[3Putter]

I wouldn't agree with all of this but can understand the new direction (Hi Res and Hi Res + Dowloads). When I can find certain albums of an artist but go to Tidal, Deezer, Amazon and find the entire collection I am frustrated enough to look at another service. I can find enough on Qobuz but I know myself and like most folks, we want what we don't have or can't get...

 

[runssical]

@3Putter I listen to mainly classical which is Qobuz's bread and butter so I'm cool. Even if my interests leaned more towards popular genres I would still choose Qobuz because the sound quality is the best I've experienced. Tried Tidal multiple times and most recently, Deezer HiFi, but they sound noticably worse than Qobuz.

 

[3Putter]

Some albums sound better on Tidal, some on Qobuz. Qobuz is brighter overall, Tidal smoother, more laid back. I have decent mid-fi gear. I have thought at times QB sounded better but this last attempt I found Tidal sounded better than QB in cases and just fine in the rest. I look at it like this: if I can't listen to what I enjoy what difference does SQ make?

 

[runssical]

@3Putter To my ears Tidal sounds the opposite as you described.But anyways, I think its best to sidestep the official apps from these streaming companies and instead use UAPP or Roon for playback. I've read that the streaming companies tune the sound of their apps which can be hit or miss.

 

[botherly]

Here's a recent What HiFi article interview with Benoît Rébus, Qobuz's Head of Global Innovation and Partnerships...

https://www.whathifi.com/features/qobuz-ceo-talks-amazon-music-hd-3d-audio-new-features-and-more

Rébus says Qobuz is developing an in house AI algo for music recommendations while still continuing to use human curated selections.

Qobuz is eliminating the HiFi lossless tier worldwide and will settle on only Hi Res and Hi Res+Downloads plans.

Rébus acknowledged the holes in their catalog that some people here complain about but he says Qobuz doesn't want to cater to pop music. He also said that Qobuz is unlikely to embrace Sony 3D music if it remains centered around pop stars like Drake.

Rébus seemed to imply that $15 is now the standard price for Qobuz's Studio plan. So the promotion that was set to end in January is now the new going price.

This seems really smart to me. They can't compete with Tidal or Spotify so instead they can try and go for a niche audience. Hopefully that audience is large enough to sustain their business. And hopefully they improve their godawful app. But after comparing all the services recently, I'm back to Qobuz. Just sounds the best to my ears and has a competitive jazz catalogue in hi res.

 

[wong117]

For rock music quantity, how is it comparing to tidal?

 

[KowalskiFUT]

Subscribed to Qobuz, and for this short period I like it more than Tidal. Mainly because its orientation to (much) more serious (better) music. In that regard Tidal was completely useless and annoying with meaningless favorizing rap and modern trash pop. I also like more transparent information about song/album resolution, rather than just Master/HIFI category on Tidal. I will explore it for another week or two during trial period, and if everything works as it is, will buy yearly access.

 

[Steve Wilcox]

Just had notice from Qobuz that my Studio Premier subscription (in UK) is reducing to 14.99 pounds. Great news!

 

[runssical]

This seems really smart to me. They can't compete with Tidal or Spotify so instead they can try and go for a niche audience. Hopefully that audience is large enough to sustain their business. And hopefully they improve their godawful app. But after comparing all the services recently, I'm back to Qobuz. Just sounds the best to my ears and has a competitive jazz catalogue in hi res.

The sound quality is the same between these two services if you play the streams through UAPP and only use 16bit. Tidal is still worth the $1 per month it costs for the simple reason that it has albums that Qobuz lacks, even in the classicalmusic genre. The Tidal $5 for 5 Months promo is still available. UAPP is worth the $8 one time fee.

 

[runssical]

Just had notice from Qobuz that my Studio Premier subscription (in UK) is reducing to 14.99 pounds. Great news!

That is good news but Qobuz USA is still a better a deal with current foreign exchange rates... £11.57

 

[runssical]

For rock music quantity, how is it comparing to tidal?

Tidal is better for rock music.

 

[Left Channel]

I understand UK subscriptions to Studio Premier have been reduced to £14.99 per month, matching the USA price in spirit if not in exact exchange. Also as in the USA, Qobuz now offers only Studio Premier and Sublime+ there. Has anyone in other another country received a similar announcement?

 

[KowalskiFUT]

UK also has only Studio (Premier) and Sublime+.

 

[runssical]

Wow, so dead on here the past couple weeks. Did some of you get in on that '$5 for 5 months' deal Tidal had last month? I did! As a consequence I paused my Qobuz plan. Tidal has albums from Exton (Octavio Japan) that I couldn't find on Qobuz. The app support for Tidal in UAPP is much better and tracks load and play faster compared to Qobuz streams.

 

[KowalskiFUT]

Bought yearly Studio Premier. iOS app has some problems, and whole platform needs a bit of polishing, but I really like sound quality and orientation to serious music. Despite some of the flaws, I realized I want to support the idea and effort from folks at Qobuz to develop the whole thing. I have Tidal HiFi till the september (got 5 months plus buying couple of coupons) but will probably stay only on Qobuz after current Tidal deal runs out.