I’m a reasonably happy 1.8’er (with deep regard for those whose experience hasn’t been good because of degradation). Up until now I’ve used Tidal to extend my library, and find that my listening is extending more and more into discovery via streaming. So I still listen to my library, but I bet it’s at 10-15% now vs. nearly 100% a year ago.
Question - setting sound quality aside, has the experience of having BOTH Tidal and Qobuz improved with 1.8? In other words, to the extent that they have non-overlapping catalogs, or different metadata available, or… have you found that having both streaming services has gotten better with 1.8? I was going to start a Qobuz trial, but wanted to gauge perception here first - and see if there are specific ways of using Roon that would lead me to have a better experience. NB - I’m in the US. I know the services have different profiles / catalogs in different geographies so the answer varies a bit.
And yes, I’ve read this whole thread and @Jeff_Bellune ’s journey with interest and I’m intrigued to see what, if anything, has changed since 1.8 came out.
Nothings changed here, it’s really a choice of which service you want. In Roon functionality is the same for either. One offers full hires streaming using standard pcm encoding the other uses MQA encoded files. I used both for nearly two years but decided I couldn’t justify both do ditched Tidal. It’s catalogue is way better no doubt about that but I didn’t like the pushing of MQA so made my choice based on that and I am slowly purchasing the library items I lost with the move.
Hi! I am relatively new to Roon—I started 4 months ago. I have both Tidal and Qobuz and 1.8. I think there are still several bugs that the dev team needs to iron out. For one, my ALSA endpoints keep on disappearing in my output options although I can see them in the Audio settings.
But to answer your question, yes, 1.8 improved my streaming experience in two main points. First, I’ve had problems with streaming Qobuz gaplessly to Chromecast devices with 1.7. Since updating, I haven’t had any trouble with gapless playback, as far as I can remember. And secondly, Roon Radio is more spot on with its discovery/queueing and less repetitive of artists. I think having both services is a sure way to tap to its discovery potential.
Adding a few folks I’ve read have both in order to see if they have any insights (wouldn’t normally do this, but the forum is moving FAST these days, and if you blink you might miss something, to misquote Ferris Bueller).
I’ve just got Tidal back as I signed up for free for six months.
Library
Tidal has more indie and dance artists. I’m revisiting dubstep and more are showing up.
Roon Radio
It is my belief that roon radio is still a bit poor at distinguishing that “Yesterday by The Beatles” that it wants to play next is in your local files or in a different streaming service. More people seem to have Tidal and it’s been in roon longer, so when Roon Radio sees Yesterday it will almost always play the Tidal version. Then the Qobuz version, hardly ever your local version.
Roon say different but that is my experience.
Versions
Now I’ve put Tidal back in and follow a link to an album it almost always shows me the Tidal version. So I have to remember to look for the Qobuz one.
I still have both, with no plans to change. I have been migrating towards Qobuz as my 1st choice goto more though. When I started I had in mind Tidal for jazz and rock/pop, and Qobuz for classical. but that delineation has been lost for some time now. Mainly because a) I’ve found Qobuz catalogue improving, and b) because it is more likely to have whatever I’m after (if it does have it) in a higher quality.
But of course one of the beauties of Roon is that I don’t really have to worry about library source so much. It just handles it, and a lot of the time now I’m not even aware of which service is streaming the track.
I’ve not noticed any issues with 1.8 yet, but on the point above, is it my imagination, or is it now harder to tell where a track is coming from? I’m sure Roon used to display a little icon on the album cover, which I’m not seeing now. I just clicked an a new Roon recommendation for me, and there is absolutely nowhere on the screen to tell me the source. I had to click on the signal path link to see that it was Tidal. But that only works if you’re actually playing the track.
And now I look further, it seems ‘versions’ have gone. That’s not good. I used to be able to see if I had that track or album in my library multiple times - both ripped (often at different qualities) and often in both Tidal and Qobuz. And then I could see if either of these services had it in a higher quality. So why has this been removed??? Maybe there’s a thread on this…
OK, so now I’ve clicked on an album I know I have in multiple versions, and Roon is playing my old ripped MP3 file, at ‘low quality’ - when I know there are higher quality versions in my library! (And if there weren’t, in the streaming services). And I can’t see how to access these anymore via the UI.
This is a disaster!
I’m about to see if there is a thread on this, and if not, start a new one!
Sorry, are you saying that albums appear and disappear from Qobuz with greater frequency than Tidal? Are you saying that this disappearance is more noticeable in 1.8 because it handles them more/less gracefully than 1.7? Not sure exactly what you mean…
I wish I could make my mind up.
I have
Qobuz on a yearly
Tidal on a cheap 6 month deal.
Apple Music on a deal.
Apple Music is the best on mobile and CarPlay.
HiRez
I’m not a fan of Qobuz support, plus its mobile product is poor, but sound quality is good, overall it lacks features, its a basic service that you need something like Roon on top of it.
Tidal, has all of the features you would need, easy to get lost in the whole MQA debate, mobile app is good, but in carPlay can be really slow to respond.
For me, shortly some will go, not sure yet, it could be anyone of them, Tidal only could be the front runner if LUMIN can deliver Tidal Connect.
Or I may go Apple Music for mobile, Qobuz with Roon for home.
I wish I had the answer and can’t believe the time I spend debating this with myself and its not a money issue, its really strange I feel really indecisive on this subject.
So thanks to all… reposing the question… do you see any difference in how 1.8 integrates Tidal and Qobuz, and how it handles discovery, radio, “in their prime”, etc at integrating local library and the two streaming services that makes you more psyched that you subscribe to both?
I’m not sure with the timescales involved and understanding the new release that folks would have a good informed view on this.
Previous version seemed to indicate people got a poor radio experience from Qobuz , which has a number on threads on the forum.
I don’t see its as both as they both have mobile issues if that’s important which it is for me.
So in UK terms
£90 ish a year for Roon. £7.50 month.
£.9.99 a month for Apple Music.
£12.90 a month for Qobuz if you pay yearly.
£19.99 Tidal a month.
So that about £50 a month just for music, I’d prefer to have a single good service rather than pay for duplication and mixing services to get the functionality required.
With the Best Buy deal in the U.S. I pay $120 annual for Tidal, which is normally $20/month. I would have serious pause paying full price, let alone in pounds. Is there an retailer in the Uk who offers a discounted annual subscription?
For me, already bought Tidal lifetime, so that is sunk cost. $120/year Tidal plus $150/year Qobuz is not insane… so long as I actually get real incremental benefit.
My (condolences? Regrets? Empathy?) that Tidal is mind-blowingly expensive in the UK.
I too have Qobuz, Tidal and Apple Music( I have Premier One which includes with news, arcade, storage, fitness etc)
Tidal is best for Jazz with crossover to R&B, HipHop, World etc.
Tidal’s native apps, desktop and mobile are much better than Roon Tidal section. They aim new albums and tracks directly at my Tidal library tastes.
I also like their Mixes for You and Radio Station Sections. Neither on Roon,
Qobuz is same on Roon as desktop.
It is better for Classical, European Jazz and has more hi res albums.
So I use Tidal app for music exploration and then add to "my collections’ so they will appear in Roon.
Don’t use Qobuz app much,
I use Apple for stability when mobile, and also they have more curated playlists that also help in music exploration.
So on new music Friday, I am checking out Tidal and sometimes Apple, but 95% of listening at home is on Roon.
Bit the bullet and signed up for a trial with Qobuz.
Am really really hoping that Roon will let me have some choice over when certain recording sources are chosen. For me, for now, I want something like: if Qobuz has a hi-res version and I have something in my library, always pick Qobuz. If i have something in my library, always pick it over Tidal, unless I’m listening on my MQA DAC, in which case use Tidal.
