My completely subjective opinion. I have been using both Tidal an Qobuz for several years now. Initially on their own but now via ROON. My front end has increased dramatically over the years. My initial impressions were that Qobuz always had an edge over Tidal and particularly i did not enjoy a type of top end hiss that most MQA recordings had. In my case this was true for at least 2 years using lower tier equipment, a tablet at one point, and in general not having done massive upgrades to the front end source.
My opinion has changed in the past year. I had Verizon come and re-wire a fiber run for FIOS direct to my music room. A new up-to-date router was installed, quality CAT8 ethernet cable was run, Innuos PhoenexNet was added. The outlet was upgraded, the service was re-wired, the power is a dedicated stand alone circuit to the music room.
The biggest change was that an Alpha Berkeley Reference DAC with full MQA abilities was put in line. I now find Tidal pleasing and no longer does it play second fiddle to Qobuz in my selections being passed via the Berkeley unit.
My next "tweak and upgrade" is to get off ROON completely. I use Innuos streamers and personally find their Innuos sense software in conjunction with Quboz and now Tidal "better" in clarity and detail by a small margin over the ROON application based on the equipment I am using. My ears, my rooms, my equipment, my opinion, my choices to make.
This is such an extremely subjective topic with so very many variables. Yes, I used to prefer Qobuz by a considerable margin, my opinion on the quality of TIDAL performance has changed for me lately and I no longer view either service lacking in SQ, my choices are now based more on finding quality recordings with characterictics i personally prefer and availability of the music itself.
My opinion has changed in the past year. I had Verizon come and re-wire a fiber run for FIOS direct to my music room. A new up-to-date router was installed, quality CAT8 ethernet cable was run, Innuos PhoenexNet was added. The outlet was upgraded, the service was re-wired, the power is a dedicated stand alone circuit to the music room.
The biggest change was that an Alpha Berkeley Reference DAC with full MQA abilities was put in line. I now find Tidal pleasing and no longer does it play second fiddle to Qobuz in my selections being passed via the Berkeley unit.
My next "tweak and upgrade" is to get off ROON completely. I use Innuos streamers and personally find their Innuos sense software in conjunction with Quboz and now Tidal "better" in clarity and detail by a small margin over the ROON application based on the equipment I am using. My ears, my rooms, my equipment, my opinion, my choices to make.
This is such an extremely subjective topic with so very many variables. Yes, I used to prefer Qobuz by a considerable margin, my opinion on the quality of TIDAL performance has changed for me lately and I no longer view either service lacking in SQ, my choices are now based more on finding quality recordings with characterictics i personally prefer and availability of the music itself.
