Tidal vs Qobuz, any opinions?

[essrand]

I just recently switched from Tidal to Qobuz, there does seem to be a difference in the sound.

Anyone tried the same, any opinions?

 

[Smadhu]

I just recently switched from Tidal to Qobuz, there does seem to be a difference in the sound.

Anyone tried the same, any opinions?

Hi-res on Qobuz was miles better but CD quality not major difference, it was marginal in favor of Qobuz.

I was unable to check MQA. However, considering the cost difference with Tidal Turkey, I am sticking with Tidal.

Here is a more detailed thread

Tidal vs Qobuz: my (subjective) observations

I was wondering if I should make a switch to Qobuz after being with Tidal for over 2 years. With some feedback from fellow FMs, I got to testing... **Please note my observations are subjective and the choice is dependant on the system and personal preference. If you are in similar shoes then...

www.hifivision.com

 

[IndianEars]

Personally, I feel Qobuz is WAAAAY ahead of Tidal in sound quality.

I do not like Tidal AT ALL.... to my ears its dynamic range is Significantly compressed, making it sound like elevator music....

While both - Qobuz & Tidal deliver Hi res (24 bit) music, I still find my Home Ripped CDs sound, SIGNIFICANTLY better than either Qobuz or Tidal.

Of course... YMMV !

 

[Smadhu]

Personally, I feel Qobuz is WAAAAY ahead of Tidal in sound quality.

I do not like Tidal AT ALL.... to my ears its dynamic range is Significantly compressed, making it sound like elevator music....

While both - Qobuz & Tidal deliver Hi res (24 bit) music, I still find my Home Ripped CDs sound, SIGNIFICANTLY better than either Qobuz or Tidal.

Of course... YMMV !

I concur with this, my experience is similar, the ripped files are superior to streaming service. Brownie point for the streaming service is Convenience!

 

[IndianEars]

Streaming services also let you sample an almost infinite variety of music....

You can then purchase only what you like

 

[jai1611]

My experience with Tidal vs Qobuz has varied with the transport used

Earlier I was using a modded bluesound node 2i as transport with their software, fed into an MQA enabled DAC (Sonnet Morpheus). With this combo, Qobuz was notably superior. Still not at par with ripped CDs played off a hard drive

Currently using Roon and a pi2aes as transport. With this combination, the Tidal Qobuz difference has narrowed although Qobuz still seems marginally better. It is no longer obvious though. Ripped CDs are still better though, albeit played off the roon core.

 

[rajeshv]

i have subscription of Tidal , qobuz , spotify ( " Trinity" of streaming !!).
qobuz sounded better with my denon streamer (played via mconnect app as denon does not have native qobuz)
qobuz has the advantage of being supported by music players well compared to tidal which requires mqa decoding hardware for large number of songs. This was one of the reason for qobuz subscription.
tidal connect / spotify connect feature- for playing with native app- however is not available in qobuz.
with my new lumin streamer which supports the "trinity" + mqa (got few weeks ago-need to run more for burn in) - looks like the gap has narrowed.
spotify being supported very well by currently available streamers , Forthcoming spotify CD quality streaming will be welcomed by all music lovers- with an upper edge over apple music Highres which requires airplay / wired usb-ipad combo etc.
it is surprising that lindemann music book, matrix audio streamers do not support spotify .
Lindemann limetree bridge seems to support spotify.

 

[essrand]

Here is a more detailed thread

Tidal vs Qobuz: my (subjective) observations

I was wondering if I should make a switch to Qobuz after being with Tidal for over 2 years. With some feedback from fellow FMs, I got to testing... **Please note my observations are subjective and the choice is dependant on the system and personal preference. If you are in similar shoes then...

www.hifivision.com

Thanks, I should known someone already started a thread like this.

So, initially I thought Tidal sounded much better with more body to the sound, but after careful listening I realised that it was more of gunk in the sound, more than anything else.
Qobuz sounds more extended in both frequency extremes and better clarity and resolution and also more laid back to me.

Admittedly I don't have MQA decoding, and also am listening via headphones (am travelling) via the native apps on my iPhone , once I listen on my main stereo system, it will be an interesting comparison.

 

[metalmickey]

My experience with Tidal vs Qobuz has varied with the transport used

Earlier I was using a modded bluesound node 2i as transport with their software, fed into an MQA enabled DAC (Sonnet Morpheus). With this combo, Qobuz was notably superior. Still not at par with ripped CDs played off a hard drive

Currently using Roon and a pi2aes as transport. With this combination, the Tidal Qobuz difference has narrowed although Qobuz still seems marginally better. It is no longer obvious though. Ripped CDs are still better though, albeit played off the roon core.

hi jai, can you elaborate on the modded bluesound node 2i? being a bs node 2i customer would love to mod if there's possibility all I've read about is the power supply upgrade...
Regarding tidal vs quobuz i find the tidal connect though lagging still convenient unlike the quobuz through Blueos which is a pain in the rear to access besides the category search and the catalogue is not vast compared to tidal atleast in the jazz and classical genre and i find quobuz to be lower on volume and brighter on sound signature compared to tidal!.

 

[jai1611]

hi jai, can you elaborate on the modded bluesound node 2i? being a bs node 2i customer would love to mod if there's possibility all I've read about is the power supply upgrade...
Regarding tidal vs quobuz i find the tidal connect though lagging still convenient unlike the quobuz through Blueos which is a pain in the rear to access besides the category search and the catalogue is not vast compared to tidal atleast in the jazz and classical genre and i find quobuz to be lower on volume and brighter on sound signature compared to tidal!.

I’ve done the power supply mod from the Poland site. Power it off an Allo Shanti. Not done any other internal mods. Only other thing I do is use some isolation given the flimsy case.

 

[square_wave]

For the technically minded, I had a question.
Aren't music labels sending the same files to Qobuz or Tidal for lossless streaming ? Do you guys know how this difference in quality happens ?

 

[metalmickey]

I’ve done the power supply mod from the Poland site. Power it off an Allo Shanti. Not done any other internal mods. Only other thing I do is use some isolation given the flimsy case.

does the power supply mod and lps mod do any good?

 

[jai1611]

does the power supply mod and lps mod do any good?

Yes. Significant improvement for use as a transport. Don’t know if it does anything for analog output

 

[pogballistics]

I would say both are good. I prefer having them both on my Roon Labs. Don't pay attention to the online wars. Just enjoy what your ear likes