[JLM]

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2019/02/14/qobuz-is-my-funny-valentine/?fbclid=IwAR2dT00ood775e49zj8bhZz1v7AmoqSF51ykN7HJbSe9Ax5svyTqS0xVkPg

Good news!  It's finally here.

Am a Tidal subscriber, but not thrilled with selection and the push to pop/rap.  Am still in the market for a music server with more storage than my lap bound general purpose MacBook Air that has 256 GB.  Interested in the hi-res offerings and possible downloads.

[sts9fan]

I signed up yesterday.  I am already liking it better then Tidal but time will tell. 

[SlushPuppy]

I signed-up yesterday (Sublime+). I will be adding it to Roon this morning. I also have Tidal and plan to keep both services for the time being.

[witchdoctor]

Perfect timing, in the process to converting my home to DTS Play-Fi which is hirez compatible and the quboz app is already installed in the software.

[MttBsh]

I'm impressed by their purchasing/download offerings - they appear to have a wider selection and better pricing (especially on high res) than competitors, especially if you are a subscriber.  I get the feeling that Qobuz is setting a new standard for streaming/downloading, if I were Tidal or Spotify or any of the on-line high res shops I would be nervous.

[sts9fan]

Spotify is not nervous.  Its still better then everything else, it just does not have HiRes or Roon integration.  I imagine they don't even take Roons calls. If Spotify had those things I would switch in a heartbeat.

[WC]

I received an email today from Qobuz offering 1 month free trial. I am considering it.

[rollo]

 Certainly lots of music available. What about sound quality ? Do they upsample 44.1 to 24/192 ? Is the Hi Rez music recorded in DSD or upsampled ? For me it is about quality of sound not unlimited music.
I have yet to hear any streamer sound better than a dedicated transport and DAC playing a CD or SACD [ recorded orig in DSD ]. Is it just me or do I have company ? I use a state of the art server, transport and DAC.


charles

[guf]

I have been using it for a few days with Roon. Well signed up but was tricky to get it going. They ask a user name and password but then I needed to sign in on Roon with my email not user name. It was frustrating.  I'm surprised how much I enjoy their offerings.  And the quality seems as good as the albums I have no my hard drive. Its great how it blends with Roon library but also confusing.

[sts9fan]

Certainly lots of music available. What about sound quality ? Do they upsample 44.1 to 24/192 ? Is the Hi Rez music recorded in DSD or upsampled ? For me it is about quality of sound not unlimited music.
I have yet to hear any streamer sound better than a dedicated transport and DAC playing a CD or SACD [ recorded orig in DSD ]. Is it just me or do I have company ? I use a state of the art server, transport and DAC.


charles
[/quote

Kinda off topic

[guf]

Certainly lots of music available. What about sound quality ? Do they upsample 44.1 to 24/192 ? Is the Hi Rez music recorded in DSD or upsampled ? For me it is about quality of sound not unlimited music.
I have yet to hear any streamer sound better than a dedicated transport and DAC playing a CD or SACD [ recorded orig in DSD ]. Is it just me or do I have company ? I use a state of the art server, transport and DAC.


charles

I like to use streaming services to discover new music then possibly purchase if I love it.  I look at this as a better option than spotify.  I have never ran spotify through any thing other than my phone and bluetooth speaker at work.

[rollo]

Certainly lots of music available. What about sound quality ? Do they upsample 44.1 to 24/192 ? Is the Hi Rez music recorded in DSD or upsampled ? For me it is about quality of sound not unlimited music.
I have yet to hear any streamer sound better than a dedicated transport and DAC playing a CD or SACD [ recorded orig in DSD ]. Is it just me or do I have company ? I use a state of the art server, transport and DAC.


charles
[/quote


 

Kinda off topic

  Why is sound quality and format used off topic ?
charles

[macrojack]

Charles appears to be indicating that he feels that streaming music is doomed to failure in his system due to his extremely fine equipment and his discerning ear. So be it. He already knows, without a listen, that it can't meet his standards. So be it.

I'm happy as hell myself. Living room holds my OPPO Sonica DAC running directly into a Crown XLS-1500 driving my big horns. Second system in TV room comprised of OPPO UDP 205 directly driving JBL 705P from a 10 year old Imac. Amazing performance level considering cost of components and simplicity of set up. Both systems are stereo. Both systems are being fed by Tidal HiFi.

Now the question: Will I be able to access Qobuz with this gear?

[witchdoctor]

So I checked out Quboz in my big rig streaming hirez through my Klipsch Gate and in my desktop system straming through my Paradigm PW amp. Setup was a breeze, sign up for an account at quboz, open the DTS-Play Fi app on my tablet, select the "critical listening" mode and the select quboz music service. After entering my password quboz had some suggested selections on the home page. I checked out Norah Jones and Elvis Costello in 24/192 and whoaaa, it sounded brilliant. Next I searched for some redbook tracks and listened to Michael Franks new album, The Music in My Head. I went back and forth between quboz and Tidal and Quboz had the edge in redbook streams in my system. The bass extended a little lower with slightly better dynamics, percussion instruments had their own space in the soundstage and were lifted more distinctly in the mix and voices seemed to have a little more air and clarity.

I checked out The White Album 2018 mix in 24/192 and The Chicago II mix by Stewve Wilson in 24/182. Both sounded fantastic.

Having just setup my home using the DTS Play-Fi ecosystem every component is rez capable from the ground up. Couldn't have been more economical and easier to incorporate a hi rez, whole house, system.

The Klipsch Gate at $30 on Amazon sounds fantastic streaming hirez from Quboz. Just plug it into your current preamp to get started. Here is Quboz's review:

https://www.qobuz.com/ie-en/info/hi-fi/bancs-d-essai/klipsch-gate-a-streamer-with-great179353

[witchdoctor]

Charles appears to be indicating that he feels that streaming music is doomed to failure in his system due to his extremely fine equipment and his discerning ear. So be it. He already knows, without a listen, that it can't meet his standards. So be it.

I'm happy as hell myself. Living room holds my OPPO Sonica DAC running directly into a Crown XLS-1500 driving my big horns. Second system in TV room comprised of OPPO UDP 205 directly driving JBL 705P from a 10 year old Imac. Amazing performance level considering cost of components and simplicity of set up. Both systems are stereo. Both systems are being fed by Tidal HiFi.

Now the question: Will I be able to access Qobuz with this gear?

Short answer is yes, I would recommend the Paradigm PW Link using the digital out into your oppo sonica dac or your Oppo. You get access to Quboz plus every other streaming service and file in your network. More importantly you get the ARC room correction and it is a game changer IMO.

https://www.paradigm.com/en/wireless/pw-link

[witchdoctor]

Certainly lots of music available. What about sound quality ? Do they upsample 44.1 to 24/192 ? Is the Hi Rez music recorded in DSD or upsampled ? For me it is about quality of sound not unlimited music.
I have yet to hear any streamer sound better than a dedicated transport and DAC playing a CD or SACD [ recorded orig in DSD ]. Is it just me or do I have company ? I use a state of the art server, transport and DAC.


charles

IMO you might want to use Quboz to try new tracks and then they give you the option to purchase for download to your SOA server.

[witchdoctor]

Spotify is not nervous.  Its still better then everything else, it just does not have HiRes or Roon integration.  I imagine they don't even take Roons calls. If Spotify had those things I would switch in a heartbeat.

80% of the US doesn't even know what "hirez" is and are happy with MP3. They make buying decisions based on price and convenience.

[A_shah]

80% of the US doesn't even know what "hirez" is and are happy with MP3. They make buying decisions based on price and convenience.

Have been using Beta  Qobuz since last November 2018  Courtesy Quboz/David Soloman . When it comes to  classical music the Hi-Rez sounds wonderful , you can get 24bit/192 Khz however it is pretty expensive $ 35.00 for studio version a month  for sublime $ 299.00 a year  between Qobuz & tidal I seem to find Tidal a  bit mellow & Meater , Qobuz seems to sound analytical even with high end DAC's.
I think when I signed up I was been charged in British Currency ! via apple store !  I need to send them an email it seems now for US residents it is $ 24.99 for studio !

Asghar

[poseidonsvoice]

Interesting...I'm late to the party but it's nice to see that Qobuz has made it to shore. For a good decade, my small town could only support low bandwidth service, ie 10 MBPS download speeds and 1 MBPS upload! Not anymore! Cable and fiberoptic is here and for the past 2 weeks, my max download speed is 94 MBPS. Totally different world and now I can look into such things as Tidal, Qobuz, etc...

Thanks for the info fellas!

Best,
Anand.

[jMelvin]

Signed up yesterday. I'm streaming via mconnect/microRendu and so far it sounds wonderful.