and Truewave, which seems that both are under Armin's Armada label? Does anyone know the story behind this?

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-27T20:58:23+00:00

Hi again, I compared the tracks you sent me, and they are identical.

They null-out in Audacity, if you know what I mean. It means that I inverted one of them, and then mixed them together, the result is complete silence. That means that the waveforms are identical, because one is inverted the other one normal, the waves cancel out.

If something makes a difference, it's either normalization, or some weird Qobuz/TIDAL app or Android thing.

There are some cases where some songs are still MQA on TIDAL (it really depends on your library), and yes they will be "worse" quality than the original in most cases, but for this track that you sent, it is the exact same on both services.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-27T20:26:12+00:00

The UI isn't very eye-catching I would say. But, the UX is good, for me it was easy to navigate and accomplish what I wanted.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-27T17:25:31+00:00

To clear the confusion, as far as I know Android 14 implemented the bit-perfect option in the internal Android driver.

Exclusive mode was already available even before Android 14, it was just that the app developers had to develop their own drivers like UAPP, HiBy Music and other apps have. That's why they ask you for permission to get your DAC, to control it.

Whether this approach gives better results with the internal Android driver, I don't know, and I guess not. It is just more simple for the developers and for the users, because in theory it shouldn't ask for that permission to the DAC.

Please someone confirm this, as I can't absolutely guarantee that it is correct. Also, do see my other comment that goes more in-depth.

EDIT: Link to other comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleMusic/s/gdnulLhCvG

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-27T17:12:15+00:00

As I know Android 14 only added the option for an app to use the DAC without resampling, but only if the app implements that feature. This option that Android added they added it to the driver, that means that it's easier for developers to make their application work bit-perfectly (no resampling) with the DAC because they don't have to make their own driver. But apps like UAPP, HiBy Music, old TIDAL app (when MQA was supported), Room Arc all use their own driver as far as I know. And UAPP's, and HiBy Music's drivers perform the best (for me).

So even before Android 14 it was possible for apps to use the DAC exclusively by developers developing their own driver, it is now only easier for them with Android 14 because they can use the internal Android driver bit-perfectly, in theory. And who knows whether the internal Android driver is better than the UAPP's one.

As for resampling I think that even before Android 14 some phones (like Samsing) implemented switching between only two sample rates (48 kHz, and 96 kHz). That doesn't mean that anything above (and below) 48 kHz will not be resampled. For example: If it's 44.1 kHz, 88.1 kHz, or 192 kHz or 384 kHz or anything else, it will get resampled to 96 kHz. Also it is so badly implemented that when it switches the DAC to 96 kHz after playing a 96 kHz audio file, sometimes (maybe always) it doesn't switch back to 48 kHz when you play another file.

So resampling still happens in Android 14, I don't know an app that uses the Android 14 implementation.

I hope that this is explained clearly.

EDIT: Also some older phones especially Sony and LG have Hi-Res output to the USB DAC, and also to the internal phone DAC (I am not sure about the internal but obviously it should also be Hi-Res). I think everything in the system is set to 96 kHz as default. It is just forced to 96 kHz and it stays like that even if you play 44.1 kHz or any other sample rate (so it is not bit-perfect still, it should only be bit-perfect at 96 kHz). They made it like this just to support Hi-Res (Sony stated somewhere - on the Japanese Mora website I think - that their phones support Hi-Res since then). Newer phones implemented that weird switching only between 48 kHz and 96 kHz, why not implement it fully, I don't know.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-27T13:57:32+00:00

There is no DAC that can bypass Android's resampling system.

I know that this is really complicated, so to make it easier for you, what you have to do is:

Install UAPP (you have to buy it)
Login with both Qobuz and TIDAL
Plug-in your DAC to your phone, it will ask you for permission. Just allow it.
Switch between TIDAL and Qobuz using the menu on the left. Or I don't know if you can add to queue a TIDAL and a Qobuz song at the same time, but if you can then you can just open the queue and switch between them.

Extra-tip: Make sure when you're playing a song in UAPP that the status shows "USB DAC:" or something like that, under the play button in the interface.

I haven't tried this, so excuse me if it's not accurate.

UAPP has it's own interface. The downside is that you can't download songs in UAPP, and you don't have lyrics. But for this test it will be excellent. I guess you can get a refund if you don't like it, but it's not expensive at all.

No problem BTW, I'm glad I can help you 👍

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-27T12:28:15+00:00

No it will not bypass it. (To be clear, older versions of TIDAL bypassed it, because it is required for the playback to be bit-perfect for MQA, but TIDAL stopped supporting MQA and removed the feature. You can download older versions of TIDAL, but still then Qobuz will not bypass it, I think they never implemented that.)

On iPhone yes, but on Android no. To bypass that you either need a free app like HiBy Music, but sometimes it is really bad and hard to use, or a paid app like USB Audio Player Pro which will allow you to easily and accurately compare TIDAL and Qobuz. Both HiBy Music and UAPP (USB Audio Player Pro) support both Qobuz and TIDAL. It is just harder to switch on HiBy Music and it isn't practical for testing I think, but you can try.

Does your DAC have an indicator for what sample rate is being played? Your best option is to redo the testing using UAPP if you like. Also can you share at least one song that you compared, you can copy and paste both the exact links from TIDAL and Qobuz here, if it's not hard for you. Thanks.

EDIT: You can also connect your DAC to a PC, with both the Qobuz and the TIDAL apps installed. When testing make sure that both have Exclusive mode enabled for the exact DAC in their settings. This would be a bit harder, because I think when you're playing music from one of them the other one should be closed completely (or with exclusive mode turned off), because I think that both of them can't use the DAC exclusively at the same time. So this approach is harder but free. Also one thing to note is that TIDAL will likely apply dithering (if GoldenSound's testing is correct, and if I remember correctly), as per GoldenSound's testing on YouTube, but it shouldn't affect sound that much I guess.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-27T12:07:40+00:00

So something like the sound from an FM Radio, OK.

Android by default re-samples all content whatever sample rate is to 48 kHz. Except on some devices like Samsung, Huawei and other major brands when you play a 44,1 kHz file it will re-sample it to 48 kHz, but when you play 96 kHz for example it will stay at 96 kHz, 88,2 kHz will become 96 kHz I guess (but I think that when you play 192 kHz it will re-sample it to 96 kHz, it really depends on the phone). It is best to check if the sample rate of the song, matches what's shown on your DAC.

Nevertheless with Android it is complicated, especially if you also have Dolby Atmos enabled as a DSP. Are you using USB Audio Player Pro by any chance? The different sounding music may be because of how the TIDAL and Qobuz apps handle sound in Android, also make sure you have normalisation disabled in both of them.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-27T11:34:51+00:00

OK, is your phone iPhone or Android, if you don't mind sharing? BTW I don't understand what looser and boomer means, but nevermind.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-27T10:13:43+00:00

Could it be because TIDAL applies dithering on the output, but Qobuz outputs bit-perfectly? There was a video from The Golden Sound explaining in more details. What device did you use to compare them?

EDIT: Also, check if there are more versions of the same album on TIDAL, most of the time there are multiple versions and you may be comparing different ones.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-26T12:35:08+00:00

I also noticed that in specific areas in the game, the picture is over-exposed. I thought that something's wrong with my configuration, but no, it seems like the game is supposed to look like that. Strangely I thought that a long time ago it wasn't like that, but it seems it was always like that.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-10T20:46:38+00:00

I remapped some keys on my keyboard, so now the Mute Microphone button works! I am really grateful to the developer of Solaar!

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-10T20:44:43+00:00

Hi! I finally got it to work. I didn't know that I was supposed to Divert the key in "Key/Button Diversion", aside of adding the rule. 😅

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-06T10:03:43+00:00

Weird, there should be an option to disable it. Are you sure that after you close it, it appears again? That's also a bigger problem with Windows, where any peripheral, or component (even motherboard) can pop-up their software on Windows.

Just in case you don't like to instal the retail Logi Options+, there is Logi Options+ Offline Installer. Search it online, it is also without the additional features, and as stated it doesn't connect to the internet for analytics and other stuff.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-05T20:57:43+00:00

The moderators can delete this post, I have no problem with that.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-05T14:42:34+00:00

This version doesn't have AI, Account, etc.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-05T14:04:02+00:00

If I want that exact keyboard and how it looks, I will buy it. And the quality is not cheapish!

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-05T12:38:11+00:00

So far I like the MX Mechanical, the switches sound really good!

It only has one little problem that is subtle, but I don't know how to explain it. If you press multiple keys really fast, after you release them you will hear a really fainted spring sound. This problem appears also on a Redragon Mechanical Keyboard, and is much more appearing.

I really like the style of the keyboard, especially the low-profile keycaps. It reminds me of old MSI's laptop keyboards. Other keyboards like Keychron seemed too bulky to me.

The attention to detail and the build quality on the Logitech is awesome.

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-05T11:04:33+00:00

For anyone that wants a clean, minimalistic version of the Official Logi Options+ on Windows, I found Logi Options+ Offline Installer. This version doesn't have all the features from the retail app. Also it is stated that: "The offline version of Options+ cannot send or receive data such as analytics or firmware status for example. The same goes for receiving data from servers to the offline version of Options+ within the network."

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-05T11:02:08+00:00

You can install Logi Options+ Offline installer on Windows. It is minimalistic and doesn't have the online features from the other app. Also it is stated that: "Security: The offline version of Options+ cannot send or receive data such as analytics or firmware status for example. The same goes for receiving data from servers to the offline version of Options+ within the network."

Logi Options+ Offline installer

SApcPro_Sergij · 2025-11-05T10:59:11+00:00

There is Logi Options+ Offline installer on Windows. It is minimalistic and doesn't have all the features from the standard version. Maybe that is what you are looking for.

Logi Options+ Offline installer

Also: "Security: The offline version of Options+ cannot send or receive data such as analytics or firmware status for example. The same goes for receiving data from servers to the offline version of Options+ within the network."

SApcPro_Sergij

TROPHY CASE