I can't remember why I ended up going with Primephonic instead of Idagio, but I'm extremely happy with my Primephonic subscription. A classical buff's paradise except for one important exception -- I don't think they have a single complete opera. Then again, I'm pretty sure that none of the streaming services have complete operas. ...Not that I blame them, of course. How much space would an opera take up on a streaming service's hard drives? How many people would actually play one start to finish?
As for pitting Qobuz against Primephonic in the classical arena, while Qobuz delivers a bit better fidelity, Primephonic's sonics are still quite excellent. There is also no question that Primephonic offers a whole lot more repertoire than the Q. Primephonic has also found a way to seamlessly segue from one movement of a symphony or concerto to the next. For example, with Primephonic the transition from the middle movement to the final movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 is accomplished the way Beethoven intended -- with no interruption. Qobuz, sorry to say, takes an axe to the transition, inserting an annoying audio dropout. "Honey! Turn the record over!"
For want of better term, Primephonic has a fine concierge service, as well. I'm pretty sure Qobuz offers up suggestions on what you might want to listen to, based on what you've chosen in the past. But Primephonic does it with a more personal touch. It's as if you're dealing with a fellow classical music enthusiast, not a disembodied bunch of bits and bytes.
As for pitting Qobuz against Primephonic in the classical arena, while Qobuz delivers a bit better fidelity, Primephonic's sonics are still quite excellent. There is also no question that Primephonic offers a whole lot more repertoire than the Q. Primephonic has also found a way to seamlessly segue from one movement of a symphony or concerto to the next. For example, with Primephonic the transition from the middle movement to the final movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 is accomplished the way Beethoven intended -- with no interruption. Qobuz, sorry to say, takes an axe to the transition, inserting an annoying audio dropout. "Honey! Turn the record over!"
For want of better term, Primephonic has a fine concierge service, as well. I'm pretty sure Qobuz offers up suggestions on what you might want to listen to, based on what you've chosen in the past. But Primephonic does it with a more personal touch. It's as if you're dealing with a fellow classical music enthusiast, not a disembodied bunch of bits and bytes.