Qobuz - who just subscribed?

[joeinid]

I did.

Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to give it a test run. I know I'm a little late to the party, but it's a long story

[CPP]

I've been there since the beta.

[Jack]

Joe

Are you running it with the U1 Mini?

[joeinid]

Joe

Are you running it with the U1 Mini?

I have not set it up yet, but will be using the U1 mini. Maybe tonight when I get home.

[joeinid]

So far I’m loving Qobuz. Have not done any direct comparisons to Tidal but I’m getting a sense of increased 3D. It just feels a little more open and layered. Could be my imagination.

[Jack]

To my ears not your imagination at all. Plus the upper mid-range "grunge" I hear with Tidal is gone. I've thoroughly enjoyed my year and a half with Qobuz and not stuttering and dropouts. The catalog will continue to grow as they get more agreements in place with the labels it is just taking longer to negotiate than they initially thought. I am going to keep my UK account too for a while until the expansion is complete.

[joeinid]

Yes, I agree, it’s definitely better overall and does not sound as digital. It’s a keeper.

[joeinid]

Qobuz sounds awesome.

[Jack]

If you have a Studio subscription try the 23/192 Norah Jones album or the newest Santana release from last week.

[joeinid]

Cool, thanks.

The Norah Jones album sounds superb.

[shadowlight]

@joeinid, try especially Celestial Echo, Magnetic Lies and Turner's from the album

[joeinid]

That is an awesome album.

[UltraFast69]

I agree on what has been mentioned and gonna run both for a bit.

In either case there is more than enough material on both sites, that will take me to my grave.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[joeinid]

I do love the MQA files on Tidal but I also love additional variety and normally higher resolution files on Qobuz.

It’s a wonderful time to be a music lover.

[shadowlight]

Links to some playlist that I found worth listening too. All of the Dave's Faves are playlist put together by David Solomon of Qobuz. Please add any other that you find worth sharing

Demo System HiFi - https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/484231
Dave's Faves - https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/1800684
Dave's Faves II - https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/1800685
Dave's Faves - https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/2018496
Deepak - NY RAVE - https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/1866629
An Introduction to Qobuz! - https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/1285066
Qobuz WOW! - https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/2019529
Demo System HiFi - https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/484231
Pauls Optimisation tracks - https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/1486831

[joeinid]

Thank you so much for the links.

[Audioseduction]

Can you manage the playback with a iPad?

[nicoff]

Joe, are you using Roon with Qobuz?
If so, how does it integrate/work with Roon?

One concern that I have is transferring my playlist and albums from Tidal. Any thoughts on how to do that?

[Jack]

Soundiiz

https://soundiiz.com/

[joeinid]

Joe, are you using Roon with Qobuz?
If so, how does it integrate/work with Roon?

One concern that I have is transferring my playlist and albums from Tidal. Any thoughts on how to do that?

Roon 1.6 is supposed to be compatible. I have not tried yet, still using Qobuz directly from my Lumin U1 mini into my Bricasti.

[wklie]

Can you manage the playback with a iPad?

Lumin app, Roon, and I suppose a few other apps from other manufacturers also do.

[UltraFast69]

Soundiiz

https://soundiiz.com/

Wow, there is an app for everything


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[The Sandman]

Aurender Conductor

[Mordante]

I have been using Qobuz for a weeks now. If I remember correctly I have Qobuz Studio. While the sound is good there are not that many hires albums and I still miss albums.

There are some Einsturzende Neubauten albums but not all of them. Same goes for Alternative 4, The Third and the Mortal, Wreckmeister Harmonies and other bands I like.

[Rubytuesday]

Roon 1.6 is supposed to be compatible. I have not tried yet, still using Qobuz directly from my Lumin U1 mini into my Bricasti.

I’ve been having trouble running Qobuz with Roon. It seems to have issues with the 24/96 and higher files. Sometimes takes 30 seconds to load and then will only play for about 10 seconds before skipping. Tidal MQA plays fine. When running Qobuz through the Lumin app on my D1, it plays fine. Anyone else?


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[Jack]

Need to ask those questions in the ongoing thread on Audiophile Style where the Qobuz staff participate.

[Billt1]

I have had Tidal for a year or two and have enjoyed it. Had BETA and now annual subscription of Qobuz. Will continue the A/B for another month or so but will most likely drop Tidal. Qobuz edges out Tidal in all resolutions just ever so slightly. And yes my DAC does full unfold of MQA. Tidal currently has the edge in ROON interface and available library but I anticipate that to change quickly. MQA does sound wonderful but it is a Lossy format whereas Qobuz streams lossless

[nicoff]

I’ve been having trouble running Qobuz with Roon. It seems to have issues with the 24/96 and higher files. Sometimes takes 30 seconds to load and then will only play for about 10 seconds before skipping. Tidal MQA plays fine. When running Qobuz through the Lumin app on my D1, it plays fine. Anyone else?


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You should visit the Roon forums. I noticed a post similar to yours there.

[Audiophobiac]

Just looked at it, they don't even provide a screenshot of the interface and probably don't have nearly the quantity that Spotify does, so sticking with Spotify.
I don't "listen" to streaming. I just use it for background and research, so I don't need "high quality sound". Qobuz is the same price as Spotify for my purposes, but Spotify at least allows one to see the interface and takes a step further to let you see the titles and play with it without signing up to see if it is to your liking and no worrying about them ignoring your request to cancel before the 30 days are up. Yes, I have premium subscription to Spotify, this is not about trying to get something for free. It is about hyperbole vs real info for me.
If Qobuz decides to allow one to see a screenshot of the interface and to see how many titles are available, then I will take another look, but until then, no thanks.

[nicoff]

Just looked at it, they don't even provide a screenshot of the interface and probably don't have nearly the quantity that Spotify does, so sticking with Spotify.
I don't "listen" to streaming. I just use it for background and research, so I don't need "high quality sound". Qobuz is the same price as Spotify for my purposes, but Spotify at least allows one to see the interface and takes a step further to let you see the titles and play with it without signing up to see if it is to your liking and no worrying about them ignoring your request to cancel before the 30 days are up. Yes, I have premium subscription to Spotify, this is not about trying to get something for free. It is about hyperbole vs real info for me.
If Qobuz decides to allow one to see a screenshot of the interface and to see how many titles are available, then I will take another look, but until then, no thanks.

Definitely Spotify is a better fit for your needs. For hose looking for CD Quality sound, higher resolution offerings, and/or Roon integration, Spotify won't do. That is where Qobuz and Tidal come into play.

[sid325]

I’ve been on Tidal for a bit and I’d love to try Qobuz. I listen to a lot of 60’s, 70’s, 80’s rock, Fleetwood Mac, Stones, Doors and the like. How’s the selection with that genre? I can’t find a way to see what they offer.

[shadowlight]

I’ve been on Tidal for a bit and I’d love to try Qobuz. I listen to a lot of 60’s, 70’s, 80’s rock, Fleetwood Mac, Stones, Doors and the like. How’s the selection with that genre? I can’t find a way to see what they offer.

I would start with https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/shop and see if music that you are looking for is available. Keep in mind that the catalog is not complete in US.

[nicoff]

I just started a 30 day free trial with Qobuz.

I used Soundiiz to transfer several of my Tidal playlists into Qobuz.

I am using Roon. Both Qobuz and Tidal seem to work very well in Roon.

My initial thoughts are:
1. None of my Tidal playlists transferred 100% successfully into Qobuz.
2. The transfer success rate is about 75%. However there was one Tidal playlist of songs selected by a teenager that only transferred about 40% (that should be an indication of what kind of music not to expect in Qobuz).
3. The Tidal playlists only had 16/44 tracks, but Qobuz found a few 24/96 replacements.
4. I did not find that the 24/96 replacements always sounded better. One or two did while others sounded the same as 16/44.
5. However there was one particular Qobuz 24/96 file that did not sound as good as the 16/44 Tidal version. There must be something wrong with that file.
6. The overall volume of the Qobuz tracks is lower.
7. The 16/44 tracks sounded the same.

Preliminary conclusions:
- If the transfer success rate is about 75%, then 25% of your music is not available in Qobuz.
- just because you can get high def albums, that does not mean that they will sound better.
- at this moment I am not enticed to switch.

[wklie]

5. However there was one particular Qobuz 24/96 file that did not sound as good as the 16/44 Tidal version. There must be something wrong with that file.
6. The overall volume of the Qobuz tracks is lower.

- just because you can get high def albums, that does not mean that they will sound better.

Interesting results.

For overall volume differences, please verify that your means of playing Tidal and Qobuz do not involve any volume normalization / leveling. Tidal app and Spotify app support volume normalization (not sure about Qobuz app yet). [If played using Lumin players using Lumin app instead of Roon, no volume normalization is done.]

I speculate that in a lot of cases, differences may be caused by differently mastered versions of the same album given to the different streaming service providers.

[Jack]

And if you've been following the ongoing threads on CA/AS you know that they are still finalizing rights agreements with various labels and the track count on the US site is growing every day and based on the negotiations with the labels may still take a while before the US catalog equals the EU one. The official launch was only six days ago so don't be so quick to judge as David has been completely transparent about the process of label negotiations.

[CPP]

And if you've been following the ongoing threads on CA/AS you know that they are still finalizing rights agreements with various labels and the track count on the US site is growing every day and based on the negotiations with the labels may still take a while before the US catalog equals the EU one. The official launch was only six days ago so don't be so quick to judge as David has been completely transparent about the process of label negotiations.

True Jack. A lot is still being worked out with the labels Per David Craff not to mention updates are forthcoming on the search engine and a "Desktop Release is focused on updating the libraries used". Like anything NEW in the US, things take some time. So far I'm liking what I hear.

[nicoff]

Last night I listened to a few Tidal MQA tracks and compared them to the Qobuz 24/96 versions. I do not have a MQA DAC so I had to depend on Roon to do the first level software unfold. To my ears the Qobuz 24/96 sounded better.

Next I am going to try to compare with the CD-quality version from Tidal.

The problem I find with these comparisons is that is seems nearly impossible to tell if Tidal and Qobuz are working with the same version of the recording.

[Samoyed]

I have an mqa DAC and to my ears, Tidal is far superior to cue ball.

[Jack]

Good thing then there are options as I have had Qobuz for over 18 months and Tidal for three years and I hear the opposite through six different DACs.

[CPP]

Good thing then there are options as I have had Qobuz for over 18 months and Tidal for three years and I hear the opposite through six different DACs.

Pretty much my experience as well.

[RDSChicago]

Well my Qobuz trial ends today. On the fence. I have Tidal for me and Spotify for the kids. I don’t want to add a third streaming service. Any firmer opinions on Tidal vs Qobuz? I have a Lumin so MQA is an option. I listen mostly to classical and jazz. Thanks for your thoughts.

[aKnyght]

i had qobuz studio/hi-res for 2 months -- one month free trial beta and one month paid.

i liked the service and it worked flawlessly with roon. unfortunately, i had to end my subscription due to the sparse library in the titles i traffic in... indie, americana, nashville 2.0, etc. many, many well know artists were missing and those that we there had only a few albums available.

i understand qobuz is still filling out its library so i will check back at a later time. in the interim, i will reboot on tidal -- the much larger library wins.

also, imo, there are nowhere near enough hi-res titles on qobuz to justify another streaming service just for that feature... ymmv.

[CPP]

So far I'm liking Qobuz and I'm still going to give it 3 months. At least with Qobuz if something is not working, you can get an answer or report the problem on CA to a Qobuz engineer. With Tidal good luck with that.

[Jack]

Rob

It appears that it least for now if you are a big Jazz and Classical fan then that is where the bulk of their US catalog is at the moment. It is taking a little longer to fill out the other genres compared to my EU account so I will keep both through this month and if nothing changes will temporarily suspend the US account and keep the EU account until things change.

[RDSChicago]

Thanks for the replies!

[BendingWave]

Its Official Mr. David Solomon QOBUZ brand ambassador and head Guru will be showing with Bending Wave/CH Precision/Gobel/TechDAS at AXPONA 2019
COFFEE WITH QOBUZ - Saturday and Sunday morning at 1030 am in the Club Room on the 15th Floor
We will be serving coffee and food to start your show day off. Seating will fill quickly so please make your plans to be there early.
Thank you

[Billt1]

Its Official Mr. David Solomon QOBUZ brand ambassador and head Guru will be showing with Bending Wave/CH Precision/Gobel/TechDAS at AXPONA 2019
COFFEE WITH QOBUZ - Saturday and Sunday morning at 1030 am in the Club Room on the 15th Floor
We will be serving coffee and food to start your show day off. Seating will fill quickly so please make your plans to be there early.
Thank you

see you there!

[SuperDave]

I subscribed last night. It was easy with Aurender, signed up and logged in through the W20 in 5 minutes. I love that it uses the same conductor app on my ipad, no new learning curve. My first impression, Quboz sounds more natural and less veiled to my ears. I don't get the full MQA unfold, so I'm not comparing MQA to Hirez specifically but I noticed better layering and separation of instruments even with standard cd quality tracks. I don't like to use the word digital to describe what I hear with Tidal, I use mechanical. Quboz has a better flow and naturalness that gets my head out of it. I'll explore their library but so far I like it. Always good to have options.

Dave

[Samoyed]

Options, yes, cue ball, Non! I had the opposite experience. Maybe I was channeling Jerry Lewis....

[SuperDave]

I still prefer my spinner to both.