Has anyone compared Qobuz Studio (£25pm) vs Tidal HiFi (£20pm)?
Is there a consistent audible difference for the same recordings through a 272 or other Naim kit?
If so, please describe the difference you found.
thanks
Jim
I have noticed no difference on my Atom for CD quality streams for MQA vs HiRes has some differences and some I prefer MQA some I prefer the Qobuz, But as you cant use MQA with a 272 then you would get the higher res streams with Qobuz.
1 Like
I just cancelled my Qobuz Studio after barely a month, for me it is better, i think Tidal do mess around with the music, at the moment i have gone back to Tidal (but my Qobuz runs out in 10 days) so i still flip flop.
For me the big reason was the Qobuz catalogue is weak, if you like Classic/Jazz then Qobux is good, but Tidal does all that and loads of USA centric music (not for me) and no Car integration (Car Play - Android Auto).
I transcode Qobuz to WAV and also Tidal Masters to WAV.
There is a free 30 day trial
1 Like
It’s catalogue was the reason I don’t use it, does not cover as much of my tastes as Tidal. I had sublime + for three months on trial and used it very little so let it slide. Could not even find enough discounted hires to make it worthwhile. Don’t believe their hype on saving money as a lot of labels had no discount or was vastly overpriced to begin with.
Recall another reason, i frequently find with Qobuz tracks disappear and just leave a short sample ???
I heard is has to do with royalty shares or deals with labels, if not negotiated they lose the right.
To be clear to me Qobuz does sound better when you can find 24bit, again available catalog is poor.
1 Like
Ah - that’s what I thought - that Qobuz Studio does sound better than Tidal HiFi.
Is it better in a specific ways, or just generally clearer? Please describe the difference you found.
And can you say how much better?
thanks
Jim
Simplest way I would describe it is Qobuz just sounds natural and engaging, whereas Tidal sounds processed.
I recall sometime ago everything on Tidal just sounded overblown LF, almost as if they mess around with it, then back.
Again best way is to take a free trial and compare.
2 Likes
cant say i have had that from Tidal. I dont use Naims implementation of it though, been through Roon and SqueeezBox before that. I did not hear any significant differences between the two services either apart from HiRes MQA and Hires PCM.
Qobuz SQ is very good and the app can be accessed in many way on Naim streamers.
Qobuz catalogue range is wide and diverse, I have not found it limiting in anyway. I can’t even keep up with the new releases made available each week across all their genre, even when listening for several hours a day.
1 Like
I agree with this, I have Qobuz and at the moment a Tidal trial. I always end up using Qobuz as when I’m listening to Tidal I’m always fidgeting or flicking on to the next song. Once I’m using Qobuz, I just start enjoying the music.
I have been using Qobuz HiFi (£20pm) for around three years and thought that to be better than Tidal HiFi (sound quality wise). I have recently upgraded to Studio (25pm) and even though the Hi-Res catalogue is limited I have found a general uplift in sound quality all round. I’m sure all my favourite’s list is sounding better than ever. In fact, it’s so good that i’m even debating whether or not to go ahead with a Naim streamer now. I will have to home trial a ND5 XS 2 to find out but i’m a little doubtful, if i’m honest now.
2 Likes
Hi Crystal
How did you manage to get Qobuz Sublime+ for 3 months on trial?
thanks
Jim
The had an offer running called CEDIA in October just entered the code CEDIA and that was it. I have had a Qobuz account for years as I used it before Tidal even then I found there catalogue week for my tastes. I just use it now for purchases when they have offers.
1 Like
The real bargains on Qobuz seem to be available to non-subscribers too, so are you sure it’s worth £20 a month?
I used to buy quite a bit of Hi Res from Qobuz but since getting the sublime package and being able to stream via bubbleupnp I see little point in buying unless it’s something I really want in my library, the SQ is the same to my ears. Indeed my purchases now tend to be used CDs to rip where there are excellent bargains to be had.
I am currently considering Audirvana plus 3 to get everything in the same place and assess Tidal MQA although if I don’t rate that I will probably ditch Tidal. Just waiting to see if Roon introduces Qobuz compatibility.
1 Like
I don’t subscribe I just have an account and no I did not think the cost of sublime + is worth it. Well it wouldn’t for me anyway. in 3 months I had the trial I only found 4 albums that I wanted that had a decent discount. It’s just a con and they make it all back from stupidly high price of cd quality titles.
I think I will wait for Qobuz to be integrated “native” into the new streamers presumably with a firmware update before I try
Don’t hold your breath.
1 Like
It depends on what CDs. I’m finding that i’m having to spend quite a lot on specialist CDs, even second hand, much higher than popular Hi-Res downloads, but you’re right, commercial music is cheap on CD. You can’t find these specialist albums on streaming services so this is the one thing that will swing it for me in getting a dedicated streamer. A lot of the music I listen to is very rare these days, even on a physical format. No easy answer for me, unless Naim’s ND5 XS 2 blows my socks off, puts them in the washing machine, throws me against the wall and says - “you’re having me or else”.
2 Likes
So does anyone know whether Audirvana 3+ completes the 1st MQA unfold - and does this make any difference to the SQ of Tidal MQA files via a 272?
The note on their site says:
- Non MQA capable audio devices to benefit from the high resolution (doubled sample rate compared to the encoded file one) thanks to the MQA decoder integrated in Audirvana Plus 3. In this case, Audirvana Plus brings, in addition to the general Sound Quality improvement, the decoding of the MQA file that would be played only at little above CD quality otherwise, losing all its high resolution benefits. Note that decoding the signal beyond twice the sampling rate of the encoded file (for the few rare recordings actually made above 96kHz) can only be done in a DAC MQA.