SQ Comparison (with Tidal and CD) based on Qobuz Trial
I had made my previous comment based on 30 second samples from Qobuz store. That’s always dicey. But over the last two days I got to listen to the regular Qobuz stream in my system thanks to the kind offer by Sree (
@thedude). It was natively played on CXN, just like Tidal. It gave me a fair idea of its strengths and limitations. Of course these views are based on subjective listening and in my budget system. YMMV. So let’s head straight into the comparison:
In short, my previous opinion that Qobuz is better than Tidal in the sound quality was confirmed over this prolonged listening to wide variety of tracks. My comparisons have been between the FLAC versions (but I have given my views on hi-res stream towards the end of this post).
To me, Tidal has always felt like it has thick and smeared voices. It feels like it has more body but in reality that thickness washes out the textures and affects the tonality. In comparison, Qobuz not just sounded more focused and tonally right, it also brings out the textures and nuances well. The bass also felt better resolved. Some might feel that Qobuz sound is a bit on the thinner side, especially if the rest of their rig is analytical/hifi-ish. With my system though the weight felt right.
So, does that mean Qobuz is all good? No! That’s where the comparison with CD comes in. Qobuz closely approaches CD in the virtues explained above (focus, tone, texture, tightness of bass). However, I still couldn’t get the ‘musical magic’ of the CD in the Qobuz streams. In terms of transients and emotions, both of which contribute to immersive experience, Qobuz was short of the CD. And this is a major consideration for me. (Is Tidal better at this? No. But it’s thickness creates an illusion which might unconsciously compensate for some).
Now, are these limitations of Qobuz or my streamer (CXN), or ‘streaming’ as a mode itself? I can’t say for sure. But probably not the streamer. Because from the DAC downstream my chain for streaming and CD is the same. And my CD transport (CXC) and streaming transport (CXN) are from the same manufacturer and the same series. So I tend to believe it’s a function of streaming as a mode of musical reproduction. (I am open to revising this view if I listen to higher/better streaming transports). The least I can conclude is that a CD transport playing your discs should give better musical experience than streamer transport in the same price bracket playing FLAC streams from the internet.
Where does that leave me then? Firstly, at least for now I see that I have to depend on CDs (or local files) for serious attentive/immersive listening. Luckily I have a largish CD collection that I can depend upon.
Secondly, my choice of streaming app would then be more a function of availability, convenience, UI, features such as music exploration etc - as I’d continue to use streaming primarily for spontaneous/casual listening and music exploration. As long as it’s lossless, I won’t go by SQ as a further consideration over the above factors. I’d now wait for Apple Lossless, which clearly scores on the above factors over Tidal as well as Qobuz. And if in the future Spotify lossless is introduced, that could be a serious contender for my subscription fee as well.
Ok, but what about the hi-res (beyond FLAC resolution) streaming? That’s where it gets interesting. Before Qobuz I havs been streaming hi-res in Primephonic - a western classical streaming app. Hi-Res clearly adds a different dimension to the listening experience - somehow the tracks become calmer/more composed and of course detailed. But details never interested me as much, what I like about hi-Res is that it seems to take away most of the glare that still exists in CD/FLAC.
Plus one for both Qobuz as well as Primephonic for venturing into real hi-Res. I don’t have MQA decoding DAC, so can’t comment on or compare with Tidal MQA - something that at the logical level I’ve not felt convinced about.
I hope streamers (and internet) keep improving too… and overcome whatever digital disturbances/compromises they are currently facing. I’ve read about some FMs reporting improvements by connecting streamer directly to fibre optic broadband. I imagine over the next 2-3 years this space of streamers and hi-res streaming would undergo significant transformation to emerge as a serious contender (or even death knell) to CDs, and a respectable alternative to vinyl. Hi-Res streaming, I think, will be the future of music consumption. Till then, lossless streaming will continue to be my source of music exploration while CDs continue to bring me my musical nirvana.
