[Taz777]

Taz777 you might be right, you can pick your DAC from the list of output options but OSX volume control is still in play which probably means the sound mixer is in the mix.

That is my understanding, and frustration! I hope someone cleverer than I am can either correct me or confirm what I think is happening.

 

[dgjl]

If you are able to change the audio volume from within Qobuz then it is not bypassing the Windows audio mixer completely. On my Mac I can control the output volume from within the Qobuz desktop app (bottom-right of Qobuz app). This means that the macOS CoreAudio mixer is still being used. One other test for exclusive DAC access is whether or not you can play from another app to your DAC at the same time as Qobuz. If you can then you are going through the Windows audio mixer/volume control.

TIDAL has an addtional setting 'Force Volume' that sends a volume of 100% to the external DAC, bypassing the CoreAudio subsystem in macOS (in my case).

Give it a try - see if you can adjust the volume in Qobuz in Windows and whether or not you can send an audio signal from another music app to your external DAC at the same time as Qobuz. This 'issue' has been in Qobuz for a very long time on the macOS desktop app. As far as I can tell, TIDAL is 'purer'. I don't know the situation on Windows so it would be good to see if you can do the two tests mentioned earlier.

On Windows I can control the volume in the Qobuz app, but can't send another sound signal through the DAC. It says its being used by another app.

 

[golfbravobravo]

I am leaving Tidal today after using it for a full year. I am fed up with how it peddles MQA. Before I tolerated it because it had better selection (still has a wider selection) but it was the last straw for me when I got Roon and kept trying to figure out how to do the 1st decoding via Roon or my streamer, and I realized midway that Qobuz having most to all of the songs I listen to. The selection of songs on Qobuz is growing and it will only get better.

Of course these are just my opinions.

Tidal is great, but for it to peddle MQA, encourage users to get MQA gear, stress people out about their gear suddenly becoming "obsolete" and basically just a money grab to sell music twice, gladly taking my money elsewhere and supporting Qobuz instead.

Here is my middle finger to all that 1st fold, 2nd fold BS. I no longer need to worry about that, sorry for the rant.

Me too, I ended my sub this month and will stay with Qobuz.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

You guys just saved me some time and money on the Amazon music recommendations, thank you!

I only listen to Tidal and Qobuz on 1) my HiBy R6 Pro and 2) My iPhone 7. Some dude pointed me to an Android app called "USB Audio Player" but despite what everyone says, I really can't hear a difference.

The nice part about the R6 is being able to use balanced cables from my Audeze LCD-2's and my Lola IEM's. I also have an ES100 but the sound really suffers if I go from LDAC with the R6 over to AAC from my iPhone

One thing I like about the Tidal and Qobuz apps in both places is to be able to store music offline at full quality. I have unlimited data on my iPhone but they b*tch when i get up to 50 GB in a month

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Me too, I ended my sub this month and will stay with Qobuz.

I found an App a while back that let you sync your playlists between Qobuz, Tidal and others. If you have a large collection you might want to check it out... I think they have a free trial so you could maybe transfer your list over to Qobuz and then cancel it

 

[Taz777]

On Windows I can control the volume in the Qobuz app, but can't send another sound signal through the DAC. It says its being used by another app.

That suggests that exclusive access is working, but the volume level is going through the Windows mixer. This will stop the stream being bit-perfect to the DAC. I'll caveat this with: 'to the best of my knowledge'. I don't think it's a big deal unless you havean OCD about things being bit-perfect. However, my understanding is that you want the volume control to be at the very end of the music chain (at your DAC or active speakers) if possible. The earlier you digitally alter the volume in the music chain, the more the bitstream is altered before it reaches the DAC.

 

[Taz777]

You guys just saved me some time and money on the Amazon music recommendations, thank you!

I only listen to Tidal and Qobuz on 1) my HiBy R6 Pro and 2) My iPhone 7. Some dude pointed me to an Android app called "USB Audio Player" but despite what everyone says, I really can't hear a difference.

There's a UAPP thread on here somewhere. You do need to configure UAPP to get bit-perfect playback - it might be worth checking in there to get the best out of UAPP. There are a large number of configuration options available.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Not sure if this is the right forum... Has anyone switched a DAP storage card to a bigger one and attempted to get the offline Qobuz tracks to transfer over? I'm thinking of going from a 512 to a new 1TB on my HiBy R6 Pro and it'll take forever for it to redownload everything

 

[rkw]

On Windows I can control the volume in the Qobuz app, but can't send another sound signal through the DAC. It says its being used by another app.

That suggests that exclusive access is working, but the volume level is going through the Windows mixer. This will stop the stream being bit-perfect to the DAC.

The Qobuz app and Windows have separate volume controls. When Qobuz is in exclusive mode, the Windows volume control should not change volume at your DAC, and in Windows you should not be able to select your DAC for the overall computer output. However the Qobuz volume control will still operate (setting a volume before it goes to the DAC). You should set Qobuz to maximum volume (this would be the manual equivalent of the "Force Volume to 100%" setting in Tidal).

 

[dgjl]

The Qobuz app and Windows have separate volume controls. When Qobuz is in exclusive mode, the Windows volume control should not change volume at your DAC, and in Windows you should not be able to select your DAC for the overall computer output. However the Qobuz volume control will still operate (setting a volume before it goes to the DAC). You should set Qobuz to maximum volume (this would be the manual equivalent of the "Force Volume to 100%" setting in Tidal).

Thanks!

 

[judson_w]

If you are able to change the audio volume from within Qobuz then it is not bypassing the Windows audio mixer completely. On my Mac I can control the output volume from within the Qobuz desktop app (bottom-right of Qobuz app). This means that the macOS CoreAudio mixer is still being used. One other test for exclusive DAC access is whether or not you can play from another app to your DAC at the same time as Qobuz. If you can then you are going through the Windows audio mixer/volume control.

TIDAL has an addtional setting 'Force Volume' that sends a volume of 100% to the external DAC, bypassing the CoreAudio subsystem in macOS (in my case).

Give it a try - see if you can adjust the volume in Qobuz in Windows and whether or not you can send an audio signal from another music app to your external DAC at the same time as Qobuz. This 'issue' has been in Qobuz for a very long time on the macOS desktop app. As far as I can tell, TIDAL is 'purer'. I don't know the situation on Windows so it would be good to see if you can do the two tests mentioned earlier.

I learned quickly the effects of WASAPI exclusive mode with the Qobuz app on my Windows laptop. I tried watching a muted stream on Twitch while listening to music. That video was stuttering and failing so hard. Quickly figured out it was the exclusive mode.

 

[Pro-Jules]

I like the scrolling lyrics in Amazon Music HD also Qobuz behaved very poorly on ever dap I have owned. On my Hiby R6 pro it would make me wait 20 mins before starting. I gave up.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

I like the scrolling lyrics in Amazon Music HD also Qobuz behaved very poorly on ever dap I have owned. On my Hiby R6 pro it would make me wait 20 mins before starting. I gave up.

Same here on the R6. Qobuz claims it’s a with the R6 even though tidal Opens instantly

 

[Pro-Jules]

Same here on the R6. Qobuz claims it’s a with the R6 even though tidal Opens instantly

It behaved poorly on my Fiio M9 also. So I have sadly abandoned Qobuz for Amazon Music HD. I am very happy with it now.

 

[DesignTaylor]

FYI - Reached out to Qobuz tech support to ask... they said:

Thanks for contacting Qobuz support. I'm happy to help. You are absolutely correct. The volume slider controls the input to your DAC. The sound is not running through the Apple DAC if you have an external DAC selected.

hmmm...