Qobuz vs. Tidal

I switched from Tidal to Qobuz years ago because Tidal was more expensive and I had no desire to mess with their MQA crap.  I believe Tidal has since ditched MQA and I think they may have recently reduced their prices but not sure about that.  The choice at this stage may well come down to which has better music selection for your tastes although it seems Qobuz has more hi res content, which is significant.  Do a free trial of both and I’m sure one will stand out to you. 

jgjg123

Qobuz customer service is worse than terrible.

Really? What problems did you have?

I decided to delete some tracks on two different playlists. I simply swiped them and pressed delete. Sounds simple enough. I ended up deleting over 70% of the playlist and have no idea why that happened. I've done it before with any issues.

I've tried to get help from Qoboz and can't get a response. Many users of Qobuz have indicated their CS leaves a lot to be desired. 

How does one learn to use Qobuz?

I had a free trial with Tidal for a while, it was quite good but cost more than Qobuz.  I ended up signing up with Qobuz for a year.  Qobuz is ok but could be better. For starters they do not have as many titles available. Also the search leaves a lot to be desired. If you search for a particular band or artist, all of their albums don’t always show up. Yet if you search the name of the particular album it sometimes does show up, now why is that? If they have a particular artist and you search it, all the songs or albums should show up. Compare this to Spotify for example, there is virtually nothing that is not available on Spotify, also when you do a search on Spotify, everything pops up related to the search. Not terribly impressed.

@jgjg123 

Qobuz has the best sound quality and a much larger collection of high resolution albums than Tidal.

If you are using a streamer the software is constructed by the streamer manufacturer and not Qobuz. How are you streaming? I have used Qobuz for years and never had any reason to contact them.

+1 @ghdprentice I use Qobuz w/ roon and with out. How to pronounce Qobuz is a different story.

Like anything. once you get used to the particular interface it’s nothing.

FYI I make all playlists in the native Qobuz app and use/play in roon.

Here’s one And here’s another

I have an Aurender A 15.

I am with others here, never had any issues with Qobuz. My Aurender’s Conductor App offers seamless integration of both Qobuz and Tidal. And I prefer Qobuz over Tidal based on my genre preferences.

@wsrrsw

Thank you for sharing your playlists, amazing selection!

FYI…Tidal is dropping its prices starting in April. $10.99 per month.

As to sound quality, I found it to vary based on streamer. If you’re running Aurender then Qobuz will sound slightly better. Tidal still sounds good and has some music that’s not available on Qobuz. With Lumin and Bricasti I found Tidal to sound a bit better.
It’s worth having both if you can afford it.

Also the search leaves a lot to be desired.

@arnold_h Amen brother.  I’ve got the same complaints, and I emailed Qobuz a year or so ago about it but obviously nothing has happened.  With the level of tech today you wouldn’t think it’d be too hard to have someone fairly easily implement a decent search function, and I’m sure we’re not the only ones who are dissatisfied/frustrated with it.  Plus, as a customer it just comes across like they don’t give a crap.  Seems like an unforced error to me. 

soix

... With the level of tech today you wouldn’t think it’d be too hard to have someone fairly easily implement a decent search function ...

That's a function of the software you're using to stream Qobuz, e.g. Conductor if you're using an Aurender, or perhaps Volumio if you're using a Raspberry Pi.

I guess I have to be more careful when deleting. Perhaps I will use the Qobuz app on my phone. 

Many thanks as well to the individual who was kind enough to share his playlists!

OP,

So the issue is with the Conductor app. Are you using version 3 or 4?

Aurender introduced the new Conductor 4 app a few months ago. There have been some problems for some folks, it was a major upgrade. I have introduced new software to large groups most of my life. There are always problems, some organizations are better at it than others. It seems to have created some problems. They are working on them. You can just go back to version 3 and stay there for six months or so as Aurender irons out the bugs.

I have been fortunate not to experience any significant issues.

I am using version 4.

I currently have both Tidal and Qobuz but I do prefer Tidal over Qobuz. For me, Tidal just seems to be more user friendly and also provides the user with more music selection options than Qobuz. There’s no noticeable difference in SQ between the two.  So, if I had to keep just one, it would definitely be Tidal.

@lalitk I went over to Agon and tried sending you a message w/ some more playlists but that was flittered!  Ugg...I sent off a query to Tammy. A while back ago I posted this (some gone like 12.5) and that worked. Hynm.

@soix  & @arnold_h Yes the native app or web browser search function in Qobuz is so-so w/ too many variables to be nuanced at times to find something that's not even esoteric. 

soix

... With the level of tech today you wouldn’t think it’d be too hard to have someone fairly easily implement a decent search function ...

That's a function of the software you're using to stream Qobuz, e.g. Conductor if you're using an Aurender, or perhaps Volumio if you're using a Raspberry Pi.

@cleeds I wasn’t using software, just direct on the Qobuz site.  It just sucks. Period. 

Don’t have search issues with Tidal, Qobuz, Roon or Auender Conductor 4. 
What are the examples of an issue you’re running into with search?

Qobuz user here.

I liked it better than Tidal as I can get a year membership and not have to deal with monthly charges.

No issues with searches, and I like much of the music it will pick out after my album ends.

B

I tried them both and could not tell a difference in SQ so I went with The Qobuz cause I didn't care for the history of Tidal the way it came to be.

I have used both Tidal and Qobuz over the past 6 months streaming through my Aurender N 200.  Both work well and no hiccups on Conductor with either streaming service.  Based on my music preference - jazz, female vocals, R&B - I am finding Qobuz to offer a wider selection.  To be honest I can't tell the difference in sound quality between the two.  

Re the pronunciation of Qobuz -  its " Kow - buhz "   At least thats how I am pronouncing it! 

Don’t have search issues with Tidal, Qobuz, Roon or Auender Conductor 4.   What are the examples of an issue you’re running into with search?

@audphile1 Have a look at the post abov@arnold_h — his experience and frustrations mimic my own exactly.

I use Qobuz.  IMHO better SQ and seamless integration with Aurender Conductor. 

I switched back to tidal from Qobuz because they dropped their price. I couldn’t be happier. Way more user friendly. 

Many thanks to all for your thoughtful comments and suggestions.

Lately I have seen tidal bandwidth lacking ,not even Flac files on some recordings 

not good . On average QObuz I feel sounds better.

I have both Qobuz and Tidal.  For me, on my system I find the sound on Qobuz to be better; however, I do use both via Roon. I will add that I am very impressed with the latest update that Qobuz did just a few weeks ago allowing for easy import of playlists from any other service into their platform. I also prefer Qobuz remotely.  I primarily listen to Jazz, Classical, and Rock. I did have an issue on Tidal once and they resolved it …. eventually. 

I have Tidal, Spotify & Qobuz. I had a major computer problem & lost both Qobuz & Tidal. Tidal CS worked with me for over half an hour getting it back. Great service. Qobuz never answered my email. I finally deleted my QB account for a week & opened a new one because I think it sounds a little better than Tidal. Lucky I had Spotify to save all my music. I used Tune My Music to transfer all the playlists back to Qobuz & Tidal. I'll keep all three now...just in case. 

@soix and @arnold_h for me thru the conductor 4 app it’s been the opposite. For example if I search for Patricia Barber on Qobuz, I get her albums that are available along with the Live A Fortnight in France where not a single song is available for streaming. I ran across a similar search results for other artists. But I’ve not seen albums not show up. Overall it’s pretty solid though. 
 

I have both and prefer Qobuz because I think the SQ is a bit better and it offers more high res cuts. SQ is subjective and I find the difference slight but noticeable. 
I think the Tidal interface is better and maybe it has a greater selection 

In my opinion both are really good- millions of lossless tunes available at the press of a button for a modest monthly charge 

it’s a long way from the record clubs of my youth 

I've used both Tidal and Qobuz, and have stayed with Qobuz for the SQ. However content curation and the recommendation engine of Tidal are MUCH better. In my view it's fair to say Qobuz offers the best SQ and the worst content curation.

I have the Eversolo DMP A8. I couldn't figure out how to delete tracks on my Qobuz phone app. Right clicking on the Qobuz desktop app allow me to delete tracks. It's much easier to edit playlist on the desktop app.

So if I want to transfer my Tidal playlist to Qobuz I can do that now? Do the Tidal songs stay in the same format they were in Tidal? On a side note I was listening to Tidal the other day and all the MQA songs still played. 

Qobuz needs no customer service.  It's your app for the streamer that might be your problem. CD's have a slight edge in SQ compared to Qobuz streams played through the same DAC. In a blind test you are hard pressed to tell the difference.

I've had Spotify for years and recently tried both Tidal and qobuz.

Easily transferred my spotify songs with both services.

The only reason I'm sticking with qobuz is that it seems to automatically keep all songs at same sound level during playback. With Tidal I either had to volume up or down between songs. I may have missed where you can do that on Tidal but it was automatically done on qobuz.

I don't here much differences in sound quality between the 2 formats. Using avm 90 and eversolo dmp-a8. 

I've tried to get help from Qoboz and can't get a response. Many users of Qobuz have indicated their CS leaves a lot to be desired. 

Qobuz needs no customer service. 

Given the choice between Qobuz charging all customers another $2 a month to hire 4 people for customer service for perhaps 1% of the customers who find a reason to contact them, I prefer keeping it the way it is. I have never had a need to contact them for anything.

I was with Tidal for 6 years before Qobuz entered Canada and never had a reason to contact them either. 

+1 Quobuz, great selection, sound quality, never any issues with streaming except buying and downloading music from them. In this area I agree with the poor customer service problems. First, every time I’ve downloaded purchase music I’ve had an issue and it’s was virtually impossible to get any help, so I ultimately figured it out on my own. Second, usually when you have an annual subscription, you get an email that you are about to renew and they will be charging you card for the renewal. Not the case with Quobuz. So I’m a little leery about that and if I ever wanted to cancel or make my changes what that process might be like. Other than that I’m satisfied.

@audphile1 Thanks for the heads up on pricing.  Since they moved from MQA to FLAC I was thinking about doing a trial.  When I saw the monthly fee for Tidal I said forgeddabout it!  I'll give Tidal another look. Tidal has the advantage of the "connect" feature if you want to use it on the go like in your car/ bluetooth speaker etc.

Second, usually when you have an annual subscription, you get an email that you are about to renew and they will be charging you card for the renewal. Not the case with Quobuz. got this email from Qobuz two months!!! before my subscription was due to auto renew.  Maybe your notification went to spam?

@dinov I received this email two months!!! before my subscription was due to renew.  Maybe your notification went to spam?

OP

I am in the same boat right now.  I use the Innuos Sense app for my streamer and the Qobuz app direct from my phone, when using my simple music bar and through from connections music will pause and stop playing.  The music selection to find a decent playlist is less than desirable. I found not to bother with any QB playlists. Does Tidal have stations?  I hate to say this, but I find myself going back to Pandora for variety and for free. QB customer service response a day later.  My last email about the music cutting out has gone unanswered. 

@soix Thanks, although I didn’t get this email I did receive one when they had an outage a couple of weeks back where other didn’t. Who knows. I still enjoy the service though! 

Qobuz via Roon

As far as customer service they're both about the same, I've had issues with both. Used Qobuz  exclusively for several years, now that Tidal has reduced prices a change may be coming.

I wish I knew why Tidal is reducing their prices.  I can add my wife to a family plan and still pay less that what I was paying.

in my car & in my home... Qobuz sounds best to me. 
i ran them both for a year. then cancelled Tidal. 
even MP4s on my ipod sounded better than Tidal. 

I have found that Qobuz has a much larger classical library.  Tidal has a better interface.  Spotify has great algorithms for passive listening.  I keep all three and listen almost constantly. 

Qobuz is preferable due to larger hi-res catalog but does not offer as many titles as Tidal. Many songs in my playlists cant be found on Qobuz. The Tidal Android app is also superior (for on the go listening). So....I compromise and subscribe to both.

I had a very strange experience when comparing Qobuz to Tidal a couple of years ago, when I was trying to decide which service had the best sound quality.  I pulled up "Jack of Speed" from Steely Dan's "Two Against Nature" album. 

There is a prominent trombone phrase throughout the song which sits fairly upfront in the mix on the original CD and on Tidal.  When hearing it on Qobuz, it sat much lower in the mix. It was as if someone did a re-mix (not just a re-master), and really lowered that individual track.  I don't think it had been re-released at that time, so it left me scratching my head and thinking WTF.  That made my mind up to go with Tidal.  

Which one of the two has a larger metal / alt rock library ? I can find almost all I want on Spotify but the quality is not that good.

Anyone using QoBuz or Tidal with a Bluesound Node 2i?  

Just curious because that’s what I’m using with an Audio-gd NFS-1C DAC.  I have Spotify Premium, which to my ears, doesn’t sound too bad at all.  Wondering how much better QoBuz will sound?  Thanks 🙏