2. digital
  3. 163097-153838

Tidal vs Quobuz

Yes I realize the Qobuz is misspelled in the title but I can’t figure out how to update it.  Relax.  
I’ve been a die hard advocate of MqA and Tidal for the last few years. All of my source, preamp, and dac purchased had the prerequisite that they must be MqA compatible. Today, I tried Qobuz for the first time and I’m blown away by the selection of 24bit 96khz files compared to Tidal.
Here’s an example: Was very excited that the band Tool FINALLY added their collection to streaming services. All of the albums on Tidal are CD quality. So I was going to purchase them in higher fidelity on HD Tracks, but learned that Qobuz had them at the highest fidelity. Couldn’t believe it. Same with many other artists/albums I love.

Now is there an improvement in sound quality? No not really. Is the Qobux UX any better? No, in fact it’s slower. But do I get the best quality content for the same price? Yes. Will I subscribe to both? Yes.
System:

Lumin D2 -> Parasound P6 -> Elac Navis ARF 51’s. Fully balanced set up (Nordost) with AQ power cables.
helloitsben
electroslacker
375 posts
 
@toro3 

Hmm, I asked Qobuz how to find other users' playlists and was told they were still working on that feature.  I'm streaming through their Windows App.  Whats the secret?
ssmaudio
71 posts
 
I know you said that MqA availability is paramount, but if you listen to classical at all and are willing to try differently on the format, IDAGIO and Primephonic are fabulous. I have an IDAGIO high-res subscription and their catalogue is extensive. 
vinylshadow
533 posts
 
For my car, I absolutely love Tidal. Just bought the Best Buy yearly subscription. Admittedly, I have an aces car stereo system and it sounds incredible. I have Android Auto and my phone is plugged into a USB port to my head unit. Very important mention that a hard wired USB connection sounds considerably better than bluetooth. 
The TIDAL user interface is very good...While my display will show "MASTER" my head unit only can play "HiFi" Redbook 16/44.1 which for a car is fine. 
At home, I stream using my phone to a USB to SPDIF converter into my Classe's DAC. I get the first MQA unfolding and it sounds good. But I definitely am curious of Qobuz's Hi Res.
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,648 posts
 
Tidal Connect IS cool but unless you have Lenbrook you gonna be waiting. It ain’t worth paying extra for.

I hooked up with Qobuz before even trying Tidal and now that I have I'm glad I did.
toro3's avatar
toro3
404 posts
 
@electroslacker I see where we’re missing each other.

I was referring to accessing other users’ playlists when completing a search such as “dinner music.” Instead of results only curated by Qobuz, you also receive results from other users’ playlist with similar titles that they’ve created.

But like you said, I wouldn’t be able to access all of my friend’s playlists just by tapping on their username - at least not yet per your conversation with Qobuz earlier in the day.
More to discover