Qobuz streaming service, anyone use it?

[bluedroog]

Anyone use this French streaming service? Up till recently is was only available in French but they have recently launched an English version. It does cost a little more than Spotify Premium but offers lossless FLAC, in most other respects it is very similar to Spotify in that you can use it on various devices and has a fairly comprehensive library.

I’ve just signed up for the free trial and tried it on my phone, I look forward to trying it later on a laptop and see if I can get it to work on my Squeezebox Touch with the help of some plugins.

Does anyone have any experience of Qobuz? I suspect my system isn’t quite revealing enough to hear the full benefits but it may well be au revoir to Spotify.

 

[lpv]

I've signed up for the free trial too. It is a CD quality, can't hear the difference between qobuz flac's and downloaded flac's.. so yeah, for £19.99 per month one can argue if it makes sense to pay for Spotify premium and Qobuz £30 every month and why not simply spend same money monthly on cd's or flac's..

I can only see 7 albums available out of my top 50 releases from 2013 on qobuz and 41 available on Spotify. Spotify works great for me as a album/ artist preview.. I could consider paying qobuz for the flac's quality but the library needs some drastic upgrades...

if you feel same make them aware of it. it may speed up the process of adding so many missing artists

 

[bluedroog]

I've just got it today so not too sure on depth of library, I suspect it isn't quite up to Spotify level yet but that said I read someone say the reverse to youon the particular albums they looked for and found more on Qobuz.

I was listening on iphone app today on a pair of Shure IEM and it souned good, right now I'm at home and I've got the desktop app on a laptop to a Fiio E17 DAC/amp to Grado 325is and it is sounding wonderful, the best I've heard from headphones to date, albeit in my limited experince.

Later I'll try it on my Squeezebox to see what it sounds like through my speakers.

Be sure to change the settings to lossless as by standard it goes to 320mp3.

Based on my expeince so far I'll be paying for this service and letting Spotfity go, I'm excited for the future to be honest because there will be so much choice and prices will surely come down.

 

[npoguy]

I've been using it for two months and really like it. It's terrific for jazz and classical. It's definitely on the expensive side, but I'm using it almost as much as my NAS, so it makes sense for me.

 

[lpv]

This is a Fact Magazine top 50 albums of 2013. Let's see what's available on Spotify and what's on Qobuz:

S 01. Dean Blunt – The Redeemer (Hippos In Tanks)

02. Sky Ferreira – Night Time, My Time (Capitol)

S/Q 03. Kanye West – Yeezus (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)

04. Galcher Lustwerk – 100% Galcher (Blowing Up The…

S 05. Kelela – Cut 4 Me (Fade To Mind)

06. Stellar OM Source – Joy One Mile (RVNG Intl)

S/Q 07. Kevin Gates – The Luca Brasi Story (Self-released)

08. Lil Ugly Mane - The Three-Sided Tape Vol. 1 (Self-released)

S 09. DJ Rashad - Rollin’ (Hyperdub)

10. Omar-S – Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself (FXHE)

S 11. Ka – The Night’s Gambit (Iron Works)

12. Jai Paul – Leaked Demos (God knows who)

S 13. Logos - Cold Mission (Keysound)

S/Q 14. Colleen – The Weighing of the Heart (Second Language…

S 15. Rome Fortune – Beautiful Pimp (Self-released)

S/Q 16. James Holden – The Inheritors (Border Community)

17. Mumdance – Twists and Turns (Self-released)

18. Powell - Untitled (The Death of Rave)

19. DJ Mustard - Ketchup (Self-released)

S 20. MssingNo – MssingNo (Goon Club Allstars)

S 21. Prurient – Through The Window (Blackest Ever Black)

S 22. The House In The Woods – Bucolica (Exotic Pylon)

23. Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap (self-released)

S 24. Grumbling Fur – Glynnaestra (Thrill Jockey)

25. MGUN – The Near Future EP (The Trilogy Tapes)

S 26. Syclops – A Blink of an Eye (Running Back)

S 27. Ron Morelli – Spit (Hospital Productions)

S/Q 28. Danny Brown – Old (Fool’s Gold)

S/Q 29. These New Puritans – Field Of Reeds (Infectious)

S/Q 30. Earl Sweatshirt – Doris (Columbia)

S/Q 31. Huerco S – Colonial Patterns (Software)

S/Q 32. FKA twigs – EP2 (Young Turks)

Q 33. Roly Porter – Life Cycle of a Massive Star (Subtext)

S/Q 34. Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven (Warp)

35. Mr Muthafuckin’ eXquire - Kismet (Self-released)

S 36. Laurel Halo – Chance Of Rain (Hyperdub)

37. Tree – Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out (Self…

S 38. Donato Dozzy - Donato Dozzy Plays Bee Mask (Spectrum..

39. King Louie - Jeep Music (Self-released)

40. suicideyear – Japan (Self-released)

S/Q 41. Ciara – Ciara (Epic)

S/Q 42. Drake – Nothing Was The Same (Young Money/Island)

S 43. Vakula – You’ve Never Been To Konotop (Selected 2009-12)

44. Filter Dread – Space Loops (No Corner)

S 45. Autre Ne Veut – Anxiety (Software)

S/Q 46. Autechre - Exai (Warp)

47. Friendzone – DX (Self-released)

S/Q 48. The Knife - Shaking The Habitual (Brille)

S/Q 49. Miley Cyrus – Bangerz (RCA)

S 50. Cream Juice – Man Feelings (Orange Milk)

 

[bluedroog]

Good work! Looks like Spoifty comes out on top in library stakes, that said they are quite young I assume and rapidly expanding since the English version has just had lift off.

well I'm not to best on computers and the like and it took me a little while to get it on my squeezebox but it is sounding great epically via the EDO USB output, I did a brief A/B against the laptop to the same DAC (pretty unscientific since no level match) and I think the laptop edged it but almost nothing in it which I'm pleased about.

The he sound is clearly better than Spotify though.

 

[lpv]

I've been using it for two months and really like it. It's terrific for jazz and classical. It's definitely on the expensive side, but I'm using it almost as much as my NAS, so it makes sense for me.

No, it's not terrific for jazz either... I'm jazz fan too... let's see Spotify vs Qobuz:

1. Cécile McLorin Salvant - Woman Child

S 2. Aaron Diehl - The Bespoke Man’s Narrative

3. Chris Potter -The Sirens

S/Q 4. Wayne Shorter - Without a Net

5. Craig Taborn Trio - Chants

6. Charles Lloyd/Jason Moran - Hagar's Song

7. Steve Coleman & Five Elements - Functional Arrhythmias

8. Tim Berne's Snakeoil - Shadow Man

S 9. Dave Douglas - Time Travel

S 10. Terence Blanchard - Magnetic

S/Q 11. Darcy James Argue's Secret Society - Brooklyn Babylon

S 12. Mary Halvorson Septet - Illusionary Sea

13. Chris Potter, Sirens

S/Q 14. Joe Lovano, Cross Culture

Q 15. Rudresh Mahanthappa, Gamak

S 16. Matthew Shipp, Piano Sutras

17. Wadada Leo Smith & TUMO - Occupy the World

18. Barry Altschul, The 3dom Factor

S/Q 19. Gregory Porter, Liquid Spirit

S/Q 20. Dave Holland, Prism

21. Matana Roberts, COIN COIN Chapter Two:

Mississippi Moonchile

S 22. Frank Wess, Magic 101

S/Q 23. Ahmad Jamal, Saturday Morning

24. Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd, Holding It Down: The

Veterans' Dreams Project

25. Nicole Mitchell's Ice Crystals, Aquarius

... tired of typing, but the list is longer and only half what's available on Spotify is on Qobuz.

You can get classic jazz albums/ artists for peanuts [ flac's of course], so no reason for me to pay £19.99.

Same apply to Qobuz classic selection and again flac's are cheap or free.

So Qobuz - £19.99 per month - flac - poor catalogue - you don't own the music

vs

downloads from anywhere - free to £4, £9 per download - flac - biggest catalogue - and the music is yours forever [ just don't forget to make two copies in case your HD die]

 

[BigH]

Looks too expensive for me, I'm using Deezer free at the moment and Spotify.

Does Qobuz have groups like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin?

Spotify is quite good for jazz esp. the older stuff.

 

[bluedroog]

Not sure to be honest (not by it now) although I think it does sound quite a lot better than Spotify, I've got a while left on the free trial so will live with both for now but Qobuz is leading the way, since my laptop is not working right now steaming from one of these services has become my only source so quality is crucial, Spotify is very good but now trying Q has that bit extra sparkle and separation.

 

[npoguy]

I have both Spotify Premium and Qobuz Hi-Fi version and I simply enjoy Q a lot more. It has what I want most of the time--especially with Classical and generally with Jazz--older than most of the things you list above. I was first drawn to it because it had the Harmonia Mundi catalog, so that was primary. The sound quality on Q is in a different league, so that adds to the appeal.

BTW, I still use Spotify for pop and things I can't find on Q, but I'll probably take it down to a free version at some point. Just one man's opinion!

 

[bluedroog]

Hey npoguy, good to hear from another user. I notice you list a SBT in your signature, can you access Q via mysqueezebox.com? I'm only able to find it on my Touch when connected to my laptop as a server.

 

[npoguy]

I gave up on using the SBT for Qobuz. I'm playing the Q desktop through my MacBook Pro. I'm thinking about ditching the SBT at some point and I heard Sonos has Q integration, but I can't find it on the webstie--maybe only in Europe right now?

 

[bluedroog]

Fair enough. Qobuz have the Sonos logo on their website and have read that it is officially supported. I wonder if a little net book might be an option for me.

 

[lpv]

I have both Spotify Premium and Qobuz Hi-Fi version and I simply enjoy Q a lot more. It has what I want most of the time--especially with Classical and generally with Jazz--older than most of the things you list above. I was first drawn to it because it had the Harmonia Mundi catalog, so that was primary. The sound quality on Q is in a different league, so that adds to the appeal.

BTW, I still use Spotify for pop and things I can't find on Q, but I'll probably take it down to a free version at some point. Just one man's opinion!

Qobuz sound quality is excellent.. I only hope they'll upgrade their library A LOT and I'll be moving from Spotify...

Do you stream Qobuz/ Spotify from your MacBook Pro via Airplay? I've noticed strange behaviour.. Since I've installed Qobuz Desktop on my MacBook Airplay works but now always. It crashes, can't get it work once I stop streaming... Just uninstalled Qobuz and Airplay works everytime like before.

Qobuz needs introduce ' set the same volume levels for all tracks' feature cause otherwise playlists with songs from different artist/ albums won't play nice at all as a set.

Keep sending them emails with suggestion.. chances are we'll get what we want.

 

[npoguy]

I stream via Airplay at times, but mostly through the digital out from the MBP. I did notice a couple of times that the desktop app just stops or stutters. I may try your suggestion and reload. It's only done it a couple times, so not a major issue. I'm hoping that when it comes the US officially, we might see an upgrade and possibly a price reduction? It's about $28/month right now--I'll bet it comes down to $19.99 when it rolls out.

 

[lpv]

Two days left to see what's the new flac streaming service - WIMP HI FI - have to offer

http://wimp.dk/wweb/specials/lossless/

 

[bluedroog]

Cheers fella, I'll try and check it out but it was my last day of work and I bought a lot of quality wine today!

 

[lpv]

Cheers fella, I'll try and check it out but it was my last day of work and I bought a lot of quality wine today!

Cheers :cheers: and Merry Christmas :wave:

 

[Potts]

Seemed to randomly stumble across this whilst desperately trying to find a website to purchase files in WAV or FLAC. I'm currently signed up to the one week free trial.

I think it's really good. I haven't had any experience with other streaming services but the interface is nice and easy to use. The CD quality streaming is excellent and trumps my hideous 320kbps versions of some of the songs I've been unable to get in higher quality. I do think the sound has a very slightly different character to playing normal WAV/FLAC from my computer but I don't know whether that has anything to do playing those through Foobar & ASIO instead of the Qobuz Desktop Application & WASAPI exclusive.

Sadly I'm not going to be able to afford to subscribe for a couple of years so I hope it stays available with a continually expanding library. I know there is an option to purchase the full files to save relying on the server, but I don't think this is available unless you're a subscriber. Can't understand why other websites don't provide high quality downloads for purchase. Drives me mad.

 

[EvPa]

I know there is an option to purchase the full files to save relying on the server, but I don't think this is available unless you're a subscriber.

You can buy and download anything you want without subscribing, you just need to have a Qobuz account.

 

[Potts]

I know there is an option to purchase the full files to save relying on the server, but I don't think this is available unless you're a subscriber.

You can buy and download anything you want without subscribing, you just need to have a Qobuz account.

Aw fantastic, thanks for pointing that out to me that EvPa.

I will definitely be able to relax and know that I can still buy and download tracks without being a subscriber; I've been listening like mad on my free trial thinking that I won't be able to listen to everything in high quality until I'm able to subscribe.

Cheers!

 

[musical0111]

I've just got it today so not too sure on depth of library, I suspect it isn't quite up to Spotify level yet but that said I read someone say the reverse to youon the particular albums they looked for and found more on Qobuz.

I was listening on iphone app today on a pair of Shure IEM and it souned good, right now I'm at home and I've got the desktop app on a laptop to a Fiio E17 DAC/amp to Grado 325is and it is sounding wonderful, the best I've heard from headphones to date, albeit in my limited experince.

Later I'll try it on my Squeezebox to see what it sounds like through my speakers.

Be sure to change the settings to lossless as by standard it goes to 320mp3.

Based on my expeince so far I'll be paying for this service and letting Spotfity go, I'm excited for the future to be honest because there will be so much choice and prices will surely come down. hi bludroog just signed up my setting says hifi but its streaming at 320lossy is that cd quality if not how do i change the setting for cd quality any help guys.

 

[bluedroog]

Took me. While to spot your question as you included it in my quote! Depends, how are you using the service? If with the desktop application in the top right corner there should be your user name then 'hi-fi' and a down arrow on a tab, click that and then settings. Quite near the top it says 'music playing' and steaming quality, there are two boxes, click the one that says 'true CD quality lossless flac', it should go blue, there is another box down the page for downloads, do here same if you plan to download music, May as well do it anyway just in case.

i also use it on iPhone and changed the settings in there too as well as on my Squeezebox Touch but I think at has done it automatically following the lead of the desktop settings, it tells me it is playing flac.

 

[shooter]

How much bandwidth would streamed FLAC use?

 

[bluedroog]

I've no idea to be honest, I have limted broadband usage and it hasn't been an issue yet. On the move I'm very pleased as I have Qobuz app on iphone and have switched to Giff gaff sim only and have a bunddle that gives me 300 minutes (farily low but I'm not a woman so OK!) 300 texts (of which I use about 10 a month in favour Whatsapp / Viber and the like) but crucially it gives me unlimted data usage (subject to those fair usage polcies which doesn't effect me) all for £12 a month.