Tidal vs Qobuz

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I have a Uniti Atom playing through Focal Aria 926 speakers. I’m very happy with the sound from cd and spotify but have been looking into higher quality streaming- either Tidal or Qobuz. Most reviews seem to favour the sound quality of Qobuz but complaints seem many! Awful customer service, taking money when subscriptions have stopped, limited choice of tracks/albums/artists and limited hi res availability. If you have experienced Tidal and Qobuz please let me know what you think. I really dont want to subscribe to a free trial if they are then going to take money anyway even if I dont want to continue. Thanks, Mark

They don’t take money if you cancel. Don’t know where you’ve heard that. Sounds like scare mongering. It’s great. I would recommended trying it. I’ve always used it through roon - and it’s way better than Tidal. But it’s available direct now. Better than spotify? Not even a question. See for yourself. Try Nils Frahm - All Melody. 24bit on qobuz then compare it to spotify. You’ll see :slight_smile:

I definitely don’t agree with this in respect of 16bit music, but maybe its hi-fi system dependant. As good as - certainly! - but “way better”?

I subscribe to the Tidal streaming service and have never subscribed to the Qobuz streaming service. However, I do normally purchase my downloads from Qobuz, and in my opinion (and on my systems), there is little if any difference between files I have downloaded from Qobuz and the same files streamed from Tidal.

One caveat - Qobuz hi-res is likely to be better than Tidal ‘hi-res’ if you don’t have a good MQA enabled DAC or Roon. Again, on my systems (using an MQA full unfold on one system and a Roon 1st MQA unfold on another), there is little to choose between hi-res files downloaded from Qobuz and MQA masters of the same files on Tidal.

In my case, the choice boils down to which service has the more complete catalogue for my tastes. If my tastes were predominately Classical or Jazz then I may very well have chosen Qobuz. Check their respective catalogues for your taste in music and trial both to check out the sound quality of each on your system, then make your choice.

I should add that I don’t think I have ever had use Tidal’s customer service. I have had one or two issues with Qobuz downloads over the years, but their customer service department has always responded very quickly, and in every case resolved the issue to my complete satisfaction.

1 Like

Thank you so much for your considered reply. I dont think my uniti atom supports mqa and I dont intend to pay for Roon so am I right in thinking that qobuz will probably produce better quality than tidal? My original intention was to trial both tidal and qobuz but the thought of difficulties opting out once the free trial ends put me off.

1 Like

As a Beta tester I’ve been using Qobuz for many weeks and have found it a excellent source for both listening to and discovering new music the quality is very good preferable to Tidal that I tried some time ago.

Regarding payment nothing has been taken out of my account my first payment is due on March the 1st it is easy to look up and follow on the Qobuz website looks as if I got more than the 30 day free trial !!! and I will continue Qobuz for the foreseeable future.

I’ve had a couple of extremely poor experiences with Qobuz customer service in the past, but their current offering seems pretty good, and having had a couple of free trial, they were cancelled with no issues.

I’ve not had any problems with Qobuz. I signed up for a free trial 6 months ago, then cancelled with no issues. Then when they lowered the prices and restructured their subscriptions, I signed up for a year subscription. So far I’m very happy with the service. I’m streaming to a Muso-2 via Daphile and upnp.

1 Like

For sure. You get the option of hi res with Qobuz. Try it out. Then decide for yourself :slight_smile:
You can also get a free trial of Roon, but probably not necessary anyway. I prefer Qobuz over Tidal. They’re both good. But the hi res files are really quite nice :+1:t3:

For me, using Nds/ 555dr, streamed local Qobuz files sound much better vs Tidal. Local files have much more meat on the bones.
You use the Linn Kds1, which apparently give different results.

Better perhaps to continue in the thread already existing » Tidal vs Qobuz « or « Qobuz native integration « , if I may suggest.
It will be easier not to have too many threads on the same subject. Richard already has split 2 in 1. If not we would have 4 similar threads.

I have never had the chance to hear the Atom, so am not sure how much benefit you will obtain from hi-res files. However, from a ‘hi-res’ perspective, the answer probably will be ‘Yes’.

Remember though that the music catalogue and its completeness for your musical tastes is what really matters, and most of what you listen to will probably only be available in CD quality whichever service you use. If you listen primarily to ‘Classical’ or ‘Jazz’ then Qobuz will probably fulfil your requirements well. If not, then make sure you check out their respective music catalogues well before deciding.

It does appear to be different.

I certainly don’t hear anything nearly as dramatic (such as “more meat on the bones”) as you and some other Naim users hear.

It would be interesting to hear if you can replicate these differences on other makes of kit. Similar perhaps I guess as when I (a Naim streamer owner at the time) along with a couple of Linn owners compared FLAC vs WAV files played on my streamer. We could all hear differences of some sort (in a blind test), but could not replicate these findings on either of their systems which at the time used a Linn Klimax Renew (Dynamik) and Linn KDSM.

1 Like

After many trials and harsh feedback, I have always found Qobuz excellent in responses, I had a paid twice and cancelled it easily via the site with no issues.

Been back on a paid Qobuz Studio subscription for 6 months now, only issue to mention was one they fixed app related not playing downloaded content.

1 Like

Yes I agree with you with regard Qobuz streaming over Tidal especially when it comes to Hi Res.
A friend came round this evening and I gave him a blind test on a few tracks, and each time he chose Qobuz and that included 44/16 v 44/16 CD quality

I was comparing local Qobuz files streamed from my Melco vs Tidal online streaming.
Can’t have Qobuz native on nds.

Agreed. I’ve merged this thread with the existing Tidal Vs. Qobuz thread.

1 Like

Looking at the Qobus US website it looks like only one option which is Qobuz Studio Premier for $14.99 a month. Is there are service offered?

No thats their streamlined service…reduced price.

Try the Node 2i using the 272 dac I’m playing more music via Qobuz then local streaming.

1 Like

Thanks, when I looked in the past I thought they had different levels plus a sublime service which discounted on downloads. Possibly different plans for different countries or just a change in direction as they expand.

Perhaps a trial and comparison vs Tidal like others have commented on is a future path since the subscription appears to be cheaper.