MRC01
Major Contributor
I'm talking about Linux, not Windows.
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Qobuz or Tidal?
- Thread starter Spider
- Start date
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- Oct 25, 2019
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Suspect the effectiveness of exclusive mode depends on what nastiness Windows audio enhancements are doing in your particular set up. There's a very long but interesting thread on it https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...indows-audio-quality-debate.19438/post-639677
PatF
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2022
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- 210
After all wild discussion and discoveries about MQA I resigned from Tidal. Now using Qobuz for at home listening and Apple Music on the go. Looking at options we have here are my thoughts:
Spotify - best recommendation algorithm, good functionality, only downside is lack of lossless format
Tidal - good service but doubtful MQA, bad indexing I mean when you type i.e. Henry Purcell you will get a lot of garbage and/or not all albums under composer name
Apple Music - very good library, good quality, so so recommendation of new music, not good compatibility with players
Qobuz - best HQ library, good indexing, booklets in pdf (unique feature), downside is not good compatibility with various devices, some minor problems from time to time, library could be better
This is based on my one year using all four services.
pickyAudiophile
Active Member
In pursuit for best audio quality available from my experience one has to make comparisons from time to time again as these findings you make are subject to expiration. One's 2020 crowned champion may no longer take the lead in 2022 when it comes to pure sonics (ignoring compatiblity issues, haptics, catalogue etc.).
The most remarkable differences I experience is usually with older albums, most critical with these from the very beginning of streaming services introduced, around 2011 to 2015. Some streaming services seem like to revise, improve or re-register these older albums over time while others tend to leave that once registered data untouched (forever?), leaving you behind with e/g 2012 state-of-the-art kind of file processing.
My journey started with WiMP subsricption in 2012, via Deezer, Tidal and Amazon and back to Tidal it more or less consolidated in 2021 with Qobuz. However, as a result of last week's comparison of 50 albums I must say Apple took over the lead in most cases, in particular with these older albums I mentioned.
The most remarkable differences I experience is usually with older albums, most critical with these from the very beginning of streaming services introduced, around 2011 to 2015. Some streaming services seem like to revise, improve or re-register these older albums over time while others tend to leave that once registered data untouched (forever?), leaving you behind with e/g 2012 state-of-the-art kind of file processing.
My journey started with WiMP subsricption in 2012, via Deezer, Tidal and Amazon and back to Tidal it more or less consolidated in 2021 with Qobuz. However, as a result of last week's comparison of 50 albums I must say Apple took over the lead in most cases, in particular with these older albums I mentioned.
Are you comparing Qobuz and Amazon HD on the WiiM mini by any chance? If so, I’m confused as to why there should be a difference unless the streaming services are using different source/masters of the same tracks. Wouldn’t the record companies provide the same digital file to whichever service licensed it? And if there is a “better” source version, why would Qobuz seem to regularly get those compared to, say, Amazon?
From a variety of articles, I’m regularly seeing that Qobuz “sounds better” and am struggling to understand what secret sauce they use that the others don’t have - or is it just a often repeated opinion that’s almost treated as a given?
I have checked Qobuz and Amazon HD for a few of the same tracks on the WiiM Mini, just for the sake of curiosity, and aside from differences in volume (not sure what is the reason for that, maybe something on my side), they sound very much the same to me. Pretty good, by the way, in both cases.
Yeah, historically I could perhaps see why some thought that Qobuz sounded better due to Amazon’s shoot-themselves-in-the-foot implementation of their music apps, but now that WiiM has provided a level playing field, I really struggle to think why there’d be a difference now.
I prefer Qobuz to Tidal by a lot. The volume between songs is more consistent and it just sounds better to me. If you use WiiM mini and switch between Amazon and Qobuz there's not a big difference in sound except Qobuz is a bit louder. But, if you AB compare WiiM on Amazon and Qobuz on RPi4 with Audirvana, then Qobuz sounds quite a bit better to me. Audirvana doesn't support Amazon so you can't do an Apples to Apples comparison.
Thanks. Guess that begs another question - if there’s not much difference between the two on the WiiM, what’s the Audirvana/RPI4 combo doing to make Qobuz quite a bit better? Forgive my ignorance about the combo - I don’t know whether it’s also rendering the stream and not just passing it on bit perfect like the WiiM to another DAC/amp.
Jumping a bit off topic, but is Apple Music not considered an option for hi res music? Last time I researched streaming services, I remember their rates being quite competitive compared to the others.
Isn’t it the case that the lack of supported platforms beyond iOS or android devices (and connected DAC) is what holds it back from being a serious contender? I don’t want to tie up my phone or tablet and use a wired connection from those into my amp to get the full range of hires music it offers.
pickyAudiophile
Active Member
To be honest I use Apple Music on Windows platform in Direct Sound mode (aka Windows Mixer) which is the only mode available and it sonically still outperforms Qobuz set to WASAPI Exclusive mode. Just that uninspired looking feature-free interface is a total mess.
paul8088
Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2021
- Messages
- 8
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- 3
Tried Spot, Tid and Q.
Q sounds cleanest to me. Dynamics, clarity, smoothness.
I literally spent couple hours listening to the same song/album between the 3.
Sadly app kind of sux all around on Q.
But the worst thing on Q is limit of number of songs in playlist.
Why unlimited or like 10k. I have now 6 playlist spread over few playlist. Lame.
I end up using Tittal for dat.
Search is the worst in Q, I mean why you do this Q. Its 2022.
Q sounds cleanest to me. Dynamics, clarity, smoothness.
I literally spent couple hours listening to the same song/album between the 3.
Sadly app kind of sux all around on Q.
But the worst thing on Q is limit of number of songs in playlist.
Why unlimited or like 10k. I have now 6 playlist spread over few playlist. Lame.
I end up using Tittal for dat.
Search is the worst in Q, I mean why you do this Q. Its 2022.
It's funny how different are the needs of each user.
I haven't even noticed that there is a limit to the number of tracks of a playlist on Q, and I have been a member for years. Also, the search function works ok for me.
But I wouldn't even touch Spot, because I firmly believe that it's a shame in 2022 not to provide lossless music.
I haven't even noticed that there is a limit to the number of tracks of a playlist on Q, and I have been a member for years. Also, the search function works ok for me.
But I wouldn't even touch Spot, because I firmly believe that it's a shame in 2022 not to provide lossless music.
Praefectus
Member
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2022
- Messages
- 26
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- 11
QOBUZ.
Just renewed my subscription with them. Sound quality is amazing.
Just renewed my subscription with them. Sound quality is amazing.
I currently have Qobuz, Apple Music, and YouTube Music (via YT Premium sub), and previously subscribed to Spotify, Amazon HD, and Tidal. Not to mention long gone services like Mog, Rdio, and even Zune Pass. Qobuz is my favorite of all of them based on sound quality, curation, Roon integration, and the fact that it's all about music rather than trending towards podcasts, advertising models, etc.
Tried Spot, Tid and Q.
Q sounds cleanest to me. Dynamics, clarity, smoothness.
I literally spent couple hours listening to the same song/album between the 3.
Sadly app kind of sux all around on Q.
But the worst thing on Q is limit of number of songs in playlist.
Why unlimited or like 10k. I have now 6 playlist spread over few playlist. Lame.
I end up using Tittal for dat.
Search is the worst in Q, I mean why you do this Q. Its 2022.
There is not a limit on Qobuz playlists. I use Qobuz with Audirvana and have hundreds of albums in a single "Best of Qobuz" playlist I created. Audirvana allows me to easily navigate all of them.
However, if I use the WiiM mini app with Qobuz it does truncate the playlist. It's jus poor programing compared to the Audirvana interface.
