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Tidal vs Quobuz

Yes I realize the Qobuz is misspelled in the title but I can’t figure out how to update it.  Relax.  
I’ve been a die hard advocate of MqA and Tidal for the last few years. All of my source, preamp, and dac purchased had the prerequisite that they must be MqA compatible. Today, I tried Qobuz for the first time and I’m blown away by the selection of 24bit 96khz files compared to Tidal.
Here’s an example: Was very excited that the band Tool FINALLY added their collection to streaming services. All of the albums on Tidal are CD quality. So I was going to purchase them in higher fidelity on HD Tracks, but learned that Qobuz had them at the highest fidelity. Couldn’t believe it. Same with many other artists/albums I love.

Now is there an improvement in sound quality? No not really. Is the Qobux UX any better? No, in fact it’s slower. But do I get the best quality content for the same price? Yes. Will I subscribe to both? Yes.
System:

Lumin D2 -> Parasound P6 -> Elac Navis ARF 51’s. Fully balanced set up (Nordost) with AQ power cables.
helloitsben

Showing 1 response by helloitsben

helloitsben OP
14 posts
 
Quohbuzz haha.  Really good input from everyone, thanks for turning this into a good thread!  
I’m an exclusive streamer because of the convenience and how many new artists/songs/albums I’m able to discover.  Honestly if it weren’t for streaming I would have never gotten into jazz the way I have in the last year.  
The lesson I have learned from my HiFi journey that started only about 2 years ago is that to my ears, the music can only sound as good as the original source (cables, mics, studio acoustics, amps, mix, mastering, etc). I have found that each service from Amazon to Quohbusz (lol) sounds good and the benefit of the high res is hardly noticeable (again only to my ears).  Instead of dropping huge cash on a really expensive ($5k+) streamer Id rather make improvements to the speakers and power amplifiers, that’s where you actually get perceive sound changes.  My option.  
What a fun hobby this is!


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