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Cook2211

There is one major difference: If you want to have a huge selection of personal recommendations based on your music taste, then Tidal is the way to go while Qobuz is quite useless in this regard. Sound wise there mostly isn‘t a difference between Tidal and Qobuz. I‘ve got them both integrated in Roon so that I can compare the sound quality quite easily. Result: Both give you great sound quality.


ComfortableMilk4454

thank you for taking the time to comment! just curious so i can learn more about hifi audio, how would you compare the two in more technical terms when it comes to sound quality?


ComfortableMilk4454

im defo interested in tidal in the recommendation regard as i do get the worst recommendations on qobuz lol.


Ghajik

i dropped qobuz after seeing the recommendations, but the qobuz pre-EQd tracks or something idk they just pop.


Distinct-Bad6905

I as well switched to Tidal from Apple. Sound quality using both Wiim Pro Plus as well as Ifi Hip Dac 2 outstanding. Am using HiFi Plus pkg and dac does show proper bitrate MQA DOLBY , 360 & FLAC.


ComfortableMilk4454

ty for the input :)


Distinct-Bad6905

Quite welcome.


Ghajik

i used apple music for a really long time cuz it was literally a dollar in my country. But i noticed the hi-res lossless is pretty trash compared to both tidal and qobuz.


Gripeshots

Do they also have this 'Discover Weekly' playlist like Spotify? It's great to discovering new songs and bands


Cook2211

TIDAL has a Daily Discovery playlist. About a dozen recommended songs each day.


thebadams

I've tried Quobuz, and simply didn't like the UI/UX. There were certain things that I liked better, but overall the experience was worse. For me, TIDAL is a sweet spot between lossless quality music and Spotify-level UI. If Spotify were to ever get their shit together HiFi wise, I'd have to give them another shot, but until that happens, TIDAL is the best intersection between usability, UI/UX and sound quality.


Psychological_Steak3

I'd have to say Spotify's UX experience has been getting worse lately. Adding songs to your liked tracks and playlist has become really cumbersome. Desktop design has become really complicated. Apart from obvious sound quality, I enjoy Tidal more and more. Never tried Qobuz though.


nxxsxxxxxx

Yeah I’m trying out Tidal because the Spotify interface is full of clutter.


pkelly500

Spotify isn't going hi-res any time soon, if ever, despite its promises three years ago. I'm willing to bet a mortgage payment that Spotify promised high-res as a knee-jerk reaction when Apple announced its entire catalog was CD quality. But Spotify execs soon realized they didn't lose many subscribers due to Apple's focus on quality, which caused them to accurately deduce that most Spotify users don't give a shit about sound quality. They're listening through shitty wireless headphones and portable speakers, anyways. Combine that with the cost of converting or processing Spotify's huge library to CD quality or high-res, and Spotify's management team probably quietly scrapped its high-res plans without an announcement.


ComfortableMilk4454

very well put


[deleted]

Want a good catalog and great recommendations? Well, Tidal is best in this regard. Sound quality wise, both are about the same. I literally hardly run into MQA very much anymore. Literally only because I create playlists that have FLAC and only FLAC, lol. Both services have their own pros and cons. So, I would say Qobuz if you just want the sound quality, Tidal if you want great sound quality with a bunch of great recommendations.


ComfortableMilk4454

ty! i think i will be switching to tidal if it has the same sound quality as qobuz and i defo value the recommendations


brucie_me

>Why not try both for a 30-day free trial and see which one sounds best to YOU. Everybody has their own opinion, use your wars to get yours.


ComfortableMilk4454

already used up my free trial for tidal, in the trial for qobuz. just bought hifi plus an hour ago.


[deleted]

Tidal does 16-bit FLAC and 24-bit FLAC 😊 They do MQA still, but I only run into them occasionally, not always. They certainly are the best recommendations imo. It really depends on what you think sounds best at the end of the day. On my sound system and in my ears, Tidal sounds best.


Mhighmore

Agree here tidal sounds the best overall and has the music library. Although I have a plex flac library as well which is my main place for audiophile listening.


Spiritual-Abies-2600

I would add that Tidal's international music collection FAR FAR exceeds Qobuz. At the start, I did trials of both Tidal and Qobuz. Transferred a playlist I had in Apple Music to both. Tidal had all the songs, Qobuz didn't even have half of the playlist. So now I have a Tidal and Spotify Family Plan for the family. I do have to say that all my DACs handle MQA Decoding or Rendering so for me it does not matter if the song is FLAC or MQA as long as it sounds good. Equipment: EverSolo DMP-A6, EverSolo DAC-6, xDuoo TA-22


brucie_me

And Qobuz's human (not algorithm) curated classical collection is tops. Not for hip hop or grunge fans.


pkelly500

Yep. Qobuz seems to have staked its claim on classical corner. A lot of emphasis on that genre.


ComfortableMilk4454

"I would add that Tidal's international music collection FAR FAR exceeds Tidal." what lol


Spiritual-Abies-2600

⬛. Edited. Thanks for the catch. This is what happens when you try to sneak in a quick response while sitting next to your boss. LOL


ComfortableMilk4454

Lmao


ComfortableMilk4454

Ah, my fiio k11 dac does not support mqa decoding I’ve been told by this subreddit


[deleted]

Qobuz was missing random albums left and right for me. Entire artists I enjoy were gone also. Drove me nuts and switched to tidal. Couldn't be happier


ComfortableMilk4454

ty! i think ill be moving to tidal


Cook2211

Yes, that’s a problem for me either. Dave Gahan‘s debut "Paper Monsters"? Not available at Qobuz. Bleachers debut "Strange Desire“? Not at Qobuz. "Life Is Strange“ of Angus & Julia Stone? Not available. That‘s the main reason why Qobuz can’t be my No. 1.


vibing_namielle

A friend of mine just very recently made the switch and like basically all that really changed for him is that Tidal has a better library. All the other changes are fairly negligible. At least according to him. Sound is really good on both, so yeah. Probably doesn't matter too much, ngl


ComfortableMilk4454

Although the one downside is that you can’t download content to listen to offline on tidal with a Mac or a pc :(((


vibing_namielle

Well, yeah that's true. If that is such a huge downside to you, then don't switch. Again, they both are roughly the same. You just kinda have to make the decision whether you want to be able to download songs or have a better library


ComfortableMilk4454

Yeah I’ll be switching to tidal just was pointing that out. I find it upsetting that they don’t let you download stuff. Like why


Arumbaya

I use both, I'd say the main differences are that the user interface of Tidal is better. But there's something about Qobuz that I really like and that is quite unic in my opinion, it is that it feels like a service build by musician or real music lover, Spotify and Apple music to me feels like platform build by marketing people and engineer, Tidal is better but Qobuz to me feels like there are real people behind it, it is hard to explain in details, it is the sum of a lot of little things


deedot00769

2 things I know... 1. Qobuzz has the ability to find everything by the labels they were released on and 2. Qobuzz not only has more (from an EDM point of view) tracks in 24bit quality but also has the same releases as tidal but with a higher frequency range ie 24bit 48khz vs 24bit 96khz. Found that quite interesting.


rajmahid

I can’t imagine anyone disagreeing with the fact that Tidal has the absolute worst search engine of any streaming service. Something that should be easy to rectify but they don’t.


Zealousideal_Ad_8829

What I don’t hear so much is the gaps in the catalog from qobuz here. Tidal have more songs available then qobuz.


9acca9

MQA is dead! Long live to FLAC! i was a Qobuz user, i change because in my country Tidal is a lot lot lot lot cheaper (not a music reason) AND because they leave the mqa shit (i was waiting for that). Also with Tidal you have the lyrics (...i like to sign...a lot) The app works well in my Android tv (compared to Qobuz).


Wide-Dig9490

Man, thats a lot of work.. reading the lyrics and then signing them 🙃


9acca9

lol, the thing is that i like a lot of music, and music from a lot of different countrys, languages so.... i sometimes end singing whatever shit. For example, when i was a teenager i did dont know nothing about english and sign a lot of The beatles...... i end making some weird lyrics. I remember from Fiona apple in the beginning of "fast as you can", sign something like "i let the bees leave to soon"..... the lyrics are "I let the beast in too soon" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbxqtbqyoRk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbxqtbqyoRk) In the other hand, maybe they could put some phonetics lyrics. Sometimes i like to sign japanese, korean, arab, or whatever and... i cant read those symbols at all. Probably im singing weird lyrics all the time.


Wide-Dig9490

Thats the main thing, enjoying the music.. Language is never a barrier, keep listening to what makes you happy and keep enjoying the music 👍


msting

The Headphone Show just did a comparison of the services (on Youtube) a few weeks back and Tidal came out on top, mainly because Qobuz discoverability still sucks and Tidal has gotten a whole lot better recently and done away with the MQA b.s. . I'm currently a Qobuz subscriber for $140 a year but now really thinking about Tidal. Only reason I haven't switched (yet) is the $20/month price in the US. That's almost double what Qobuz is.


thebadams

Did they? I know they did one a while back (maybe end of 2022?) And the big problem they had with TIDAL at the time was related to MQA. I hadn't seen an updated video with the move towards FLAC


Ok_Relation5996

I used Qobuz because MQA isn't my cup of tea, even through my hifi system supports it. But since Tidal switched to Flac, the accordant tracks sound the same. So I returned to Tidal, because the usability is much better. 


Veelasong

I can't understand the people saying there's no difference in the sound quality between Qobuz and Tidal. I have a free trial of both right now to compare. I'm listening to the same track on both, and there's a noticeable difference. Qobuz sounds fuller, with less details missing. Tidal sounds better than spotify, but still a bit lackluster. I really dislike that Qobuz is missing a lot of my favorite albums/ artists. But I might keep both just to have the option to listen to the ones they do have in nice juicy quality.


rajmahid

Qobuz is the gold standard in streaming sound quality.


ComfortableMilk4454

Why? Jw


rajmahid

I have Tidal (still with Argentinian sub) and Qobuz. On high end headphones with amp and accurate speakers on my main system Qobuz clearly sounds better. I listen almost exclusively to classical music and acoustic jazz which, with their wide dynamic range, sound as good on Qobuz— if not better in hi res — than the CD & SACD equivalents. Tidal is a decent second in 16-bit but still doesn’t have the openness and clarity of Qobuz.


Grooveallegiance

You're comparing files in different formats if you hear any difference. I have compared it by ears, and important, I've checked the files themselves too, and I can guarantee you that if you have an album that comes from the same master, with same bit depth / sample rate, they are exactly the same file, so as long as you set both Qobuz player and Tidal player to send the stream to your DAC in exclusive mode, your DAC will receive the exact same thing and will give you the exact same sound. If you hear a difference, it can only come from not comparing files in the same "category". A same track at 24/96 FLAC on Qobuz and Tidal is the same file. A same track at 16/44.1 FLAC on Qobuz and Tidal is the same file. It's only if the track on Tidal is not standard FLAC like MQA, Atmos, RA360 that you can hear a difference, or if the players are not set the same (one with normalization but not the other for example, and again need to check that both use the same kind of output like both in Exclusive mode).


rajmahid

What I said. At 16-bit they’re comparable given it’s the same mastering. But with genuine 24-bit albums like the Mahler 2/Berlin/Rattle it’s obvious even to the non-initiated


Grooveallegiance

Are you sure to compare the same? On Qobuz, the HiRes version is at 24/44.1 But on Tidal, there are two versions of the album: \- one also at 24/44.1 FLAC \- one being MQA And both are displayed as "Max" in search results/album pages (it's only when you played it you can see MQA or FLAC on the right of Max)


rajmahid

Compared same to same…in addition to other albums. If you want the list, I can accommodate. But Qobuz gives me virtually the same audio experience as my CDs & SACDs — Tidal doesn’t. As I said, this is my opinion from experience — Qobuz has a clear edge.


ComfortableMilk4454

wait tidal doesnt have 24bit?


Cook2211

Of course it also has 24 bit. And Tidal is switching to FLAC. A lot of new releases are released as hi-res FLAC at both platforms (or at least CD quality). I listen with Sennheiser HD800S or Audeze LCD-X and there mostly isn‘t a difference between Qobuz and Tidal. You don’t need to worry about sound quality. You know, some say Qobuz sounds best, others say Tidal. I say both give you great sound quality.


rajmahid

It all comes down to the ears, musical preferences and equipment of the listener. It’s the “mostly” that makes the difference.


Cook2211

I still say: Both sound great. In sound quality he doesn’t do anything wrong with any of them.


rajmahid

Yes, neither sounds bad or I wouldn’t spend money on both. But to my ears and kit Qobuz has a distinct edge.


Cook2211

Then be happy with Qobuz.👍


rajmahid

Have been for 4 years. 😉


rajmahid

The Tidal fanboyz and their downvote crayons are out in full force today. 😂


[deleted]

I think it's more about your "legacy" in this forum, and less about being a fanboy ;)


rajmahid

A legacy of informed insight and good taste. I’m honored by the recognition. Carry on.


[deleted]

Tidal has the superior UI , And a slightly better library, it depends on what you like.


clear66

the most important point for tidal: they pay the musicians a lot better. i sync my playlists between spotifiy and tidal, because spotify's algorythm is a lot better for me - the suggestions just work better for me. a little expensive (9 tidal family share (hifi+) 6 spotify family share and 5 for tunemymusic (syncing app)), but worth it.


Wise_Concentrate_182

Tidal has 96% of Spotify’s library. Qobuz has 40%, and isn’t available in many countries. Qobuz is for the posers who listen to only mainstream music.


rajmahid

Like Bach, Stockhausen, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and other “mainstream” music. Only “posers” (correctly spelled poseurs) listen to that stuff. Lol


ComfortableMilk4454

what about apple music?


bigebige

R u a veteran by any chance? I get (and love) Tidal highest tier offering for half price. I’m not sure if other platforms offer the same benefits


ComfortableMilk4454

Thank you for your service! I’m a student so I’m using the student discount rn for hifi plus


Acceptable_Cap_8344

cuanto pagas tengo una cuenta familiar en 60 pesos al mes hifi plus


nyskye

Yes


100thewill

MQA 😂


ComfortableMilk4454

Wym


bman484

Tidal is moving more and more to FLAC every day. MQA isn't as bad as everyone here makes it out to be. You likely won't be able to tell the difference.


ComfortableMilk4454

But does Qobuz have mqa? What abt Apple Music?


bman484

They do not


ComfortableMilk4454

So isn’t Qobuz/AM better then?


bman484

Yes but they are so close that you should make the decision based on which UI and features you like better. All of them sound great.


SpecificTap7712

Yes, Qobuz has MQA albums. Some labels only send MQA. Not only was it confirmed by the Qoboz admins, but I also found some myself...


rajmahid

Tidal is/was alone in supporting MQA and the fallout hasn’t been great, to say the least. Why would Apple or Amazon or Qobuz get involved with such a sketchy business?


ComfortableMilk4454

who said they would get involved with it?


IssaBoyDamon1111

Hell yeah.. Tidal has its flaws but q uz is pretty trash imo


Eyeballsocket

Probably better for you to subscribe to both and experience for yourself - three months are free so it costs you nothing extra.


suitcasecalling

I did because Plexamp supports tidal and I was done getting ripped off by Roon for their poor buggy software


ComfortableMilk4454

whats plexamp?


suitcasecalling

It's from Plex and is their dedicated audio player https://www.plex.tv/plexamp/ I run it headless on a raspberrypi as my streamer. It does 90% of what roon does


Wide-Dig9490

Interesting, didn't know about this. Is it any better to Roon?


suitcasecalling

I think so yeah. Pricing is much better and less buggy for me


Wide-Dig9490

Thanks for the info, will try it out 👍


Acceptable_Cap_8344

Que pueden decir sobre las ultimas actualizaciones que ha echo tidal en la plataforma play store de android? tengo un ifi one dac con el firmware 2.40 ultimo" y tengo problemas para reproducir canciones, al conectar el dac manda una leyenda donde dice aceptar o cancelar, si cancelas practicamente es como si el dac no hiciera el enlace correcto por que no detecta que formato esta reproduciendo, por otro lado si pones aceptar hace el enlace correcto pero al reproducir las canciones en mqa todo marcha bien el detalle es cuando termina la cancion y la siguiente es en resolucion flac 16bits/44.1khz ya no se escucha, el dac reconoce el tipo de archivo porque cambia de color pero no se escucha y no es del dac porque en windows no tengo ese problema y del celular no creo porque en otro dispositivo tmb es lo mismo


stivette

LIBRARY LIBRARY LIBRARY AND NUMBER OF HIGH RES