Qobuz - have you used it?

Qobuz

a more ethical option than Spoioifty??

https://www.qobuz.com/

After reading earlier today that Spotify is running ICE ads, I thought about starting a "have you quit Spotify yet?" thread. I haven't compared all the streamers recently, but I don't get why you'd stick with them — last time I looked all the big competitors offered higher quality streams for the same price.

I'm on Tidal, but Qobuz seems good, nice to see it's available in Canada now. I could definitely be persuaded to switch.

I've started using Qobuz (though still irritatingly subscribed to Spotify to sate my family). It's pretty good, has most of what I want, though not everything. For example, it has the two Virgin Camper Van Beethoven albums! But it lacks, say, the new Call Super album some of you were talking about (despite having other stuff by them), and it lacks the first two Drive By Truckers albums (despite having the rest). It's got all the Neil Young and King Gizzard and Zorn I want, and everything sounds good, but it doesn't have podcasts.

Tidal was a bit like that at first, but now it's rare they don't have stuff that Spotify does have; I imagine Qobuz will catch up too. FYI, I checked if Tidal has that Call Super and at first it looked like no, but it's classified under Various Artists and only showed up in the "Appears On" section, so you might find it on Qobuz with some searching?

I love it. Sure, finding things can be slightly janky sometimes, but that doesn't bother me. Sounds good, works fine for my purposes, and it makes me feel better than supporting the other big companies, Spotify in particular.

Pretty sure unperson said in another thread that he thought the sound quality on Qobuz was better than Tidal. I never tried Tidal, but it's way better than Spotify, and as far as I know Qobuz isn't trying to be part f the military-industrial complex. You can also buy albums/tracks on Qobuz in as high-definition as the label makes available.

I used Qobuz last year but had some problems so I quit it this year, but came back a few months ago and there have been no problems.

I've been on it for a couple of months, the only niggles are no playlist folders and no direct Sonos compatability (you can use the Qobuz service in the Sonos app but the ui there is not so good, you can't stream to Sonos from the Qobuz app). The only notable omission I've noticed from the EOY lists is Los Thuthanaka - not that I've looked for everything by any means. The album reviews are a nice touch.

I do appreciate the reviews, at least the ones I've read.

xps There is already a "Continuing with Spotify?" thread
Continuing with Spotify?

i did some Tidal/Qobuz comparison there earlier this year. Both fine i think. Would've liked to keep Qobuz but had technical and parental issues.

A couple things that annoy me about Qobuz— some stuff is “purchase only” and can’t be streamed (older titles on jazz label Pi) some stuff you can’t find at all (Tortoise’s older albums), but are available on other streaming services (I use Apple Music as a supplement for this things I can’t find on Qobuz).

You can also buy albums/tracks on Qobuz in as high-definition as the label makes available.

― Modollno Kahn (Boring, Maryland), Monday, December 8, 2025 2:04 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

i use the high-res purchases a decent amount, like if I hear a sample on something I want to use, it's a lot easier to just buy a high res file and cut it up in the daw instead of trying to get it off a record

Qobuz not having Thrill Jockey stuff is my biggest complaint — but I imagine that'll get sorted? I like the service otherwise, but I'm not that into streaming.

I was given a one-year subscription to Qobuz by their publicist, and I like it enough (as mentioned above, the sound quality is really good) that I've at least for now cancelled my Tidal subscription. Come the end of my free year, we'll see if I stick around. But the fact that they're the only one of the three streaming services I've used that has Pussy Galore's Right Now!, Sugarshit Sharp, and Dial 'M' For Motherfucker is a huge point in their favor IMO.

Qobuz definitely has gaps, I've always assumed it's because they are based in France and there are rights issues? that's total speculation on my part

but I like it so much more overall than any other streaming services

it's the only one I've used besides Spotify, which for reasons articulated above as well as many many others (ear fatigue, Daniel EK's interest in paying vast sums to Rogan and whichever english football franchise he likes the best and not trying to reform artist remuneration, etc etc) I stopped using four years ago.

The reviews for, like, pre 2022 music are from Allmusic; I've never been stymied in finding anything on this service other than shit that forgoes the major streaming services other than Bandcamp, like Sun City Girls or Los thuthanakas… It claims to be CD quality relative to youtube or Spotify, but I think you have to have audiophile listening apparatus to notice the difference.

are based in France

Maybe explains the terrible name?

I didn't like the name either, but your post prompted me to look it up and it's the name of an instrument from central Asia, which tbh makes it better than all the other service names.

I don't think it's audiophiley, I can tell the difference just from sodcasting on an old iPhone

yeah the sound quality improvement is noticeable even in cheap equipment

xp Agree with the above statement. Ive been using it the last few months - Im not an audiophile but the sound quality is miles ahead of Spotify. Its definitely for the more serious-minded, doesnt seem to be too concerned with playlists or listening stats. Spotify does seem to have a better library though especially when it comes to dance music.

It sounds better than Spotify to me, but for whatever reason I have to max out the volume on my phone when I'm streaming it.

xxpost Maybe I've seen it spelled differently? Anyway, cool name origin but still absolutely terrible. I've recommended it to a couple of friends since I've switched, and it's been impossible for them to even know how to spell it based on how I pronounce it, assuming I've been pronouncing it right in the first place. So I end up spelling it out, but I have a feeling it may be a lost cause pitching a service you can barely pronounce or spell when ease of use and convenience is the reason so many choose Spotify. At least we know they didn't blow a bunch of money on marketing.

Spotify is easy to spell but a terrible name imo, we've just been desensitized to how dumb it sounds

> ... the sound quality is really good... ...Pussy Galore's Right Now!...

I lol'd

I'm going to have to dig around on the web to figure out what's going on with the perceived high quality! If a label/publisher has uploaded the same master in lossless to Tidal/Qobuz/Apple it should be the exact same quality if you've got the streaming set to lossless

The possibilities are: 1. They're not the same files 2. Services are doing something even to lossless streams 3. Something wonky

I did see that a few people have postulated that the line level of Qobuz is higher, or that they do some sort of brightening filter/messing with the mastering. sus

I don't understand how there's such a great variety in sound quality when all these services use lossless audio

if Qobuz was doing something to the masters believe me the classical aficionados and classical indie label owners would have complained by now

Qobuz all day

I think part of it is a conflation between what is and isn't lossless, judging from the weirdos who were saying Qobuz sounded great a year ago on reddit compared to Spotify, when Spotify did not have lossless as an option at all

he weirdos who were saying Qobuz sounded great a year ago on reddit compared to Spotify, when Spotify did not have lossless as an option at all

― mh, Tuesday, December 9, 2025 11:30 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

well, it did sound better so

i have a good friend who swears by the buz. i've never cared much about audio quality (my formative music listening years were spent listening to ripped mp3s on dell laptop speakers and/or cheap cassette players) but i think it's what i would choose if i quit spotify for good

My assumption was that the auto-playlisting on Qobuz was much worse, but it seems like my music tastes are basic enough to get by.

I played the whole of Pet Shop Boys' Behaviour, then Qobuz ran on to play some ethereal ballads I'd never heard before by Erasure, Beloved and Bros (!), plus Blue Dress by Depeche. Fun!

My trial ran out and I forgot to cancel, so I guess the true test will be, will still enjoy it when I'm actually paying?

The UI is not great, but I like the general posh austere design, and, as a completely shallow person, I felt more sophisticated while I was listening to artier things, like Radu Lupu or Laurie Anderson

Qobuz teams up with indie music mag Drowned in Sound to produce 6 months of artist-first podcasts — and I can’t wait to tune in
https://www.techradar.com/audio/audio-streaming/qobuz-teams-up-with-indie-music-mag-drowned-in-sound-to-produce-6-months-of-artist-first-podcasts-and-i-cant-wait-to-tune-in

And now, the French music streaming service has announced a six-month partnership with Drowned in Sound, the slightly caustic independent music publication, podcast and online community.

What to expect? A Drowned in Sound (DiS) podcast season running from December 2025 to June 2026, with Qobuz serving as title sponsor for the podcast, and DiS-curated weekly companion playlists on Qobuz.

Qobuz and DiS tell us that things will kick off off on DiS with its best of 2025 coverage, predictions for 2026, plus exclusive interviews with electronic music leviathan Kelly Lee Owens, as well as one of the most exciting and groundbreaking new artists in the world right now, Sofia Isella.

I don't understand how there's such a great variety in sound quality when all these services use lossless audio

I assume it's in the compression, right? Things might start lossless, but those files are huge and clog the pipes, so they get compressed. The more compressed the lower the quality.

When releases on my label get serviced to streamers (I use DistroKid to handle all of this), I upload WAV files. Not super hi-res 24/96 WAV files, just regular 16/44 WAVs. What each streaming service does with them after that is up to them. But they sound better on Tidal and Qobuz than on Spotify.

Big Qobuz fan here

Agree with everyone above re: sound quality vs. Spotify, and Qobuz' weekly topical playlists feel much more human-curated to me than Spotify's.

I just looked at the For You customized playlist, and it made no sense to me. The first track was True Men Don't Kill Coyotes by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, later there is a track by the Sundays, but the rest of the tracks were pretty much all 50s rock and roll. Weird.

I get Apple Music included with a family plan but it still kind of sucks with the emphasis on the shitty radio stations, tempted to pay for Qobuz on the side.

i imagine the Qobuz playlists are made by people. Their robots are worthless. I was ok with it but not good for the others on the family plan.

not getting the sound quality stuff at all, and I've tried to see if i could tell a difference on nice gear. I have to think some people put varying masters side by side, to think there is some large difference but..shrug

also Tidal has Atmos masters available, same as Apple? Disabled that completely. Only ever seems to sound worse.

I find it regularly cuts out when driving about, even when streaming the lowest quality. More than I experienced with Spotify anyway. Perhaps Spotify caches more intelligently?

i think the only time i thought spotify had dreadful sound quality was when “normalize audio” was turned on by accident/default

yeah got to disable all processing "features" at the app and computer level

One thing that I would like Quobuz to include that Spotify had (and maybe the other streamers do, i don't have them so I don't know) is a version of "this is Young Boy NBA" or "This is Joe Walsh" or "This is Conlon Nancarrow" playlists… I like compilations/greatest hits, where you get the major/basic shit that a novice needs to understand a given act, not necessarily some random goofuses view of that given act, or for that matter the clueless AI rendition… I am listening to the young Boy "Most Popular" tracks on quobuz as I write, and I would like it if I had an assurance that this is representative assortment of his doings curated by an informed human…

I don't think humans put together those Spotify playlists bruh

First big disappointment with Qobuz: the version of Bad Brains' Rock For Light is not the original mix (reissued on the Brains' own label a couple of years ago) but the shitty 1990 remixed/re-sequenced version.

Is it on Spotify or any other service (besides Bandcamp)?

Just signed up, and used Soundiiz to fairly smoothly move all of my Spotify playlists, followed artists, and 5,000+ liked songs (!) to Qobuz for free. I am away from my home comp so I cannot remembeer the exact link, but a basic search for "moving playlists from spotify to qobuz" led me to a page (it may have been Reddit) with a promotional code and directions.

Qobuz's buy-the-music option pays off in a big way: I just bought WAV files of the Cecil Taylor 10CD live set 2 Ts For A Lovely T with William Parker and Tony Oxley for $20. It was released on CD in 2002, went out of print instantly (I sold my copy years ago) and has never been available again, except as MP3s from Amazon.

I was abel to Soundiiz a lot of my playlists from YouTube music except SOunds of the Dawns stuff

I do like the sound quality

I switched too and it seems great so far. I like cultivating a sense of detachment from these kinds of services (and my own tendency to make endless lists of unlistened-to music), so I didn't even bother using the playlist mover

I manually remade one (1) of my playlists in Qobuz and waved goodbye to Spotify

Question: Do any of the other platforms give access to podcasts and audiobooks?

Yes, switched over at year end.

Really liking having a standalone “music player” again with relatively normal controls, feels like going back to a better time/away from enshittification. Fk Ek and APPL.

Do y'all know where I can find the equiv to Release Radar or Song Radio on the desktop version?

Question: Do any of the other platforms give access to podcasts and audiobooks?

Apple i thought integrates with podcasts at least?

I do not believe Qobuz has podcasts or books

good

I just use a different app for podcasts (Pocketcasts), I never really want to mix music and podcasts (although I would like to be able to down NTS shows to listen on mobile offline, not sure if that's as simple as using Mixcloud or if it requires some other tools).

even my youngest is on qobuz now

Qobuz AI Charter

It's good!

I like it.

there's a new Bitchin Bajas album that is apparently a Qobuz exclusive (apols if you were all emailed this news as well), though I assume that's just a streaming exclusive since it's on Drag City (?)

also their update email this week acknowledge the events in Minneapolis and suggested playlists of Minneapolis musicians which I think is interesting of a streaming company acknowledging what’s going on maybe it’s because they’re French

Gonna give them a try this weekend. I think I've finally convinced my daughter that it'll be okay for her to dump Shodify

It seems like the sound quality is better than spotify

not working for me

Finally made the switch. I don't care for the interface much but I couldn't keep supporting Spotify and in any case I'm hoping to stream less anyway

I just wish they had some kind of "Compact" appearance option, something closer to classic iTunes

Is there an equivalent of Discover Weekly on Qobuz?

Yes, they have DailyQ and WeeklyQ on the “For You” tab of Discover. I don’t have a lot of listening history yet so can’t judge how good they are.

I get weekly emails from them (credited to "Sebastien from Qobuz"); here's the text of this week's:

Our Album of the Week comes from Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan. Manifeste’s atypical fusion of prog rock, ambient, classical, folk, electro and jazz results in complex and emotive compositions. With Singin’ To An Empty Chair, Chicago indie rock band Ratboys continue their streak of spectacular records with hints of folk and country. Korean pianist sensation Yunchan Lim’s Carnegie Hall performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations is an emotive triumph balancing technical skill and tenderness. Ron Carter and Ricky Dillard uplift with a mix of Carter’s jazz bass and Dillard’s command of the New gospel choir on the majestic Sweet, Sweet Spirit, recorded as a tribute to the bassist’s mother. Similarly, Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s Laughter In Summer is a stirring and emotionally honest tribute to his wife as they deal with aging, memory loss and illness. J. Cole’s retirement album, The Fall-Off, concludes a string of autobiographical records dealing with his rise to fame and, in this case, decision to walk away from rap. A reissue of NRBQ’s Grooves In Orbit is a fresh and expanded look at why it’s often used as an entry point into their prolific catalog, Norwegian black metal band Mayhem resumes their influential run at the helm of extreme music, and Daphni—otherwise known as Dan Snaith and Caribou—relentlessly pursues the joy of electronic dance music through a sprawling DJ set.

This week’s featured playlists celebrate 20 years of the inimitable Donuts on Produced by J Dilla, provide soundtracks for your car ride on On the Road and Winter Drive, and spotlight 2026 Best New Artist GRAMMY winner (and former Qobuzissime awardee) Olivia Dean in Hi-Res.

I gotta admit, that's a pretty eclectic list and not the kind of thing I'd expect from Spotify or even Tidal. And it's not even particularly geared toward the stuff I listen to!

Only thing I miss is my discover weekly playlist from Spotify. I end up logging in to see what's on it.

Yes, they have DailyQ and WeeklyQ on the “For You” tab of Discover. I don’t have a lot of listening history yet so can’t judge how good they are.

― stet, Saturday, February 7, 2026 1:36 AM (seventeen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

This seems to be mobile only - can't find it on the mac desktop app.

I like Qobuz and will stick with it but there are a few rough edges - search frequently seems a bit dumb, the desktop UX has a few little annoyances (I look at my playlists, I scroll down and click on one; when I click 'back', I am at the top of my list of playlists, not at the point I scrolled to).

yeah the search function is frustrating

Here is my assessment after 2 months on Qobuz:

Pros:

-Extremely easy process to transfer my artists, songs, and playlists from (in my case) Spotify

-Nearly everything on said playlists is on there. For example, on my personal Best of 2025 list, which leans towards relatively-obscure artists from genres like punk, R&B, hip-hop, dance, and dreampop, every song was available except for a Hungarian hard rock band called Doggos (check 'em out, they're great).

-They pay quadruple the royalties of Spotify

-Sound quality is fantastic

-If you prioritize finding older music that's new to you from a wide array of genres, the Discover tab is loaded with playlists and albums from the '70s, '80s, and '90s, along with new releases from artists old and new

-The Magazine tab features interviews with a similar range of artists as found in the Discover tab

-If you love Classical music, check out the space offered its way in the Discover and Magazine tabs

Cons or Bugs that Hopefully Get Fixed:

-Annoying differences between mobile and desktop apps. Unfortunately, it appears that the For You tab is only on the mobile version; same with Song/Artist Radio. Which means that access to the Qobuz equivalent to "Discover Weekly" and "Release Radar" are not available on the desktop version

-When you switch from mobile to desktop, it still plays from your phone's speaker, so you have to go to the device selector and switch it yourself, whereas Spotify switches automatically

-The New Release list is not in a single playlist, you have to open each release folder individually

-When you go to an artist's discography, and the track ends, it doesn't automatically go to the next release on the list, so you have to go back to the app to play the next one, or add the songs to the queue

-I have JBL's wifi speakers, and for some reason, they recognize Spotify, but not Qobuz, so have to switch them and my phone play via to bluetooth. Not the worst thing, obv, but another example of needing one extra step that I didn't have to deal with before

-While I've noticed improvement since December, their Song/Artist Radio always includes tracks that are so incongruent with the selection that its almost ridiculous. Whichever jokester thought I'd appreciate late-period Blur or Stadium Arcadium-era Red Hot Chili Peppers on a song radio for British R&B/hip-hop artists like Kelela, Little Simz, or Biig Piig, you're not funny, dude.

-OK, this is kinda funny: when Qobuz lacks a song or artist, the playlist transfer process results in bizarre replacement choices. For example, in my Best of 2023 list, which featured a dreamy, ethereal song called "Lovebites" by Maebh (no, its not a Def Leppard cover, you goofballs), the Spotify-to-Qobuz transfer via Soundiiz resulted in it being replaced by "The Awakening", an overture-like suite from a Japanese metal band called Lovebites that, interestingly, starts in a similar mood, but goes Full Joe Satriani near the end. A few songs later on the list, "Vehicle" from R&B-leaning artist Halima, was replaced with a similarly-titled Gary Clark Jr. song from the Minions soundtrack. But wait - there's more! "Burned Your Letter" by Rorey (RIYL Momma, the Beths, or Rocket) was replaced by some shite song called "In Your Letter" by REO fucking Speedwagon. What the hell?

-This is more of a preference than a bug, but I want my discover and song radio features to prioritize new artists that are unknown to me, yet also within the styles and genres of the artists of which I already follow, or serve as the selection for the radio station - something Spofity is really good at doing. I've found that I primarily use Qobuz to listen to albums or playlists of songs I've already liked on other apps, instead of music discovery. This is because their system makes finding new songs and artists meeting my preferences to be quite difficult.

Warning - spicy, judgemental AF sentence ahead! I don't really give a shit about new releases from washed-up sex-pests that got heavy rotaysh on Jann Wenner's Sandisk Sansa mp3 player; NPR-core awards-show regulars who you had to mute because they constantly re-post the corniest political takes from, like, BrooklynDad DEFIANT!; hookless rhythmless pap from vital-30-plus-years-ago-but-totally-sleepy-now artistes that inexplicably slumber their way into EOY Best-Of lists; or boring lecture-rap has-beens tricking their fans into what will likely be a shitcoin rug-pull; but Qobuz keeps throwing them into my discover/radio playlists anyway.

Despite all the cons, though, I still feel like the 1-year-plan has been totally worth it, and I can see the song radio playlists getting better/less Arcadiumish as the app gets to know my preferences.

The biggest problem I have with it is related to sound and playback, and it's that when I'm listening through laptop speakers and decide to listen through headphones instead, it doesn't automatically switch when I plug my headphones in, like every other app or browser I have ever used in my life does. I have to click the menu and manually select headphones.