Spotify and Qobuz difference

[bevok]

So i hooked up my laptop to my dac via usb and ran the tests. Turns out I can't tell the difference either!

So my perception of the difference between Spotify and Amazon must have been a volume/loudness thing.

Makes me wonder about the whole business of shopping for audio products. How could I ever accurately AB an amp or pair of speakers in a shop with all these variables. Guess I'll just stick to buying based on measurements from this fine website

It was doing abx tests in Foobar of mp3s and Flac files that made me a lot more cautious about differences in sound, and also very cynical about things like headphone reviewers talking about 'technicalities' etc. One of the easiest ways to test the limits of perception.

 

[Brian Hall]

Today you can sit and produce a track and upload it to Spotify and if it's good and gets discovered you get paid without further effort. -Easy!

Technically, you can't upload a track to Spotify now. You have to go through a service like TuneCore or a couple of others.

 

[Brian Hall]

I did some more comparing tonight between Qobuz, Spotify and Amazon HD playing two songs by Rush, Tom Sawyer and YYZ. Both of those have a lot going on and seemed likely to have the best chance of showing any obvious audible difference between the services.

For Tom Sawyer and YYZ, Qobuz showed 192khz, Spotify showed 44.1khz, Amazon HD showed 96khz. These were streamed with my Wiim Pro Plus with coax out to an Eversolo Dac Z8. I listened with Sennheiser HD650 headphones using the Z8 as a headphone amp (which it does great).

Not anywhere close to a blind test. I knew which one was playing at all times. The only noticeable difference to me was that Qobuz played both songs a little louder than Spotify and Amazon. I didn't hear any detail or "musicality" on Qobuz that was missing or degraded on Spotify or Amazon. I expected this so maybe my brain filtered out the supposed awesomeness from the "Hi-Res" versions.

I'm sticking with my decision to cancel Qobuz and keep Spotify and Amazon HD. I don't believe there is any advantage to the "Hi-Res" streaming option from any service if Spotify can sound just as good at 320kbps ogg vorbis.

I'm keeping Amazon HD because it is cheap and is starting to have a lot of Atmos stuff which I can play on my main system using a Fire TV cube.

 

[Jimbob54]

I did some more comparing tonight between Qobuz, Spotify and Amazon HD playing two songs by Rush, Tom Sawyer and YYZ. Both of those have a lot going on and seemed likely to have the best chance of showing any obvious audible difference between the services.

For Tom Sawyer and YYZ, Qobuz showed 192khz, Spotify showed 44.1khz, Amazon HD showed 96khz. These were streamed with my Wiim Pro Plus with coax out to an Eversolo Dac Z8. I listened with Sennheiser HD650 headphones using the Z8 as a headphone amp (which it does great).

Not anywhere close to a blind test. I knew which one was playing at all times. The only noticeable difference to me was that Qobuz played both songs a little louder than Spotify and Amazon. I didn't hear any detail or "musicality" on Qobuz that was missing or degraded on Spotify or Amazon. I expected this so maybe my brain filtered out the supposed awesomeness from the "Hi-Res" versions.

I'm sticking with my decision to cancel Qobuz and keep Spotify and Amazon HD. I don't believe there is any advantage to the "Hi-Res" streaming option from any service if Spotify can sound just as good at 320kbps ogg vorbis.

I'm keeping Amazon HD because it is cheap and is starting to have a lot of Atmos stuff which I can play on my main system using a Fire TV cube.

Yup. Any differences in actual "quality' solely based on file types are dwarfed by (if there is any, most streaming services carry the same versions) differences in Master /version on the source and and the user experience on the other end. Qobuz sadly just doesn't have the features I need so I go with a mixture of tidal for mobile, Spotify as family are on it and share playlists etc and also Amazon as it has full library shuffle.

 

[harleydave]

Try to pass these tests. I didn't.

Is your audio system really ready for lossless?

Do an ABX test in your browser, and see if you can tell the difference between lossless and lossy audio

abx.digitalfeed.net

Reddit Apple_Tidal_Qubus_Spotify

How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?

A hi-def test for your ears (and your audio equipment): Listen to these songs and see if you can tell the difference between an MP3 and an uncompressed audio file.

www.npr.org

I got 3 out of 6 correct. The wrong 3 I picked 320kps.

 

[stoo23]

You may find these 2 x articles informative:

https://www.loudersound.com/features/which-music-streaming-service-pays-artists-the-most

https://cloudcovermusic.com/blog/how-much-artists-make-streaming-services

 

[stoo23]

Personally, I use Qobuz and have found them to be very helpful and have a Catalogue that More than covers my needs and musical tastes, in fact, it was whilst searching for a crazy album from way back called "Copy Copy" by Gruppo Sportivo that I found Qobuz, as they were the ONLY people I could find that had it, (which I promptly purchased and downloaded) they also had All their other albums
I occasionally Stream albums from artists I haven't heard and often let it continue to Play 'selections', which has caused me to purchase a few albums by artists I had never heard previously but I also purchase Albums from the site and like the HiDef options, plus there are a few artists that Aren't on Spotify, I believe like Joni Mitchell who IS on Qobuz thankfully.
I find the service and quality to be excellent.

An interesting detail from one of the articles in my previous post:

Rival music streamer Qobuz is both a music streaming platform and an online music store. Subscribers can stream in Hi-Res Audio and buy album downloads in studio quality. It also employs expert teams to curate playlists. Qobuz wears its music fandom on its sleeve.

During the first lockdown, Qobuz stood behind artists, donating 100% of all new first month subscriber revenues to rights holders.

Georges Fornay, CEO Deputy of Qobuz, told us: “We believe in respecting the artists’ work by ensuring the quality we provide is as true to the original as possible. This is why we promote studio-quality music. We believe talented artists should get a fair chance for their music to be discovered with music curation and fair compensation.”

A compelling alternative to Spotify? We think so.

Also, as can be read in that same article, Tidal also have a truly Excellent Artist payment methodology, that should be applauded !!!

 

[IAtaman]

Also, as can be read in that same article, Tidal also have a truly Excellent Artist payment methodology, that should be applauded !!!

Out of curiosity, we don't care if Apple pays their staff well, or whether deliveroo or Uber compensate their drivers fairly, we don't worry too much if musicians, dancers, other staff who were part of the show were paid fairly when we go to a concert - we trust free market economy will take care of that. But we worry whether streaming services compensate artists fairly. Why is that?

 

[stoo23]

we don't worry too much if musicians, dancers, other staff who were part of the show were paid fairly when we go to a concert

Hmmm really?,...perhaps You don't but having spent 30 to 40 years working in the Music and entertainment industry in Live and Studio work, I Sure do !!

we trust free market economy will take care of that

Well, as we have become Painfully aware, That DOESN'T work !! LOL

Even when going to see friends bands, if they were selling CD's / Merch, I would Buy a copy, pay to get into the Gig etc, expected No 'Freebies',.... Freebies don't put Gas in the Car or Food on the table !!

I do have concerns about a bunch of Filthy Rich faceless Execs getting even richer from music they had nothing to do with !! As Should We All !!!

 

[benanders]

…
I do have concerns about a bunch of Filthy Rich faceless Execs getting even richer from music they had nothing to do with !! As Should We All !!!

…and perhaps doing so without even bothering to inform customers which master of a song/album is being provided, as already mentioned in the very first reply to this thread, by @staticV3 . Why I subscribe to no streaming service. Would be a seemingly easy fix, too. It must already be “in the files” for reasons of licensure.

 

[stoo23]

I actually Still buy CD's !! and Whole Albums from Qobuz,. not Just odd tracks and as mentioned the 'streaming' I do is Only on my PC either Auditioning some new music for later purchase or listening to New unknown unheard artists. I have found Qobuz often have both the Original CD, plus Re-Mastered versions available as well as HiDef versions of a lot of albums.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

I subscribe to Qobuz, but wouldn't dream of purchasing music, additionally from them.
Is the point of purchase extra artist support? Or perhaps, one day I will look for some oft played album, and find it no longer there?

 

[stoo23]

Well I guess yes but I have purchased some real bargains and purchased stuff that is to all intents and purposes Unobtainium or Ridiculously priced as a CD on eBay etc and then the artist doesn't get the extra funds paid to someone ebay, wheras via Qobuz, they will

Like with the Gruppo Sportivo album, it was only ever released as an LP way back in 1980 !!
Bought a great Early 'Modern Jazz Quartet' album "Pyramid", from 1960 that is not available Anywhere !!!

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Can't see Pyramid on Qobuz just now. A 1952 release Modern Jazz Quartet. Seems to be the oldest available recording

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Can't see Pyramid on Qobuz just now. A 1952 release Modern Jazz Quartet. Seems to be the oldest available recording

Ah! I tell a lie!

 

[Eaglesnapper]

I use both Spotify and Qobuz. I use Spotify on the free service to sample albums with a view to decide on a purchase, either downloaded from Qobuz or on CD. So, this isn't a comparison of the two, but a question as to where they source their music?
I was recently chasing Rebel Radio, a 2001 album by Calvin Russell. On Spotify the album exhibits dreadful distortion on tracks 8-12. The samples on Qobuz have exactly the same distortion on the exact same tracks. Coincidentally, I've listened to posts of the album on youtube with the same distortion. An original CD that I have now tracked down shows no such distortion.

 

[Jimbob54]

I use both Spotify and Qobuz. I use Spotify on the free service to sample albums with a view to decide on a purchase, either downloaded from Qobuz or on CD. So, this isn't a comparison of the two, but a question as to where they source their music?
I was recently chasing Rebel Radio, a 2001 album by Calvin Russell. On Spotify the album exhibits dreadful distortion on tracks 8-12. The samples on Qobuz have exactly the same distortion on the exact same tracks. Coincidentally, I've listened to posts of the album on youtube with the same distortion. An original CD that I have now tracked down shows no such distortion.

My simple understanding is that the main services get the bulk of their libraries from the labels /distributors. Likely the same versions/masters to each.

Sounds like for that record, the label has stuffed up and supplied the streaming services with either a duff file or possibly a botched master /release version.

 

[Sal1950]

My simple understanding is that the main services get the bulk of their libraries from the labels /distributors. Likely the same versions/masters to each.

Quite possibly not?
The CD he bought might be a non-loudness war mastering where the streamer could be iron-curtain brick walled.
Sadly the streamers oft seem to have the very worst examples of compressed masters.

 

[Jimbob54]

Quite possibly not?
The CD he bought might be a non-loudness war mastering where the streamer could be iron-curtain brick walled.
Sadly the streamers oft seem to have the very worst examples of compressed masters.

Yes, that's what I mean. But the streamers all seem to have the same versions (or a couple of versions) as each other, but the bought CD could easily be a totally different version. If it's a shit master on Spotify, likely the other services have the same one.

 

[stoo23]

An original CD that I have now tracked down shows no such distortion.

Great to hear !! .... and people keep asking Why I still buy CD's even though I am also a QOBUZ user.
Quite often, it is the Only way to get a copy of an album that Hasn't been inappropriately 'messed with' in the ensuing years !!

I just purchased a 1982 original CD copy of 'Thriller' for $9.20 Aus that has real Dynamic Range and sounds great !!