I listen to music in all kinds of different ways, from streaming services like Apple Music to physical media formats such as CD or vinyl. I love MP3 players, and specifically the iPod classic, but I found it tricky to build a high-quality digital media library from scratch. If you haven’t purchased songs digitally in a while, it’s harder than you may think. For example, while Apple Music offers high-resolution lossless downloads with an active subscription, outright iTunes Store purchases are still limited to DRM-free files with 256 kbps AAC quality.
The lack of Digital Rights Management (DRM) software is one of the great things about songs purchased from the iTunes Store, but the audio fidelity leaves a lot to be desired in 2026. Usually, I buy CD versions of albums I want to own digitally. I can rip a digital version and still have a physical copy left over. This approach doesn’t work for albums that aren’t easily available, or never got a physical media release. I finally found a solution in Qobuz, a digital storefront for DRM-free songs with quality that’s better than a CD.
I’ve been ripping CDs wrong for years — this tool changed everything
I thought Apple Music and Windows Media Player could handle CD rips. I couldn’t have been more wrong, and this free app is what I use instead.
It’s impossible to build a complete media library with physical media alone
Streaming is convenient, but there’s nothing like the physical enjoyment of watching a record spin or hearing the whir of a CD as you listen to music. I’m a physical media collector with over 500 titles spanning vinyl, CD, and cassette tape formats. Theoretically, the benefit of owning music is that you can digitize these physical formats. It’s a different story in practice. Making digital copies of vinyl records or cassette tapes is a time-consuming and imperfect endeavor.
CDs are the ideal physical medium for digitization, and they’re often priced similarly to the cost of a digital download. For a while, I bought a CD any time I wanted to add to the digital library I use to sync with my iPods and Android digital audio players (DAPs). This didn’t prove to be a sustainable way to build a digital music collection, as there are plenty of albums that are hard to find on CD or were never released on CD.
I needed to find a way to acquire digital copies of rare releases that couldn’t be found on CDs. My requirements were simple — the digital files had to be affordable, they couldn’t include DRM software, and they had to be completely legal. The site that ended up checking all three boxes was Qobuz. It’s a French company that has been around since 2008, and it made its way to the U.S. in 2019.
Qobuz’s unique offering is high-resolution digital files that you can purchase outright. There’s no subscription required, or DRM software applied to songs or albums you buy. Qobuz says it had to “convince suppliers and labels to provide us with files of a superior quality to mere MP3s,” and I believe that. Legally purchasing music in FLAC, ALAC, WAV, or AIFF formats instead of the usual AAC or MP3 is harder than it should be.
I find high-resolution files for obscure titles on Qobuz
If it didn’t get a physical media release, chances are it’s available here
With Qobuz, it’s easy. I still seek out physical media formats whenever possible, but the niche or limited releases I can’t get on CD are available on Qobuz. For example, the deluxe version of Coco Jones’ latest album was never released on CD, and I can buy it on Qobuz in 24-bit, 44.1kHz high-resolution quality. The same goes for EPs, such as Jessie Reyez’s Still Paid or Tyla’s WWP.
I’d have no way to source lossless versions of these songs and albums without sites like this one. Aside from obscure albums, Qobuz also comes in handy for live recordings. In the streaming era, there are tons of live versions of songs that’ll never be sold on physical media. For that matter, there are heaps of studio variations for many new songs — used to boost performance on the charts — that might not get a CD release.
Qobuz has you covered there, too, as I was able to find Ariana Grande’s official live performance at Vevo in lossless digital form on the site. This recording only hit streaming last year, although it was recorded five years ago. In other words, it’s somewhat of a deep cut that could never see the light of day as a physical media release. This is precisely the kind of music I’d struggle to find as a DRM-free lossless file for purchase anywhere else.
What’s neat about Qobuz’s lossless files is that you can use them in multiple ways. They’re accessible in the Qobuz app or on the website, and can be downloaded to your music player of choice. The fun really begins when you burn a lossless Qobuz album to a blank CD — you’re essentially making a CD release for an album that otherwise wouldn’t exist. Or, you can set up a music server with these lossless files that lets you keep streaming content wirelessly while still owning your music.
The possibilities are endless, and it’s all because Qobuz has an incredibly large catalog of high-quality music files for purchase.
Qobuz Sublime could be the best of both worlds
Complete access to streaming, discounted DRM-free purchases
I’m not ready to completely give up streaming yet, and you might not be either. If that’s the case, Qobuz’s “Sublime” subscription plan might be for you. It costs $180 per year and offers streaming access to 100 million tracks in up to 24-bit, 192kHz quality. This is priced as a premium offering, even compared to other lossless subscriptions like Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, or Tidal.
The standout perk is that subscribers get a 60% discount on DRM-free digital purchases from Qobuz. So, you can buy an album from Qobuz for a flat price with no strings attached, or you can subscribe for a year to save up to 60% on almost everything you buy. It’s a mix of high-resolution streaming and digital ownership we haven’t seen before at this scale.
As of now, I’m still not sure if Qobuz Sublime is worth it. If you’re planning to replace your streaming service with Qobuz and buy a lot of DRM-free media, it can save you quite a bit of money, but the $180 commitment is steep. I’m not there yet, so I’m buying digital albums individually from Qobuz at full price. It allows me to compliment my music streaming service with lossless digital files I actually own, and that’s worth the investment.
- founders
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Yves Riesel and Alexandre Leforestier
- number of users
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6 (family plans only)
Qobuz is a music streaming service and digital music storefront specializing in high-quality files. It’s not just a streaming service — the storefront includes hi-res lossless and DRM-free files that you can purchase and own forever. There’s even a subscription tier that offers 60% off hi-res lossless purchases, and it’s perfect for those that want a mix of streaming and local playback.
