Tidal vs Qobuz in 2024?

[sweetsounds]

My vote goes to Tidal, but it's even less than the Pepsi vs Coke difference.

- good catalog, sound quality, no concerns here
- app is sufficient to me
- TIDAL connect works very well with Lyrion Media Server and others
- works well with Roon (I dropped Roon and use LMS plus Artist information plugin is free and sufficient for me)

 

[Stopeter44]

I'm trying Quboz and hopefully won't need to keep using Tidal. I was not happy with the sound of the MQA albums on Tidal. Many of the albums were in MQA format, with no other option to listen without MQA unless using a different streaming service. Quboz seems to have a good selection of the kind of music I like (jazz, blues, pop), so for now I'm happier with Quboz.

It's Qo-buz. Qobuz vs Tidal ? If it's just streaming you want, it looks like Tidal is at least a neck ahead, on price vs function terms (11€ vs 12,50€ where I am), if you want to buy downloads, too, then Qobuz will at least come up even with Tidal, and maybe pull ahead.

Many Downloads are available at better than used CD prices (These days a used CD comes in at 8-10€ shipped), many Qobuz downloads are available at c. 8€ (example : The most recent Mark Knopfler album "One Deep River" cost me 7,69€ in 24/96). That's with Hifi Sublime @ 200€ per year, so that's 17€ per month.

 

[FZDolfan]

Their Daily Discovery mix of 10 tracks is a regular listen. Qobuz does zero of that last time I looked.

Qobuz has "My Weekly Q" which is a playlist of about 30 tracks based on your listening habits (some artists that you've liked/played mixed with artists you might like) every Friday.

 

[pk500]

Qobuz has "My Weekly Q" which is a playlist of about 30 tracks based on your listening habits (some artists that you've liked/played mixed with artists you might like) every Friday.

Yep. But it's a pale offering compared to Spotify's playlists. I subscribe to Spotify and Qobuz, and Spotify is the undisputed heavyweight champion of algorithmic suggestions.

 

[herr.jemine]

I currently have both services and compare some recordings. In general, Qobuz seems to have more recordings in better quality - Rammstein - Zeit sounds audible on Qobuz, but on Tidal it's muddy - IMHO

 

[Peterinvan]

I am in Canada. I just looked at buying into Qobuz. They want $25 CDN per month. I am only paying $10 for Tidal with up to 24/196 streaming. I lost my motivation to compare the two services.

 

[Cogito]

Right now, it comes down to the size of the library and its diversity. For me, TIDAL wins.

 

[Digital_Thor]

Using Picoreplayer on my RPI with an ALLO digi one hat. Anyone found a way to add Tidal to this combo, or should I just go back to Qobuz, which I know works in Picoreplayer together with my own FLAC files?

 

[pjug]

Anyone using Tidal with android auto? I am a Qobuz user but searching is (I understand why) disabled while driving. Doesn't support voice control. I am reading Tidal supports voice control so I might switch purely for this reason.

Edit: I am doing a Tidal trial. It took a little fiddling, but I got the voice control working with android auto. I think the problem was I wasn't previously using Google Assistant, which I downloaded and then voice worked. I didn't realize it wasn't part of the OS since I already was using some voice control features. Anyway, I then discovered that voice control DOES work with Qobuz. So now I guess I will try Tidal for a while since I paid $2 for the 60 day trial! I have felt that Qobuz is lacking in understanding my listening preferences anyway, maybe too Eurocentric for me. So it will be interesting to see if Tidal is better in this way.

 

[Digital_Thor]

Using Picoreplayer on my RPI with an ALLO digi one hat. Anyone found a way to add Tidal to this combo, or should I just go back to Qobuz, which I know works in Picoreplayer together with my own FLAC files?

Ok.... I must admit... that was easier than I thought
If anyone else has trouble with it, go to your picoreplayer page, go to LMS, then LMS web page, then advanced, then the drop-down menu on the left, chose Tidal and add account. Then it kinda guides you, to login on your Tidal page, where when done, guides you to press link on LMS page, and then device is linked to Tidal... and you're good to go, after a reboot - works perfect here.
I use Squeezer on my phone, to run the picoreplayer - a little tricky sometimes, compared to the browser version and the smaller screen, but mostly good

 

[WillBrink]

Anyone else having these issues? I can't listen to Qobuz as it's dropping out all the time, and it's getting worse. It's a common complaint I see on the forums and such. I'm very close to leaving Qobuz as it's not improving at all. Sounds great and good selection, but the dropouts are too much. I can't get through even a few songs now without a drop off. I don't see similar complaints for other major streaming services. I can't use Amazon HD, so may have to go with Tidal/Roon next.

 

[Hario.ca]

I’m using 2 services.

Apple Music for the family, whole home & mobile.
I’m use Apple hardware & subscribe to Apple One Family so Apple Music is part of the package for the entire family.

Qobuz for my 2 channel setup.
Qubuz plays directly from my Streamer/DAC. No fuss. Perfect for me.

 

[pjug]

Browsing for Jazz albums on Tidal using Roon is very disappointing (path Tidal > Explore > Jazz). You can explore new albums but that's it. I know you can also let Roon do it (path Genres > Jazz) but with Qobuz I am used to doing it both ways because it gives some different results. So on this point I think Qobuz is far ahead.

 

[anotherhobby]

I just noticed that Tidal announced 4 days ago that MQA is gone for good officially starting July 24th. Yay!

https://support.tidal.com/hc/en-us/articles/25876825185425-Upcoming-Changes-to-Audio-Formats

 

[GandalfTheAudiofool]

In the Tidal vs Qobuz matchup, I just opened a Qobuz account a few days ago and like it a lot.

However I've got nothing against Tidal: I'll probably try it too.

One question though: does Tidal allow to buy songs individually, without any DRM restriction, for offline listening with the player of my choice?

 

[Beershaun]

I use and like Tidal. If your question is about sound quality specifically, id say Tidals selection of Dolby Atmos music provides higher dynamic range content than regular lossless streaming. That is the main perceptible difference you will hear between those two services. Provided you have a Dolby Atmos capable setup.

You can check out this website for the comparison and measurements of competing digital services and formats.

Magic of Analog, Vinyl, Digital and Spatial Sound

What is the best edition of an album, vinyl, cassette, digital (CD, SACD, Streaming), in stereo, 5.1, Dolby Atmos or Sony 360 RA? Who has never asked this question?

magicvinyldigital.net

 

[Jimbob54]

.

One question though: does Tidal allow to buy songs individually, without any DRM restriction, for offline listening with the player of my choice?

Don't believe so.

Edit :looks like they did but stopped in 2022 . Don't think it was a comprehensive catalogue though .

 

[GandalfTheAudiofool]

Tidals selection of Dolby Atmos music provides higher dynamic range content than regular lossless streaming. That is the main perceptible difference you will hear between those two services. Provided you have a Dolby Atmos capable setup.

Is Dolby Atmos the Future of Music or a Complicated Fad?

https://www.headphonesty.com/2024/06/dolby-atmos-future-music-complicated-fad/

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[jhwalker]

One big bonus for me is that I still occasionally buy albums for download rather than just streaming. And Qobuz offers a substantial discount for users of their streaming service (usually, their hi-res offerings are cheaper than CD quality with the discount).

So for me, thought Tidal and Qobuz have very similar catalogs, only Qobuz offers the discount on downloads, so it's currently my sole streaming service (though I occasionally use Apple Music, which I get as part of my AppleOne subscription).

 

[Timcognito]

I had both but I was finding that Tidal was more mainstream; rock, contemporary, country indie, rap, oldies and Qobuz less so with more selection in; jazz, classical, acoustic, world (outside USA) and college station off/beat small label stuff. I did like the connect feature on Tidal but dumped it in favor Qobuz because it matched my musical tastes better, and hated MQA. Both sound good.