Tidal or Qobuz or Both?

MtnHam

MtnHam

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Jun 28, 2013
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290
Location
Northern California Coast & San Francisco
I subscribe to Tidal and listen to many different types of music including Classical, Opera/Choral, Country (old/alt), Jazz, Folk, Blues, Bluegrass, Gospel, Rock, etc. and have a large HD library, all played via a Roon/Lumin combo. If I were to subscribe to Qobuz would I likely drop Tidal, or want to keep both?
 
Right now the Tidal library seems a little more complete, but Qobuz is still in the building stage in the US. I dropped Tidal and went with Qobuz Sublime for the hi Rez download discounts, though I'm thinking I may go one tier lower.

Though some believe the Qobuz sound quality may be better, I think they are probably the same, but I haven't spent time methodically comparing-- life is too short.

I do think all the Hi Res Marketing from the streaming services and download stores is mostly hogwash. The sound quality comes down the recording, mixing, Mastering and other steps between the original music and when it reaches yours ears. As Cookie Moreno from Blue Coast Records puts it: "the six steps of degradation."

Well recorded and mastered Redbook is fantastic! The other day I listened to a string quartet that was notable for not sounding like a cat fight. I looked up who mastered this recording and it was none other than Bob Ludwig. That pretty much says it all...
 
I have both.

I mostly listen to classical and jazz. Also some blues, rock and world music.

Qobuz has better jazz, folk and (especially) classical catalogues.
For the occasional gap in Qobuz' collections, I go to Tidal.
I might drop Tidal in the end, and spend the yearly 240€ on purchasing the missing albums.
 
I had planned on dropping Tidal once Qobuz became a reality. Qobuz is still populating music on the site for the USA, it seems. As I explore both services, I’m getting drawn into different artists and music. I have no immediate plans to drop either and will see how everything plays out over the year. Having an unlimited virtual record store at my fingertips is a wonderful thing. I guess I’m a little spoiled with both now and love the variety.

I also have Spotify, Radiotunes, Jazzradio, Pandora and probably one or two others that I’m still paying for but don’t use. I’m going to have to figure out what to get rid of but I use almost all of them in different ways. Even SiriusXM is on my list and love that too. I can’t be without that in my car and love to stream it (with some of the others) at work.
 
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I have a military discount on Tidal, does anyone know if Qobuz offers the same thing. I'm in the U.S. so the Tidal discount may only apply here.
 
My ears can’t tell a difference in sq.
I can be happy with either one, probably go with just one after the trial, but right now it’s fun finding new stuff on Qobuz.
 
I will stick with Tidal for the time being. I don't remember not being able to find something I was looking for. The value is there and so is the SQ.

I haven't ruled out Qobuz but have found no reason to switch, yet.
 
I pop back and forth and use full MQA with Tidal and Hi Res with Quboz, but for some reason I want Quboz to be primary, gonna make a decision at some point to keep only 1.


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Can I just say neither? I simply prefer having all my music loaded on my server. I have hard enough choice on what I want to listen to as it is :)...
 
Randy Myers said:
Can I just say neither? I simply prefer having all my music loaded on my server. I have hard enough choice on what I want to listen to as it is :)...
Click to expand...


Yes you can Randy, but you're missing out on a lot of new discoveries...
 
I dropped Tidal. The heavy emphasis on hip hop and rap crap is a turn off for me. I discovered over this past year with Tidal I wasn't using the service enough to warrant the subscription. I am fortunate to have a very good library of music that I own and have no issues finding music to enjoy every day that exists in my personal collection. I can always re-up my subscription should I find I am missing it, but so far no regrets. I may give Qobuz a whirl if the mood strikes me.
 
I gave Qobuz a 30 day trial but decided against it. Qobuz sounds great but they are still missing a fair number of albums in their catalog. I understand that this is being resolved and it has to do with rights that are still being negotiated. I am keeping Tidal which I access via Roon.
 
jdandy said:
I dropped Tidal. The heavy emphasis on hip hop and rap crap is a turn off for me. I discovered over this past year with Tidal I wasn't using the service enough to warrant the subscription. I am fortunate to have a very good library of music that I own and have no issues finding music to enjoy every day that exists in my personal collection. I can always re-up my subscription should I find I am missing it, but so far no regrets. I may give Qobuz a whirl if the mood strikes me.
Click to expand...

Dan, I can totally see where your coming from. If you have an extensive library, there’s more than enough music over the listening allotment of hours and days.

I don’t know about you, but I would guess 75-80 % of the music I listen to is by the same artists, which I also own and has been since I was in my adolescent years and with system greatness it only enhances the excitement of listening to the artists and tracks I know very well.

Albeit, I do like change and variety but in smaller doses, then comes the fact I’m about tired of hiring people and services having to still be employed despite the allusion of golden handcuffs - hope I didn’t get us too far off


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