[Andrew_WOT]

Please cast a vote for lossless streaming service of your choice.

 

[Chefguru]

Used Amazon for the last year, recently switched to Qobuz and cannot believe how much better it sounds.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Interesting, people mostly post about Amazon HD, Tidal, and Apple, but rarely mentioned Qobuz seems the most popular.

 

[ColSaulTigh]

I just signed up for a Tidal $2/3 mo Master Audio trial. So far, it seems pretty good, but then I have nothing to compare it to. We'll see how I like it after the trial expires.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Used Amazon for the last year, recently switched to Qobuz and cannot believe how much better it sounds.

Same experience here, almost stunning SQ difference, and look, bit-perfect.

 

[Chefguru]

Same experience here, almost stunning SQ difference, and look, bit-perfect.

Yup. Qobuz is the real deal and I also really enjoy the interface.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Yup. Qobuz is the real deal and I also really enjoy the interface.

They've improved a lot since I've tried them last year. Not a single drop out yet, new features, Autoplay that works like a station on Amazon, My Weekly Q curated playlist based on listening habits, but primarily the sound quality, clear as a bell. SW seems rock stable too.

Hasta la vista, Amazon HD. (middle finger emoji)

 

[a-LeXx]

Switched to Apple Music last month after 3 years with Amazon Music, prior to that few years with Spotify, also tried Qobuz and Tidal. Amazon just can't figure this out, even after 2 years since Music HD introduction the iOS app is buggy, require re-downloads of albums from time to time in order to be played without problems. Battery drain on iOS devices is also pretty heavy compared to competition.

Reasons to choose Apple Music: SQ (real hi-res, bit-perfect, almost everything at least in 44.1/16), catalogue, perfect integration with iOS devices of which we have plenty, seamless integration with Alexa, of which we also have plenty and that are mainly used by kids and/or for background music, also good integration with Bose Soundtouch.

Best compatibility across different platforms is still with Spotify, but until they go true lossless/hi-res, will continue using Apple Music.

Qobuz and Tidal both had lots of albums missing that I can have with Spotify/Amazon/Apple, also compatibility with different platforms is by far worst.

 

[JollyJ]

Just found this thread, and wanted to share my recent comparisons of the myriad of high res players out there!

My wife recently signed us up for Apple Music, and I took the opportunity to evaluate Apple, Tidal HiFi, Qobuz, and Amazon HD against each other. I listened to each exclusively for a few days to get familiar with the library, UI, and overall feel of the service. (Soundiiz was invaluable for bringing test playlists between services.) Then I did a ridiculous amount of comparative listening to figure out which one I thought sounded best.

Apple ended up getting disqualified pretty quickly because I don't daily drive a Mac. I spend all day working on a PC, and Apple music is poorly supported outside their ecosystem. iTunes? No, thank you. Amazon sounds pretty good, but they just don't seem to be focused on delivering an overall excellent product for sound quality. The technical underpinnings of the players and interface just let the service down and it was the next to fall off the list. Tidal's sound quality seems solid to my ears and I enjoyed the interface on various devices from Apple to Android to Windows to Mac. Tidal also had my favorite music discovery features, even if they are a bit mainstream pop focused.

However, nothing ever sounded as good as Qobuz in my comparative listening; every time I compared, Qobuz came out on top for sound quality. I also like the Qobuz interface, and like Tidal, it functioned well on all of my devices and gadgets. Qobuz won by a landslide by being easily useable everywhere and by sounding significantly better in every test. For my music tastes, Qobuz has everything I need, and in the rare case it doesn't have something I really want, I leveraged Roon and local files to fill in the gaps.

Thanks to Qobuz and Tidal being the last two standing, I also took the opportunity to evaluate Roon since it supports both services. I have fallen in love with Roon, and Roon + Qobuz will be my listening setup for the foreseeable future.

 

[chesebert]

Tidal and MQA are a joke. Qobuz is the benchmark in sound quality (still a bit short of physical rip but close enough)

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Tidal and MQA are a joke. Qobuz is the benchmark in sound quality (still a bit short of physical rip but close enough)

Why short, based on my tests it's the same if not better than my CD rips, might be because of different releases, seems like they have a lot or rereleases of old albums. And you have full access to WASAPI exclusive and ASIO drivers, somehow I have much cleaner sound than from JRiver.

 

[JollyJ]

Why short, based on my tests it's the same if not better than my CD rips, might be because of different releases, seems like they have a lot or rereleases of old albums. And you have full access to WASAPI exclusive and ASIO drivers, somehow I have much cleaner sound than from JRiver.

This. WASAPI exclusive mode makes such a huge difference.

 

[chesebert]

Why short, based on my tests it's the same if not better than my CD rips, might be because of different releases, seems like they have a lot or rereleases of old albums. And you have full access to WASAPI exclusive and ASIO drivers, somehow I have much cleaner sound than from JRiver.

To my ears local server based flac sounded better through Klimax DS compared to Qobuz streaming.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

What the hell is Klimax DS, menopause?

 

[chesebert]

What the hell is Klimax DS, menopause?

Just some random British made DAC.