All , I’m new to ROON, but going all in for a whole house audio in my new house I’m building. Have a Nucleus One and have installed a Samsung SSD which I replicate from my master library on my NAS. So far it’s working awesome.
I’ve been using Spotify for streaming but obviously want to use either TIDAL or QOBUZ to stream via ROON.
My question is which service is better from a purely interoperability with ROON? I’m not asking about fidelity / library selection / pricing at this point, really focused on which system plays better with ROON? I’m assuming it’s pretty redundant to use both.
I see a lot if issue reports in both the TIDAL and QOBUZ subtopics on this community, but most similar communities are issue focused.
In your opinion, which streaming service offers a smoother user experience with ROON? 2 main users in my household and I want this new system to pass the WIFE TEST in terms of ease of use.
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mjw
(Here I am with a brain the size of a planet and they ask me to pick up a piece of paper. Call that job satisfaction? I don't.)
2
I’ve used both, and currently use TIDAL. I first started with TIDAL because that’s all that worked with Roon at the time. This cost £€$19.99 pcm. When Qobuz arrived in Roon, I took and annual sub that worked out at £€$10.89 pcm.
Now, TIDAL is £€$10.99 pcm, so that’s why I switched.
In reality, there’s nothing between them when used with Roon, which is why price is an import differentiator. The same release with the same bit depth and sample rate are identical.
Both have largely overlapping libraries, with TIDAL nudging ahead for indie releases, and Qobuz for classical. For my eclectic music tastes, there’s nothing between them.
The TIDAL app is better than Qobuz, but I rarely use either. Overall I prefer Qobuz, but I like the flexibility of a monthly plan as I usually have a break from streaming over the summer.
I don’t include streaming sources in my library as I find that this can break Roon. So, streaming is simply for music discovery or entertainment.
Both services regularly remove releases. If you have them in the Roon library from Tidal, you don’t notice because they simply disappear, while with Qobuz they are shown as “unavailable” in the Roon library. You still have to replace them with a new version manually most of the time (and you still lose play counts and any manual edits), but at least you notice.
If you absolutely want to keep an album in the Roon library without the danger of it (or a particular version/master of it) ever becoming unplayable, and if you have extensive edits that you want to keep, your only option is to purchase the download and store it locally.
Occasionally there are sync issues between Roon and either service. Currently it’s Tidal, in the past it was Qobuz. It’s not ideal but not the end of the world either, as some users make it seem.
In either case, the full set of Roon features is only available for albums that you added to the Roon library, but don’t add a million tracks from the streaming service to Roon because they still count as library content just like local albums and add to Roon’s performance requirements.
Hi Jeff, I’ve had both Tidal and Qobuz since I started with Roon in 2019. Figured at some point I would decide on one or the other but never got around to it. Thinking if money got tight and I had to pick one it would be Qobuz.
Disclaimer : I am a solely user of Qobuz, no experience with Tidal in the last years.
The most important selection criteria, as mentioned already by @mjw, is your (and your relatives) music taste.
So to start with, I would look for free trials on the web for either service in order to test them out.
There are still 3 months free Qobuz trials ‘visible’ on the internet, like this one Qobuz free trial but I have not tested it to see if it actually works !
This will also give you the opportunity to make sure to confirm to yourself the added value of Roon + Qobuz/tidal compared to Qobuz connect/Tidal Connect.
Please note also that user profiles in Roon are not capable of keeping seperate libraries per profile. I.e. Your spouse will see your music, and you will see hers. There are workarounds but you need to be aware. This can have some indiect influence on your streaming service provider preference.
Next, but this is really personal, I believe that Qobuz, although smaller tis more stable company than Tidal. Tidal has gone through (and is still continuing cleaning up) the transition technically from MQA back to industry standards (FLAC), and also financially (they changed twice in the last couple of years) .
Again, not having any direct impact today, but when one thinks about integration , there are always 2 parties at the table that need to be (willing to) work together.
As well explained by @Suedkiez, there will always changes taking place at Qobuz/Tidal that will impact the behaviour of Roon.
Just as (another) example: Qobuz publishes new releases each Friday. If all goes well, these new releases are also available in Roon already the same/next day. Sometimes, it can take up to a week. Nothing anybody can do about it, one has to (learn to) live with it.
(I have no clue how this process is going with Tidal).
But, going back to my 1st recommendation: try it out before you decide.
Have fun.
Dirk
I’ve been subbed to Qobuz for about 5 years now. The last year as Sublime. Tidal has been an on and off relationship.
I’ve dropped Tidal and am only subbed to Qobuz. I do buy quite a bit of music so the Sublime subscription is well worth it to me.
When it comes to Roon integration with each of them. It doesn´t matter. Both are great in this regard. But I would advice to start a trial with each of them. You can use their services for free for a month. So that will give you time to make a decision.
This is perhaps the major difference between the two, in terms of operability with Roon. I am a Tidal subscriber, and I find it very annoying when an album simply disappears.
I’ve been requesting an option under Settings/Library Clean up to list the files being “cleaned up”. That would give you a list, at least, of what Tidal dropped.
You might read that thread from the beginning if you have never, as there is interesting information and discussion from the devs about this issue in it.
I am using Tidal and Qobuz on Roon for many years now.
There is a considerable difference in sound between these two.
Playing the exact same tracks on Tidal and Qobuz I frequently notice a stronger base on Tidal than Qobuz. The frequency spectrum on Tidal seems to have been pushed up a little for the lower part compared to Qobuz.
Comparing this to the identical downloaded tracks on a NAS (meaning from the exact same album) is more similar to Qobuz than Tidal.
ps another big difference, but not relevant for Roon, you can use Tidal to connect to any BT speaker and play your music. That is not possible with Qobuz.
I am a subscriber to Qobuz, but I did also have a subscription to Tidal some time ago. For me the issue is one of repertoire and metadata. If your music tastes are classical music, Qobuz is much better as you can access the PDF booklets along with the albums, which of course is essential for some classical repertoire. As well, if you are a ‘sublime’ subscriber, you can get a considerable discount on purchasing hires albums (which means that they can be considerably cheaper than for the CD quality). I can’t say I detected any difference in sound quality between the two.
Well hi-res albums with the Sublime discount are cheaper. From my own experience about 4-5 Euro or so per album. Quality wise it is very hard to tell. I have also bought several albums in DSD format. And one of them (Norah Jones - Come Away With Me). I already have on CD and as a 24/192 hi-res download. I couldn´t tell the difference between them the hi-res FLAC or the DSD. Both sound absolutely great here My own CD rip (uncompressed FLAC so 1411 kbps) sounds great as well.
So with Sublime always pick the hi-res purchase. Even as they may sound the same, because they will be cheaper compared to the normal CD quality.
I’ve used both for long periods each - now with Qobuz. My experience has been that they’re both excellent - I’m with Qobuz as they apparently pay artists slightly more and offer a purchase option. No issue with TIDAL functionality, SQ etc…take your pick…Steve
I have no option , Qobuz isn’t in South Africa indeed Africa.
That said I have had zero issues with Tidal and with Tidal in Roon. In terms of content I listen a lot of classical and VERY rarely has Tidal let me down in finding alternative vesrions.
From my perspective Roon (at the moment) works much better with Qobuz. With TIDAL there are issues for months that albums under genres are not updated. e.g. in Tidal’s apps there is no longer a listed genre for “Soundtracks” but in Roon there sill is. “Dance & Electronic” is now only one combined genre in Tidal’s app but it’s still two different ones in Roon that are not updating. In Roon you can still see a “Master Quality Authenticated” section which has had it’s last update in 2023. This is obviously no longer offered by Tidal. There is a lot of that mapping that seems to be outdated.
With Qobuz I’m not having any similar issues. However, Qobuz’s catalogue is missing too much for Electronic Music and therefore it’s not a possibility for me to only use Qobuz.
1 Like
mjw
(Here I am with a brain the size of a planet and they ask me to pick up a piece of paper. Call that job satisfaction? I don't.)
19
Yet Qobuz had major issues not so long ago, so it’s probably swings and roundabouts.
I think the MQA section is a reflection of Roon’s tardiness, since the releases under this section are not MQA.
However, I wasn’t aware of issues with genres, but that’s because I only use my genres.
Ive got both which is a bit mad with Roon as the difference is almost invisible- I suppose Im waiting on Spotify Hi Res and to see how that integrates or doesn’t because like it or loathe it it has the widest music selection.
mjw
(Here I am with a brain the size of a planet and they ask me to pick up a piece of paper. Call that job satisfaction? I don't.)
21
I think you’ll be waiting for a very very long time.
My own CD rip (uncompressed FLAC so 1411 kbps) sounds great as well.