Spotify vs Amazon Music Quality

[Pricy]

Excuse me if this has been covered previously but I can't find specifics. I've been a Spotify user since day dot, but with the new system I have been drawing comparison against Amazon music to see whether I can really tell the difference. In short, I think I can, but it's fairly marginal. I am a Prime user and so weighing up the faff of rebuilding my playlists on Amazon to cancel Spotify. I know that Spotify are launching a non-compressed format sometime soon but there's no details as to yet whether they will charge a premium over the current. What's your views? At low level listening (background music if you like) then it really doesn't make any difference, but at higher volumes, there is a slight gain that I can discern (2 way system). Currently trying the 30 day free trial before subscription, or is the free 2 million tracks as part of my Prime membership enough?

 

[acgingersnaps]

Excuse me if this has been covered previously but I can't find specifics. I've been a Spotify user since day dot, but with the new system I have been drawing comparison against Amazon music to see whether I can really tell the difference. In short, I think I can, but it's fairly marginal. I am a Prime user and so weighing up the faff of rebuilding my playlists on Amazon to cancel Spotify. I know that Spotify are launching a non-compressed format sometime soon but there's no details as to yet whether they will charge a premium over the current. What's your views? At low level listening (background music if you like) then it really doesn't make any difference, but at higher volumes, there is a slight gain that I can discern (2 way system). Currently trying the 30 day free trial before subscription, or is the free 2 million tracks as part of my Prime membership enough?

Hi. I can tell the difference between Qobuz and Spotify, who may not go lossless for a while.
Re playlists, I was in a similar position to you. Years of playlists that I wanted to keep. Happily there are softwares out yhere that will transfer your playlists from your old service to your new ones. Can't remember the name though. It's been a while.

 

[Pricy]

Hi. I can tell the difference between Qobuz and Spotify, who may not go lossless for a while.
Re playlists, I was in a similar position to you. Years of playlists that I wanted to keep. Happily there are softwares out yhere that will transfer your playlists from your old service to your new ones. Can't remember the name though. It's been a while.

Thank you. Found Soundiz so will give that a try later.

 

[acgingersnaps]

Thank you. Found Soundiz so will give that a try later.

Id give all the services a go. They all offer trials and have significant differences.
I found the Qobuz sound to be the best and really like the curation. Longs essays about the albums, nice clean lay out etc. The trade off is that it's not got quite as much of the obscure stuff as some.

 

[andycc72]

I'm in the same boat, I have extensive playlists on Spotify, love the UX/interface, which IMO is far superior to all the other platforms. It has the best library for the genres I love and I think generally. The algorithm is spot on and the suggestions are always good. I'll always keep Spotify for these reasons. I have tried the following

- Quobuz, probably the best SQ of the lot, awful UX, awful algorithm, connection dropped out on my system far more than all the other platforms c combined for some reason. I tried it twice as the SQ is great but it drove me mad - never to return.

- Amazon HD - Decent enough SQ, library and algorithm, but I never got on with the UX with BLUOS integration (I had the Node 2i at the time) so binned it off

- Tidal - I like Tidal, good SQ, superior to Spotify IMO and on my system, decent algorithm and library.

I currently have Tidal & Spotify but will bin Tidal once/if Spotify go high res.

 

[Pricy]

I'm in the same boat, I have extensive playlists on Spotify, love the UX/interface, which IMO is far superior to all the other platforms. It has the best library for the genres I love and I think generally. The algorithm is spot on and the suggestions are always good. I'll always keep Spotify for these reasons. I have tried the following

- Quobuz, probably the best SQ of the late, awful UX, awful algorithm, connection dropped out on my system far more than all the other platforms c combined for some reason. I tried it twice as the SQ is great but it drove me mad - never to return.

- Amazon HD - Decent enough SQ, library and algorithm, but I never got on with the UX with BLUOS integration (I had the Node 2i at the time) so binned it off

- Tidal - I like Tidal, good SQ, superior to Spotify IMO and on my system, decent algorithm and library.

I currently have Tidal & Spotify but will bin Tidal once/if Spotify go high res.

That's interesting and thanks for replying. I'm on BluOS too and so I understand what you say regarding the differences of interface and agree. I think I can get on with Amazon for the better SQ but it is a little clunky (surely wouldn't;t be too difficult to sort it out). I guess the question is: is there much in the SQ between Amazon and Quobuz? I'll probably give the 30 day trail a go with Quobuz and see what I think.

 

[andycc72]

That's interesting and thanks for replying. I'm on BluOS too and so I understand what you say regarding the differences of interface and agree. I think I can get on with Amazon for the better SQ but it is a little clunky (surely wouldn't;t be too difficult to sort it out). I guess the question is: is there much in the SQ between Amazon and Quobuz? I'll probably give the 30 day trail a go with Quobuz and see what I think.

I don't think there's a 'huge' amount of difference SQ wise but I think Quboz is generally superior in that respect. Definitely get a free trial and test it out yourself.

 

[stevoknevo]

Spotify said last year they'd be going hifi quality by the end of the year, May now and still no sign of it.

I use Qobuz, its different from the other services in that it's more of a record shop that you browse through rather than the algorithmic process of suggestion by the others - the only thing it provides that way is 'My weekly Q' playlist every Friday whereby it makes a playlist based on what you've listened to that week - the Qobuz app can be flaky but rarely use it as I access Qobuz on a Raspberry Pi4 via Bubble UPnP on my phone tablet and rarely have an issue (any issues tend to be with the moOde OS on the Rpi, quick reboot sorts it.
I don't like how little Spotify pays to artists, Tidal's MQA is just a stealth DRM dressed up in SQ snake oil that needs licensed equipment to enable the full unfolding to receive 24/192 - Qobuz isn't perfect by any stretch, caters more for classical/jazz and does have library gaps, but it suits my listening types well enough.

 

[Pricy]

Initial thoughts with Quobuz are pretty underwhelming. The levels are much noticeably lower and Amazon seems warmers. The app is clearly very different. I’ll have more of a play later.

 

[Onlythesound]

Not forgetting Apple Music - offering fine quality if you’re an Apple phone user - lossless, spatial audio depending on devices you listen with.

 

[Ascotbilly]

Guys - Is there now such a thing as “Free” Tidal as there is with Spotify ? If so how do I activate my account to use it ? I have just finished a 4 months / £4 deal and on trying to open the app get this

 

[acgingersnaps]

Guys - Is there now such a thing as “Free” Tidal as there is with Spotify ? If so how do I activate my account to use it ? I have just finished a 4 months / £4 deal and on trying to open the app get this

As far as I'm aware it's pay only.

 

[andycc72]

Guys - Is there now such a thing as “Free” Tidal as there is with Spotify ? If so how do I activate my account to use it ? I have just finished a 4 months / £4 deal and on trying to open the app get this

What did you think of Tidal?

 

[Pricy]

Not forgetting Apple Music - offering fine quality if you’re an Apple phone user - lossless, spatial audio depending on devices you listen with.

I should give Apple a go too really as an Apple user. Though I’m pretty ok with what I’ve set up on Amazon for the time being. There’s a couple of quirks that could be slicker, but no deal-breaker. Just wonder how much content is on the Prime version as already a prime subscriber?

 

[Ascotbilly]

Thanks for confirming it always wae although I thought that I had read a while ago that they had introduced a free service.

What did you think of Tidal?

Liked it Andy - I’ll happily spend ££ on LPs but to date I’ve never paid for a streaming service as I can go weeks without use.

I last used Tidal a year back , the UI has improved massively it’s been much more aware of my music tastes previously it seemed to ignore them.

Sound quality I can’t compare as each service including bbc sounds is good to my ears.

 

[Paul7777x]

I very much doubt Spotify actually has any plans to go from its 90s codec to something resembling an uncompressed format at all.

It seems to be concentrating on codpieces, or podcasts; whatever they are.

It isn’t interested in the small number who would like, and benefit from, at least cd quality.

 

[Onlythesound]

I very much doubt Spotify actually has any plans to go from its 90s codec to something resembling an uncompressed format at all.

It seems to be concentrating on codpieces, or podcasts; whatever they are.

It isn’t interested in the small number who would like, and benefit from, at least cd quality.

More money in that I guess.