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Qobus or Tidal for older folks like me ??

Moved from Google Play (MP3 quality) to Qobuz (CD quality) last month in order to get integration with the Linn app. Happy so far but the family's listening is mainstream pop/rock. Sound has improved as expected.
 
I get what some are saying ref cds.

I ripped my collection to a server (all be it a good one). I was finding before this that I played the same few, and not some of the others in my collection. I am now playing previously ignored music. With the addition of Roon/Qobuz, I then been led to differing genres and artists. Roon, in particular, is for me very easy to use.

I’ve also restricted the purchase of cds, and haven’t purchased any since getting the Innuos etc.

Sq for me hasn’t suffered, but I’ll see how I go once the new kit is settled in.

I accept it isn’t for everyone, but for me it’s been a positive experience.
 
I am 72, so old enough to just play Vinyl and a few CD's. Next year I will be old enough to finally give Wax Cylinders a home trail. ;)
 
poco a poco said:
I am 72, so old enough to just play Vinyl and a few CD's. Next year I will be old enough to finally give Wax Cylinders a home trail. ;)
Click to expand...

I can highly recommend them. Best thing I did since ditching the Kindle for clay tablets - I feel so much more connected withe literature now.... :)

To the OP - I also use Qobuz with Roon and find it a very good combination, enjoying the integration of my own library and the online library. I also prefer the sound of Qobuz to Tidal and find their new music highlights section more relevant to my tastes.
 
To the OP, wouldn't free Qobuz and Tidal trials (not that difficult to get in my experience) be the most effective means to answer the question?
 
I really like Qobuz, I prefer it soundwise to Tidal which to me has something very wrong with it. I’ve only used Tidal via AirPlay though. I’m using Qobuz via Volumio and a Raspberry Pi, I like the genuine hi-res stuff, and as a classical/jazz listener, it’s good how so much interesting stuff is on there. I also found the new releases part of Tidal unsatisfying. I like how on Qobuz I can investigate by genre, and don’t get music I’m not interested in thrust upon me.
Of the two apps I much prefer Qobuz with its digital booklets, opportunities to ‘explore the label’ and above all its improved sound quality.
 
I have used Spotify Premium, Tidal and Qobuz and have found the differences in SQ marginal at best - I'm using a Linn Akurate Kontrol and a plethora of digital streaming devices, so stuff that should be able to dig this headroom out.

However, Spotify is so far ahead in terms of algorithmic recommendations, exhaustive catalogue, the ease of offline use, working with Pi Player plugins and app stability that I will be cancelling my subs to the other two very shortly. It also streams in the car far better over 4g.

It's also worth noting that when using a iOS or android remote and a streamer using the google cast protocol, like a CCA, Spotify premium is downsampled to 128 kbps AAC. So, whilst far better than 128kbps MP3, will never sound as good as either Tidal or Qobuz on such devices. Something to do with the restrictions on the use of the cast protocol and, surely, nothing to do with Google denigrating the competing Spotify service?
 
Andrew C! said:
I get what some are saying ref cds.

I ripped my collection to a server (all be it a good one). I was finding before this that I played the same few, and not some of the others in my collection. I am now playing previously ignored music. With the addition of Roon/Qobuz, I then been led to differing genres and artists. Roon, in particular, is for me very easy to use.

I’ve also restricted the purchase of cds, and haven’t purchased any since getting the Innuos etc.

Sq for me hasn’t suffered, but I’ll see how I go once the new kit is settled in.

I accept it isn’t for everyone, but for me it’s been a positive experience.
Click to expand...
I ripped my collection 13 years ago. I now seem to only listen to Funkadelic and Neil Young. :)
 
Trouble with vinyl as you get older is that you forget why you got up out of your armchair. And even if you do manage to get the Zimmer frame over to the gramophone and can see what you are doing, chances of getting the stylus down on any groove are pretty low. And even if you manage that, by the time you do get back to your armchair you’ve missed half the music. Still, getting old is better than the alternative.
 
I also ripped my CD collection several years ago.
Since joining Qobuz a few months back, I almost never listen to the ripped music as I can get all of it, and much more through Qobuz..
 
I've used Spotify but it was a while back so I mis-remembered that it was AAC. It's adequate in the absence of lossless but still a long way off - even in the Qb. I can't fault the wealth of material though.
 
I have subscribed to Tidal, Spotify and currently Qobuz studio. In my system, Qobuz is the best I have heard and has the music I love, but to be honest you need a pretty expensive system to hear the differences......
 
Well I have a Spotify family account, Tidal and Qobuz.

Spotify mainly for the car and the kids.

Through Roon you get a good feeling for the differences in Tidal and Qobuz catalogues and it’s surprising how may (well 15- 20% probably) albums are just on one of the platforms. For me it’s worth having both and having such a vast collection available to me.

CD purchases are now nearly exclusively at gigs or second hand.

It is just such a great time to be a music fan (probably not such a good time to be a musician). I’m currently listening to Rockpile and Dave and Nick’s “Rockpile” albums and when you take a step back it’s pretty amazing to have such music in such quality available so easily.

.sjb
 
I think there is a very obvious difference in sound quality between Spotify and the higher resolutions of Qobuz or Tidal.
 
I have now dropped Tidal in favour of Qobuz. Qobuz offers better SQ and has a more in depth range, for me. Also, Tidal has many drop outs, which I don't experience with Qobuz. Plus, albums on Tidal have a tendency to become 'greyed' out (i.e. you have them in your favourites, go to listen to them, find them 'greyed' [but still in list] but not playable. Probably something to do with rights issues changing, or some such. Never had that problem with Qobuz.

Having said that, CDs played on my system offer undoubtedly higher sound quality. I've done direct comparisons between locally ripped FLAC files, Qobuz and Tidal FLACa and the CD (all of the same recording). CD tops the list every time. To be honest, I now have gone back almost exclusively to CDs. I may well drop Qobuz and spend the £300 a year on CDs that are mine forever. Apple Music is fine for discovering new music and using whilst away from home. Even the new music thing is now losing its allure; I have many, many thousands of CDs, most of which have great music on them. As it is, I'm not sure I've sufficient time left to listen to them all, so why bother with anything new?
 
ROON allows you to examine the signal path both Tidal and Quboz are bit perfect unless you choose them not to be, I can’t detect any difference in sound quality when switching between two identical releases, and no difference from the same CD ripped played through the same dac, no drop outs from either service.
Keith
 
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