[borism]

I've been a Tidal (T) subscriber for more than a year and today decided to use a one month free Qobuz (Q) trial and compare the two streaming services. My system includes a mac mini connected by USB to a Sonnet Morpheus DAC (without MQA module).

Both T and Q offer the Beatles Abbey Road (2019 mix), in Masters quality and 24/96 hi-res, respectively. So I decided to compare. My expectation going into this was that I would not be able to hear any consistent difference. However, I was quite surprised.

I do understand that not having an MQA DAC the final unfolding of the masters quality file does not happen and that this may be a disadvantage for Tidal in this comparison.

First, there was a significant difference in volume. Q was consistently louder and I had to turn up my Music First passive preamp 2 notches when playing T files to get about the same loudness, subjectively and by rough measurement through an iPhone app.

There was also a significant difference in sound quality. Q was consistently more detailed. There was better separation of instruments and voices were more fleshed out. Overall, highs were also more present. By comparison music through T seemed slightly more homogenized though in a pleasant, euphonic way. Once heard this difference was present through the entire album. My wife preferred the "smoother" sound of T over the "tinnier" sound of Q. Of note, my LP of the 2009 digital remaster sounded better than either of the streaming services.

I'll have to compare other albums to see if this is just this one example but am interested what experiences others have had.

[Craig B]

The sound quality differences I’ve heard are subtle and inconsistent. So for me it’s a bit of a toss-up in that regard (using a streamer/DAC that does full unfolding). But what’s likely going to tip me in Qobuz’s favor is selection. I find the music I’m looking for more often on Qobuz, to the point that Tidal is effectively serving as a backup for the 1% of the time they have something I want and Qobuz doesn’t. I find myself not even trying Tidal first when I look for music, so after about 18 months with both services, I’m just about to drop them in favor of Qobuz. It’s time for me to pare down.

Oh, and one other thing to consider - purchasing downloads from Qobuz gives you full ownership of the files, whereas I’ve been told that downloads purchased from Tidal won’t play if you don’t have an active account. I stress that’s what I’ve heard; I haven’t confirmed it myself.

[jjss49]

I don't notice any consistent volume difference between Q and T.  I would say Q sounds more solid, more grounded, more full than T, which (in CD resolution) sounds more sizzly and phasey on direct A vs B comparison.  MQA tracks on T vary considerably in SQ quality, some are wonderful, others not so much... I also use a Sonnet Morpheus, with MQA module.

[Letitroll98]

I also ran a comparison, very informal, between Tidal and Qobuz.  I don't have an MQA capable dac so there wasn't full unfolding of MQA on hi res files, which in the end made my decision to go with Q.  I liked the interface on Tidal much better than Qobuz, the sound quality slightly better with Qobuz on redbook, but not something I'd hang my hat on.  I figured why pay more for hi res that I wasn't getting on Tidal.

[mav52]

I think the only way volume differences would be noticed between the two is knowing which copy of the copy these services used to present the music to the end users as we just don't know.   

[borism]

mav - that's interesting about the loudness. I guess I'll have to compare some more files including just CD quality.

I also wonder if people hear a difference streaming T or Q using Roon, Audirvana or something else. I have Pure Music for my iTunes library. There is a stream through mode that has not worked well with T, maybe because of MQA.

[garyalex]

I also ran a comparison, very informal, between Tidal and Qobuz.  I don't have an MQA capable dac so there wasn't full unfolding of MQA on hi res files, which in the end made my decision to go with Q.  I liked the interface on Tidal much better than Qobuz, the sound quality slightly better with Qobuz on redbook, but not something I'd hang my hat on.  I figured why pay more for hi res that I wasn't getting on Tidal.

This was my experience as well.  When comparing Qobuz and Tidal for sound quality I preferred Qobuz.  It seemed warmer to me but not by much.  I went with Qobuz studio quality and have never looked back.  It works well, they usually have the music I'm searching for, and it sounds wonderful.  I don't expect much more than that for what it costs.

[borism]

Well, the plot thickens.

I compared Steely Dan's 'Aja', both in CD quality on Q and T and there was no difference in loudness. There may have been a slight edge in high frequencies as heard by struck cymbals in favor of Q but nothing major.

Then I compared Steely Dan's 'Gaucho' in 24/96 and masters quality and found again major difference in loudness subjectively and measuring 2-5 dB on my iPhone app in favor of Q. There was also the perceived difference in sound quality I heard as described in my first post. T simply sounded "subdued".

To verify, I used a third album - Taron Egerton 'Rocketman' in 24/48 and masters quality. Q was 2-5 dB louder with all the sound quality differences.

So, now I'm wondering what this may be caused by. It could be my Sonnet Morpheus DAC (without MQA module) that handles MQA files in this way. Or, it could be the process of creating MQA files but then I would expect others without an MQA capable DAC to observe something similar.

A puzzle!

[rollo]

  For me and when we demo streaming we exclusively use Qobuz Studio and iPeng not Roon using an iPad. We want sound quality over 3D album info and features we will not use.  Our 2 cents.


charles

[mav52]

mav - that's interesting about the loudness. I guess I'll have to compare some more files including just CD quality.

I also wonder if people hear a difference streaming T or Q using Roon, Audirvana or something else. I have Pure Music for my iTunes library. There is a stream through mode that has not worked well with T, maybe because of MQA.

I'm not a ROON user or Audirvana.  I just stream from either a Lumin D2 or a Lumin T2, using my ipad as a controller, no laptop of desktop involved..

[JDoyle]

I’m currently in the process of switching from Tidal to Qobuz. With Roon, I honestly could not tell a difference in sound quality between the two while playing a few of my favorite tracks. So I’m going to make the switch in favor of Qobuz because it’s less expensive... $100 bucks annually is the savings even though the missing albums in Qobuz are higher than the missing albums in Tidal (so far maybe 1/4 way through my library, about 7-8 albums aren’t available, but I’ve found two albums that Tidal didn’t have), but most are there for both versions.

 Here’s a link I found to request additions:

https://airtable.com/shrWFlthbAGjTSuJu

[richidoo]

Spotify also going hirez "later this year"

[Craig B]

...the missing albums in Qobuz are higher than the missing albums in Tidal...

Lest anyone think that's an absolute, I'll say my experience has been the opposite. It just depends on the music you're after.

[Tom Bombadil]

Spotify also going hirez "later this year"

That is if you consider 16/44 to be "hirez."

[MiamiAngler]

I started streaming about 2 1 /2 years ago and eventually bought a NAD C658.  To begin with I had both Tidal and Qobuz.   After a month I dropped Qobuz in favor of Tidal.   About a. Month ago I upgraded to a Lumin T2 streamer, wow what a difference.  I got another subscription to Qobuz and like it much better now, with the Lumin  app it is very easy to compare  a MQA to a high resolution song.  I’m dropping Tidal.

[ThuanDB]

There was also a significant difference in sound quality. Q was consistently more detailed. There was better separation of instruments and voices were more fleshed out. Overall, highs were also more present. By comparison music through T seemed slightly more homogenized though in a pleasant, euphonic way. Once heard this difference was present through the entire album.

I agree.  Have tried both, dropped T and am staying with Q for at least a year.  DualPC, Windows 2009 Core, Jplay Femto as player software, optimized by AO3.

[Letitroll98]

Ref the loudness issue, it was pointed out by db cooper that using full volume on either of the top two streamers results in clipping.  Sound quality dramatically improved when I dropped the in app volume by a quarter or so.  I didn't measure anything, I just lowered it until the sound was no longer irritating.

[mav52]

I started streaming about 2 1 /2 years ago and eventually bought a NAD C658.  To begin with I had both Tidal and Qobuz.   After a month I dropped Qobuz in favor of Tidal.   About a. Month ago I upgraded to a Lumin T2 streamer, wow what a difference.  I got another subscription to Qobuz and like it much better now, with the Lumin  app it is very easy to compare  a MQA to a high resolution song.  I’m dropping Tidal.

Welcome to the Lumin club, I do enjoy both of mine.

And , Spotify it was announced, that later this year Spotify HiFi will deliver music in CD-quality, lossless audio format to your device..  NO price points as yet. 

[JDoyle]

Lest anyone think that's an absolute, I'll say my experience has been the opposite. It just depends on the music you're after.

Well, for me it’s Jazz... here’s just a few so far, there’s more pro Tidal than pro Qobuz, but as I mentioned, I’m barely getting started.

Qobuz has that Tidal doesn’t:
Bob McAlpine; Only a fool would play that

Tidal has that Qobuz doesn’t:
Joe Bowden; Thank you for listening & Joe Bowden project; Roots...
Mark Kelsey; The Chronicles of Fezziwig
Robi Botos; Diamond
Jonathan Kriesberg; Shadowless
Jake Reed; Reed between the lines