Roon, Tidal, QObuz

[steve]

Anyone else hear a difference between these three sources? Does a rabbit have ears.

What do you perceive as differences, if any?

cheers

steve

[ejk]

I have had Tidal for years and just tried out Quboz recently and couldn't hear any difference

[GDHAL]

Anyone else hear a difference between these three sources? Does a rabbit have ears.

But, but, but bits is bits. Yeah, right.

What do you perceive as differences?

cheers

steve

I do not stream, therefore, I have no personal experience comparing the services you mention.

However, from what little I've read and heard from audio club members, Quboz seems to be preferred. I don't know if that's because of audio quality, overall value or both.

Best.

Hal

[mdconnelly]

I use Roon and Qobuz through Roon.   I could not hear a difference between Qobuz direct vs thru Roon but, TBH, didn't really attempt to compare in depth.  I hear no difference between Roon playing a Qobuz hi-res album vs Roon playing the same album I own.   I did compare Tidal to Qobuz and prefer Qobuz (never bought into MQA). 

I can hear a slight difference between Roon and playing the same CD from my Oracle CD transport.   Perhaps the transport is a bit more detailed, but it's difficult to say and certainly not enough to warranty buying more CDs. 

Hey, I'm really happy with Roon (lifetimer since late 2015) and Qobuz and see no reason to change anytime soon.   Roon allows me to be extremely lazy in my listening habits yet offers up a listening experience that has fundamentally changed how and how much I listen.   Amazingly, my wife says so as well.   All good.

[Nick B]

I use Roon and Qobuz through Roon.   I could not hear a difference between Qobuz direct vs thru Roon but, TBH, didn't really attempt to compare in depth.  I hear no difference between Roon playing a Qobuz hi-res album vs Roon playing the same album I own.   I did compare Tidal to Qobuz and prefer Qobuz (never bought into MQA). 

I can hear a slight difference between Roon and playing the same CD from my Oracle CD transport.   Perhaps the transport is a bit more detailed, but it's difficult to say and certainly not enough to warranty buying more CDs.   

Hey, I'm really happy with Roon (lifetimer since late 2015) and Qobuz and see no reason to change anytime soon.   Roon allows me to be extremely lazy in my listening habits yet offers up a listening experience that has fundamentally changed how and how much I listen.   Amazingly, my wife says so as well.   All good.

I took a chance on that $500 lifetime subscription of Roon in 2016. What an enjoyable system to use and I so appreciate not having a having to have a monthly subscription.

[James Edward]

Great timing Steve- I just reactivated my Qobuz account after using Tidal for 2 plus years. My reason for doing so was the larger catalog via Qobuz.
As soon as I began listening, I remembered why I canceled… To my ears, Qobuz has a tizzy(tech term) top end that I do not hear via Tidal.
This is a general listening impression; I certainly did no A/B comparisons of a scientific nature. It just happened as soon as I began listening. It reminds me of the JVC XRCD’s that I’ve heard.
Having said that, I believe I’m in the minority- I’ve got a month to bounce between Tidal and Qobuz- we’ll see.
I’m glad you posted without revealing your preference- I’m curious as to what others think…

[steve]

Thanks James. I tried to join Qobuz and they would not/could not send the verification code. So off to Deezer
and I joined them. Audiophile Dan came over last night and we performed lots of testing and are convinced
that Deezer is the real deal. Deezer matched CD/redbook quality.

And no download app to my desktop, just sign in. Tidal is gone by the way.

One caveat though. I read lots of disgruntled individuals who quit Deezer but Deezer kept billing them anyway.
Evidently customer services is not good.

cheers

steve

[mdconnelly]

I've seen more than a few rumors that Deezer may be working on integration with Roon.  Not holding my breath but it would be cool.

[mdconnelly]

Given the recent Roon subscription rate increase announcement, it's making those Lifetime subscriptions taken out years back (2015 for me) look damn good.   But this is the first monthly/annual increase Roon has had since it first rolled out 7+ years ago, so not all that surprising.

[rollo]

  Stream very little. The shiny little discs still sound better to me. Qobuz when I do stream. The quality of the transport matters IMHO.



charles