I just signed up for Qobuz and logged in through the Kazoo app and it looks like it’s working. Will try it out.
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Tidal Masters is the best I have heard. Just didn’t want the faff of playing it through the Naim app (Unitiqute2) and the cost. So Spotify 320 has sufficed to date. If I had a really high end Naim streamer things may be different…
That is so up to individual chance. Yeah, no Neil Young on Tidal anymore. But on the other hand, a large part of Sonic Youth is missing on Qobuz.
Glad I binned off Tidal, currently listening to Heart of Gold on Spotify.
From my perspective Tidal has the best playlists, but the gaps in the Tidal European catalogue compared to Qobuz was irritating but not a show stopper, and indeed there were gaps the other way round too, but less fir me, but the major lack of true hidef on Tidal holds back its overall SQ, even new releases on 44.1/24 or 48/24 were decimated down to 44.1/16 on Tidal… really disappointing for the music recording lover.
However on baseline PCM (44.1/16) for the same master I concur Qobuz and Tidal sound the same … funnily enough no doubt because you are receiving the same media from both…
I ran both side by side for a while, and curated through Roon… and it was Tidal that I ceased because of some limited content that I wanted but mainly because of limited SQ performance options… even with a DAC that could do full decode of MQA processed media.
I did provide feedback to Tidal questioning their lack of lossless hidef or new basic resolution formats such as lossless 44.1/24 and 48/24 and whether they had plans to make it available… I never even got a reply… so I assumed they are not that interested in customers who want full SQ performance, so I closed the account.
So in summary:
Tidal is good for their playlists, US urban type media and Jazz, and if you have limited and baseline/legacy lossless PCM requirements (they only offer 44.1/16) , or you want MQA processed media.
Qobuz is good for European content including EPs and the edge on classical, but main advantage is overall SQ; it offers PCM (lossless) SQ performance options upto 192/24 and increasingly new content at baseline definition of 44.1/24 and 48/24.
Tidal for choice of some US centric music. Good mobile app
Qobuz for sound quality and Hi-Fi use.
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The Naim Qb 1 can’t play Qobuz directly, as it wasn’t designed to back then … you need a media proxy such as BubbleUPnP server or even Roon (via Airplay) to convert the cloud service into a local streaming service.
Obviously the NDX2 can play Qobuz directly
Thanks Simon
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I also have a QB1 and I use multiroom on my Nova to play Qobuz to it. They are both on the same network and you can mute the Nova (or NDX2 in your case) on the multiroom control. Ideal for Apple avoiders!
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Naim doesn’t support MQA so you won’t get the full “MQA experience “ with it.
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I use Qobuz as I found the SQ superior to other options on my NDX2.
I’ve always found What Hi Fi and What Car to be on a par with one another and ignore both.
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I’m new to Qobuz and it does seem like the sonics are better for me with the dozen or so familiar tracks I’ve been experimenting with. I had no expectation of this so not sure if it’s bias or not. Hopefully I can get back into Tidal so I can compare properly. And I’ve actually found some tracks in Qobuz I couldn’t find in Tidal and there have only been one or two I couldn’t find in Tidal so far. Not the gaps in content I was expecting that’s for sure. But I’ve only just started so we’ll see.
Fwiw, I’m on the Studio Premiere plan, I wasn’t sure if I needed a higher tier to stream hi res or not. I do see hi res albums so hopefully I’m good.
Good info and most comments reflect what I experienced as well. I have never experienced that I couldn’t find a song on Qobuz and almost all songs I listen to are both available on Tidal and Qobuz. Only that Qobuz often has them in high res and Tidal occasionally has Masters.
Sounds like you are good. Yes when I ran both Qobuz and Tidal side by side just over a year ago I found the release libraries were mostly the same, with seemingly Qobuz slightly better for classical and European content, and Tidal had a slightly fuller US urban, Jazz and Rap library… but not much in it either way… certainly very different to say a few years ago where Tidal was hopeless for classical, and Qobuz had many gaps.
One thing I did find, is often where Tidal has a MQA processed file, Qobuz has the equivalent hidef PCM lossless file.
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One annoying feature on Qobuz is it’s search function. Type in an artist it might not pull up all their albums, type in the artist and a “missing” album, and it sometimes is there?
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I’m still not tempted by Qobuz, i ran with it years ago when i was using a laptop into a USB DAC, it’s search function, dropouts and lack of underground music drove me nuts. Ever since i’ve had a new Naim streamer i much prefer Tidal, in it’s user interface and rock solid reliability. Hi-Res is not enough to swing it for me either - i find 16 bit CD quality good enough.
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No issues with dropouts here and not yet found an album I had in Tidal be missing in Qobuz. A lot of stuff happens in a year so not sure how valid your feedback is 
Give it a go again. It’s free to try out.
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I may give it another go someday. I have to say that i do agree with with the reviews of WhatHiFi? though…
Sounds irritating… is that with the Naim app or with Qobuz app?
I use Roon and have not noticed any search issues… and I can put in compound searches and it seems to work well… I would have thought they are the same APIs behind the scenes?
The Naim app