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Tidal vs Quobuz

Yes I realize the Qobuz is misspelled in the title but I can’t figure out how to update it.  Relax.  
I’ve been a die hard advocate of MqA and Tidal for the last few years. All of my source, preamp, and dac purchased had the prerequisite that they must be MqA compatible. Today, I tried Qobuz for the first time and I’m blown away by the selection of 24bit 96khz files compared to Tidal.
Here’s an example: Was very excited that the band Tool FINALLY added their collection to streaming services. All of the albums on Tidal are CD quality. So I was going to purchase them in higher fidelity on HD Tracks, but learned that Qobuz had them at the highest fidelity. Couldn’t believe it. Same with many other artists/albums I love.

Now is there an improvement in sound quality? No not really. Is the Qobux UX any better? No, in fact it’s slower. But do I get the best quality content for the same price? Yes. Will I subscribe to both? Yes.
System:

Lumin D2 -> Parasound P6 -> Elac Navis ARF 51’s. Fully balanced set up (Nordost) with AQ power cables.
helloitsben
dwhess's avatar
dwhess
72 posts
 
I really appreciate this site. I'm a novice but have learned a lot here. I have the Yamaha N803 receiver. It's an excellent receiver as far as receivers go. I'm sure I'll upgrade at some point but for now I'm choosing convenience over quality. It is set up for Spotify, Tidal and Deezer.  I stream Spotify premium.  I may try Tidal to compare sound quality. I have Vandersteen speakers. Any suggestions other than I need a better system?!  Thanks.  Doug Hess
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,443 posts
 
@dwhess,

You have a very nice system. Your N803 receiver is very capable of letting you discern the uptick in SQ between Spotify and Tidal / Deezer. I would encourage you to do trial run with Tidal or Deezer and see if you hear appreciable uptick in SQ. Spotify being the oldest platform has a very vast library so you may give up on some content by choosing Tidal or Deezer.

Personally if my system is this good, I would choose streaming quality over content. There is a appreciable difference in streaming quality as Spotify max out at 320 kbps vs Tidal / Deezer at 1,411 kbps bit rate.
geargrinder's avatar
geargrinder
6 posts
 
@dwhess,

I’m not overly familiar with Yamaha receivers but I assume you are using an app on a phone or tablet to link the streaming service to the receiver? What device / app do you use to control the N803?

If you are using the Yamaha Music Cast app then Amazon Music HD is probably supported. And as stated above I would really recommend giving it a trial vs any of the other options.
wsrrsw's avatar
wsrrsw
1,005 posts
 
Tried both and thought SQ on Quohbuzz (Like that misspelling?) was a bit better. Naturally the ultra high res files do sound better.

Still pondering Roon vs Qobuz but that's a "champaign problem".
helloitsben OP
14 posts
 
Quohbuzz haha.  Really good input from everyone, thanks for turning this into a good thread!  
I’m an exclusive streamer because of the convenience and how many new artists/songs/albums I’m able to discover.  Honestly if it weren’t for streaming I would have never gotten into jazz the way I have in the last year.  
The lesson I have learned from my HiFi journey that started only about 2 years ago is that to my ears, the music can only sound as good as the original source (cables, mics, studio acoustics, amps, mix, mastering, etc). I have found that each service from Amazon to Quohbusz (lol) sounds good and the benefit of the high res is hardly noticeable (again only to my ears).  Instead of dropping huge cash on a really expensive ($5k+) streamer Id rather make improvements to the speakers and power amplifiers, that’s where you actually get perceive sound changes.  My option.  
What a fun hobby this is!


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