For me Spotify is my background music. Not usually even on main system. The Playlists reflect that. And the Playlist feature is pretty awesome.
For true listening enjoyment it’s now Qobuz and stored tracks… which is better sonically by a long shot.
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Do you find you generally prefer one over the other when listening critically?
Wow- That is a GREAT question. I was on the HD Tracks theme for a while and do have some hi res standards like So What etc that I enjoy listening too. However I have never dived into the DSD arena. My Dac states “DSD 512 and 32/768” but I have never experimented in that realm as I really like what I’m hearing now. So perhaps that taints my impressions vs other folks with more hi res experience and perhaps more detailed oriented systems. But to answer your question, I have about 80G of music I have ripped and acquired from as far back as 25 years ago. And while I delve in there and play stuff I have typically forgotten about, the Qobuz experience is just as satisfying if not more so as the fidelity and selection is awesome…
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I’m in Canada and just started my 30 trial with Qobuz!
Yahoo! And it sounds great too!
A couple more months with tidal….then good bye
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Also when I started qobuz it allowed me to use a third party app to xsfer my Playlists no charge.
Hopefully everyone gets that spiff too. Comes in real handy after being on another service for a couple years…
Good to know!
Is the app in Qobuz?
Not in Qobuz per say. But if I remember correctly, there was a direct link to the app. I did the Qobuz trial early in the year. I did not see it then. Then just a while back I decided to go streamer, ditch the laptop and go with Qobuz.
My account from the trial still existed so I signed up and it was in the package so to speak.
Not sure how or why. But it was handy.
Thanks again!
I will check for this tomorrow.
I’ve been using both for quite some time. My ears are pretty well trained and I can tell the subtle difference between different DACs and cables. Having said that, I rarely can tell the difference between the two. If I listen critically repeating the tracks one segment at a time, I might hear slight frequency or level difference. I am just curious for those claiming that Qobuz is better, what are you hearing? I am beginning to think I need to get my ears checked out.
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I’ll try and answer but I’m not much for all the nuance phrasing that goes with the addiction… also I’m sure equipment etc plays into this big time but so do our ears.
I have the 320 bit rate or whatever you get when you pay for Spotify.
I have tv speakers and mains. I can hear a difference between the services on both. Less on the basic Bookshelf Speakers I use for TV though.
In short Qobuz just seems to bring more detail. A guitar or piano is more separated and in its own space. Much more apparent in acoustic or jazz then say rock.
Kinda similar to the difference in my background/ TV speakers and my mains. One is more detail oriented and to me more pleasurable to listen to. The other is not bad at all but more homogeneous .
Hope that helps
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Btw. Since you mentioned it.
For a while I wondered why my right speaker seemed more pronounced then the left. I could correct it with balance but preferred not to. I chalked it up to the room since it’s a L shape.
Long story short last month I had a physical. All tests were great. But the doc mentioned I had a “wall of wax” I’m my left ear. Out came all sorts of nasty pokey things they tell you not to stick in there along with a bunch of wax.
So now my speakers are balanced again and I have a cool thing for my coffee table
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I am listening with an extraordinary system and it shows clearly that Qobuz is the better source. I don’t have MQA capabilities but soon Tidal may not either. Tidal is all about Hip Hop. I am not.
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As usual. I agree with AL 100%. I don’t have near the system he has as my major hobby expenditure days are behind me, but I can still discern the difference. I have never even thought about Tidal and MQA. For same reason Al states. Might be fun to grab DSD though…I think I owe myself that experience.
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I agree with AI, Qobuz sounds better, clearer and smoother than Tidal. Their recent big bonus discovery for me was streaming FREE through my 8 year old car radio. I hear the same smoother, clearer nice sound quality, a very nice bonus for me who drives a lot.
While this thread doesn’t touch on ROON, ARC does not sound as nice to me as Qobuz in my car.
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I started my 30 day Qobuz trial a couple of weeks ago and was pretty well immediately convinced I’d convert to a yearly subscription. The selection of stuff I’ve been missing and missing out on and now able to enjoy is too good to give up.
That said, my background and occasional critical listening has been and remains listener supported Radio Paradise and a couple of FM classical station streams (WCPE NC, and KDFC CA) all through a Vault 2i. Maybe it’s a generational thing but there’s something about people curated programming that can’t be replaced. I get and appreciate the attraction of the service feeding selections based on the listener’s mood but I also like tuning into another persons mood and seeing where that goes. Sometimes it takes me places I didn’t know I wanted to go, other times it leaves me surfing other streams.
I honestly don’t miss the FM radio of my youth. Today’s options are my sweet spot.
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Funny you should mention that. My horizon is expanding as well. My streamer has a YouTube app so I can jump in and see all YouTube music vids and view without commercials. Some are like 4k. Some are like 8mm lol. Quality varies but fun none the less.
But also there is a internet radio feature. So I have been listening to stations local and abroad. It’s easy to like a station so it’s there anytime you want it. It’s kinda cool and something else to have on during the day and or play with during a music session… sounds pretty good too. It’s a fun exercise…and it’s good to get out of your routine.
This morning I watched the sunrise and rediscovered Mr. Vollenweider.
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I found an app called Soundiiz to convert playlists to another streaming source, in my case Tidal to Qobuz.
That might be it. However when I used it to convert from Spotify to Amazon it was limited to 100 songs. Then you had to pay.
I was really happy on going from Amazon to Qobuz there was no limit. Or at least it did all my Playlists no issue
This one was limited too.
Your information was helpful to get me started though! Cheers!
I’ve been a Tidal subscriber since around 2015 or 2016 due to being a Roon user and being located in Canada where Qobuz was not available until earlier this week. Was never a fan of MQA and wasn’t overly impressed with it while I had the Bridge and was able to do a full unfold. Having been anxious to compare Qobuz to Tidal and so I signed up for Qobuz this week and was able to import all of my Tidal favourites and playlists without losing any. Thoughts of having to keep both subscriptions largely evaporated as a result.
I couldn’t discern any meaningful difference between regular files from Tidal and Qobuz but the Hi Res Qobuz files do sound better. So, since I have no interest in the “urban youth” music that Tidal pushes and with Qobuz’s better jazz and classical libraries, it was a pretty easy choice for me to cancel my Tidal subscription and go with Qobuz as my sole streaming source.
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