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Tidal vs Qobuz experience

dmac6419

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I guess you have to pick two songs and try to hear the differences, one you know it is supposed to be a really good high quality source.

But still, if one can´t tell the difference, then the choice is about practical usage and wether you want to support the MQA scheme.
I have both too,Qobuz is thin on some content and robust on others,like you said you have to find the right content,same for Tidal,in other words if they have 5 albums find the one that sounds best.
 

Ravix

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For what it's worth, I will probably go with Deezer HiFi, even though I still have to give it a try. After some testing I think I felt like Qobuz sounded better on some song0s than Tidal, espcially with high rates, but the app is just too clunky for my taste, and about Tidal it has some benefits but I'm skeptical about some stuff from their part, notably the MQA scheme and I don't really want to support it.
 

Jim Matthews

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I'm onto Amazon music - already an Amazon prime member.

Qobuz gave me the Qobiznezz.
 

Ravix

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Of course he's a member of this forum ha ha I should have guessed, my bad
 

John O'Shaughnessy

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I recall reading somewhere that even if you stream an MQA track on Tidal, if you select HiFi in the Streaming options of the app (instead of Master), Tidal will just stream the standard CD version of the track.

Maybe someone else can confirm.
I took my TIDAL token from my android phone and plugged it into my music player on my computer (Strawberry Player). It can see what the source is streaming and many songs are FLAC at 24bit 44khz or 48khz... when I am playing the "master". Even still today. So if you are not using their Tidal app it feeds or streams you that. So I can confirm that it's not just the standard CD version, but sometimes it is, so that varies.
 

johnweems

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Interesting thread. Tidal is my favorite streaming music service cuz it has extra Rap content like interviews and music vids and expansive liner notes. Qobuz and Amazon HD are not better than it in my mind. I have been curious about the AudKit Tidizer music converter these days. It is a kind of Tidal music converter. If anyone has more info on this software? I’d like to know if the Tidal-downloaded FLAC files from AudKit are really “lossless”.
 

yanm

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A further stone to the wall: https://goldensound.audio/2021/11/29/tidal-hifi-is-not-lossless/
Does anybody know if that was confirmed somewhere else as well?

I am currently evaluating Qobuz (to replace my present Tidal family subscription). The only downside I would see at the moment is that I cannot control my Bluesound Node via the Qobuz App whereas it is possible to do so via the Tidal App (via “Tidal Connect”). I would need to rely solely on the Bluesound App, which is not the best around.

Sonically speaking, and subjectively speaking, Qobuz seems more agreeable to my ears (less harshness/highs?), but I’ve not ABX‘ed them - I’m not even sure if this is easily doable in a controlled way (given the volume normalisation that’s applied in Tidal - I didn’t found whether Qobuz apply volume normalisation).

Qobuz pluses: larger artist payout (at least a few years ago, not sure now), no MQA, sonically at least as good as Tidal, duo subscription 30% cheaper than Tidal family, not owned by a .com billionaire or a large corporation (good for diversity)

Tidal pluses: App, Tidal Connect
 
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Bernard23

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The qobuz UI is nothing special, and the catalogue is missing tracks that AHD, Spotify and Tidal all have. Otherwise it's good value.
 

MalinYamato

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I have a Tidal student discount but I listen more on Qobuz and may get rid of Tidal, though Tidal is cheaper. Tidal is for those who want black music, rap, and stuff and not for those who want much more refined and musical music.
 
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