[RoadTripper]

Qobuz distinguishes between CD-Quality and Hi-Res. They don't say a word about DSD. Can I assume my DAC which handles Tidal's FLAC files (and cannot process DSD) can handle what they are calling Hi-Res?

[sts9fan]

Not sure about the "rap" clue you claim to have divined but I am one who believes that every musical genre has worth. In the case of rap, however, I cannot locate said worth. Is that due to my age? My son rather pithily observed the other day that the type of music you prefer is dictated more than anything else by when you turned 20. Could be true.

My mention of rap on Tidal refers only to the clutter they make of their offerings by dominating the home page with things I strive to avoid. I know why they do it. I'm just expressing my displeasure with having to be reminded of its existence. Niggahs & Hoes is not a theme I care to honor, and cannot enjoy. Supposedly the key to understanding Rap's place in music is to realize that the initial C is silent and normally not printed.

I have to agree with your point about the teenager's unawareness of the Beatles. I was born in 1947 and cannot name from memory any band from 1932. Not one.

Was expecting a lot of buzz about Qobuz now that any of us can sign up. Doesn't seem like many have if the forum comments are an accurate reflection. Comparisons to Tidal have been tepid about stating preferences.

Generally speaking, rap is a word “olds” use. The music genre is called
Hiphop.
I feel tidal does not adjust to me as well as Spotify. I have switched to Qobuz and have no regrets. 0.0% chance I will be comparing sound quality.
I agree that

[audioengr]

So I checked out Quboz in my big rig streaming hirez through my Klipsch Gate and in my desktop system straming through my Paradigm PW amp. Setup was a breeze, sign up for an account at quboz, open the DTS-Play Fi app on my tablet, select the "critical listening" mode and the select quboz music service. After entering my password quboz had some suggested selections on the home page. I checked out Norah Jones and Elvis Costello in 24/192 and whoaaa, it sounded brilliant. Next I searched for some redbook tracks and listened to Michael Franks new album, The Music in My Head. I went back and forth between quboz and Tidal and Quboz had the edge in redbook streams in my system. The bass extended a little lower with slightly better dynamics, percussion instruments had their own space in the soundstage and were lifted more distinctly in the mix and voices seemed to have a little more air and clarity.

I checked out The White Album 2018 mix in 24/192 and The Chicago II mix by Stewve Wilson in 24/182. Both sounded fantastic.

Having just setup my home using the DTS Play-Fi ecosystem every component is rez capable from the ground up. Couldn't have been more economical and easier to incorporate a hi rez, whole house, system.

The Klipsch Gate at $30 on Amazon sounds fantastic streaming hirez from Quboz. Just plug it into your current preamp to get started. Here is Quboz's review:

https://www.qobuz.com/ie-en/info/hi-fi/bancs-d-essai/klipsch-gate-a-streamer-with-great179353

Too bad it does not have even a Toslink output.....

Steve N.

[OzarkTom]

Catering to the youth has made me a lot of money over the years. What teenager is not carrying a cell phone listening to music these days?

Some parents cannot say no to their kids.

[witchdoctor]

Too bad it does not have even a Toslink output.....

Steve N.

Hi Steve, I had the same thoughts when I ordered it and almost ordered one of the other streamers in the Play-Fi ecosystem. I considered the Polk Omni P1 at around $100, The DefTech W Adapt for around $300, the Paradigm PW Link (with ARC) for around $200 and even the Mcintosh MB50 for around $2K. They all connect to your network via the Play-Fi app like the Gate. Most of them sell at substantial discounts to MSRP. I wasn't sure if I would like the Play-Fi app so ordered two Gates to be able to stream music from my HT to my kitchen. I was shocked at how good the SQ was. It sounds very analog like to my ears. The tone is more lifelike and I think it is well worth an audition. The review of the Gate posted by Quboz talks a little about the construction of the device if you are curious.

https://play-fi.com/products/

[Todd R]

The wife and myself did some more comparisons. Qobuz does sound a bit better than Tidal, it's clearer and cleaner with more detail. Just have to determine if it's worth it to switch.

[RoadTripper]

I'm switching from Tidal, I think. There is certainly no sound degradation vs. Tidal. The selling point for me is the interface or, more specifically, the search function. I hate Tidal's search function. It just takes forever for it to settle down searching. Until it does you pretty much have to wait. I use the search function all the time. Qobuz is essentially instantaneous.

And the best part is that you can search by label, even if you don't know the label. This is because the info presented on any album contains the label it's on (which you can click on, bringing up everything on that label). And if you do know the label you can search by that as well. I find this just a fantastic feature. I used to work at Rose Records on State Street in Chicago and the store organized everything by label, coordinated with the Schwann catalog.

All I need to pull the trigger is to do a little browsing to make sure the content is as wide as Tidal's is.

[skunark]

Already I've noticed more bands that I like with high-res content when compared to Tidal, so I feel it's worth the additional $5 a month.

Hi-rez plays nicely on the raspberry pi as well, so hopefully these guys stick around for a long while.   

[SFDude]

Just signed up for Qobuz. I am gonna have a hard time even pronouncing it properly! 

I’ve had this issue when streaming Tidal via Roon where there are occasional ticks in the music. I switch over to the same album on Qobuz and no ticks at all. Same bitrate and specs for the source.

Anyone else have similar issues? (Using microRendu into an Exogal Comet DAC.)

If this is a solve, I might switch over after being on Tidal for several years already.

-dave

[Mike-48]

Qobuz distinguishes between CD-Quality and Hi-Res. They don't say a word about DSD. Can I assume my DAC which handles Tidal's FLAC files (and cannot process DSD) can handle what they are calling Hi-Res?

Yes, they send PCM only, not DSD.

[OzarkTom]

 

Just curious, blind folded, can anyone tell the difference between the two services?

[Tyson]

I have both Tidal and Qobuz.  I like the sound of Qobuz better but I just cannot get it to play nice with my Google Chromecast Audio.  Oh well, Tidal's cheaper anyway and still good sounding.

[Branson4020]

Could you describe the issues with Qobuz and your CA? 

[Tyson]

Could you describe the issues with Qobuz and your CA? 

Sure.  I downloaded the Qobuz app to my iPhone and it works OK if I pick a track or album from the home screen.  But if I try to play a track from my saved playlist, it freezes and never plays anything.  And I have to restart the app to unfreeze it.  Sometimes I have to restart the whole phone to unfreeze it.  Which sucks because it sounds great when I can get it to work.  But it's useless to me if I can't play songs from my saved playlist. 

Oh, one other thing that happens - if I leave an album playing and my phone goes to lock screen, all the Qobuz controls freeze up when I unlock it.  Restarting the app doesn't fix it.  Only restarting my phone fixes it. 

AND Qobuz is not gapless playback.  At the end of a track there's a pause, then an annoying pop/crack sound, then the next track plays.  Tidal is not gapless either but the transition sound is a lot less annoying.

OK, that about sums it up!

[nature boy]

I am sticking with TIDAL for the time being. After a month comparing TIDAL with Qobuz, the latter has some quality control issues and I find the music library lacking many of my favorite albums. I also find TIDAL has more robust playlist options, when I'm exploring new music.

Playing albums on Qobuz, the streaming gets "hung up" transitioning between songs regularly. I've got an Intel Core I5 based PC w/ 8G of RAM memory (dedicated music PC running no other apps) and plenty of WiFi bandwidth and signal strength, so I have to place the issue with Qobuz.

In the SQ front, both services sound great. I'll give a slight edge to Qobuz's Hi-Rez studio option. However, my DAC upsamples everything to DSD, so the SQ sifference is pretty negligible in my highly resolving system.

YRMV.

NB

[Tyson]

Sure.  I downloaded the Qobuz app to my iPhone and it works OK if I pick a track or album from the home screen.  But if I try to play a track from my saved playlist, it freezes and never plays anything.  And I have to restart the app to unfreeze it.  Sometimes I have to restart the whole phone to unfreeze it.  Which sucks because it sounds great when I can get it to work.  But it's useless to me if I can't play songs from my saved playlist. 

Oh, one other thing that happens - if I leave an album playing and my phone goes to lock screen, all the Qobuz controls freeze up when I unlock it.  Restarting the app doesn't fix it.  Only restarting my phone fixes it. 

AND Qobuz is not gapless playback.  At the end of a track there's a pause, then an annoying pop/crack sound, then the next track plays.  Tidal is not gapless either but the transition sound is a lot less annoying.

OK, that about sums it up!

I got Qobuz fixed.  The problem was with the playlist itself, not Qobuz.  So I deleted it, and started from scratch.  I use my phone for all streaming, it works well now.  And I'm pretty happy that Qobuz has a far more robust classical library (and a lot more classical hirez albums).  So that's cool.  And it does sound slightly better than Tidal.  So I have cancelled Tidal and I'm pretty happy with Qobuz for the type of music I listen to.  90% classical, 5% Jazz, 5% Rock/Pop. 

Now, the upstairs system is where I do all my streaming.  When it's my week to have my daughter, we will stream "her" music on the upstairs system.  For that I have premium Spotify which has ALL the modern music a 12 year old girl with good taste could ever want  

Anyway, right now it's just me so I've got Ornette Coleman 'The Shape of Jazz to Come" from the hirez Atlantic Years box set and it sounds spectacular.  So I'm really happy with the service.  Maybe spin up some Mahler next....

[sounddog]

I agree - Qobuz has far more hirez classical albums, and many of them helpfully include a pdf of the album's notes about the music and performers. But I am surprised that Tidal seems to have more renaissance and medieval music, including many of the newer albums listed on Robert Aubrey Davis' Millennium of Music programs.