[Lisztian]

Qobuz & Presto

Don't really need them both. Qobuz is enough (wider selection of classical and also has non-classical), but I like using Presto's proprietary streamer (cheap and cheerful and works well).

Does Qobuz actually have a wider selection of classical than presto?

 

[Steve.Luciani]

Does Qobuz actually have a wider selection of classical than presto?

I asked Perplexity.ai to rank the services in terms of how many classical tracks offered. Apparently Tidal, Spotify, Amazon and YouTube don't break out numbers by genre:

Tidal, Presto Music, Spotify, Apple Classical, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Idagio, and Qobuz differ substantially in the number of classical music tracks they offer, with Apple Classical typically boasting the largest genre-specific catalog, followed by Tidal and Spotify in terms of general track count. Genre-focused platforms like Idagio and Qobuz provide fewer tracks but offer features tailored for dedicated classical listeners.

Ranked Classical Track Counts (2025)

Service	Classical Track Count (Approximate)	Notes
Apple Classical	5 million+	Largest curated classical catalog; high-res, lossless
Tidal	Catalog-wide: 110 million	No official classical-only figure, very broad coverage
Spotify	Catalog-wide: 100 million	Classical subset not stated; very large, but less curated
Presto Music	~200,000+ albums	Designed for classical; figure is by album, not track
Idagio	2.5 million	Genre-specific; tailored search for works/composers
Qobuz	2 million+ (est.)	Hi-res genre focus, not as large as Apple Classical
Amazon Music	Catalog-wide: 100 million+	Classical-only subset not disclosed; broad coverage
YouTube Music	Catalog-wide: 100 million+	No official classical-only figure; many amateur uploads

Platform Feature Highlights

• Apple Classical: Dedicated interface and metadata for composers, works, conductors, with 5 million+ tracks, spatial audio, and an ever-expanding library geared solely toward the genre.
• Tidal & Spotify: Offer massive track libraries but do not specify the classical subset; browsing can be less precise for serious listeners.
• Presto Music: Focuses exclusively on classical/high-fidelity releases, with advanced filtering and curation. Catalog size given in albums, likely translating to well over a million tracks but not as large as Apple.
• Idagio & Qobuz: Prioritize classical metadata with fewer tracks than Apple, but optimized for enthusiasts and audiophiles.

 

[Eva Yojimbo]

• Presto Music: Catalog size given in albums, likely translating to well over a million tracks but not as large as Apple.

I think this estimation is pretty far off. On average, classical albums tend to have a lot of tracks. Yes, there are exceptions when it comes to orchestral music with very long movements, but I've amassed many large playlists of classical albums and the average is usually around 20. 20 tracks multiplied by 200k albums would put the total tracks around 4 million, which is much closer to Apple.

 

[zguy67]

Thanks for asking about classical music streaming services. I switched from Spotify to Tidal about a year ago because from what I've read (online - so caveat emptor!) it's among the highest-paying platforms for artists.

 

[Simon Moon]

I use Qobuz standard.

As of now, I use it mostly for research, but in comparison to CD quality, it is awfully close. CD is my go to format for quality, but I might try the hi res version of Qobuz.

 

[Bkeske]

I use Tidal. Have for quite a while. I believe it gets a bad rap at times. MQA is now gone, which some hated, and HiRes FLAC is now used.

Recently tried Qobuz, it may be very slightly better in SQ than Tidal, but not by much. Unfortunately I have an Aurender N10 streamer, and you have to stream through their proprietary software ‘Conductor’, which is great, but I cannot sort my Qobuz music when using the service through Conductor. I can sort my music in Tidal through Conductor without issue, and it is relatively seamless vs the Tidal app. A known frustrating issue for Aurender users, and am not sure why Qobuz does not fix it for Aurender/Conductor users. I may have switched otherwise.

I also do not believe in the thought that Qobuz has ‘much more’ HiRes selections vs Tidal. There are tons of HiRes selections on both. I cannot remember one HiRes selection available in Qobuz that Tidal did not also have.

 

[Jokke]

I have tried Qobuz, but experienced technical issues on my Marantz SACD30n. On top, Qobuz comes at a higher price then Tidal, for equal SQ.
And, Qobuz is going to increase prices even more starting October 2025.

I'm very happy with Tidal.

 

[Jokke]

I use Qobuz standard.

As of now, I use it mostly for research, but in comparison to CD quality, it is awfully close. CD is my go to format for quality, but I might try the hi res version of Qobuz.

Qobuz standard is not offered in my country. Only Hires.

 

[Jokke]

Spotify has just announced that it is rolling out lossless audio 24/44 at no extra cost. (no Hires)

https://newsroom.spotify.com/2025-0...ng-arrives-on-spotify-premium-with-a-richer-more-detailed-listening-experience/

 

[Steve.Luciani]

Spotify has just announced that it is rolling out lossless audio 24/44 at no extra cost. (no Hires)

I'll probably never hear the difference at my age, but according to a Perplexity AI search, here are the streaming bit rates for major services offering classical music, covering their current maximum audio quality tiers as of 2025. The numbers shown refer to the highest available bitrates; most services offer lower/compressed tiers as well.

Streaming Services and Bit Rates

Service	Max Bit Depth / Rate	Max Bitrate	Codec	Lossless/Hi-Res Support
Apple Music	24-bit / 192 kHz	up to 9216 kbps	ALAC	Yes (Lossless & Hi-Res Lossless for most tracks)
Apple Music Classical	24-bit / 192 kHz	up to 9216 kbps	ALAC	Same lossless/hi-res tiers as Apple Music
Spotify	24-bit / 44.1 kHz	up to 1411 kbps	FLAC	Yes (CD-quality lossless as of Sep 2025)
Tidal HiFi	24-bit / 192 kHz	up to 9216 kbps (Hi-Res FLAC)	FLAC	Yes (HiFi CD-quality and HiFi Plus Hi-Res FLAC)
Qobuz	24-bit / 192 kHz	up to 9216 kbps	FLAC	Yes (Lossless & Hi-Res FLAC)
Idagio	16-bit / 44.1 kHz	up to 1411 kbps	FLAC	Yes (CD-quality lossless, no hi-res)
Primephonic (now defunct / purchased by Apple)	24-bit / 192 kHz	up to 9216 kbps	FLAC	Was Hi-Res; features subsumed into Apple
Amazon Music Unlimited	24-bit / 192 kHz	up to 9216 kbps	FLAC	Yes (Hi-Res and CD-quality on select tracks/albums)

Additional Notes

• Apple Music and Apple Music Classical: Both offer lossless audio up to 24-bit/192 kHz ALAC, but some users report only lossless (not hi-res) streaming via the Apple Music Classical app on certain devices.
• Spotify: Newly launched lossless tier is CD-quality (24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC), no hi-res above 44.1 kHz as of September 2025.
• Tidal HiFi Plus: Hi-Res FLAC now preferred over MQA for true high resolution up to 24/192.
• Qobuz: Consistently offers true hi-res FLAC streaming, popular in the audiophile and classical community.
• Idagio: Specializes in classical but is limited to lossless CD quality, not hi-res.
• Amazon Music Unlimited: Offers both CD and Hi-Res FLAC for compatible tracks, with availability sometimes varying by region/device.

Apple Music, Qobuz, Tidal HiFi Plus, and Amazon Music Unlimited all support hi-res lossless streaming for select classical content. Spotify and Idagio offer CD-quality lossless but no higher.

 

[Bkeske]

I am 67, and can almost always decipher CD's or Files, or streaming at 16/44 vs 24/44_88_96_192. Perhaps it is also my system which makes it easy to discern. And DSD is even better, or the 'best'. But I have few files in DSD vs the others.

I would also remove MQA from Tidal in your info above. Tidal abandoned MQA a few months back. All their files are now FLAC as far as I know. I have not checked recently, but there is/was a lot of disagreement over if services like Apple or Amazon are actually lossless. Especially when using Apple via Airplay, depending on which version you may use. I am not a fan of streaming via Airplay, regardless of the version. I am a complete 'Apple guy', but have never really liked iTunes or Apple Music.

 

[Steve.Luciani]

I would also remove MQA from Tidal in your info above. Tidal abandoned MQA a few months back.

Done. AI searches still need to be fact checked, that's for sure! Good spot. Thanks.

I'm 72. Hearing still pretty good, but not like my 20's, when I could easily hear 15khz test tones.

 

[Jokke]

If you compare the current poll results with the ones I initiated last year, it seems that the popularity of Spotify has gone down?

https://www.talkclassical.com/threads/streaming-service-for-classical-music.89444/

 

[Lisztian]

I asked Perplexity.ai to rank the services in terms of how many classical tracks offered. Apparently Tidal, Spotify, Amazon and YouTube don't break out numbers by genre:

Tidal, Presto Music, Spotify, Apple Classical, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Idagio, and Qobuz differ substantially in the number of classical music tracks they offer, with Apple Classical typically boasting the largest genre-specific catalog, followed by Tidal and Spotify in terms of general track count. Genre-focused platforms like Idagio and Qobuz provide fewer tracks but offer features tailored for dedicated classical listeners.

Ranked Classical Track Counts (2025)

Service	Classical Track Count (Approximate)	Notes
Apple Classical	5 million+	Largest curated classical catalog; high-res, lossless
Tidal	Catalog-wide: 110 million	No official classical-only figure, very broad coverage
Spotify	Catalog-wide: 100 million	Classical subset not stated; very large, but less curated
Presto Music	~200,000+ albums	Designed for classical; figure is by album, not track
Idagio	2.5 million	Genre-specific; tailored search for works/composers
Qobuz	2 million+ (est.)	Hi-res genre focus, not as large as Apple Classical
Amazon Music	Catalog-wide: 100 million+	Classical-only subset not disclosed; broad coverage
YouTube Music	Catalog-wide: 100 million+	No official classical-only figure; many amateur uploads

Platform Feature Highlights

• Apple Classical: Dedicated interface and metadata for composers, works, conductors, with 5 million+ tracks, spatial audio, and an ever-expanding library geared solely toward the genre.
• Tidal & Spotify: Offer massive track libraries but do not specify the classical subset; browsing can be less precise for serious listeners.
• Presto Music: Focuses exclusively on classical/high-fidelity releases, with advanced filtering and curation. Catalog size given in albums, likely translating to well over a million tracks but not as large as Apple.
• Idagio & Qobuz: Prioritize classical metadata with fewer tracks than Apple, but optimized for enthusiasts and audiophiles.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Steve.Luciani]

Thanks for the info!

You're welcome.

I'm an Apple Music user mainly because my son included me on his "family plan", but I will say, the Apple metadata search is poor. I searched for an artist I just became away of recently, Catherine Collard, who has an amazing Mozart piano sonata album.

Apple Music found 7 albums.
Idagio found 18 albums, though curiously not her four "Lyrinx" albums, one of which has the Mozart sonatas I love.
Quoboz found 13 albums, including the four Lyrinx albums
Spotify found 12 albums
Tidal found 15
Amazon found 15
Presto found 7

So I guess it really doesn't matter how many tracks a service offers if you can't find them!

 

[joeodle82]

I use both Tidal and Qobuz. For both I find their sound quality to be superior than the others I have tried. Idagio would be just as good if not better if not for the little gaps between songs which is irritating. At least it was like this last time I used it. For Qobuz and Tidal. Either one play gapless for me. When sound quality on a certain album seems off I switch between each service and usually one or the other sounds better with a certain album. Is why I have both. Sometimes one will have an album the other doesn't have as well.

After you get accustomed to their sound with decent speakers or headphones. Either one clearly has better fidelity when you switch back to Spotify even when maxing out the sound quality setting. It's the most popular streaming service and imo has the worst fidelity even sometimes worse than youtube. Yet it's the most popular... sounds about right.

 

[Merl]

I'm a Spotify user and (as I've probably already said before on here) my only beef is the search function but I'm now so used to finding things that I can almost always find what I'm looking for. Sometimes it takes a little longer but if they have a recording that I want to hear I can usually find it, these days. In the past it was trickier. Things have improved.

 

[Steve.Luciani]

I'm a Spotify user and (as I've probably already said before on here) my only beef is the search function but I'm now so used to finding things that I can almost always find what I'm looking for. Sometimes it takes a little longer but if they have a recording that I want to hear I can usually find it, these days. In the past it was trickier. Things have improved.

I personally hope all these services will implement AI search techniques sooner rather than later.