[brianlg]

Amazon HD sounds inferior on Android as well (from my LG V30 for example). Why should Tidal reduce their pricing to match Qobuz? They have as good as sound, maybe better, and they have a much more extensive catalog. Their UI is superior and much easier so I would argue they have a better product. I have competitors all the time market their services at bottom of the barrel rates and guess what customers that attracts? They can have 'em. I am always willing to pay more for something of higher quality, better service/customer service, and a high level of reliability. I can't understand the thinking of price matching for the sake of price matching. If anything, Tidal has something the other two HD services don't and could justify a price increase. And, if downward pricing pressure commoditizes this type of service do you feel the quality will improve?

It's not just matching Qobuz, Tidal is the only lossless streaming option at $20/mo (that I know of). Deezer Hifi is $15, Qobuz is $15, Amazon HD is $15. I really hope they lower.

 

[grokit]

I'm going to have to give Qobuz an audition with their new pricing structure. I was going to wait until I was more Roon-ready, but I'm okay with this accelerating my plans. I will start the trial tomorrow as I like the 15th as a billing date. I like Amazon HD, but want to try the supposed best. I'll probably give Roon a trial tomorrow as well.

edit: It's actually good timing for this, as my Yggdrasil GS is supposed to be delivered tonight. I love new Schiit !
edit2: Oh well on Roon for my music server, it doesn't meet the minimum requirements

It's an old Mac Mini Core Duo, 1st-gen Intel but no Ivy Bridge. Works for Amazon and Tidal, better check Qobuz; good news all they seem to need is a 16-bit soundcard, not much else but we'll see. I don't want a new Mac Mini. I like this one, but there's always eBay for something in between like an old i5.​

 

[Soundizer]

It's not just matching Qobuz, Tidal is the only lossless streaming option at $20/mo (that I know of). Deezer Hifi is $15, Qobuz is $15, Amazon HD is $15. I really hope they lower.

Qobuz is £25 a month - extremely expensive. Not worth it.

 

[iridium7777]

it's funny i contacted the support yesterday from the app directly, again, notifying them of this issue and asking for it to be fixed. within minutes someone generic from india answered me and asked me to follow a plethora of steps and to send them data log and that he'll then reach out to someone on the technical side.

i'm not going to waste my time doing all of that, but i was going to waste my time and maybe simply replying stating "please forward to developers, they'll know what i'm talking about without any data logs". but i have no horse in this race and am pretty content with my streaming choices right now sans amazon.

There was no resampling in place before amazon changed to a 9.xxx version of the iOS app in preparation for Music HD launch. They obviuosly see this upsampling as a feature, basically - dac is always reporting high resolution, that must be pleasing for a user.... They obviously have no idea of what they are actually doing. The unnecessary upsampling just heavily drains battery, without having any positive effects at all...

 

[Left Channel]

Qobuz is £25 a month - extremely expensive. Not worth it.

Apparently @brianlg is referring to the limited-time offer of Qobuz for $15/mo in the USA only. Despite one stray article on the What Hi-Fi website, that offer has not been extended to other countries.

For many in the core Qobuz demographic — most of whom hang out on forums that discuss equipment much more expensive than the average Head-Fi rig — the full price does not seem to be a deterrent. There's not a lot of them out there, but Qobuz is only targeting 1% of the market.

 

[a-LeXx]

it's funny i contacted the support yesterday from the app directly, again, notifying them of this issue and asking for it to be fixed. within minutes someone generic from india answered me and asked me to follow a plethora of steps and to send them data log and that he'll then reach out to someone on the technical side.

i'm not going to waste my time doing all of that, but i was going to waste my time and maybe simply replying stating "please forward to developers, they'll know what i'm talking about without any data logs". but i have no horse in this race and am pretty content with my streaming choices right now sans amazon.

you lucky b*stard When I was opening a request for this issue, I‘m always getting a call from an eastern-european aunty who has no clue, not even how to contact technical support. You are at least getting a call center in India, might be just few blocks away from where the real developers are...

 

[mjm2705]

Been lurking on thread for a while and dipping in and out of Amazon HD during the 3 month trial.

I have the Spotify family plan at the moment at Amazon HD is tempting as it clearly sounds better in certain environments and as a Prime member, isn't too much more expensive.

Coup!e of qualifications for me though:

1. Most of my listening is via (AptX enabled) BT headphone (various) so the quality jump is marginal (if technically present)

2. The inability to separate HD & Ultra HD in download settings (Android) ... I'm happy to stream UHD at home on wired headphones but don't want to fill my phone / DAP storage with huge UHD files ... I want to download HD but stream UHD, sometimes ... Currently this isn't possible

Not sure I'll be keeping Amazon.

 

[a-LeXx]

Been lurking on thread for a while and dipping in and out of Amazon HD during the 3 month trial.

I have the Spotify family plan at the moment at Amazon HD is tempting as it clearly sounds better in certain environments and as a Prime member, isn't too much more expensive.

Coup!e of qualifications for me though:

1. Most of my listening is via (AptX enabled) BT headphone (various) so the quality jump is marginal (if technically present)

2. The inability to separate HD & Ultra HD in download settings (Android) ... I'm happy to stream UHD at home on wired headphones but don't want to fill my phone / DAP storage with huge UHD files ... I want to download HD but stream UHD, sometimes ... Currently this isn't possible

Not sure I'll be keeping Amazon.

If you are doing most of the listening on aptX headphones, you should not be getting any better SQ on Amazon vs. Spotify. Spotify uses the same data rate as aptX (320kbps), but with a much better adaptive codec. AptX is actually a very old and inefficient codec, so, theoretically, whether the input is compressed or not shouldn‘t actually matter.

I agree that Amazon has a lot to be desired in terms of flexibility, right now it‘s almost unusable at certain scenarios. For your use case, I would stick with Spotify...

 

[3Putter]

It's not just matching Qobuz, Tidal is the only lossless streaming option at $20/mo (that I know of). Deezer Hifi is $15, Qobuz is $15, Amazon HD is $15. I really hope they lower.

Deezer the same as Tidal? C'mon, dude. Qobuz has a fraction of the catalog. Amazon has lesser SQ. Again, tell me why, if I'm Tidal and have a superior service should I lower my price to match the lesser competition? You want the cheapest and that is your right. But what you're saying is 'My Chevy Captiva does everything a Land Rover does, basically, so Land Rover should match GM's price.

 

[Steve Wilcox]

I don't think it's fair to say that Qobuz's catalogue is a fraction of Tidal's. I think they're comparable overall with Qobuz being better for jazz and classical and Tidal being better in other areas. Qobuz has a lot more Hi Res content. I'm paying 25 pounds pm for Qobuz in the UK rather than 20 for Tidal because it's worth it for me. I'm trialling Amazon HD and, if Amazon improve their service in a couple of ways (being able to 'favorite' artists and direct mode from PC) I will find the choice difficult at the end of the free Amazon trial.

 

[3Putter]

I don't think it's fair to say that Qobuz's catalogue is a fraction of Tidal's. I think they're comparable overall with Qobuz being better for jazz and classical and Tidal being better in other areas. Qobuz has a lot more Hi Res content. I'm paying 25 pounds pm for Qobuz in the UK rather than 20 for Tidal because it's worth it for me. I'm trialling Amazon HD and, if Amazon improve their service in a couple of ways (being able to 'favorite' artists and direct mode from PC) I will find the choice difficult at the end of the free Amazon trial.

No, you're right, track numbers are comparable. I didn't see much High Res in the music I care for in their catalog. Some, sure, but not much. I found alot of Canadian Rock bands I listen to limited in Qobuz. I can listen to any one of ten albums in Tidal but only one or two in Qobuz. But having had two rounds with Qobuz and Tidal, two rounds with Amazon HD and I can say that Tidal, has something better than the rest. The UI is easier, intuitive, and smooth in comparison to Qobuz and Amazon HD. It's faster, too. You couple that with a better selection of artists that I listen to and I can't see why they should lower their price point. If you like the Qobuz library better that is awesome but I would bet that there are more people who like what I like than who care to listen to Jazz and Classical. May mean I'm 'base' but as much as I appreciate those styles of music I just don't get out of it what you might.

 

[Steve Wilcox]

Yeah, this really illustrates why competition and choice are so important (and I'm a socialist). We all have different tastes and preferences. I listen to some jazz and classical but there's actually more than enough in these genres on all the quality streaming services for me. I listen mostly to mainstream rock and similar. What I didn't like about Tidal was its highlighting of rap, hip hop and the like. I've got pretty wide musical tastes but just felt Tidal was catering for 'somone else'.

 

[GlennDS]

...What I didn't like about Tidal was its highlighting of rap, hip hop and the like. I've got pretty wide musical tastes but just felt Tidal was catering for 'somone else'.

+1
Exactly why I stopped using them a year ago. Although when I tried again a few weeks ago, it wasn't as bad.

 

[3Putter]

+1
Exactly why I stopped using them a year ago. Although when I tried again a few weeks ago, it wasn't as bad.

I swear I wrote that about rap/hip hop. I'm not a fan of Jay Z or any closely resembled genre to his music. I respect him to a point. I respect any artist to a point but not a fan of a lot of music Tidal promotes. I feel Tidal still promotes Hip Hop and some of the rap artists more than others but all it takes is a little legwork to find/discover what you do like and the application does well. I wanted to love Qobuz but geez Louise, can't find diddly for what I listen to - rock, southern rock, Alt country, etc etc. I've found a great deal of music I had never heard of before from Tidal. When I go to Amazon HD they have it but it doesn't sound as nice. I check Qobuz and they 'might' have a one or two albums of a particular artist but I found they really are thin at Rock, Country, Alt Country, Alt Rock. And, after using all three services I really, really feel the Tidal UI is much simpler, intuitive, and smooth. Wish I did love RAP and HIP HOP, have you heard how good it sounds on Tidal? I listen to a few tracks here and there just to hear the music. But can't take too much of it, unfortunately. My kids would love it but they think Bose headphones are quality and I'm a huge geek who doesn't know good sound.

 

[Marlowe]

Yeah, this really illustrates why competition and choice are so important (and I'm a socialist). We all have different tastes and preferences. I listen to some jazz and classical but there's actually more than enough in these genres on all the quality streaming services for me. I listen mostly to mainstream rock and similar. What I didn't like about Tidal was its highlighting of rap, hip hop and the like. I've got pretty wide musical tastes but just felt Tidal was catering for 'somone else'.

Frankly, I don't understand this. I don't like rap or hip-hop either (or dance music or almost all contemporary pop), but I never pay any attention to Tidal's home page or suggestions. I listen to a wide range of things, but primarily rock and folk from the '60s through the '90s and Tidal's catalog is pretty good on this. While there are a couple of holes that bug me (Jerry Garcia's '70s solo albums are still missing and there is almost no Four Seasons (though IIRC there was previously), I find what I want more than 95% of the time.

I took a free trial of Qobuz when it debuted in the US earlier this year, but find huge, dealbreaking holes in their catalog without even looking hard and canceled it. Since I don'y believe there has been any improvement in their catalog for me, I'm not tempted by their price cut. I probably will keep Tidal over cheaper Amazon also even though I find the SQ pretty close. While Amazon does have the albums I mentioned above that are missing on Tidal, it has its own strange omissions (e.g., Ringo, Ringo Starr's best and most popular album, is inexplicably missing from Amazon but is on Tidal) so catalog is pretty much a wash. But while I'd rate the Tidal desktop and mobile apps as only so-so, they are gems compared to Amazon's app, which is just abominable.