I had both for a while as I was trying to decide between the two and optimize availability for Roon integration. I ended up going with Tidal just on their price changes, the fact that more albums tended to show up on Roon. I did like the value-add of Qobuz and the curation is definitely better. Overall, very happy as a consumer about price competition. (and I do use Apple via a One subscription for the family stuff too so the recommendations don’t get screwed up!)
How much better is Qobuz for SQ compared to Tidal?? well in numbers, from personal opinion, i would say its something like 100% qobuz and 98% tidal
i dont know what its but with the testing i did a while ago qobuz sounded like it had better bass and tidal sounded brighter, maybe this has changed with tidals switch to get rid of MQA again
If you dont care for high res, i can also recommend Deezer, its sounds more like qobuz than tidal and i personally dont hear much differences between cd quality and high res as long the mastering wasnt different
I have been using both for a couple of years, with their native Mac OS apps.
To my ears the Qobuz sound signature is a bit more dynamic. I enjoy Tidal very much, too.
In my opinion, there has been little difference in sound quality between tidal and qobuz, besides qobuz being slightly louder at the same volume level. Tidal has the far superior UI/Library but the lower cost of Qobuz makes tidal not worth it for me sadly
Of course now Tidal have substantially lowered their subscription cost. I prefer Tidal's interface but have used both services through Roon over the last few years so not really an issue.
Which brings me to Roon. Not cheap by any means but a fantastic addition for music lovers.
Of course now Tidal have substantially lowered their subscription cost. I prefer Tidal's interface but have used both services through Roon over the last few years so not really an issue.
Which brings me to Roon. Not cheap by any means but a fantastic addition for music lovers.
Oh Yes, I just unshakled myself from Sonos. Roon Rocks and I didn't have to trash my Sonos Hardware just the software. I've gone all-in, built a ROCK and a Lifetime SubscriptionSound is better and I can now add other components all over the home from other manufacturers. I just added a WiiM ultra to my B&O system and control it all with Roon. Here's what I found if interested https://www.head-fi.org/threads/wiim-streamers-mini-and-pro.963949/post-18452418
Now I'm sorting through the Tidal / Qobuz decision....
You can add me as another data point that has found Qobuz to sound slightly better (emphasis on slightly, but enough to say so). I was a long-time user of Tidal. When I tried Qobuz, I was very reluctant because the app was clunky. They've made some improvements over time but still clunky to me.
While I was subscribed to both, I a/b'd a bunch of stuff and found Qobuz sounded superior (slightly crisper/cleaner). Sound quality trumps all for me, so despite the downgrade in usability (Qobuz's radio function is abysmal), I had to do it.
I never got into the MQA stuff, wasn't convinced. And I always outputted Tidal in bit-perfect and turned off volume normalizing. Speaking of which, that's something I really appreciate about Qobuz, none of these sound "features". I just want straight-up, no frills FLAC output.
I have been listening to both Tidal and Qobuz for about a month now, and Qobuz sounds better to my ears as well. I do like Tidal's interface much better and I find it more user friendly. I do like Tidal's wider catalog more appealing too. With that said, I think once my trial period for Qobuz ends, I will continue using it.
(Aside from certain more serious ethical concerns of course, there ARE some companies I will never endorse regardless of how good their products may be)
How much better is Qobuz for SQ compared to Tidal?? well in numbers, from personal opinion, i would say its something like 100% qobuz and 98% tidal
i dont know what its but with the testing i did a while ago qobuz sounded like it had better bass and tidal sounded brighter, maybe this has changed with tidals switch to get rid of MQA again
If you dont care for high res, i can also recommend Deezer, its sounds more like qobuz than tidal and i personally dont hear much differences between cd quality and high res as long the mastering wasnt different
currently using Tidal.... i didnt compare qobuz and tidal again, but it feels like sound quality was improved with the switch back to flac from tidal, switching from deezer to tidal was more of a improvement than a downgrade
imo the real comparison should be CD rips vs streaming service, unfortunaly this is harder done than said since streaming services get "optimized masters"
personally i feel like tidal is close enough to cd rips (while offering videos, better catalogue, better algorithm, better interface, better playlists (depending on your taste) than qobuz) so i kind of stopped worry about it ..... imo i use a streaming service for easy access to a as big as possible cataloque, if i really wanna best sound quality i will get the CD
I think Apple Music has a lot of merits. With metal it's a very close race between Apple Music and Tidal.
When I have subscribed to Qobuz a few times I thought it was great, but I felt the interface was terrible.
I think the differences are becoming subtle. With an Apple One subscription, I get both Apple Music and Apple TV plus for I believe like 20 bucks. Likewise, Amazon Music -- which also sounds excellent with much music and has some really nice AI recommendations -- I believe is bundled with ad-free podcasts.
My point is that with these economies of scale, I'm hard pressed to get Tidal or Qobuz as well. Tidal I believe is $18.
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