Qobuz Lossless Streaming Service Thread

[rkw]

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.

What was the exact question you asked them? Obviously a music stream won't go through the computer DAC (converted to analog) and then get re-digitized to go out on USB.

The fundamental question is whether an external DAC can receive a bit perfect copy of the original Qobuz stream. I believe that it does, under the right conditons:

• Volume in the Qobuz app is set to 100%
• No other app (or the system) is sending audio to the external DAC at the same time. When more than one source sends audio to the external DAC simultaneously, MacOS will mix the sources together. I do not believe that MacOS implements the concept of "exclusive mode" audio, where an app can gain exclusive access and block other apps. Edit: In Tidal, if you set the external DAC to exclusive mode, MacOS will not allow you to choose it for system output. Qobuz has not implemented this feature.

 

[DesignTaylor]

Interesting, so in system preferences, if I only point all other audio to separate output (say... external speakers), and the volume of the Qobuz is set to 100%, then theoretically it is not getting mixed or messed with by apple core audio?

FYI - this was my question to Qobuz support:
I'm on a mac and using a DAC via USB. When I choose my DAC from the Output Options list I notice that changing my system volume changes the playback volume which suggests that the stream is still running through the OS Core Audio. Do you know if this is true? I'd love to get the cleanest signal possible to my DAC.

 

[rkw]

Interesting, so in system preferences, if I only point all other audio to separate output (say... external speakers), and the volume of the Qobuz is set to 100%, then theoretically it is not getting mixed or messed with by apple core audio?

FYI - this was my question to Qobuz support:
I'm on a mac and using a DAC via USB. When I choose my DAC from the Output Options list I notice that changing my system volume changes the playback volume which suggests that the stream is still running through the OS Core Audio. Do you know if this is true? I'd love to get the cleanest signal possible to my DAC.

In system preferences, if I select MacBook Pro Speakers as audio output, and in Qobuz I select the external DAC for output, the playback volume doesn't change when I adjust system volume. This isn't enough to prove that MacOS isn't altering the music stream, but it is evidence.

 

[rkw]

I do not believe that MacOS implements the concept of "exclusive mode" audio, where an app can gain exclusive access and block other apps.

I take that back. In Tidal, if you set the external DAC to exclusive mode, MacOS will not allow you to choose it for system output. Qobuz has not implemented this feature.

 

[Peakz]

I've been experiencing issues sporadically over the past few weeks with sound quality in Qobuz (Qobuz/Roon via iMac/Hugo 2), getting a fair bit of distortion through LCD2C/iSine20/Momentum over ears but music on YouTube sounds better.
Still get slight distortion whether I use Roon's EQ (Audeze presets) or not.

I'm new to the head-fi hobby, so want to make sure I'm not missing something obvious, is there anything basic that I need to check?

 

[OldHardwareTech]

Anybody seen the BS Kerrang! is putting out? They're saying streaming services will limit us to 1 album per day. Anyone with any idea whatsoever about streaming usage knows music streaming is incremental compared to video streaming. They stated services were sending details and we would be required to submit our requested album in writing ahead of time. They're the only ones reporting this and I've received nothing about it from Tidal or Qobuz (I subscribe to both). Maybe I'll get egg on my face but this certainly looks like fake news to me. Here's a link: https://www.kerrang.com/the-news/st...users-to-one-album-per-day-to-save-bandwidth/

 

[kumar402]

Anybody seen the BS Kerrang! is putting out? They're saying streaming services will limit us to 1 album per day. Anyone with any idea whatsoever about streaming usage knows music streaming is incremental compared to video streaming. They stated services were sending details and we would be required to submit our requested album in writing ahead of time. They're the only ones reporting this and I've received nothing about it from Tidal or Qobuz (I subscribe to both). Maybe I'll get egg on my face but this certainly looks like fake news to me. Here's a link: https://www.kerrang.com/the-news/st...users-to-one-album-per-day-to-save-bandwidth/

Looks more like April Fool's joke

 

[OldHardwareTech]

Looks more like April Fool's joke

I actually forgot it's April 1st, you're probably right.

 

[UpTo11]

Can anyone tell me if the CD quality streaming catalogue is the same as the Download Store one, please? I mean, is every title in the Download Store available also in CD quality streaming plan? Thanks!

 

[Peakz]

I've been experiencing issues sporadically over the past few weeks with sound quality in Qobuz (Qobuz/Roon via iMac/Hugo 2), getting a fair bit of distortion through LCD2C/iSine20/Momentum over ears but music on YouTube sounds better.
Still get slight distortion whether I use Roon's EQ (Audeze presets) or not.

I'm new to the head-fi hobby, so want to make sure I'm not missing something obvious, is there anything basic that I need to check?

Well it appears that all that was needed was to reseat power & USB leads from the Hugo 2 and my iMac to fix the poor sound quality issue - normal service is now resumed

 

[Taz777]

Does anyone know how to suggest tracks for Qobuz to add to its library? The Qobuz catalogue deficiency vs TIDAL is still a bit of a pain point for me.

 

[Mirimar]

Does anyone know how to suggest tracks for Qobuz to add to its library? The Qobuz catalogue deficiency vs TIDAL is still a bit of a pain point for me.

I haven’t tried it, but I think there is some sort of Roon integration which uses your library to suggest radio tracks from Qobuz/Tidal.

 

[Taz777]

I haven’t tried it, but I think there is some sort of Roon integration which uses your library to suggest radio tracks from Qobuz/Tidal.

No I don''t mean suggesting tracks to play. I mean missing tracks in Qobuz. TIDAL has a facility where you can enter song details and then TIDAL will consider adding that song to their catalogue.

I cannot find a similar facility in Qobuz.

 

[Left Channel]

Does anyone know how to suggest tracks for Qobuz to add to its library? The Qobuz catalogue deficiency vs TIDAL is still a bit of a pain point for me.

Just tag @dmackta with your request here. Often his reply has been that they've already contracted for what we want, and are just waiting on the label to deliver.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Does anyone know how to suggest tracks for Qobuz to add to its library? The Qobuz catalogue deficiency vs TIDAL is still a bit of a pain point for me.

Man I would love that too... I also wish there was an option to have everything you add to automatically import offline in max quality

*edit* Misunderstood your post... I thought you meant a "track" or "artist" or "album" radio like Tidal has. I love that feature and how you can make it into a Playlist