Interesting. I have found holes in both catalogues, not one more than the other, although Qobuz is a little better on classical while Tidal is better on jazz. Both have also "disappeared" titles that I favorited. Qobuz didn't have any Joey Alexander albums until then..it did.
I like the hi-rez options on Qobuz, far more numerous than MQA on tidal, and MQA is a licensing grab.
I have noticed Qobuz has been a little worse on dropouts, but it's hard to tell if that's my internet connection or them. I ran into one badly corrupted file on Qobuz, which hasn't happened on Tidal. |
I tried Qobuz for a monthly free trial and then stayed with Tidal. I may revisit Qobuz in the future as I liked the sound quality and the selection was ok for me. Two deal breakers were the inability to organize my album list by artist and frequent drop outs or failure to connect on "downloaded" (on iPhone) albums usb connected in my car, when Tidal never had either of those issues.
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Tidal with Roon sounds a tad better than CDs in my rig. It all comes down to your gear on this one. Need a good streamer like Innuos. |
I can defiantly tell the difference with Tidal on the HIFi and master files. Master files are quite good if i do say so. Never tried Qobuz though. But I have noticed quite a few albums I used to listen to on Tidal are now no longer available. makes me wonder is Tidal going down ? I cant be bothered with CD's anymore to be honest. |
Ahofer, I listen mostly to Jazz and electronic music so Tidal seems to have the edge there. Grannyring, I'm using the Sonore Ultrarendu for streaming. I will look into Roon but last time I looked it was fairly pricey. |
I'm staying with Qobuz Hires since I listen mainly to classical and the quality is excellent. And new titles are being added every day including historic and rare classical recordings. For other genres Tidal has them beat.
Qobuz also has a pretty deep catalogue of British alternative/new wave recordings. Not surprising, since the service started in Europe and the UK.
The dropouts on Qobuz usually depends on the streamer you are using. I went thru this with my Bluesound Node2i; dropouts and long periods of buffering. Contacted Bluesound and was assigned a tech who worked with me to solve the problem.
If you've dropped Qobuz for Tidal, remember that they are a new service, so give them time.
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I was using both but settled on Qobuz simply for its superior SQ.
I found its hirez much better than MQA and you do not need a MQA capable DAC.
Sure there are gaping holes in it's catalog but there is still more music than I can ever dream of listening to in my lifetime.
No dropouts for me at home but I run wired connection not wireless.
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+1 for Qobuz...the high res files are tops.
I'm hopeful they'll upgrade the slightly quirky interface...but the sound is worth the small inconveniences. |
I'm trying Qobuz. I too like the SQ over Tidal, but on my home computer it's not letting me utilize my external speakers. And it tends to drop music when in the car. Sounds great on my home set up though |
I'm trying Qobuz. I too like the SQ over Tidal, but on my home computer it's not letting me utilize my external speakers. And it tends to drop music when in the car. Sounds great on my home set up though
If you're using the web player make sure you have your speakers (or DAC) selected as the output device. If you're using the Qobuz app in the bottom right corner there's an icon next to the volume slider that lets you select your speakers. |
Ha! Thank you big_greg. I'm pretty technically challenged. Appreciate your tip! |
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I prefer Qobuz over Tidal but like some of you folks I often get streaming interruptions. I'm now best email pals with the Qobuz techie, but the interruptions, though less frequent, still remain. As for my preference for the Q, it's because their Fi is more Hi (this despite the fact I've got MQA), and because their classical selection is far more vast.
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@edcyn, could the trouble be caused by your streamer? My dropouts were the fault of the Bluesound software, not Qobuz. |
Just ended my Tidal subscription and am moving onto Qobuz. Qobuz just sounds a little better on my system. Little more organic and natural. A tad less electronic if you will. Not day and night, but enough to cause me to switch. |
I perfer Tidal ,but I recently tried Audirvana ,and I'm impressed!
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I started off with Tidal and have been very happy with them. I have been very happy with Tidal's MQA format also. I just recently subscribed to Qobuz and will keep both until I decide which I prefer.
I have found also that Tidal with Roon sounds a little better than my CDs and the MQA versions even a little better. Qobuz is still new to me , so I plan and take my time to compare to Tidal. So far , they both sound about the same with Tidal's MQA and Qobuz' High Rez , but it is still early for me. |
I love Qobuz’s sound and the library is pretty good. That said, I also get drop outs using a modern MacBook Pro and wired gigabit internet service.
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edcyn: agree. the drop-outs are annoying. |
I've been a TIDAL subscriber for approx 3 years. I signed up for a 30-day Qobuz trial. I was skeptical at first but am finding the Qobuz catalog comparable to TIDAL for my tastes mainly in rock/jazz.
There seems to be more hires albums in Qobuz compared to TIDAL MQA albums. I'm trying to avoid the MQA debate so I won't comment on whether I feel Qobuz hires sounds better than TIDAL MQA..
I did discover that I can play Qobuz hi-rez titles in my car and the sound is amazing. I assume playing TIDAL MQA titles in most car stereos plays MQA tracks at redbook CD 44.1KHz/16 bit resolution.
At the Qobuz intro price of $15/month compared to $20/month for TIDAL high fidelity, I'll probably make the switch.
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Agree. Qobuz actually sent an offer to me to extend the studio premier service (96HZ hi-res) subscription for $149/yr. not bad.
Still getting a lot of drop-outs depending on what time of day I'm listening but I think that would happen with any streaming service.
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There should be no dropouts when using Android or iPhone. I know dropouts exist when using Qobuz with a PC.
I use a Node 2i with Android and had dropouts when I first signed up for Qobuz. Customer service was able to correct the issue.
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I continue to suffer dropouts when I stream Qobuz through my Mytek Brooklyn Bridge. I've been trading emails with Mytek's techie and he's been unable to pinpoint a problem. He did, though, convince me to listen to other streaming services to see if I have problems with them, too.I really don't want to subscribe to another paid service to do the test (did I make a rookie error when I quit Tidal when their free trial ended?) but I have been listening to a classical internet radio station that offers complete symphonies and such. In other words, a perfect test subject/guinea pig. So far, no interruptions in service no matter how long the file is. The thing is, fidelity is far less satisfying than Qobuz' superlative transmission. In any event, what all this nuttiness is doing is make me suspect Qobuz is the dropout culprit.
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What's your download speed? Have you had you contacted your ISP to make sure that your internet connection is working correctly? I never have dropouts with Qobuz at 80 MBPS download speed.
I stream Qobuz in my car using my phone's 4G internet connection and it doesn't drop out unless I'm out of signal range.
I have a Mytek Liberty DAC in my bedroom and have not suffered dropouts there. I'm not sure how your DAC could be causing dropouts, especially on just one music service. |
I seem to have cursed myself. I've been having a bunch of dropouts this morning, both from my pc (wired connection) and my Bluesound Node 2 (wireless). |
I might have reported this on another forum but I think I've cured my dropout problem. Looking for any variable whatsoever to mess with I substituted Firefox for Microsoft Edge in my streaming path. So far so good! I've yet to encounter a streaming issue, this despite listening to several half-hour plus HD streams. Fingers and toes crossed.
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@edcyn Have you tried the Qobuz app? |
As Greg appears to have incurred the wrath of the God of Dropouts I should remain silent.... But....
Never ever had any issues with Qobuz.
I stream at home numerous ways dependent upon system used.
Hard wired to main rig.
Wireless tthough Chromecast units on second and third rigs.
I do have the fastest service at&t can provide in my area and my router/ modem is nearly new too.
Wireless through Moto z4 in the car.
Now fingers crossed.....
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Big Greg -- dropouts were so awful on the Qobuz app I summoned it and its icon to the Recycle Bin. It's all in the sorry past, though, at least I hope. I remain wary of snakes in the digital forest but I'm confident Billy Gates and his Edge have cured me!
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Things seem to be back to "normal" with Qobuz for me, which is no dropouts. |
I'm using a Netgear 1200 for an ethernet extension and I noticed that when streaming the green lights were turning to amber. According to the manual, I shouldn't be using the Netgear with a surge suppressor. I tried it without the surge suppressor and it did seem to help with eliminating the drop-outs and the freezes I was getting.
What I can't understand is that there are times when the streaming works fine WITH the surge suppressor. |
I just purchased a Bryston BDA-3.14 which has native Qobuz software.
Signed up for Qobuz "Studio" (the highest level) for $149 a year. Well
I must say that the SQ of the hi-rez is simply amazing. Familiar albums
are new again. Even the Redbook CD ones sound great. The BDA is hardwired ethernet and I've had no problems with dropouts.
Bought a small HP laptop 11" just for this purpose. I have no clue how other systems work, but the BDA is a node on my home network. The laptop is used to login to Bryston (the company) which recognizes the BDA is mine. So, in simple terms, there is no computer in the chain, the only function the laptop serves is to act as a sophisticated remote control for the BDA-3.14 software (ie. stop play skip, create playlists, store files locally if desired). The BDA has 10 inputs, I'm only using one.
BTW, this will not cure all your dropouts but Bryston told me to use Chrome on the laptop because their techs tell them Qobuz may have problems with other browsers. YMMV. |
