Streaming: Tidal or Qobuz or Both

[1KW]

So I have been extremely happy with Tidal , both the cd quality and MQA tracks sound wonderful . I did the 30 day trial of qobuz and Did enjoy the ability to stream hi res. , honestly I was not quite sure I could hear any improvement compared to Tidal. . Sometimes certain albums were only available in either hi res. Or MQA on one service but most of the time Roon would show 4 versions, my hard drive library version, Tidal red book, MQA and qobuz versions. I did let the qobuz trial expire and am on the fence since I have Tidal and it’s library keeps me busy . So do you have both streaming services or prefer one over the other and only subscribe to one? My main genre is rock, some folk, jazz, acoustic guitar, occasionally classical (not much).

[crwilli]

Both are good. I decided to try Qobuz after having Tidal for the last few years. The only thing that bothers me about Tidal besides the MQA hoopla, is the full frontal push of RapCrap and its use as a personal supply chain for Jay-Z and Beyoncé music. But I would do the same if I was a musician with my own streaming service. I have learned to live with it and can filter out most of the huge quantity of gold toothed album covers.

So far, Qobuz has offered nothing to me that Tidal doesn’t other than it doesn’t push crap and doesn’t have the politics of MQA. But it is a few dollars more expensive which stupidly perhaps, is a consideration.

Does native 24/96 sound better than MQA’ed 24/96? Who cares? They both sound great.

I will probably lean toward Qobuz simply because it is simple hi-Rez and has all the music I seem to need. (But Tidal does have more...)

[For The Love of Music]

I do think Quboz has the nudge in quality, and I have a full MQA DAC to get the most out of Tidal. Plus Quboz allows you to buy music that brings the price down if that’s your thing. Swing both if you can, there’s nothing wrong with Tidal.

[sid325]

I started with Tidal and then gave Qobuz a try. I really like Qobuz and I was going to cancel Tidal, but then I found myself bouncing back and forth between the two. So, for now I’ve decided to keep both. The choices of high quality music between the two is incredible for the monthly fee.

[rnrmf1971]

I'm still in the trial for both but I give the nod to Qobuz for ever so slightly better sound quality, or at least my preference in sound quality in my new system.

To me, hi-res Qobuz sounds slightly more tangible and natural by a margin whereas Tidal MQA sounds a touch more ethereal and spacious, which by comparison sounds ever so slightly less weighty and natural to me.

They are both good and there are some albums on Tidal that aren't on Qobuz but Qobuz is still in beta, I think, so hopefully some of those missing albums might get filled in. And by then, there may be other cd quality options. Most of the albums I've wanted to listen to that aren't on one but are on the other are cd quality only.

Suffice to say, I won't keep Tidal for MQA, alone. I like the possibility of being able to purchase hi-def recordings at a significant discount on Qobuz and that's swaying me in that direction.

[Route 66]

I've kept both for a while so that I would be able to do an A-B comparison between the two and I've found that Tidal has many selections that don't appear in the Qobuz library. As for sound quality, my Lumin streamer fully decodes MQA and to my ear, sounds just as good as the Hi-Res files on Qobuz.

I'm using Roon, so the rap/hip hop inspired interface of Tidal is not an issue for me.

[bart]

I'm a bit OCD and a completist, so although I've been saying that I would drop Tidal for quite a while now, I'm still keeping it, in order not to miss anything.
Also, sometimes I'm listening to Qobuz, while my wife at the same time is enjoying Tidal.
Tidal nor Qobuz offer family subscriptions like Spotify, so for those instances, we need 2 subscriptions (I keep telling myself ).

[Antonmb]

Most of my streaming listening is from Qobuz with the annual Sublime subscription. I find the selection of classical and jazz much better than Tidal. I also have Tidal, but finally downgraded to the “Premium” $10/month version and only use it for the occasional recording that I can’t find on Qobuz. The Premium quality is good enough for as often as I use it, and if I really like something I buy the recording anyway.

[1KW]

Originally Posted by Route 66

I've kept both for a while so that I would be able to do an A-B comparison between the two and I've found that Tidal has many selections that don't appear in the Qobuz library. As for sound quality, my Lumin streamer fully decodes MQA and to my ear, sounds just as good as the Hi-Res files on Qobuz.

I'm using Roon, so the rap/hip hop inspired interface of Tidal is not an issue for me.

. Same Here

[1KW]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Most of my streaming listening is from Qobuz with the annual Sublime subscription. I find the selection of classical and jazz much better than Tidal. I also have Tidal, but finally downgraded to the “Premium” $10/month version and only use it for the occasional recording that I can’t find on Qobuz. The Premium quality is good enough for as often as I use it, and if I really like something I buy the recording anyway.

I think the annual sublime subscription for discounts on purchases makes sense but then again if one always has the subscription do you really need to purchase anything ? I think it is safe to say that streaming is not going anywhere.