Qobuz Lossless Streaming Service Thread

[Left Channel]

One thing, however, is confusing me. If I pick an artist I want to follow or download it will display their albums and some will be missing. Then I check with a track I know on a certain unlisted album and it will find it, go to album, and voila - there it is! I like that I can find more music that I like but why do I have to have 3 ways to skin this cat?

I've reported a similar problem on another forum, and @dmackta responded that these issues are being cleaned up with a new 3rd party data integration. They hope to have that done by the end of the year, but having worked in software a long time I know that such targets, like "man months", are mythical.

 

[Blueshound24]

For me the lack of some of my fav artists by Qobuz is inexcusable. I have just started looking for many of my favorites and right away a couple came to mind, they don't have many of Ronnie Earl's newer albums, or Ana Popovic's. And I have just begun. How many am I going to find down the road? I messaged CS and was given the link to make suggestions and did that a few weeks ago but they haven't added any of my suggestions yet. It seems they are sorely lacking in Blues artists and some Jazz as well, and that is a deal breaker for me. THis is unfortunate because I did like the interface over Amazon HD, but if a service doesn't have my selections I will not stay with them.

 

[Left Channel]

For me the lack of some of my fav artists by Qobuz is inexcusable. I have just started looking for many of my favorites and right away a couple came to mind, they don't have many of Ronnie Earl's newer albums, or Ana Popovic's. And I have just begun. How many am I going to find down the road? I messaged CS and was given the link to make suggestions and did that a few weeks ago but they haven't added any of my suggestions yet. It seems they are sorely lacking in Blues artists and some Jazz as well, and that is a deal breaker for me. THis is unfortunate because I did like the interface over Amazon HD, but if a service doesn't have my selections I will not stay with them.

They say they've been adding between 3,000 and 10,000 albums a day. These things come in waves, because deals must be done with labels, then even after the deal is done delivery has to be made and integrated. I'm hanging in there, but then again I still have subs to both Qobuz and Tidal. However, Qobuz USA has reached a level at which I could drop my Qobuz UK account a few months ago.

 

[Ableza]

For me the lack of some of my fav artists by Qobuz is inexcusable. I have just started looking for many of my favorites and right away a couple came to mind, they don't have many of Ronnie Earl's newer albums, or Ana Popovic's. And I have just begun. How many am I going to find down the road? I messaged CS and was given the link to make suggestions and did that a few weeks ago but they haven't added any of my suggestions yet. It seems they are sorely lacking in Blues artists and some Jazz as well, and that is a deal breaker for me. THis is unfortunate because I did like the interface over Amazon HD, but if a service doesn't have my selections I will not stay with them.

I've never heard of those artists... I don't use any streaming service as my primary music source so I can't comment if that's what you are doing, but I like Qobuz augmenting my local library with similar music chosen by Roon Radio. So rather then look for something obscure in Qobuz, I'll start with something obscure from my library and be entertained by what else it comes up with. So far I love the combination.

 

[Blueshound24]

They say they've been adding between 3,000 and 10,000 albums a day. These things come in waves, because deals must be done with labels, then even after the deal is done delivery has to be made and integrated. I'm hanging in there, but then again I still have subs to both Qobuz and Tidal. However, Qobuz USA has reached a level at which I could drop my Qobuz UK account a few months ago.

It appears Qobuz been in existence since 2007, you would think they would have a better selection by now. Maybe it's because they are based in France and may not have a good selection of American artists?

 

[Blueshound24]

I've never heard of those artists... I don't use any streaming service as my primary music source so I can't comment if that's what you are doing, but I like Qobuz augmenting my local library with similar music chosen by Roon Radio. So rather then look for something obscure in Qobuz, I'll start with something obscure from my library and be entertained by what else it comes up with. So far I love the combination.

I guess my tastes in music may be obscure to some. However, Ronnie Earl is one of the most underrated Jazz/Blues guitarists in the world, but definitely worth a listen.

 

[Ableza]

Cool. My wife would like him.

 

[Left Channel]

It appears Qobuz been in existence since 2007, you would think they would have a better selection by now. Maybe it's because they are based in France and may not have a good selection of American artists?

It's because they must do separate deals with the labels for each market. So for Qobuz USA, which launched this year, they basically had to start all over again.

 

[penguinofsleep2]

Curious how many hear a noticeable difference in sound quality between Qobuz, Tidal, Spotify, Amazon, et. al. For those who have tried them all, which one did you think "was the best" in terms of SQ.

So far I like Qobuz better than Tidal as 1) Tidal seemed to have artifacts in some tracks (probably to prevent pirating, etc.) and sound stage sometimes didn't seem as good and 2) Qobuz is cheaper. On the flip side, is it just me or do the mids to lower highs seem to come in a little hot on Qobuz (nothing else changed, just switch from Tidal to Qobuz)?

 

[S Crowther]

For me the lack of some of my fav artists by Qobuz is inexcusable. I have just started looking for many of my favorites and right away a couple came to mind, they don't have many of Ronnie Earl's newer albums, or Ana Popovic's. And I have just begun. How many am I going to find down the road? I messaged CS and was given the link to make suggestions and did that a few weeks ago but they haven't added any of my suggestions yet. It seems they are sorely lacking in Blues artists and some Jazz as well, and that is a deal breaker for me. THis is unfortunate because I did like the interface over Amazon HD, but if a service doesn't have my selections I will not stay with them.[/QUOTE Don't forget Qobuz is primarily targeted at classical and jazz fans.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I don't have Qobuz, not available here. I have Tidal hifi and Deezer hifi. I think it comes down to the particular album and I didn't see any way to know exactly which master it is. It is difficult to make comparisons. I think the quality of music will probably not depend on the streaming service so just pick whichever one(s) have the music you want.

I have hardware support for MQA and I really like the way the MQA albums sound. Somebody pointed out it may be that the MQA masters are not watermarked by UMG and maybe that is the reason some people feel they're better than non-MQA albums. Deezer has some albums or fills for things Tidal doesn't have. If Qobuz ever comes here and it is not more expensive than these two I'll probably subscribe also.

 

[211276]

Qobuz sounds slightly better than Tidal to my ears. I have raised my concerns about gaps in the catalogue, most notably the earMusic label. Some albums have recently appeared on this label but there are still gaps. I now also have Tidal for 120 days after taking up their offer.

 

[kh6idf]

I switched from Spotify (premium) to Qobuz (16/44.1) and Qobuz sound quality is a lot better. Not that Spotify is bad, it sounds fine until you hear Qobuz.

 

[Peter Hyatt]

I've reported a similar problem on another forum, and @dmackta responded that these issues are being cleaned up with a new 3rd party data integration. They hope to have that done by the end of the year, but having worked in software a long time I know that such targets, like "man months", are mythical.

You’ve been a guide & advocate for us.

thank you.

 

[iffy0620]

I've been using Qobuz for about 1 month now and recently started going back to Apple Music for convenience and functionality of the app. I haven't used Apple for awhile and hadn't heard the audio quality after they started implementing their "digital masters" catalogue into their streaming service. Having listened to it now, I'd suggest giving it a shot. Most of the albums I have in AM are indistinguishable from Qobuz hi-res selection. Those that are different, are just that, different; not better or worse (perhaps a mastering variability). There was a time when Tidal and Qobuz sounded distinctly cleaner and more dynamic than AM but I think those times have changed. With AM being cheaper on a student discount, having a bigger library, playlists/radio functionality, I'm considering dropping Qobuz since the quality difference is no longer a factor in the discussion, at least for me.