Best music streaming services: free streams to hi-res audio

[WiezeBoe]

I don’t understand why Qobuz gets only 3 stars and is number 7 on this list. The sound quality is at least equal to that of Tidal, the subscription is cheaper (that is if you pay annually, which is a bit of a snake in the grass), and personally I like the sound of Qobuz better than Tidal. As for the catalogue, as far as I know it’s not smaller than Tidal’s anymore. At least not much. So my choice is Qobuz as number 1!

 

[reece]

One thing I believe is missed from this review is the fact that with YouTube music you can upload your flac files

Exactly. I have lots of music from musicians who sold CDs or MP3s themselves. The ability to upload owned music is a requirement for me. I don't know why streaming services have (nearly) totally looked off this feature. I fear that they have financial incentives are to drive people to use their catalog, which means that they have a financial incentive against allowing people to store their own music.

 

[daddyo]

I would like to try Amazon music HD but cannot seem to find anyway of benefiting from the HD quality on my AV receiver.
I have a Yamaha RX-A860 which hasn't got an in built app , it has Qobuz , Tidal & Deezer and wondered if anyone could assist and tell me if it is possible to get this?

Thanks

This comment is a bit old but ... I have the RX-A660 avr and moved from Spotify to AMHD. I had to connect Firestick TV 4K via HDMI as a source for avr. Works fine except not integrated into MusicCast. You can link the zones with the avr however.

 

[daddyo]

Article likely needs an update. A lot has happened in music streaming in the past few months. Also, it would be helpful if you projected a bit into the future tech of music streaming. CD & hi-res are here today and spatial audio is close. I hear that Apple is looking at new hardware to take advantage of these tech. Spotify failed, as promised, to deliver Hi-Fi and they are betting big-time on podcasts. What service would be best for the future or for a new subscriber ?

 

[Mac_555]

On Qobuz the article states "Tidal's hi-res streams sound better."
I've compared both services on a good quality set-up and this is completely wrong, if anything I prefer Qobuz.

The article also discusses Spotifys announcement and subsequent failure to introduce high-res during 2021. Customers still haven't been provided with an explanation. Despite that What HiFi goes on to award the maximum rating!

So there you have it - Spotify delivering audio at a maximum of 320kbps getting 5 stars compared to Qobuz who are already delivering at 1411kbps getting rated at just 3 stars. Seriously ???

 

[Hifiman]

This article has come round again, purportedly updated for 2022, but I wish it did not still contain so many errors. For example, I was interested to see the opinion on Amazon Music Unlimited as it is now in constant use by me using the incredible Wiim Mini to stream its music bit perfectly to my DAC. But there is mention of ‘Amazon has been coy about revealing its streaming bitrate for its standard tier’. Could the coyness be because the standard tier for Unlimited has not existed for quite some time?
Also, as mentioned by others here, for the life of me I cannot understand why both AMU and Qobuz still score less than Spotify given the latter’s broken promise regarding even adopting 16/44 never mind hi-res. I am baffled that the team feels better music curation can in any way make up for the SQ difference that even my cloth ears can easily discern.

 

[Moonfanatic]

I don‘t get why what Hi-Fi rates Tidal higher than Qobuz. On the sound quality issue alone, Tidal hi-res uses MQA. MQA is a problem that did not need to be solved. My DAC has full MQA unpacking capability so I decided to conduct a highly unscientific test. I compared Steven Wilson’s latest album on 96k FLAC (Qobuz) versus MQA on Tidal. I listened to the MQA first and whilst it was perfectly listenable, it became apparent that there was something missing when I listened to the FLAC. The latter had more depth, greater detail than the MQA. Now, obviously I have no way of verifying that each recording came from the same master, and that’s a risk, but at face value, the FLAC was the winner. Why Tidal insist on MQA I have no idea, but it seems to not have wide uptake. Note that if you buy a DAC with the full capability, a proportion of the cost is paid as a licence fee to Meridian.

 

[The Matrix X]

Tidal the winnner? Qobuz no. 7? This is ridiculous. I guess you swapped the positions.

I have been examining for almost 2 years what mqa actually is and it's a complete joke.
Even a 24 bit mqa isn't even 24 bit, its only 15 bit !!!
Proof ?
- 8 bits are used to store frequencies between 24 and 48kHz
- 1 bit is needed to show "mqa" on the dac + the sample rate of the track - BEFORE - it was compressed *
The file is 24 bit so 24 - 8 - 1 = 15.
And it has been shown - and I tested this myself and can confirm - that when leaving out every third byte of a 24 bit mqa - to make it 16 bit, it will still play, the dac will still show "mqa" and a sample rate number, and even a studio dot, however it can no longer "unfold". What is playing? Those 15 bits + 1 bit of noise (the mqa signal)

I own an audiophile system and I can hear details in Qobuz tracks that are no longer there in the Tidal mqa version. Mqa also adds unwanted bass making it look like another loudness format.

Maybe the writer of this article has been comparing mqa from Tidal with pcm ... also from Tidal and not from Qobuz??? If he did he should be aware that most of the pcms on Tidal are still mqa, but downsampled to 16/44, to make mqa sound better then pcm (read : downsampled mqa).

I had Tidal for 2 years, then I heard Qobuz for a week and I ditched Tidal after that week as I couldn't believe what I had been missing all that time.

Tidal offers lossy versions of masters. Qobuz offers those masters. That's all we need to know!

EDIT :
Ah, and I forgot to mention this :
On qobuz you can see when some tracks are missing because they show them greyed out.
1, 2, (3), 4, 5, (6), 7
On tidal tracks are also missing, but they just don't show them and they even renumber the remaining tracks so no one would notice tracks are missing.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Maybe this is why the author thinks Qobuz has more gaps?

 

[djh1697]

I have a Qobuz subscription as well as Tidal running on Roon. The Qobuz stream is my preference, "MQA Tidal masters are not my masters" - Neil Young

 

[Moonfanatic]

Tidal the winnner? Qobuz no. 7? This is ridiculous. I guess you swapped the positions.

I have been examining for almost 2 years what mqa actually is and it's a complete joke.
Even a 24 bit mqa isn't even 24 bit, its only 15 bit !!!
Proof ?
- 8 bits are used to store frequencies between 24 and 48kHz
- 1 bit is needed to show "mqa" on the dac + the sample rate of the track - BEFORE - it was compressed *
The file is 24 bit so 24 - 8 - 1 = 15.
And it has been shown - and I tested this myself and can confirm - that when leaving out every third byte of a 24 bit mqa - to make it 16 bit, it will still play, the dac will still show "mqa" and a sample rate number, and even a studio dot, however it can no longer "unfold". What is playing? Those 15 bits + 1 bit of noise (the mqa signal)

I own an audiophile system and I can hear details in Qobuz tracks that are no longer there in the Tidal mqa version. Mqa also adds unwanted bass making it look like another loudness format.

Maybe the writer of this article has been comparing mqa from Tidal with pcm ... also from Tidal and not from Qobuz??? If he did he should be aware that most of the pcms on Tidal are still mqa, but downsampled to 16/44, to make mqa sound better then pcm (read : downsampled mqa).

I had Tidal for 2 years, then I heard Qobuz for a week and I ditched Tidal after that week as I couldn't believe what I had been missing all that time.

Tidal offers lossy versions of masters. Qobuz offers those masters. That's all we need to know!

EDIT :
Ah, and I forgot to mention this :
On qobuz you can see when some tracks are missing because they show them greyed out.
1, 2, (3), 4, 5, (6), 7
On tidal tracks are also missing, but they just don't show them and they even renumber the remaining tracks so no one would notice tracks are missing.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Maybe this is why the author thinks Qobuz has more gaps?

Interesting analysis, i agree with your observations from my own listening comparisons . I’d never go back to Tidal, Qobuz is so much better in every way. There is no contest.

 

[Mac_555]

What Hi-Fi claims “Our mission is and has always been for everyone to own the very best audio and video kit they can afford, so they can enjoy music and movies to their fullest.”

Given that statement why then do What Hi-Fi continue to award Spotify the maximum 5-star rating? Their audio quality lags WAY behind most of the other platforms and despite Spotify's commitment made in February 2021 to introduce Hi-Fi before the end of the year, there’s still absolutely no sign of it. I know that it’s not that big a deal to many of their users but there’s a significant number of very frustrated Spotify customers who have been asking for this feature for many years.

 

[Rhulain]

Been on Tidal for a while and this review caused me to give Qobuz a try to understand why the ratings so different.

Early observations is I can't for the life of me see why the difference especially as Qobuz is cheaper!

The 10 million title difference could be a factor but I have only found 1 EP so far that is on Tidal that isn't on Qobuz.

I think at this rate I will move from Tidal to Qobuz when the renewals come up and see what develops over the next 12 months

I made the switch when Tidal started including FLAC in their library. One of the sticking points for me was when you couldn't choose whether to listen to a MQA or a FLAC song. Tidal would just play what was available and not tell you what you were listening to.

 

[DegreesOfSeparation]

I'm quite surprised this article hasn't mentioned the recent announcement from Tidal that they will be offering the hi-res tier for only $10.99 from 10th April 2024 in the US. Hopefully that will be coming to the UK as well, as I'm fed up with the shoddy app from Apple for Android and want to switch.

 

[Dronne]

It’s already been announced for the UK as well - Google it

 

[DegreesOfSeparation]

It’s already been announced for the UK as well - Google it

Cheers, I was reading the early article from Tech Radar I think, missed later announcements

 

[Rodolfo]

I've tried both Tidal and Quoboz through my HiBy players for 3-4 months, and especially Spotify for several years until two years ago, on all my platforms. I switched to Amazon when it sharply increased its HD and Ultra HD offerings and stopped distinguishing HD as a tier and charging additionally for it. Spotify could no longer compete on -most importantly- music quality, nor costs.

I've followed the magazine for much longer than I've subscribed to streaming services, BUT this is still another biased What Hi-Fi summary/comparison article that, among other gaps, neglects/AVOIDS noting that Amazon has an annual plan that reduces its costs for all subscribers, and is the only service that has this. For readers, and especially anyone subscribing for a year or longer, the costs comparisons provided (selectively) are distorted and negligent. Furthermore, the cost-differentials multiply/compound/increase each year forever -or until others are able to compete.

Acknowledgement/note: I am a U.S.-based subscriber and don't know what is offered in other countries; but, any differences would also be noted to all international readers in a good article.

 

[Matsprey]

The best streaming services offer slick interfaces, high-quality audio and access to millions of tracks.

Best music streaming services: free streams to hi-res audio : Read more

Why is there no mention of the ability to stream Apple Music via Apple TV which allows stereo or Dolby Atmos (Spatial Audo) at 24 bit 48kHz when played via a compatible system. This is a big miss in the review and a feature I find is my favourite way to enjoy streamed music.

 

[NaimAllTheWay]

You need to check your facts Tidal no longer use MQA, they have replaced it with FLAC:

https://tidal.com/sound-quality