The best sounding streaming provider is Qobuz.

That was the conclusion of a dutch audio review web site.

https://audio-creative.nl/muziekstreaming/tidal-vs-qobuz/

To be honest, I tried a number of services  and now use Apple Music and Sirius XM mainly because of the curated content and overall software experience. My experience is that I can’t hear the difference even with very high end systems (not mine) so I am lucky. So I based my selection of service based on available content and software experience. I like Spotify too, but since I am in Apple ecosystem I picked Apple and with Apple Match uploaded all my CDs to iCloud.

I haven’t tried Qobuz but in the US the consensus is that Tidal and Amazon HD sound better and have an overall bigger library but Qobuz has more high res tracks.

My 2 cents worth 🙂

koning wrote:

The best sounding streaming provider is Qobuz.

I've been testing Qobuz recently and comparing against the highest-grade Spotify stream.

You can tell a difference. High hat sounds are more distinct and bass more rounded. I'd say about 20% more substantial.

But, really, the difference is fairly marginal (for me) on most modern music or certainly it's not enough for me to pay another £22/month to stream Qobuz over the convenience of Qobuz.

For me, Spotify is just so convenient and fully supports things like CarPlay. I know Qobuz supports CarPlay, but only in 'offline mode' and for this you have to be an even higher premium or you just get MP3 downloads.

Agreed. Qobuz is the best in my opinion but its UI is not as good as Tidal and its catalogue is not so extensive.

I think you will find you pay £15 p.m. for the top service and can also download to play in offline mode at 24-bit Hi-Res up to 192 kHz although I have never used CarPlay.

Just checked and it is more expensive to stream Hi Res to mobile phone networks although via Wi-Fi it is £14.99 p.m.

I also do a lot of headphone listening and (IMHO) the difference in sound between 'normal' streaming and Qobuz and Tidal is quite marked.