Differences in YouTube, Spotify, etc.


What music streaming service do most members use, and why?

128x128rickguild

Qobuz, because it sounds best.

My ranking of streaming service sound quality 

(as of November 2020)

1. Qobuz

2. Primephonic - now acquired by Apple

3. Spotify Premium (320 kbps Ogg Vorbis which is not lossless) - sounds surprisingly decent to me. It's shortcomings are error of omission rather than error of commission

4. IDAGIO

5. Amazon HD

6 Tidal

i use Qobuz and Tidal equally, usually one sounds better than the other and sometimes one will have the music I’m looking for while the other does not. Tidal’s MQA titles can be hit or miss but sometimes it’s just fantastic!

Also use Spotify Premium which tends to have everything I’m looking to play and has great playlists for background music, especially jazz. The sound quality is generally more than adequate and hi-rez is (supposedly) in its future.

Qobuz is a reliable #1.

There is something to be said about youtube music, especially if one has a premium account. Not sure if it is bring served lossless at times, but, some albums sound quite good. It also tends to have rare stuff that can’t be found on qobuz, Tidal, anything else.