Qobuz vs Tidal

I have both and I generally prefer Qobuz, but I suspect in a properly conducted blind test I wouldn’t be able to consistently tell a difference and I suspect that’s true for most, but each to their own

As someone noted, I’ve read that Q treats the artist better and that’s a big plus. I also saw that Qobuz recently released a video indicating that it’s connect feature is in beta testing so hopefully that’s finally coming.
 

I think both offer an incredible service for the money and most folks would be happy with either

@kennymacc +!

Great point on Roon Nucleus plus which i never tried and which certainly should be optimized to run Roon without any loss in transparency. 

While my gear was Roon certified, it certainly had a deleterious effect on the sound vs the native app. I likened it to how MSFT Windows must run on all PCs regardless of hardware configuration and companion software. It works, but the performance isn’t always equivalent. The native operating system and music management system could address the memory cache and buffers of that machine whereas Roon was not so optimized.

I’ve heard great things about the Roon Nucleus system and assume it’s fully competitive with other streamers anywhere near its price range. For those using something other than a nucleus, an audition may be warranted to see if there’s a negative impact.  I do miss that interface.

To that point, Auralic’s Lightning DS (LDS) is very good and I enjoy using it quite a bit in system 2, but it’s not Roon. And my T+A in system 1 has a streaming client built along with a network audio adapter (NAA) so I use their native app.  Its UI is rudimentary in comparison but sounds fabulous. 

And to that point, I find that Qobuz streams sound the same as files I ripped from a CD as FLAC and stored on a NAS, assuming they’re the same provenance (i.e. not a remaster). In sum, I can’t believe how good streaming from Qobuz can be. It’s been a while since I’ve done a comparison with Tidal - I’m guessing the same would be true there.

As audiophiles, who of us would have imagined twenty years ago how good we’d have it today? 

Best,

Hello all,

I think that one factor we have to include in our analysis is how much the streaming services pay back in royalties to the artists. From what I have read, Qobuz ranks on top of most analysis about this, but things seem to change and hopefully improve in this regard with many streaming services. 

Yes, music quality is very important, but supporting the artists that produce it (I am not one of those) should also be among our selection criteria. 

All the best to all of your… ears !

@mgrif104

Thank you. My Roon Nucleus Plus has been replaced by a newer model. I don’t know how much more improved the new model is over the old one. I’m sure they’ve further refined the interface to a certain degree. I know the new model offers more features than the old one. Nonetheless, I so enjoy the Nucleus Plus, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.   Also, I’ll continue using Tidal, as it offers a larger catalog of music in it’s library than Qobuz.  I just feel that when it comes to audiophile caliber music streaming, Qobuz is the ultimate.  All in all, I haven’t been this thrilled with, or had this much fun with my high end audio listening experience in over 30 years in the hobby. Happy listening.

@kerrbh

Although my preference between the two would be Qobuz, as I believe it more consistently digs just a little bit deeper into the music than Tidal does, I still use and thoroughly enjoy Tidal when a particular album isn’t available on Qobuz. Also, I’ve never done a bling listening test, as I do about 95% of my music listening with my eyes open, which I prefer to do when evaluating and comparing. But I get where you’re coming from. Happy listening.