the service in the USA has been out a few months now. initial posters on this site commented on good sound quality in hi rez but a limited catalogue. I listen mostly to Jazz and Classical. Would anyone who has been a user from the get go please comment on your experience? I've been a Tidal guy for years and am fairly satisfied. Thanks to anyone taking the time to comment
I have been using Quobuz for 5 months and have dropped Tidal and Spotify. The most complete catalog seems to be Spotify. Though, Quobuz is pretty close- In fact, better than Tidal in the Classical genre. As for Jazz, I listen to mostly early Jazz and have no problems finding what I want. Bob
I was a Qobuz Beta Tester and have been using Qobuz for many months and doing most of my listing using their hi-res albums (24-bit/96 and 24-bit/192). The setup was very easy. I logged into Qobuzon my MAC Computer and created a Qobuz account. I signed out and entered the login info on my Aurender N10 Music Server and I was connected to Qobuz. The Aurender Conductor App interface is very easy to use, and I was ready to start QobuzStreaming in less than 1 minute. Connecting to Qobuz was very easy on my Aurender. I assume connecting using other music servers is the same, but I really do not know. I have not used the Qobuz computer interface other than for my initial signup.
The album section on Qobuz is very good. I am able to find most of the albums I am interested in including jazz, blues and classical. In most cases, I can always find another similar album that I like. In any case, I can always find something to listen to that I like. Qobuz non-hi-res albums are also very good since not every album is available on hi-res.
I have favorites on Tidal that, in some cases, are not on Qobuz. The question is should I keep Tidal? At this time, I probably will and see how it goes I prefer to maintain my favorite albums on Tidal. Of course, I also have favorites on Qobuz and they are a growing list.
Qobuz hi-res albums sound terrific. Their hi-res sound quality is excellent and is much better than the non-hi-res albums. Qobuz hi-res streaming is the REASON why you should subscribe to Qobuz. IMHO, the hi-res sound quality is easily worth the price. In other words, Qobuz is a recommended music streaming service.
I have had no problems streaming Qobuz. I did have some questions and Qobuz Technical Support answered them within 24 hours. Based on what I am seeing, Qobuz is adding new albums to their catalog daily. If needed, you can always request Qobuz add an album, or artist, you are interested in.
Qobuz has a more complete classical library than Tidal but Tidal has more of everything else including Jazz and Rock. The hi rez quality of both is excellent but I would give Qobuz a slight edge. I had both but dropped Qobuz. I’ll come back when they’re catalog is more complete. It’s hard to listen to Spotify after these two. Good luck.
I've been a long-time subscriber to Tidal and to Qobuz for a couple of months, and have decided to keep both. Roon core runs on a Mac Mini and sends files to an Ayre QX-5 Twenty digital hub via ethernet; Roon bridge runs on a iMac and sends file via USB to an Ayre DX-5 DSD. I stream but rarely spin these days.
I’m very pleased with Qobuz. I did the free trial with Tidal, Deezer, and Qobuz. Couldn’t find much in the classical genre on Tidal, so I went with Qobuz. Excellent classical catalogue which includes not only recent recordings, but many of the great conductors and performances of yesteryear.
I have Spotify, Tidal, and Qobuz. I listen to Qobuz most often. The selection is very good and the sound quality is excellent. The PC app is not as good as the other two, it's a little buggy and sometimes hangs or songs don't start right away. Not as big of a library as Spotify and Tidal, at least for my main interest, which is classic rock. One thing that both Spotify and Tidal have that I wish Qobuz has is playlists based on my listening habits.
Qobuz has the best SQ among all the streaming services. As far as catalog goes, it really depends on each user preferences. I am currently subscribed to both Tidal and Qobuz.
I am currently a subscriber to Qoboz. I listen to classic rock but I also wanted to expand my listening. So far I find Qoboz so-so in High Rez sound quality. And searching with my Bryston BDP-2 is tedious.
Using Qobuz, the Lang Lane album “The Mozart” Album (in favorites) has no content. I added this album to my Qobuz favorites several weeks ago and all content was displayed perfectly until today.
What happen to its content? I deleted the Lang Lang album and re-added it. The missing content was returned. I emailed Qobuz and asked why is this happening?
I am using my Aurender N10 server and the Aurender Conductor App to access Qobuz.
i have Qobuz and Tidal. Like SQ of Qobuz. Tidal MQA SQ is next. However, On the road, my my cell phone cant keep up speed with Qobuz, sound freq drop out. Tidal MQA is still good. Also I have a student discount with cut Tidal to $10/MONTH . So I am now with Tidal. SQ wise, if i give SACD 10/10, Qobuz will be 8/10, Tidal MQA 7/10, Tidal HIFI/CD 5/10.
It's a mistake to 'label' and pronounce general / overall SQ differences between Tidal and Qobuz, etc.
The differences heard, though fully valid for the individual / their system, are dependant on factors other than the services being evaluated and are fraught with problems when proclaimed as prescriptive / definitive.
David T I'd agree with your comments. I'm getting a Lumin device and will be able to try Qobuz and hear Tidal MQA for the first time. I figured both services would have competitive sound quality, so the catalogues of each would be the determining factor for me.
As pr my post above, Qobuz Customer Support reports “Please try to delete this from your favorites and put it back again: 0886444614023, Maybe it changed the catalog number”.
I already HAD deleted the album and re-added and, yes, the content returned. I am going to forget about it.
I also agree with david_ten's post above. As I said above, Qobuz hi-res albums sound terrific. Their hi-res sound quality is excellent and is much better than the non-hi-res albums. Qobuz hi-res streaming is the REASON WHY you should subscribe to Qobuz. IMHO, the hi-res sound quality is easily worth the price. In other words, Qobuz is a recommended music streaming service. I also find myself listening more to Qobuz Hi-Res Albums than Tidal. I subscribe to both and probably will continue both subscriptions for a while. We will see.
This post is for Aurender users only using the Aurender Conductor App:
For the Qobuz tab, If you enter the words #hires in the search box, all the Res Albums will be displayed. This is exactly what I was looking for. This is great news.
I do not know if the above will work for other music severs but you probably should test it to see what happens.
When comparing streaming services it should be noted that different issues of an album may be in each service's catalogue. For example, Tidal may be offering a newly remastered album compared to a different remaster on Qobuz. Original issues are also offered in addition to the various remasters released. This applies to the CD quality releases, not so much hires.
Within all genres Qobuz offers an original issue plus a remastered version. The difference in sound quality between the two is quite noticeable.
I currently have Tidal and also had a Qobuz 30 day free trial at the same time. What I found was that SQ was VERY recording dependent. Sometimes a recording sounded better on Qobuz and another recording sounded better on Tidal. I found this to be true both with Hi-res (MQA vs. 24/96 FLAC) and standard redbook streaming. To me, the only reason not to get Qobuz is if your streamer/DAC allows for a full unfold of MQA. If, however, you can do full MQA, then the decision comes down to content.
I've had Qobuz for a few months now, and also subscribe to Deezer. I dropped my Tidal subscription a few weeks after getting Qobuz - Qobuz has a better selection of classical recordings, and sound quality is generally as good or better than Tidal. I used Tidal with a Bluesound Node 2, either through the analog outputs (MQA fully unfolded) or into a Benchmark DAC3L (MQA partially unfolded). To me, Qobuz hi-res offerings sound as good or better than MQA (with my gear, of course). Deezer also has good sound quality, and a better selection of older and obscure rock and jazz music than either Tidal or Qobuz.
Switched to Qobuz as a beta but the limited rock catalogue made me drop it and stick with Tidal.
Then when officially released in USA tried again on the hirez level.
Found the rock catalogue has expanded a lot although still not a match for tidal. But imho the hirez SQ beats tidal MQA and you do not need a MQA compatible DAC to enjoy 24/192 with Qobuz.
So made the switch to Qobuz few months back and not looked back.
They do seem to be adding more rock titles every week so I am content at this stage.
I have both Tidal and Qobuz. Lately Qobuz has been adding more new releases under the 'Classical' genre than Tidal but Tidal still returns more selections for a given search than Qobuz.
The only quirk with Qobuz is that you cannot sort favorite albums by title (can it be done?).
I had TIDAL for about 6 months and signed up for Qobuz went it went live in the U.S. I listen mostly to classical and jazz. I think Qobuz sounds better, but my Naim NDX2 doesn’t support MQA (and probably never will) so with TIDAL Studio I only get the first unfold using Roon DSP. I have no desire to step in that festering pile of MQA anyway. Qobuz -> Roon -> NDX2 sounds great, even with 16/44.1 tracks.
Anyway, happy with Qobuz so far and feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.
I’m currently running Roon on a 2012 Mac Mini i7 with 1TB Samsung EVO SSD, but am looking at building out a NUC8i7 for Roon ROCK.
We took a long car trip last weekend. The Qobuz app on my Android Phone did not work well. My wife likes Neal Diamond and we were attempting to play a greatest Hits collection but no matter what track I selected it would only play the same one—“Solitary Man” became “Solitary Song”. I finally made my first Amazon mp3 purchase in years to buy the album since I still have Amazon mp3 app. Back at home I access Qobuz via a tab on Bluesound. I was searching for alternative recordings of Chopin Etudes than my long term favorite (Mauricio Pollini). Unsatisfied with a few others I went I chose Murray Perahia, whose recording I also have on FLAC in my NAS. I then played the same Perahia tracks that I had been listening to on Qobuz directly from my NAS with Bluesound and no question about it, Qobuz sounded veiled by comparison.
Excellent sound quality that is available from Qobuz and Tidal REQUIRES all components to be working 100%. This includes the streamer, hard drives, modem, router, switch box, Internet signal strength, all other Internet components, DAC, external ISP amplifiers, cables and everything else. Unfortunately, if some of these components are not working correctly, you are going to get poor streaming results and poor sound quality.
Any streaming service (Tidal, QoBuz, etc.) requires a fully operational network. This means your modem, router, Internet cable signal being in range and all other related parts must be working correctly.
At the beginning, I had serious router issues and several Internet Service Provider (ISP) issues requiring several house calls to repair. My first router dropped packets and my 2nd router could not handle the streaming load. My third router, Luxul XWR3100 and XAP1510 KIT, is now working fine.
As was noted above, streaming issues concerning instability, or sound poor quality, usually mean something is wrong with your network. My ISP Tech updated my in-house cables and corrected the wiring in my outside junction box.
Yes, I had similar instability issues caused by a corroded outside ISP junction box and issues with an ISP down-stream amplifier. My cable signal strength also needed adjusting (this issue caused my instability and poor sound quality issues).
Streaming requires these parts to be OPERATING at full capacity. If you have instability issues, I suggest you investigate all the areas mentioned above. No, it is not easy and requires a cooperative ISP Tech to help identify and correct these issues. You should also confirm your modem can handle the streaming load. If it is old, you might need to replace it.
Once your network is correctly operating, you should be able to successfully stream these services. Unfortunately, I had all the above issues and it took me several weeks to get everything corrected. I am now streaming Tidal and Qobuz perfectly with no drop outs or related cable signal issues. Sound quality is excellent.
It is not easy getting all these parts working. You have to have patience and contact your ISP for assistance, when needed. I fully explained my streaming instability issues were impacting my listening to my music and the ISP Tech knew exactly what was needed. I suggest you start with your router first and then your cable company. As I stated above, every single part in the streaming chain needs to be confirmed it is working correctly.
My Qobuz sound quality is now excellent and I enjoying their hi-res albums very much. Streaming and poor sound quality issues need to have the above mentioned components checked AND, if needed, an email to Qobuz for additional assistance. Musical streaming is complicated because of the many moving parts that need to be working. Sometimes it is not plug and play and requires additional research and efforts to get everything work. Please do not give up.
+1 @hgeifman I recently had an issue where my Aries Mini kept crashing and couldn't find my network. I called Comcast out and finally had them move my wireless gateway from my office to the living room. The tech told me the office was basically a "dead zone" hence my issues. The system is in the living room so now there are no issues at all with instability and an added benefit a nice bump in sound quality. I was happy with the sound before but its even better now, on both Tidal and Qobuz.
+1, @jond. Thanks for the update and I am happy your Tidal and Qobuz sound quality has improved. This is a perfect example of the fine tuning required to get the best quality from music streaming. As noted, the simple task of moving the wireless gateway to another room solves the problem. Great job.
I use Ethernet and therefore no stability issues, nor did I mention any in my last post. I am simply talking about comparing the sound directly, into the same input of my DAC, using the Bluesound Node as a player, of how one recording sounded when replayed from Qobuz vs my NAS. I guess I could compare a few other recordings, but I am pretty time crunched at the moment. One variable may be the the Qobuz-Bluesound handoff. Are others using Bluesound to play Qobuz?
When you use your cellular phone to streming Tidal and Qobuz, you want to make sure it is streaming at least Tidal MQA and 96khz/24bit. Some cell company will cap the streaming rate. many times, the iphone will streaming at lower bits rate and listener thought it is streaming at hiRes. During travling, you can't tell MP3, MQA or 96k/24bit. You will need a quiet listening room and good equiptment to listen to HiRes
Mahler, that's a tough one to answer. You're totally wired except for the Android which is the controller. Could it be how the music was digitized to your drive vs. the digitized track on Qobuz? I've been wondering if there could be any compression added by Tidal or Qobuz when I hear a difference in the same song.
you are asking the key question ...do Qobuz and perhaps Tidal introduce low levels of compression even in their premium services? Btw, I rip my files to my NAS with dbpoweramp, using an Apple Optical Drive and the aforementioned MacAir, and rip and store in FLAC it would be great to see one of the Audiomags, such as Stereophile or Hi Fi News, or someone on this Forum, could measure the streams and compare to CD rips to answer the question
Mahler, that's what I was thinking. You've been in this hobby a long time so I don't doubt your ability to rip a bit perfect file. It's the other guys that I question.
Well, after one week of using Qobuz, I am cancelling Tidal. IMO, the Qobuz GUI is much easier to use and I also enjoy the "booklets." Much of what I listen to regularly is on Qobuz and a lot is higher resolution, which I can actually hear. I also found "downloading" so I can listen off line in my car (from my phone connection) is much easier and quicker to download as well. I like the Qobuz entry portal much more than Tidal. I really disliked all the JayZ type stuff that's pushed at you. Finally, I didn't care for MQA sound. Maybe it was my imagination but it felt like I was missing some of the music. Comparing the two versions of the newest Springsteen on Tidal MQA or Qobuz hi res, Qobuz was the clear winner for me. Total yearly cost with Qobuz will be less than $10 per annum.
I naively thought MQA and the Qobuz offered hi res would sound the same but they didn't guess my ears aren't that messed up. Using my Lumin T2, I could hear differences between the two formats. I know MQA is lossy and I agree with Lalitk and DDude003 there's no "need" for MQA. Bob Stuart must be watching his dream of his own proprietary format slowly starting to fade away in relevance. Lots of bandwidth now and only increasing. MQA is irrelevant IMO.
I never state a format is dead. I felt that way once when I stated albums were dead, they were not and albums and turntables never died, in fact they made a huge comeback.
I was a Qobuz beta tester and after my free month signed up for the service, using their Windows10 app, which was dreadfully unreliable, so after a few weeks cancelled my subscription.
I recently converted my Roon setup from having the core run on the Windows10 Pro machine to a newly acquired Roon Nucleus Plus server and it works flawlessly. So I re-subscribed to Qobuz and now have it and Tidal running on the Roon box and have nothing but good things to report!
I'm undecided on which sounds better Tidal or Qobuz, if I had to chose one, I'd say Qobuz wins "by a nose". I find it has a better selection of classical than Tidal. I find that some of the remastered 1970's and 1980's rock & roll sounds fuller, cleaner and more dynamic in MQA, but some don't. More than a few of my classical favorites sound dull and lifeless in MQA. One thing I really like about the Roon Nucleus Plus is that, when I have it decode MQA, the end result sounds better (on my non-MQA capable DAC) than running the same option when the Roon core was running on the Windows machine.
I believe that my setup with Roon and both Qobuz and Tidal is "hear" to stay.
I would like to go down to just one service. I don't care much about MQA, but I find Tidal has a few more of the artists I want to listen to, but then I find Qobuz has some others in hi-res where Tidal doesn't...
Hoping that Qobuz eventually catches up on artists and selections and I would just go down to one.
At home in a serious listening set up, with wired ISP, Qobuz will sound better than MQA. If you use cellular (on the road). you will have Qobuz drop out, MQA will sound better since the bit rate is lower. I have student discount on Tidal at 1/2 of the price of Qobuz. Also I have the dream of Oppo 205 which has a MQA decoder build in. I will say, MQA sounds better for me. Still, a lot of classical record in is in 44.1Hz/16bits. So Tidal Hifi is right there.
As I reported earlier, I’ve experienced zero dropouts with Qobuz or Tidal from my cellular service (Verizon). If you’re experiencing drop outs that’s probably due to limited bandwidth or coverage of your cellular provider. It wouldn’t be wise to make ‘absolute’ statements like “you will have Qobuz drop out” 😉
I can understand your somewhat ‘biased’ preference for Tidal (half price subscription). I don’t want to get into any MQA debate here, please continue to enjoy your favorite tunes on Tidal.
The cellar signal has weak zone or sometime dead zone. Qobuz and Tidal both will detect limited bandwith and reduce bits rate. As for Tidal, bit rate for Hifi and MQA are the same, so if you have smooth streaming under Hifi, you will have steady streaming for MQA. Qobuz bits rate depand on the material. Some are 44.1/16, some are 88/24, 96/24 some are even 192/24. So depend on your ISP bandwith. The streaming quality will be varied.
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