HDtracks vs Qobuz – Hi-Res Downloads (not streaming)

Crumhorn

Crumhorn

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Because my new SACD player (Marantz SA-10) has digital inputs, I now want to purchase (download) a number of high-resolution albums that are not available on SACD. (To play from a USB flash drive.)

I have found the identical albums, with identical resolutions, at both HDTracks & Qobuz, but HDTracks is selling them for more than double the price Qobuz is asking.

Are the HDTracks Hi-Res downloads so audibly superior to the identical resolutions on Qobuz that they are worth double the price, or should I just save some money & go with Qobuz? (I have no problem paying more if it actually gets me better quality...)

Thanks!
 
Check the sample rate specs.

At the same sample rate, unless the versions from the two sites came from two masters, in the absence of other obvious differences, there is not much reason to suspect one will be superior to the other.

Also note that Qobuz Sublime subscription may give you further discounts for purchase.
 
Crumhorn said:
Since my new SACD player (Marantz SA-10) has digital inputs, I now want to purchase (download) a number of high-resolution albums that are not available on SACD. (To play from a USB flash drive.)

I have found the identical albums, with identical resolutions, at both HDTracks & Qobuz, but HDTracks is selling them for more than double the price Qobuz is asking.

Are the HDTracks Hi-Res downloads so audibly superior to the identical resolutions on Qobuz that they are worth double the price, or should I just save some money & go with Qobuz? (I have no problem paying more if it actually gets me better quality...)

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Even at the same sample and bit rates, if the albums were mastered differently this can play a crucial role in sound quality. If there is a way to compare the same album (at the same bit and sample rates) from the two different services before purchasing I suggest doing so. (I've even gone as far as buying a few of the same albums from different sites to compare but not apples to apples - more so DSD vs PCM comparisons.) Ultimately I'd say let your own ears and wallet lead you in your decision.

If I recall correctly some HDTracks releases will show a bit of information about the mastering process (who, when and maybe where) but this is not for all of their albums. Also it seems if this extra info is available it's shown on their full site but not on the mobile version of their site. (I might be mistaken but I didn't have the time to dig deep in their mobile site to refute this.)

Thanks for bringing this up about Qobuz. I'll have to check out their site too.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 
Crumhorn said:
Since my new SACD player (Marantz SA-10) has digital inputs, I now want to purchase (download) a number of high-resolution albums that are not available on SACD. (To play from a USB flash drive.)

I have found the identical albums, with identical resolutions, at both HDTracks & Qobuz, but HDTracks is selling them for more than double the price Qobuz is asking.

Are the HDTracks Hi-Res downloads so audibly superior to the identical resolutions on Qobuz that they are worth double the price, or should I just save some money & go with Qobuz? (I have no problem paying more if it actually gets me better quality...)

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Congrats on your new player.

If the downloads are both the same resolution, most likely they are the same. One way of checking is finding out when they were remastered and/or the remastering engineer. Unfortunately, that information is not always available.

If you are not in a rush, every so often HDTracks offers discounts/specials that can save you money. However, if Qobuz is already offering you a better price, I would go that route.

You should be aware that there are many examples of so-called high-definition downloads that are nothing more than "fake" Hi-Rez recording. So you might want to do your homework before purchasing. Check out this article on that subject.

hirez
 
I buy two new albums from HDTracks every week. Are you saying I can do that with Qoboz, but for a lower price? I have to admit that I feel the HDTracks price is too high, even with the 20% discount email I get every week.
 
Bud,

For the High-resolution albums I was looking at (96/24, 192/24, etc.), the Qobuz price was less than half the HDtracks price for identical items. And that's without any additional discount for subscribers (which I'm not.)

Because that's such a huge disparity, I assumed that there must be some qualitative difference. Because if not, I don't see how HDtracks can stay in business. But to judge from the responses here, & what I can see for myself, there really isn't!

So yes – you can buy 2 albums from Qobuz for less than the price of 1 on HDtracks.
 
Thanks to all!

Neither site provides much (or any) info about mastering, etc. (At least not pre-purchase.) As far as I can tell, for the albums/resolutions I compared, they are identical except for the price. So It's Qobuz for me... If anyone knows different, please let us know!
 
I have never bothered with, or looked at, streaming sites, but if I can buy hi-res music for less from Qobuz I will check it out. Being retired, every penny counts.
 
BlueFox said:
I have never bothered with, or looked at, streaming sites, but if I can buy hi-res music for less from Qobuz I will check it out. Being retired, every penny counts.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it!

When on Qobuz, click on "Download Store" near the upper-right corner...

J
 
If you buy a couple of albums a week, subscribing to Qobuz's top plan is even better as it offers an additional 30-60% off their already lower prices on almost all HD albums.
I don't think I've downloaded anything from HDTracks since I subscribed to Qobuz.'
 
Rnrmf said:
If you buy a couple of albums a week, subscribing to Qobuz's top plan is even better as it offers an additional 30-60% off their already lower prices on almost all HD albums.
I don't think I've downloaded anything from HDTracks since I subscribed to Qobuz.'
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'll be a frequent-enough buyer to make a subscription pay. I still prefer physical media, when it's available. I could subscribe, get the discount on the albums on my list, & then cancel after a month, but that's not my style... If I eventually add a streamer to my system, & choose Qobuz as my source, the discount will be a nice bonus!
 
If every penny counts, buying two downloads a week costs more than a monthly subscription to Qobuz.

Not to mention that when subscribed, you would be able to stream all the high resolution albums available directly from at no extra cost. I personally have not downloaded anything from HDTracks or Qobuz since I subscribed to Qobuz.
 
That may work for BlueFox, but I have no streamer. So the only value of a Qobuz subscription to me would be to get a discount on high-resolution downloads. (As far as I can determine, Qobuz doesn't offer any discount for CD-quality downloads.) So I would need to purchase more than $400 a year of exclusively Hi-Res downloads to not lose money on the deal, and I don't foresee that happening. My preference is still for physical media. (I have ~7,000 LPs, ~2,500 CDs & ~700 SACDs!)
 
Crumhorn said:
That may work for BlueFox, but I have no streamer. So the only value of a Qobuz subscription to me would be to get a discount on high-resolution downloads. (As far as I can determine, Qobuz doesn't offer any discount for CD-quality downloads.) So I would need to purchase more than $400 a year of exclusively Hi-Res downloads to not lose money on the deal, and I don't foresee that happening. My preference is still for physical media. (I have ~7,000 LPs, ~2,500 CDs & ~700 SACDs!)
Click to expand...

I realize that you are not interested in “streaming” and that you prefer physical media. But if you are already buying downloads and enjoy listening to them, you are actually streaming (albeit from your server instead of a music service).

So if every penny counts, you can do the math: you can buy a streamer and a subscription to Qobuz, stop/reduce buying downloads and you will save a ton of money. Not to mention that your library of ~10,200 albums will immediately increase to over 30 million.
 
nicoff said:
I realize that you are not interested in “streaming” and that you prefer physical media. But if you are already buying downloads and enjoy listening to them, you are actually streaming (albeit from your server instead of a music service).

So if every penny counts, you can do the math: you can buy a streamer and a subscription to Qobuz, stop/reduce buying downloads and you will save a ton of money. Not to mention that your library of ~10,200 albums will immediately increase to over 30 million.
Click to expand...

The difference between streaming & downloading is that I "own" the downloads. If it's a recording I care about, I want to own it in perpetuity - so that I know I will always have it. I have over 1,000 LPs that never made it to CD or digital, and some of them are some of my favorite recordings. (This is particularly true of classical music, where the particular performance matters, not just the composition.) And I have plenty of CDs that are not available on any streaming service. Case in point: my favorite Van Morrison album, for personal as well as musical reasons, is "Tupelo Honey". It is out of print on CD, & totally unavailable from any streaming service in the U.S. Why is it not available on any of the streaming platforms? I don't know. But If I didn't already own it, I would be out of luck. I am not willing to limit my music to what someone else decides is profitable enough to offer for streaming at any given moment. I don't rent my stereo, my house, my car (when I had one), my furniture, my appliances, or even my software. (When Adobe switched Photoshop to a subscription-only model they lost my business. The same for Quicken.) Each to their own, & I have no problem with those that feel differently. For me, streaming would be a great way to explore new music & recordings. But if I heard something I really liked, I would want to own it. So for me, streaming will never serve as a replacement for physical media or downloads. It will only be an adjunct. And as such, it won't save me any money...
 
I do get it ,

Being new to ( 5 yrs now ) streaming , server downloads etc , i do enjoy the convenience and accessibility to new music, but still buy physical media , LP’s CD’s and tapes. I do enjoy playing physical media more and find streaming boring after a few songs , if doing serious listening , as oppose to just having music playing while reading etc ..

So i will always have physical media , whats worse it beats server /DAC for sound quality if originally an analog LP recordings or (CDP) red book .. Aside , if i didn't already have a solid library of LP’s and CD’s its a no brainer to go the streaming route and forget about it.


Regards
 
Qobuz is almost always cheaper than HDTracks for regular pricing, but the amount varies quite a bit from album to album. Occasionally HDTracks sale prices can be slightly below Qobuz, and of course their catalogs are different. In addition to checking both those sites I look at 7Digital, which has far fewer offerings but has unbelievably low sale prices (I bought some Van Morrison albums there for well under half of HDTracks prices, and at the time they weren't available at Qobuz; also a couple of other albums at about 30% of the HDTracks price). If one subscribes to Studio Sublime don't even bother looking at HDTracks.
 
Crumhorn said:
The difference between streaming & downloading is that I "own" the downloads. If it's a recording I care about, I want to own it in perpetuity - so that I know I will always have it. I have over 2,000 LPs that never made it to CD or digital, and some of them are some of my favorite recordings. (This is particularly true of classical music, where the particular performance matters, not just the composition.) And I have plenty of CDs that are not available on any streaming service. I am not willing to limit my music to what someone else decides is profitable enough to offer for streaming at any given moment. I don't rent my stereo, my house, my car (if I had one), my furniture, my appliances, or even my software. (When Adobe switched Photoshop to a subscription-only model they lost my business. The same for Quicken.) Each to their own, & I have no problem with those that feel differently. For me, streaming would be a great way to explore new recordings. But if I heard something I really liked, I would want to own it. So for me, streaming will never serve as a replacement for physical media or downloads. It will only be an adjunct. And as such, it won't save me any money...
Click to expand...

I get it. You still like to hoard stuff (I still have my physical library so I understand); you don’t enjoy driving (!!), and you could also improve on your math.
It is all good though! [emoji110]
 
rbbert said:
Qobuz is almost always cheaper than HDTracks for regular pricing, but the amount varies quite a bit from album to album. Occasionally HDTracks sale prices can be slightly below Qobuz, and of course their catalogs are different. In addition to checking both those sites I look at 7Digital, which has far fewer offerings but has unbelievably low sale prices (I bought some Van Morrison albums there for well under half of HDTracks prices, and at the time they weren't available at Qobuz; also a couple of other albums at about 30% of the HDTracks price). If one subscribes to Studio Sublime don't even bother looking at HDTracks.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
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