Thanks Stephen once more.
Here's another point then. Tidal for instance claims to be CD quality. Tidals ideal bit rate for streaming is 16/44.1, it sounds great.
CD format is 16/44.1 and not compressed. So anything that is provided at 16/44.1 can say it is CD quality.
However, Tidal (for example) uses FLAC (and not native format). FLAC uses lossless compression and can reduce the file size / bandwidth need by up to half. But bear in mind that the renderer (PC / RPI / streamer box) has re-create the audio signal in real time and this can have an effect on sound quality. .
I recently went to a demo evening at small-scale high-end manufacturer near to where I live. One of the things we heard was some tracks in FLAC from Tidal compared to CD, and there was a difference. Albeit on a system that costs the price of a 1 bedroom flat
When I get my CDQ back from repair I am going to try this at home.
What formats need higher than that and do they sound better....
There are many higher bit/sample rates than 16/44.1. Whether they sound better depends on several things.
IMHO this means;
- how good is the replay system and its acoustic environment
- the quality of the original master and how well the sound team did their job
- whether (or not) the source was created from remastering or upsampling
- what format was the original master recorded in
Hi-Res is generally considered to be 24/96 or higher. But this is PCM.
DSD is generally considered a better format (SACD is DSD), but maybe only if was mastered in DSD - converting to DSD from PCM is another matter.
New on the block is MQA which AFAIK is focussed at improving streaming SQ whilst keeping lower bandwidth needs.
How long is a piece of string
Whether or not higher than 16/44.1 works for you and your system. Only way to find out is try, but dont assume all tracks will always sound better this wasnt my experience.
.........can you stream Tidal in 4 times the resolution it's supposed to be?
You can only stream at the rate it is sent at (if that answers your question).
Hope it helps.