Qobuz/Tidal Differences

A big advantage of Qobuz is access to hi-res material in FLAC. Tidal packages anything higher than 16/44.1 in MQA. I don't trust MQA nor Tidal's peddling of it, and that's a reason why I listen to Qobuz streams most of the time.

When comparing 16/44.1, it's hard to tell any differences between the two. It all comes down to the master. I have a subscription for both out of redundancy. There are occasions where one service will not have a track or album, but the other will.

JayZ owned a small percentage of Tidal, but sold it a year ago.

I’ve never gotten got a message asking "wouldn’t you enjoy listening to some JayZ?"

I’m not into Rap but I went with Tidal for their catalog and the Tidal Connect integration with my streamer. I didn’t really notice a concrete difference in SQ between Qobuz & Tidal. Both have different versions of some tracks so it's likely that some versions sound better than others.

jjss49, I've seen lots  of threads where people express their likes/dislikes for one services or the other and their reasons for it, but not any that come to mind where actual recordings are named so others who want to can also compare to see if they hear things the same way.

c&h, thanks for the track list.  I'll give them a listen to see if I can hear a difference.

Here's three: 

Lisa Batiashvili / Daniel Barenboim / Staatskapelle Berlin
Tchaikovsky, Sibelius: Violin Concertos

'The Box' by Roddy Ricch - Not what I usually listen to, but I thought I might include something possibly more favorable to Tidal's tonal qualities. Still sounded a lot worse on Tidal than on Qobuz

Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat

there have been past threads on this subject, op - pls search and you will easily find

short answer, both sound very very good, with a streaming set up well implemented... qobuz sounds slightly more ’solid’, less ’airy’ than tidal, which often has slightly more high frequency energy

how do you propose that the digital file is modified to provide that change in sound?  --Jerry

First, depends on what version of the master is being offered. The two services may not be using the same master or remaster as the source.

Second, by what method or tech are the albums being digitized. Qobuz clearly states everything on their site is a bit accurate transfer from the source. I don't know about Tidal.

Both playback without any harshness or glare, but I've found Qobuz to sound better in a head to head comparison of tracks. 

@audiodwebe  I'm a subjective guy. I lack the zeal to perform any rigid comparison analysis. The way the two present themselves on my modest system, I'd call Qobuz tubey and Tidal transistory. Both deliver. They're both excellent.. Name your poison. Use up their free trials. Luxuriate in two excellent alternatives.

I have both now and if the goal is listening enjoyment, IMO they both deliver.

I have simply not tried to compare them directly on the basis of either catalog or sound quality. Based on the past two months with Qobuz and the past two years with Tidal, I am like you:

IMO I think they both sound pretty similar.

Can you point me in the direction of artists/tracks you used to compare where these differences were heard?

Thanks, all.

edcyn,  how do you propose that the digital file is modified to provide that change in sound?  --Jerry

Qobuz is warmer-sounding. Tidal is cooler. Imaging, soundstaging & clarity are about the same. To me, though, the important thing is that they have different tastes. If you want to hear Classical (and I do), you got to go with Qobuz.

Technically I found them to be the same.  

Catalog, I found more variety on Qobuz.   You can find more Rap on Tidal.

I got tried of every time I fired up Tidal I got a message "wouldn't you enjoy listening to some JayZ?" (who owns Tidal)  when I have never played a single JayZ song in my life..

Jerry

I've had both services simultaneously and noticed two differences:

1. Catalog
2. Sonic differences

Overall I found more music I like listening to on Tidal.  I did notice Quboz had a plethora of versions of some songs (high def if you will, remasters, live, etc.).

I felt there was some harshness impacting high frequencies on some of the music I listened to on Quboz - could have been the specific recordings.

I have Tidal at a discount as part of my Plex subscription so I chose to go with Tidal.

Catalog drove my decision.