Qobuz Lossless Streaming Service Thread

[S Crowther]

Thanks for the tips! I downloaded a song and it won't play (so streaming v. downloading makes no difference).

I don't think I have any DSP on but will check and will have to acquire a DAC to test it that way (need one anyway just hard to figure out which one!)...

I'll circle back when I've at least checked DSP settings...

Thanks again. (I have reached out to Qoboz directly but am familiar with their slowness)

I wonder whether the problem if that your camera connection kit is 2016 vintage?

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Good point, earlier in the Thread someone mentioned that streaming hi res on the Apple products requires the newer generation camera adapter.

 

[HesNot]

I wonder whether the problem if that your camera connection kit is 2016 vintage?

Oddly my iPhone XS works just fine regardless of the resolution - albeit I’m just using the apple lightning dongle as my DAC in that case so who knows if I’m getting 192 through to my in ears (some tests seem to indicate it is capable of 24/192 assuming Apple isn’t downgrading in the software somehow)...

All my issues with streaming 192 feeds are with my Pioneer XDP-100R DAP - no external DAC being used with it since for me at least part of the point of buying it was to not need an external DAC since it has a quality one built in which is more than capable of processing a 24/192 signal but there is something either in the Qobuz android app or elsewhere in the Android OS that is preventing playback... checked all the settings and still can’t seem to pin it down... it might just be an incompatibility between Qobuz and the Onkyo/Pioneer OS although I’ve seen several posts where the Qobuz team has an XDP100 and have tested it...

 

[HesNot]

I basically was trying Quboz not because I’m unhappy with Tidal and the MQA performance (yes... I know ... but it sounds good to me ) but I do somewhat dislike the captive ecosystem and thought it was worth trying out the other competitor for CD and higher quality streaming.

I somewhat would prefer to not use my iPhone as my music player as it already is my work phone, personal phone, etc... and I am not real interested in having to spend more $$ on an outboard DAC for it after the cost of the device to begin with. I’ve managed to load a good bit of my CD collection into the Pioneer at this point - but if Quboz doesn’t really work to its full potential (and I freely admit that even with Westone W4R in ears or my Sennheiser Momentum’s the difference between 96 and 192 is likely, to my 51 year old ears at least, inaudible it’s somewhat the principle...) without having to buy more gear I’m not sure it’s the platform for me at this point.

 

[exdmd]

IME if you are not using a TOTL DAC and headphones you are unlikely to hear the difference between 24/96 and 24/192. 16/48 and 24/96 probably depending on your ears. You choose Tidal or Qobuz depending on which service streams the music you want to listen to. I dropped Tidal for Qobuz even though some of the music I listened to on Tidal is not available on Qobuz yet but I can live with it. I don't hear any watermarks on Qobuz and I find enough 24/96 to keep me happily listening. There are still some bugs in the Windows app so I did have to buy Audirvana+ but overall I am happy with Qobuz.

 

[HesNot]

IME if you are not using a TOTL DAC and headphones you are unlikely to hear the difference between 24/96 and 24/192. 16/48 and 24/96 probably depending on your ears. You choose Tidal or Qobuz depending on which service streams the music you want to listen to. I dropped Tidal for Qobuz even though some of the music I listened to on Tidal is not available on Qobuz yet but I can live with it. I don't hear any watermarks on Qobuz and I find enough 24/96 to keep me happily listening. There are still some bugs in the Windows app so I did have to buy Audirvana+ but overall I am happy with Qobuz.

Agreed - this is something of an academic exercise to see if I could hear the difference between the two services on the Pioneer. My portable setup is decent but a long way away from TOTL! And Qobuz was a free trial so... why not?

It’s just mildly frustrating to not have it work properly ... but a first world issue for sure. Also mildly irritating for a guy raised on vinyl and CDs - get a good rig setup and just play! But even those are far from frustration proof albeit with much longer lifespans (have had a few component fails the past few years but they were admittedly 20-30 year old components - probably leaky caps or the like but finding a repair person is a challenge ... and I just don’t have the time to monkey with it when I’m already occupied with keeping an old roadster going, as well as guitars and tube amplfiers...)

 

[exdmd]

For someone raised on vinyl the Yggdrasil is the first DAC I have owned that comes close to presenting digital sound that is emotionally involving to me as much as vinyl. And CDs played though the Yggy still beat the SQ of USB in. I think that will change when Schiit starts selling the Unison USB boards later this year.

 

[Likeimthere]

Qobuz US peeps... I’m having trouble downloading playlists for offline use on my AK SP1000M.... it downloads albums just fine, but not playlists... is anyone else having this issue, or is it just me...?

 

[Gww1]

I'm on my 30 day free trial of Studio and theoretically it is great! But in practise.....

The android app works really well and so far I haven't had any issues other than if I lose internet connection it skips to the next track - not as neat as just pausing like Tidal but I can forgive that.

But the Windows software is appalling! It looks nice and I quite like the interface and layout but it can't play music properly! It has small pauses sometimes shortly after songs start, it sometimes plays in the wrong bit rate (44khz flacs play at 48Khz etc...), if I select play next on a song with different bit rate to what is currently playing it immediately jumps to that bit rate so the current song plays on the wrong bit rate and sometime garbled.
I'm using Asio with an RME Adi 2 dac which works fine with every other software where Asio is available.

I really want to like this and keep the subscription but 25 pounds a month for this?....... I really hope this is just a really bad latest version or something that is quickly fixed. Otherwise back to Tidal and I'll get Roon to have a nice interface and Asio.

 

[rkw]

But the Windows software is appalling! It looks nice and I quite like the interface and layout but it can't play music properly! It has small pauses sometimes shortly after songs start, it sometimes plays in the wrong bit rate (44khz flacs play at 48Khz etc...), if I select play next on a song with different bit rate to what is currently playing it immediately jumps to that bit rate so the current song plays on the wrong bit rate and sometime garbled.
I'm using Asio with an RME Adi 2 dac which works fine with every other software where Asio is available.

I really want to like this and keep the subscription but 25 pounds a month for this?....... I really hope this is just a really bad latest version or something that is quickly fixed. Otherwise back to Tidal and I'll get Roon to have a nice interface and Asio.

Indeed the Windows desktop app is buggy and I experience even worse problems than you described, such as tracks freezing in the middle and needing to clear it from the cache and restart the app.

If you're getting Roon, I've seen several posts that said Qobuz works much better on Roon than their Windows app.

 

[Gibson59]

If you're getting Roon, I've seen several posts that said Qobuz works much better on Roon than their Windows app.

I’m a big Roon fan I’m general, but I can confirm that the Qobuz interface is great. I use both Qobuz and Tidal and I’m able to play music from them both seamlessly within Room. It makes it feel like I just have endless music at my fingertips and many options for levels of audio quality between the two. I tend to prefer Qobuz and only use Tidal at this point if Qobuz doesn’t have the title I’m looking for.

 

[Left Channel]

The Windows app was updated today with these changes:

[Release 5.0.3]
Displaying 'display name' for username instead of 'login'
Displaying 'display name' for playlist owner instead of 'login'
Displaying Hi-Res logo based on streaming rights only
Added right-click browse link on the download page
Improved display of tracks, works and versions
Fixed: security vulnerability node.js
Fixed: changing of the track order of a playlist not available when deleting a track
Fixed: the link to the playlist does not work, in the track addition confirmation popin
Fixed: cache error when reading track sample
Fixed: crash when leaving application on Mac Os Mojave
Another fix for buffer issue when listening
Improved application performance
Upgraded all libraries used by the application

"Displaying Hi-Res logo based on streaming rights only" clears up a lot of confusion caused when an album is available for download in Hi-Res, but for streaming only in 16/44.1 or lower. Now in those cases we will see a warning above the Hi-Res logo: "Only available in download". This in itself is a bit confusing and could be worded better (as is available for streaming, just in a lower resolution), but this is still good progress.

I was hoping to see a big performance from the last few items, but no such luck: "Another fix for buffer issue when listening", "Improved application performance", and "Upgraded all libraries used by the application" did not significantly speed up the app, which is very resource-intensive. It performs well enough on my fastest computer, but on a slow PC the Tidal app is clearly much faster.

I have not experienced the problems described by @Gww1 above, so look forward to more reports about this release from others.

 

[runssical]

Qobuz absolutely frustrates me. It's one problem after another. They will probably fail and close down eventually because there's no market for lossless streaming and download sales are in free fall.

Today's problem is that I can't login in to the windows desktop player. Tried it on two different PCs. Tried resetting my damn password. Still doesn't work.

I'm on a trial and will likely just cancel. We all know these imbeciles at Qobuz don't care about non-French speakers and will not help us AT ALL.

Qobuz has no customer support and they're apps are buggy and always have been buggy. They will never get better.

 

[Ableza]

Works great in Roon. I like it.

 

[runssical]

Works great in Roon. I like it.

I may try accessing it through Roon or Audirvana. But Qobuz should have a functioning app of their own.