This is why for the artists I really care about, when I can I try to see them live when they are in my area and maybe buy a piece of tour merch as well. Touring is the only way these guys can make a living now.
1 Like
This is certainly the seeds for your Plumberās Union presidency acceptance speech 
2 Likes
Iād like to pitch in a bit, since this is a Roon forum, the answer to your question for me lies in the combination Tidal-Roon.
Amazon nor Apple are integrated with Roon. That means, neither of the two will allow you to get HQ Player, the incredibly potent Muse DSP capabilities, the ability to ācastā music (using the Roon app as a fire & forget remote), hi-res into my streaming DAC, and the proper functioning suggestions Radio engine. All of those are important to me, and Tidal+Roon works way better in every way then trying to get Airplay or a DAC USB-attached device to play from Amazon or Apple.
Re Qobuz, youāre right, good question. For me it frankly boils down to musical taste. Tidal leans a bit closer to my musical tastes, with a catalog a bit better filled to electronic and indie-rock then Qobuz. Getting the Radio function activated with Tidal vs. Qobuz alsways surfaced music I like better with Tidal.
My 2 cents.
2 Likes
Great question about Tidalās $19.99/month high-res offering. Here are some quick key points on why some might find it justifiable despite the competition:
Exclusivity: Tidal often has early releases and exclusive content.
Curated Playlists: Their āTidal Mastersā and editorial playlists add value for some users.
User Interface: Tidalās UI is arguably better for discovering high-res tracks.
Connectivity: Seamless integration with high-end audio systems, including Roon.
Artist Compensation: Tidal claims to pay artists better, which might matter for some.
Even with these points, I agree that Tidal needs to reassess its pricing to stay competitive, especially as Amazon, Apple, and Quboz offer similar quality for less.
1 Like
If it did it may well go bust , Apple put the pressure on by entering the market at a lower price than most . Is this the reason Spotify Hi Fi tier has yet to materialise
As I commented above Tidal does have some āCurrency Balancedā pricing where the country currency isnāt quite as strong as the Dollar , I personally pay ZAR 120 = approx $6 for the hi fi tier , Apple and Spotify apply similar principals
Vive the Big Mac Index
Just got an email from Best Buy. No more renewals of Tidal annual subscriptions after 9/28/23. Stinksā¦
More on this here ā¦
1 Like
Very little reason to not switch to Qobuz now.
3 Likes
Well I have decided to drop Tidal. Iāll continue with both Qobuz and Deezer. I have an annual subscription on both. And together they cost about the same as Tidal Max for a whole year here.
MQA does sound very good here, but I donāt think Tidal is worth it for me any longer now that they start focussing more on hi-res FLAC. Which Qobuz already had for a long time.
So Qobuz + Roon for most of my music. And Deezer for the albums that Qobuz is missing. And to be honest even though Deezer only does 16/44.1 it sounds really good. Their app is pretty nice and StreamMagic on my CXNv2 fully supports both.
Iāve compared Apple Music to each of them. But even with the combination of a 2017 MacBook Air and an iFi Zen DAC V2 directly connected to my Cambridge Audio CXA81 Apple Music doesnāt sound as good as either Qobuz or Deezer.
How many of us think itās remotely possibly that TIDAL will adjust down their pricing?
Conversely, I think that Qobuz will adjust theirs upwards in time.
3 Likes
This brings the return of my familiar debate ādo I really need a streaming service at all?ā
Iām so into physical media these daysā¦ and have an armada of music on a hard drive, more music than I could listen to in 10 lifetimesā¦
3 Likes
Definitely.
1 Like
Iām using mine less and less it has to be said.
Iād always resisted streaming, but then broke down and bought a year of qobuz. I wonāt be renewing. If I like something, Iāll buy the album - which gives me something palpable, and rewards the artist.
2 Likes
The irony is how do you know you like something to buy the album without hearing it via streaming first (okay, there are samples on some services)? Finances have been a bit tight lately, so I havenāt been buying as much as Iād like, but dang if Roon/Qobuz hasnāt helped me discover so many new artists and music, much of it in genres Iād never even considered before (mostly, again due to lack of time, knowledge and $$). So streaming is a bit of a god send in that manner. Itās unfortunate that it does cost so little (pretty much one dinner for two or a couple of lunches per year) as that canāt be good for the artists.
6 Likes
Like iv said so many timeās some people want somthing for nothing.
I like to no the people that complain about tidal pricing, what they do for a living, i bet we would be in for a shock.
People charge for there product thats the way it is. Ā£20 year i get it, but compared to some companys its cheap.
You ither whant it or dont.
All this why, what and howā¦who cares
1 Like
Back in the 70ās, the only way to buy LPs for me was whether I liked the look of the cover or not, or whether it was an artist known to me, in my case back then, Queen, or T-Rex, Roxy Music, Genesis, Rush, anything mainstream and on the TV at the time
I remember buying No Mean City by Nazareth based on the cover alone and loving it, same with a few Hawkwind LPs.
As a life long music fan, streaming has been a gift of unimaginable benefit based on where I started in the mid 70ās. No more waiting until Saturday to catch the bus into the city to the record store.
The prices of any of the music streaming services reflect excellent value for the consumer, IMO. They all have their pros and cons depending which eco system youāre in, Apple, Amazon, roon etc but they are all great value.
6 Likes
I mitigate the fact that I stream most music by the fact that I go and see my favourite bands live as often as possible, locally and far, always buy merchandise which rewards them financially way more than cd sales will.
1 Like
Iām quoted in Everett Trueās book on Nirvana - āsome put down payments on houses, others ended up with record collectionsā - or something to that tune. Itās true, we are spoiled in this day and age, able to access millions of albums for the price of a coffee and croissant.
4 Likes