Qobuz vs Airplay

I’ve tried all the major streaming services.  Qobuz is the best combination of music quality, selection, ease of use and price in my experience.  I no longer use Airplay except when connected in my car.  

If the Mind can do Qobuz Connect or Tidal Connect give these a try not a bad UI. 
 

As to Apple Music Airplay vs Qobuz yes there’s a difference but it may not be important enough for you. Try and see. 

I’m tracking for wireless connection to device processing and amplifying the signal to the speakers there is

Airplay, 

Chromecast

And UPNP(?)

For wired— Ethernet cable if not also USB cable 

Apple Music highest res is 44 kHz regardless of transmission medium 

Qobuz and Tidal highest res is up to 192 depending on the file and only if transmitted wirelessly via Chromecast, UPNP, or cable.  Highest “Airplay” wireless transmission caps out at 44 kHz. 
 

Do I have that somewhat right?

Apple Music highest res is 24-bit/192Hz. 

Airplay is limited to CD quality (16/44) last I knew.  According to ChatGPT, it is not limited to 320kbps, fwiw.  Regardless, you can’t get what you’re paying for out of Qobuz or any high-res service.  And its playback isn’t perfect. Furthermore, your phone is the player, which is problematic for many reasons and I suspect the phone may introduce degradation of its own.

I believe Tidal has caught up to Qobuz for quality since Tidal ditched MQA.

I have a Marantz Model 40n and I love it.  It has Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect, so it will play those services at full resolution, and it connects to them directly itself - your phone is just the controller, not the player. 

@sextantcv4 Marantz is part of the Denon HEOS ecosystem, so you can add that to your list.  With my 40n I’ve got a high (enough) end class A/B amp for my main listening and small Denon Home speakers around the house for whole-home audio.  I feel this is superior to Sonos and Airplay.

With B&W 606 S2 mains my setup is perfectly adequate for my aging ears.