Qobuz USA

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

English Ko-buzz, french ko-booze.

Well played

[crwilli]

I have been playing around with Qobuz for a few days and made a Roon playlist with many tracks from both Qobuz and Tidal - trying as best I could to compare the same resolution and source recording from both companies. That means Tidal MQA 24/96 as that is the best I can get from my non-MQA system.

Not a scientific test but they both sound good. I have found differences but they were only that. Differences. Neither was better to my ears than the other.

Therefore the decision on which I keep is based on:

- AVAILABILITY of the best recordings — early days but Tidal clearly has more of what I like to listen to.

- COST — Qobuz is more expensive $300 a year versus $240 for Tidal but offers the ability to purchase at a discount directly from their app. MIGHT be a nice to have but there is always HD Tracks...

- OTHER ISSUES —- I hate sifting through dozens of albums on Tidal that I will never ever listen to. —- Will Qobuz become permanent (is it here to stay?) and should I invest in the one time annual payment or go on the monthly pay-as-you-go...

[Route 66]

Originally Posted by crwilli

I have been playing around with Qobuz for a few days and made a Roon playlist with many tracks from both Qobuz and Tidal - trying as best I could to compare the same resolution and source recording from both companies. That means Tidal MQA 24/96 as that is the best I can get from my non-MQA system.

Not a scientific test but they both sound good. I have found differences but they were only that. Differences. Neither was better to my ears than the other.

Therefore the decision on which I keep is based on:

- AVAILABILITY of the best recordings — early days but Tidal clearly has more of what I like to listen to.

- COST — Qobuz is more expensive $300 a year versus $240 for Tidal but offers the ability to purchase at a discount directly from their app. MIGHT be a nice to have but there is always HD Tracks...

- OTHER ISSUES —- I hate sifting through dozens of albums on Tidal that I will never ever listen to. —- Will Qobuz become permanent (is it here to stay?) and should I invest in the one time annual payment or go on the monthly pay-as-you-go...

I'm in agreement with you. I've been using Qobuz for nearly three weeks now with Roon and I've compared fully unfolded Tidal MQA files to Qobuz Hi-Res files and to me there's not enough of a difference to warrant me switching from Tidal to Qobuz. The main reason though that I'm going to stick with Tidal is because to me, Qobuz doesn't have enough of the jazz albums I've been enjoying on Tidal; the selection just isn't there.

[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by Route 66

Qobuz doesn't have enough of the jazz albums I've been enjoying on Tidal; the selection just isn't there.

I’ve been using both Tidal and the French version of Qobuz for a couple of years now, and Qobuz has a deeper jazz and classical catalog, while Tidal is better for American popular/rock music. The problem with Qobuz US is they don’t have their full catalog available in the US yet, the rep at RMAF said they’d start with about 20 million tracks (they have 40 million in Europe) and add more as they resolve licensing issues. Who knows how long that will take.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

I’ve been using both Tidal and the French version of Qobuz for a couple of years now, and Qobuz has a deeper jazz and classical catalog, while Tidal is better for American popular/rock music. The problem with Qobuz US is they don’t have their full catalog available in the US yet, the rep at RMAF said they’d start with about 20 million tracks (they have 40 million in Europe) and add more as they resolve licensing issues. Who knows how long that will take.

Well, that's something to look forward to. I am not in any hurry to sign up just yet as I am more than occupied with everything that I have access to on Tidal plus the high resolution downloads which I enjoy but... It certainly is great to have the choice of Qobuz now as well. I don't see myself ever buying any more physical media and other than a handful of SACD I picked up of my favorites, I have not bought any in the past 6 years. I guess I can say I have fully embraced the age of streaming and downloads.

[bart]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

I’ve been using both Tidal and the French version of Qobuz for a couple of years now, and Qobuz has a deeper jazz and classical catalog, while Tidal is better for American popular/rock music. The problem with Qobuz US is they don’t have their full catalog available in the US yet, the rep at RMAF said they’d start with about 20 million tracks (they have 40 million in Europe) and add more as they resolve licensing issues. Who knows how long that will take.

I was also surprised by the comment above.

I still have both Tidal and Qobuz subsciptions, and I find the Qobuz jazz library quite a bit more extensive than Tidal's. Their hi-res selection is truly fantastic.
For classical, it's not even a fair competition: Qobuz wins by far.
World music is also better represented on Qobuz.
Blues, I don't know yet.
Rap: better on Tidal (except for French rap of course), but that is not my core listening.

For me, Tidal nicely fills in the gaps in the Qobuz library, rather than vice versa.

[Route 66]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

I’ve been using both Tidal and the French version of Qobuz for a couple of years now, and Qobuz has a deeper jazz and classical catalog, while Tidal is better for American popular/rock music. The problem with Qobuz US is they don’t have their full catalog available in the US yet, the rep at RMAF said they’d start with about 20 million tracks (they have 40 million in Europe) and add more as they resolve licensing issues. Who knows how long that will take.

Ah, I should have realized that it boiled down to copyright issues. Hopefully in time I'll be able to find some of the jazz albums on Qobuz that I've been enjoying on Tidal, but in the meantime, I'll continue with my Tidal membership and let my Qobuz trial lapse on the 17th. Because I'm a beta tester, I'm hoping that Qobuz will inquire as to why I didn't continue with them.

[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by Route 66

Ah, I should have realized that it boiled down to copyright issues. Hopefully in time I'll be able to find some of the jazz albums on Qobuz that I've been enjoying on Tidal, but in the meantime, I'll continue with my Tidal membership and let my Qobuz trial lapse on the 17th. Because I'm a beta tester, I'm hoping that Qobuz will inquire as to why I didn't continue with them.

If you like, you can pm me a few titles you didn’t find and I’ll check if they’re on the French site. Then we’ll know for sure if that’s the issue.

[Route 66]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

If you like, you can pm me a few titles you didn’t find and I’ll check if they’re on the French site. Then we’ll know for sure if that’s the issue.

Thank you and here's a quick for instance of an album that I love but can't find on Qobuz:

https://i.imgur.com/ijSCBAC.png

It's by Vivian Buczek and the album title is Ella Lives

[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by Route 66

Thank you and here's a quick for instance of an album that I love but can't find on Qobuz:

https://i.imgur.com/ijSCBAC.png

It's by Vivian Buczek and the album title is Ella Lives

OK, strike one - couldn’t find it on Qobuz.