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Qobuz vs Tidal

First off in the last 3 weeks, I have lost 90% of my vision so if there are mistakes please understand.  I am building my last house and will be moving in in late August.  I have ordered a fantastic two channel system, and I have a separate theater room.   The 2 channel system consists of Canary Audio Grand Reference Two Mono Amps, Canary C1800 Pre-amp, Lumin X1 Dac/Streamer, and an Inakustic 3500P power conditioner and Viking Accoustic Grande Voix horn speakers.  My theater room will include a 5.2.2 set up of Tekton Double impact in wall speakers.   My music source is a Lumin X-1 with a 4tb Synology NAS filled with over 10,000 titles.  In my last system I used Tidal to complement my digital library.  I am looking for either Qobuz or Tidal  for my new system.  I am looking for people who have both or have used both.  Which do you prefer and why?   If you have only used one please don't reply.  I need your help as I can no longer research the way I would like.  All your replies will be voice activated so that is how I am getting your information.  Ease of use will be critical due to my sight restrictions.  Thanks for your help.
willgolf
p05129
483 posts
 
I have tried both but Tidal MQA won out, 
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
I pitted Qobuz and Tidal to a lengthy side-by-side audition and wound up choosing Qobuz, this despite the fact I've got full MQA capability.  As excellent as the sound from Tidal may be, Qobuz has a slightly warmer, more lifelike tonal balance and slightly better imaging.  Tidal may be slightly easier to navigate but Qobuz certainly ain't no slouch on this point.  If you listen to classical, Qobuz embarrasses Tidal, selection-wise.  Then again, I'm enough of a classical junkie to also subscribe to Primephonic...a service that is absolute paradise for the classical junkie.  It doesn't hurt that Primephonic can give me the highest fidelity I receive from any source, including analog.

In any case, take advantage of the two services' free trial periods.  Run 'em side-by-side.  Neck and neck.   Finally, I must tell you that my eyesight was faiIing, but I was lucky enough to be a prime candidate for lens implants.  Got 'em for both eyes.  One of those miracles of the 21st Century.  Here's hoping that medical science will soon make your condition equally correctable.
afedorov2013
8 posts
 
I did try both and stayed with Tidal - I preferred Tidal interface by a big margin.... 
willgolf OP
933 posts
 
Thanks for the responses so far.  As for my medical condition, I had a stroke in the optical nerve in the right eye.  This same thing happened to me 18 years ago in the left eye.  It is not correctible.  Trust me I have asked every eye doc appointment I have had for the last 18 years.   

I am hearing a lot of sentiment for Qobuz. The great thing about the Lumin app is that it stores the last music played on the left side of the page so it is easy to navigate.  I am not a fan of hip hop from Tidal but I could usually click on any artist I was looking for and find it.    My musical tastes are Indie Rock, Jazz, Country, Classical.  I love strings and a nice sax.  I just listened to Annette Askvik - Liberty....what a great sax solo.  
hifi_mikeh
1 posts
 
I prefer Qobuz since I do not have the MQA capabilities in my DAC. I would also highly recommend Roon if you don’t already have it. It will combine all of your libraries together to organize it seamlessly. Qobuz, Tidal and your library of files will all be within one easy to search library. You would have to make your NAS into a Roon Core but it shouldn’t be too difficult to do so.
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