Qobuz, Tidal, Apple Music… Which one are you using?

So I recently began unsung Roon and I absolutely love it. I love it so much that I am now in a free trial for both Tidal and Qobuz because of their Roon integration.

That said, I THINK I might actually hear a sonic difference between the two and I can’t believe it.

Let me preface all this by saying I think of myself as quite sonically aware. Not critical necessarily, but able to hear and understand differences in sonic attributes. But…I can rarely, if ever, hear differences in lossless vs lossy. let’s say Spotify vs Apple Music, or any bitrates past a certain level, etc if the same mastering source is used.

But I swear I am hearing slight sonic differences when A/B’ing Tidal and Qobuz. And I actually have a preference for one over the other. I’m pretty surprised and still think it might be some sort of placebo or confirmation bias going on deep in there. But either way, I am am perplexed that I’m thinking there’s enough of a difference to prefer one over the other. Interesting.

 

Loving Qobuz but, I've noticed that on the TV the 320 sounds far more dynamic than the CD quality option. This only seems to happen on TV - but perhaps is maybe because my TV Qobuz app is hooked to my AMP + Speakers? Either way, it looks like the CD quality had a loudness filter to it which makes everything to harsh. Anyone else noticed? I can actually crank more the volume and find far more dynamic the 320kbps option through the TV app...

 

Just signed for Qobuz 2 month free trial
I think I will be staying. There are gaps but they have much more than I thought

Driving it with Bubble Upnp

 

Just got Qobuz. Chose it for bit rate options. Qobuz also so far has a wider reaching and eclectic selection. I dig deep into audio incognita from all over the world - did some comparison searches with the other big names and Qobuz won every time . Early 1970s Cambodian rock? Folk pop from Vietnam, Mongolia? Polish 80s new wave? Whatever? Qobuz showed solid search results where the others did not, Amazon, Spotify search very slim pickings. Tidal a lot better search, would be my second choice after Qobuz. No Apple for me, I won't touch Apple or Amazon.

 

Can anyone double check the tv thing Im saying with proper speakers? Curious to see opinions.

 

Which one do you prefer? I am betting Qobuz. All specs similar, this thing may spill over into intangibles. For me, Qobuz has a better "vibe" all around. Maybe because it is French? Tidal next best. Spotify a solid lossy workhorse - neutral, holds its own as a good cheap service outside the bitrate question.

Apple ? Amazon ? Apple bad and Amazon bad - Apple and Amazon are bad vibes, sinister malevolent AI. Watch their bots sniff out this post and retaliate! lol

 

Tidal.

 

I've used all these apps at one time or another. Currently using Spotify due to a 3 months promotion. I think Qobuz is the best sounding of the streaming services.

 

Yeah as a listener of experimental/ambient/drone music I'm really surprised by their catalogue. I've heard so many complaints about gaps that I was expecting to only find 1 album on 3 but I've tested it through and through and I'm really impressed for the most part. They must have massively improved their catalogue in the last few months/years because I don't see all those missing albums people were talking about. Only the Thrill Jockey label is completely missing which is a bummer, but I hope they'll be able to manage a deal someday.

 

Been deciding between Spotty and Q for a while
What Spotty had in the early days persuaded me not to bother as so much missing
Qobuz has that and more these days.
If missing anything I can go to YouTube which has almost everything known to man and woman

 

I use Tidal because it supports "Master" sound and it integrates with my Plex server...if any of the other High Quality services did I would probably try those...

 

Interesting. Will have to side by side them myself.

 

Qobuz -- sq is great without any MQA unfolding and the service dovetails perfectly with Roon.

 

I feel like I hear a tiny bit more instrument separation and fullness with Tidal in my system. But who knows.

 

Three. Tidal for most of the albums, particularly the MQA ones, then Quboz to catch any albums that Tidal did not. They both fit great with Roon. Lastly, I just got Apple Music for Dolby Atmos. May seem like overkill to some, but I was spending a WHOLE lot more when I used to buy CD's.

 

Qobuz

 

Finally decided to subscribe to Apple Music a couple months ago. Loving it so far.

 

I prefer Qobuz, but switched to Apple Music for Dolby Atmos.

 

I've tried almost music streaming service so far

Spotify is my main driver. Good catalog (though some artists like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Will Oldham pulled their music), sounds nice and the UI is top-notch. Playlists are fantastic and the Spotify Connect feature is great. Plays nicely with my Echo devices (though not as nicely as Amazon Music). App is available on every device imaginable.

Apple Music is solid too and I have an android phone that I'm using it on. Lossless audio with dolby atmos, live radio shows, a 24-hour music video channel plus music videos available on demand, the ability to upload 100k personal songs (good for those Dave's Picks) and a great catalog. Apple does everything right. Lots of attention to detail on this app....even little editorials on some albums plus animated album covers. Fancy.

Third is YouTube Music. Lossy audio about the same as Spotify but it sounds very good (256kbps AAC). Great catalog but some weird gaps (lots of Eagles and Bryan Adams music missing). App is fast and looks good but albums are not organized well at all....kind of messy. But here's the kicker....if you search for a song unavailable officially it'll pull up a user-uploaded YouTube version. You can mix in unofficial stuff into playlists. Video content is off the charts and since it integrates with YouTube proper, it's the place to go for anything super obscure. You can also upload 100k personal songs like on Apple.

Amazon Music has great lossless sound, dolby atmos and 360 audio and it works fantastic with Echo devices, however, the android app is a horrorshow. Crashes and freezes way too often. Had to get rid of this one. Has potential if kinks get ironed out but Amazon seems disinterested in doing that.

That's the rundown of the services I am subscribed to now (and one I was).

 

I'd go for the Sublime...but I'm only interested (at the moment, at least) in 16/44.1 downloads, and they don't appear to offer any discounts on those.

I'm locked into Spotify Premium for three reasons: the apps just work, the library has pretty much everything I need, and I'm locked into a grandfathered "Spotify Premium with Hulu" deal which essentially gives me free Hulu with ads ($9.99/mo for both services). Bonus 4th reason: it's just a supplement to my own vast collection of CDs and FLAC files.

What Spotify should do, when they go "Hi-Fi", is up the Premium SQ to 16/44.1 at the same price. But they won't.

 

That's true, but the hi-res download with the discount is cheaper than the CD files, so that's why I subscribe and purchase hi-res downloads. There really isn't any difference to the CD version of course, except the gold stamp lol.

 

If you click on album title options come up. Just checked , 24 bit or 16 bit.

From Qobuz

Qobuz Sublime gives you access to the largest catalog of albums in Hi-Res and CD quality, both for streaming and downloads.

 

Right...but do you get a discounted price on the 16 bit version? As far as I've seen, you only get a discount on the 24 bit version.

 

No, only the hi-res version. As I said they sound the same though so how come you're not interested in the 24 bit version?

 

Tidal Hi-Fi+, although I currently also subscribe to Apple Music because I just got a pair of Sonos 300 and they don't support Atmos from Tidal yet.

If I had to choose between the two, Tidal is the clear winner. Much better user experience than Apple, plus it works with Roon which I also subscribe to.