The battle of audio streaming apps won’t end pretty soon. Previously, we have decided which is the one that could win in the comparison between Spotify and Youtube Music. There are some big brands that are conquering the markets like Spotify, Apple, or Amazon. The competition is highly understandable, and not a bad thing to look at, especially when it also comes with dozens of opportunities.
In general, most users would prefer to use the known applications available on the market. All these choices are sometimes confusing for a user who just wants to enjoy some music on their devices. That’s why, choosing the mainstream media is really understandable.
But, there are some applications that are really spoiling the audiophiles with bringing more quality in order to outperform the bigger ones. Their names don’t shine as bright, but their ability to perform as a trustable audio streaming softwares works the best.
One example is Tidal, which is known as a great music streaming app for a long time. But now there’s a new competitor joining the battle. Qobuz, which came from a French company, has been launched finally after the beta testing that was done in the United States since the month of February a year ago.
With another media streaming coming in, which one we should pick between Tidal and Qobuz? Let’s see it right on below.
Tidal
If you’re talking about who is the market leader? Tidal clearly wins it all. The availability of Tidal is better than Qobuz. Tidal is a US-based app and can be supported to many countries. As many as 52 around the world. That means all people can basically enjoy it from all over the globe, and doesn’t get limited just for access. Read also: Youtube Music vs Spotify.
Because of the US-based app status, it is no wonder that the top albums or songs that are put into recommendations are the ones that have the largest commercial potential in the US market. Once a song is officially released, you can directly enjoy it at that very day without waiting for more days to come.
Both Tidal and Qobuz use both websites and mobile apps for reaching wider markets. In the industry of audio hardware, Tidal’s name shines bright. It has greater presence than Qobuz. Tidal is also well received and often recommended by many streamers.
Tidal also offers web players that you can directly use. The same feature you can find in Qobuz. And about the sound quality, Tidal is a bit calmer than the loud Qobuz. But, that means there’s no compression that is done, making the stream smoother. Despite the loading sometimes going on a bit longer, you can stream your favorite songs smoothly.
The bit sample is generally CD standart, which is 16-bit 44.1 kHz. Tidal has a high res option available that can bump up the rate to 24-bit 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz using its MQA, and can be better with additional materials. If you happen to have a desire to play master resolution files, you need to connect to Tidal desktop app if you are using a PC.
On Tidal web player, you can find some items like What’s New and TIDAL rising. Tidal put down its choices and the upcoming releases to the TIDAL rising section. Overall the display is quite neat, and pretty simple.
When searching about a song or an artist, Tidal will serve you with the songs in reverse chronological order. The newer song is found on the upfront, while the list goes down to the older ones. Other than the actual songs or artists you’ve been searching, Tidal’s also showing you other results that have similar style.
Other than being able to browse for your favorite music, the information about the artists is also shown. It also provides the additional trivias via showing videos, movies, or shows about the specific artist.
Qobuz
Qobuz, on the other hand, is French-based music streaming app. When a song is released on that day, you need to wait about five days longer in order to enjoy it in Qobuz. It’s still highly limited to only 11 European Countries. It’s an interesting streaming app, but the lack of exclusive content and supported areas still being huge burdens.
If you happen to be a user who loves classical music, Qobuz is certainly the one for you. Not filled with the mainstream new releases, Qobuz recommends some things that may trigger your curiosity. The classical songs are the best to play in this app.
The default rate is still the same with Tidal, which is CD standar 16-bit 44.1 kHz. What interesting is, once you got your hand on a Qobuz Premium and Sublime + services. It allows you to have Masters resolution files up to 24/96 without the MQA decoding. It’s clearly way better than Tidal, and often praised by many people. Still, you need to use a desktop app for this though.
Qobuz likes to give you recommendations a lot. Sometimes weird, and even random. When searching a certain name of a song, you’ll have a chance to be treated with a random song, with the same style. It’s bothering for some people, and seems interesting for others. The scaling doesn’t suit the width of your window browser. Unlike Tidal, you need to adjust it manually by using the slider.
The web player from Qobuz has Ambiance and is often filled with pretty familiar songs. The general information about the musicians also presents as well. There’s additional editorial content that works for a bit of diversion when browsing music.
Tidal vs Qobuz
| Tidal | Qobuz |
|---|---|
| - Hi-Fi lossless maximum streaming quality | - Qobuz sounds better |
| - Many exclusives and early-access to concert tickets | - Qobuz doesn’t have the depth of catalogue for rock/pop that Tidal does. |
| - Does not support Windows Phone and PS4 | - Available in at least 20 countries around the world |
| - No free version | - Several subscription options, including for students and for family |
Verdict
It’s not a simple thing to compare both of these two. Surely, they couldn’t compete with the highly-popular Spotify that everyone’s been using. But they can prove that, despite their smaller brands, they can deliver higher quality. If we’re facing choices between Tidal and Qobuz, we would pick Qobuz.
Despite the overall bit rate that is the same between them, Qobuz still able to deliver louder bazz and the maximum sound quality of uncompressed songs. It works the best with certain type of music like the classics for example, and really good to use with headphones. But still, we need to be patient longer for the accessibility in some regions.