Qobuz Or Tidal?

[billy170468]

Hi all...

 

Just wondering if I should choose either of these two. Am getting into streaming now.

 

Can you explain why too??

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[cazzesman]

Andy,

 

That could start a Holden vs Fords, Apple vs Microsoft discussion

 

The best answer I heard to this question was..............

 

They both offer 1 month free.   try each and make the call.   It will be the only way to tell what you like.

 

Good luck

 

Regards Cazzesman

 

[POV]

There is pros and cons to both obviously as you would expect.  Many of us jumped from Tidal to Qobuz last year following a lot of details regarding MQA's practices being revealed and discussed here and elsewhere.  I know I switched for that reason.   For my part though after trialling both for a while I beleive that Qobuz generally has a slight edge in terms of sound quality, particularly on high res material.  Tidal has a better interface and a bigger library, though Qobuz has been actively working on both.  Both integrate pretty seemlessly with Roon.

 

I've decided on Qobuz, and I just use any library omissions as an excuse to buy CD, Vinyl, or both.

[Phill451]

Balance may have shifted back to tidal with high res flac now available.

[Guest]

I voted with my money and went from Tidal to Qobuz because Tidal was pushing very hard, MQA, a scheme to enrich a few at our expense.  Bonus was Qobuz sounded better. Will never go back...

[expat]

I don't have an MQA capable DAC so never had much skin in that game. Could get 24/96 from Tidal Connect. I think which sounds better will come down to the way your system lies. I personally find Quboz sounds 'cleaner' where Tidal sounds 'richer'. I can see the time where you may prefer one interpretation being better than the other and another time where the preference is reversed.

Tidal definitely has a better app and search engine and more of the music I search for but YMMV.

I've currently got Quboz but can see going back to Tidal when MQA binned or more likely paying for both (along with Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime, Optus Sports.....)

NB: don't forget Apple Music and Amazon HD streaming services

[Rob Wright]

My son and I trialed both. Qobuz probably realistically had the edge on hi res sound. 

Tidal had the edge on the App being slightly easier. I didn't really have any trouble with the content available through either.

Tidal gave us four "memberships" in the family package and from memory Qobuz was two?

We went with Tidal for the app and the member package.

I still say Qobuz is truer res sound wise.

 

Cazzesmans answer is still the best so far.

[aussievintage]

This question started me looking as well.  Just from the web pages of each I have some points and questions (may help OP as well)

 

• Qobuz is cheaper for hirez ($17 vs $24 for 24 bit hi-rez)
• Does Qobuz have Dolby Atmos tracks, etc, as Tidal claims to have?
• Are there still MQA titles in Tidal, and are they MQA only, or can you select plain vanilla versions?

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

• Does Qobuz have Dolby Atmos tracks, etc, as Tidal claims to have?
• Are there still MQA titles in Tidal, and are they MQA only, or can you select plain vanilla versions?

Qobuz has very few Atmos tracks.  Tidal has some, but many of them are processed (cheap to do) rather than mixed (expensive).  If Atmos is important, Apple is the way to go.

 

There are both MQA and plain vanilla versions usually.  There were vastly a lot more MQA than hirez, but things may be changing now?

[illbarto]

Spend a month with both and see how you like their libraries. I liked Qobuz but Tidal had a more expansive library for the music I like.

There are also websites that import your playlists and liked artists from one to the other, there not football teams.

[aussievintage]

I have opted in to 30days free on Qobuz.

 

Can't say I am hearing any startling improvements over playing locally stored files, in fact, my unscientific first impression is not good.

 

I will try and find some hi-rez tracks that I have in CD quality, and on vinyl, and do some comparison.

Edited August 10, 2023 by aussievintage

[Bass13]

Just checked  Qobuz,

 

Family members in the same home can share up to 6 Qobuz accounts under 1 subscription. Try free for a month, then only $25.00/month.

[Rob Wright]

14 hours ago, Bass13 said:

Just checked  Qobuz,

 

Family members in the same home can share up to 6 Qobuz accounts under 1 subscription. Try free for a month, then only $25.00/month.

Qobuz might have upped it then. That's great.

[POV]

17 hours ago, aussievintage said:

I have opted in to 30days free on Qobuz.

 

Can't say I am hearing any startling improvements over playing locally stored files, in fact, my unscientific first impression is not good.

 

I will try and find some hi-rez tracks that I have in CD quality, and on vinyl, and do some comparison.

Were you anticipating that Qobuz would sound better than your locally stored files?

[aussievintage]

Just now, POV said:

Were you anticipating that Qobuz would sound better than your locally stored files?

 

Not Qubuz specifically, but their hires files, vs my stored copies of my CDs, yes I was.  I am also comparing it to other streamed sources, like youtube and internet radio (picking those with lossless and high bitrate)

[joz]

[POV]

1 minute ago, aussievintage said:

 

Not Qubuz specifically, but their hires files, vs my stored copies of my CDs, yes I was.  I am also comparing it to other streamed sources, like youtube and internet radio (picking those with lossless and high bitrate)

Ah fair enough.  Many of my favourite albums I have locally stored ripped as FLAC and are also available in higher resolution via Qobuz.  
 

Playing via Roon and comparing I have often fooled myself into thinking that the high res files from Qobuz sound superior, but I have done a bunch of blind trials and have routinely been completely unable to pick the differences between the 2.  I’m cool with this, it just says that 16/44.1 is high enough resolution to sound fantastic!

 

Exception on this as another forum member is most passionate about is older cds where the re-release/remastered files sometimes have lower dynamic range than earlier release CDs.  This is not a huge issue for me, as my favourite genre prog rock/metal seems to not have a lot of remastering happen.

 

Interesting to compare with high res radio.  I listen to a lot of internet radio, it’s one of my favourite ways of consuming music and at times I think that Radio Paradise and more so Mother Earth Radio sounds superior to both locally stored and Qobuz versions of tracks I am familiar with.  I really don’t know if that’s in my head, relative to the higher res stream, or related to Mother Earth streaming a lot from vinyl and first release sources. In any event it sounds bloody great Mother Earth Radio deserves way more love than it gets!.

[aussievintage]

13 minutes ago, POV said:

Playing via Roon and comparing I have often fooled myself into thinking that the high res files from Qobuz sound superior, but I have done a bunch of blind trials and have routinely been completely unable to pick the differences between the 2.  I’m cool with this, it just says that 16/44.1 is high enough resolution to sound fantastic!

 

At the moment I have to agree with this.  I am finding nothing compelling in the hires.  I have a month to experiment though.

 

13 minutes ago, POV said:

Exception on this as another forum member is most passionate about is older cds where the re-release/remastered files sometimes have lower dynamic range than earlier release CDs.  This is not a huge issue for me, as my favourite genre prog rock/metal seems to not have a lot of remastering happen.

 

Then there are the really recent re-masterings of classic stuff that I think do indeed sound better than the originals even - and I would say this applies to vinyl as well.

 

13 minutes ago, POV said:

Interesting to compare with high res radio.  I listen to a lot of internet radio, it’s one of my favourite ways of consuming music and at times I think that Radio Paradise and more so Mother Earth Radio sounds superior to both locally stored and Qobuz versions of tracks I am familiar with.  I really don’t know if that’s in my head, relative to the higher res stream, or related to Mother Earth streaming a lot from vinyl and first release sources. In any event it sounds bloody great Mother Earth Radio deserves way more love than it gets!

 

Yes, and I even have listened to some so-called audiophile stuff via Youtube that is most impressive.  It really seems to me that's it's more about how they produce the recording (skill and care in the recording, engineering and mastering), not how they deliver it (what format, sample/bitrate etc)

Edited August 10, 2023 by aussievintage

[Bass13]

1 hour ago, POV said:

 

Playing via Roon and comparing I have often fooled myself into thinking that the high res files from Qobuz sound superior, but I have done a bunch of blind trials and have routinely been completely unable to pick the differences between the 2.  I’m cool with this, it just says that 16/44.1 is high enough resolution to sound fantastic!

 

I agree, the most important factor is the recording/mastering quality of the file itself, as I too have Roon-Qobuz, will have my system playing when something comes on randomly which draws me into the room to save it in my playlist only to be surprised that its sometimes a  16/44.1 file, I do however upscale this to DSD256.

[Bass13]

@aussievintage

A mix of some different music for you to try on Qobuz, they all sound pretty dam good to me, there's plenty more and also heaps of bad ones too....dare say regardless of media type and or streamer brand or Qobuz/Tidal/etc you cannot polish a t**d.

 

Boz Scaggs-Thanks to you (Dig)

Dominic Miller-London Paris Cardiff (Fourth Wall)

Antonio Forcione- Acoustic Revenge (Live)

Markusphilippe- Angel eyes (Saxnbass)

Fausto Mesolella -Sonatina Improvvista D'Inizio (Live ad Alcatraz)

Felice Del Gaudio- La Vita Lattea (Desert)

Hanne Boel -After Midnight (Outtakes)

Hubert Sumlinn- Sometimes I'm right (Blues Guitar Boss)

Dan Patlansky- Big Things going down (Wooden Thoughts)

Derrin Nauendorf -Ghost Town (Live)

Tenderly Jacinta-Here's to Ben (A vocal tribute to Ben Webster)

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Bass13
one more song

[aussievintage]

1 hour ago, Bass13 said:

@aussievintage

A mix of some different music for you to try on Qobuz, they all sound pretty dam good to me, there's plenty more and also heaps of bad ones too....dare say regardless of media type and or streamer brand or Qobuz/Tidal/etc you cannot polish a t**d.

 

Boz Scaggs-Thanks to you (Dig)

Dominic Miller-London Paris Cardiff (Fourth Wall)

Antonio Forcione- Acoustic Revenge (Live)

Markusphilippe- Angel eyes (Saxnbass)

Fausto Mesolella -Sonatina Improvvista D'Inizio 9Live ad Alcatraz)

Felice Del Gaudio- La Vita Lattea (Desert)

Hanne Boel -After Midnight (Outtakes)

Hubert Sumlinn- Sometimes I'm right (Blues Guitar Boss)

Dan Patlansky- Big Things going down (Wooden Thoughts)

Derrin Nauendorf -Ghost Town (Live)

Tenderly Jacinta-Here's to Ben (A vocal tribute to Ben Webster)

 

Thanks, much appreciated

 

[aussievintage]

On 11/08/2023 at 12:10 PM, Bass13 said:

@aussievintage

A mix of some different music for you to try on Qobuz, they all sound pretty dam good to me, there's plenty more and also heaps of bad ones too....dare say regardless of media type and or streamer brand or Qobuz/Tidal/etc you cannot polish a t**d.

 

Boz Scaggs-Thanks to you (Dig)

Dominic Miller-London Paris Cardiff (Fourth Wall)

Antonio Forcione- Acoustic Revenge (Live)

Markusphilippe- Angel eyes (Saxnbass)

Fausto Mesolella -Sonatina Improvvista D'Inizio (Live ad Alcatraz)

Felice Del Gaudio- La Vita Lattea (Desert)

Hanne Boel -After Midnight (Outtakes)

Hubert Sumlinn- Sometimes I'm right (Blues Guitar Boss)

Dan Patlansky- Big Things going down (Wooden Thoughts)

Derrin Nauendorf -Ghost Town (Live)

Tenderly Jacinta-Here's to Ben (A vocal tribute to Ben Webster)

 

 

I thought I replied to this, but can't find my reply now.  Anyway, I worked my way through the list and found nearly all of them.

 

Great stuff, like your taste in music as well.  Great list.  I would summarise it as uncluttered music with great range, that lets you enjoy the music in the openness and space the musicians leave between the notes.

 

Particularly loved the bass in the track from Saxnbass.

[Bass13]

2 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

Particularly loved the bass in the track from Saxnbass.

 

Great to hear you enjoyed the tracks.....

 

If you like Bass this is crazy good.... (Electronic)

Bass Mekanik -Suck My Bass (King of Bass)

 

[Colonel Sanders]

I tried both and ended up keeping both… Mainly because of the greater choice of music by having both.

 

If one is in the “Patricia Barber on repeat” camp, then I think Qobuz is a good choice.

 

 

[doogie44]

Excellent answers here to this question. Yes, it does seem like a question of 'what kind of music do you like playing most'?

 

I find Qobuz more appealing because of its greater attention to classical in the catalogue. Tidal, to me, is flush with easily found (and great) rock and pop; good selections of chamber, opera, classical vocal and instrumental music not as much.

 

Both have Hi res BUT here is where the rubber hits the road for me: the 16/44 tracks sound as good as the 24/96 (and up) if it's a great recording. I can't tell the difference between 24/96 and 24/192 anyway. Having said that, again by comparison I find intuitively that Qobuz seems musically to be a 'yes' experience for me very, very often. 

 

Sometimes Qobuz is frustrating because of the search/cataloguing deficiencies; usually these can be overcome. You might find items based on 'Performer' that are not in 'All Releases'...

 

I let go my Tidal subscription because I decided that Qobuz was more consistently able to prodce my kind of musical pleasure. I haven't looked back either.

 

My 2c worth