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Qobuz vs Tidal

Just sharing my recent experience.  I'll be brief.  I've been a dedicated music streamer for the past 4 years and have enjoyed it immensely.  I always had both Tidal and Qobuz at my disposal, but because Tidal had a more extensive music catalog, sound quality comparable to Qobuz, and seemed more user friendly, I decided to make Tidal my Roon default (most all of my music library was Tidal).  All was well and sounding great.  Yes, I was fully aware of the fact that Qobuz was widely recognized as the "audiophile's" choice over Tidal, but when I occasionally did "brief" comparisons between the two, I thought the differences in sound quality were negligible, so I left things as they were.  Well, after all this time, just the other day, while watching high end audio show video footage on youtube, I noticed that all of the exhibitors who were streaming their music were using Qobuz, as opposed to Tidal.  This observation prompted me to really want go back, take my time, and see for myself which streaming service really did sound best to my ears.  After hours of back and forth comparisons, I have to say, Qobuz came out on top.  What I noticed was that Qobuz sounded slightly more focused, more refined, more natural and real-to-life.  I was convinced!!!  I believe that switching to Qobuz from Tidal actually succeeded in elevating the overall sound quality of my listening experience a notch.  I immediately began the process of converting my entire music library from Tidal over to Qobuz.  Happy listening.                                    

kennymacc
ronboco
872 posts
 

@jastralfu 

thank you. I will try that 

daledeee1's avatar
daledeee1
599 posts
 

Had Amazon 5 yrs.  Good suggestions.  Problems with sorting, etc. Too much Atmospheric or 3D.  Sometimes it work

Qobuz sound is very good. I use the Bluetooth app and the web app for Innuous Sense.  I can navigate around much better than Amazon.  Majority is now higher res.

jhconnor's avatar
jhconnor
68 posts
 

I definitely do not hear a consistent difference between the two services. Some songs sound A LITTLE better on Tidal and some sound A LITTLE better on Qobuz. But the functionality and ai are way better on Tidal. If I was going to cut one it would be Qobuz- and lately I've been close to pulling the trigger. 

kennymacc OP
473 posts
 

Thank you everyone for all your insightful responses to this post.  I knew from the outset that this post would be somewhat controversial.   However, in my room, played back through my audio system, to my ears, I can hear a noticeable difference in the sound characteristics between Tidal and Qobuz.  Both Tidal and Qobuz both sound fabulous.  And I can perfectly understand how a person could prefer one over the other, both equally, or go back and forth between the two.  Still, to my ears, it's as if the two streaming services seem to have their own signature sounds (similar but slightly different).  I can very easily tell the difference between the two in my room.  To my ears, and to my own personal preference, Qobuz seems to have a quieter, blacker, background than Tidal, allowing for a deeper and a more dimensional soundstage, and greater separation of the instruments within the soundstage.  That's why I hear a slightly more refined stream presentation coming from Qobuz over Tidal.   I've noticed this difference across the board on every album I play.  I'm just lovin it!!!.   Happy listening.                   

nrthomas2
43 posts
 

I've preferred Qobuz for years but have kept Tidal for diversity. Recently, while trying out a new dac/streamer I decided to check out other services: Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer. I am surprised to find that I'm preferring Deezer. This is after a week of listening.. I'll see how this shakes out over time.

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