You can use Musconv tool for it.
Qobuz Users Update?
the service in the USA has been out a few months now. initial posters on this site commented on good sound quality in hi rez but a limited catalogue. I listen mostly to Jazz and Classical. Would anyone who has been a user from the get go please comment on your experience? I've been a Tidal guy for years and am fairly satisfied. Thanks to anyone taking the time to comment
63 responses Add your response
Qobuz has 117 available playlists and they are terrific. For example, listen to Prestige 70 Jazz classics for 70 handpicked jazz tracks. Many of them are in the hi-res format. This Qobuz playlist is 7 hours and 38 minutes long. This makes listening to music very easy. Enjoy. On my Aurender, I go to the playlist tab and look for Qobuz playlists that I like. The Conductor App has a search option for the 117 playlists. This is very useful to find interesting playlists. . |
Qobuz reports “Our API is completely revamping the whole system in order to provide first in class metadata to our third party partners. I don't have a time line for you outside of early falll 2019. I wish I could provide you with more information about it”. I do not know what the first in class metadata means. Maybe our 3rd party Apps will have access to additional album info. So, now, we wait a little longer. |
| Post removed |
As I previously reported, I am anxiously waiting for Qobuz to complete their API for my Aurender N10 music server so I can sort my album favorites by artist name. This API will help me find my albums. Aurender Customer Support reports they are also waiting for the API related rollout information. They will need to update their Conductor App. Other server type vendors will also need to implement the API assuming they decide to support it. I emailed Qobuz today and asked when they expect to release the API that will enable me to sort my album favorites by artist name, etc. Sorting my albums into artist name sequence is a high priority item for me so I am looking for its rollout. I have dropped Tidal Streaming so Qobuz is my only quality streaming service and I like it very much. |
I am not sure about qobuz but I recently switched to Apple Music from Tidal and to transfer my data I used "Musconv Tool" which made my transfer really easy and fast. So if you decide to switch from Tidal, you should get help from "MusConv" which lets you transfer all your music data from one streaming platfrom to another. |
I joined Qobuz at the highest level, $299/yr., basically because I got into digital hi-res files only recently and wanted to quickly build a decent library, and when you are the highest level, you get substantial discounts on hi-res (over 44.1/16) content. Unfortunately, I have been a little disappointed in the number of selections at that "discountable" level, but everything is still substantially cheaper than HD Tracks, and I’ve saved at least $100 so far (3 months.) Agree though the sound quality on about everything is excellent, but I don’t find the mobile app very user- friendly when I’m in the car. I’m sure it is still improving all around. |
I've been receiving errors on my BluOs using Android. They are connectivity errors stating: Error...internal server error Qobuz. AND Error...Not found Qobuz. I've been assigned a Bluesound tech who checks in with me daily. The first contact was to have me send an activity log to them via BluOs. Errors were reduced significantly after this. Now I can get thru a 3 hour listening session flawlessly. The rep is still handling my case and will do so until I am satisfied. Very impressed with the sound and the service so far. |
Recommendations: i’m Consistently encountering log in requests for Qobuz and dropped connections using my Lumin app. If using the Linn Kazzo app I get a message Qobuz temporarily unavailable. I have no problem streaming Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. to my tv using the same router and internet service provider. I have requested assistance from both Lumin and Qobuz without resolution. Appreciate any membership guidance. Thank you. |
The cellar signal has weak zone or sometime dead zone. Qobuz and Tidal both will detect limited bandwith and reduce bits rate. As for Tidal, bit rate for Hifi and MQA are the same, so if you have smooth streaming under Hifi, you will have steady streaming for MQA. Qobuz bits rate depand on the material. Some are 44.1/16, some are 88/24, 96/24 some are even 192/24. So depend on your ISP bandwith. The streaming quality will be varied. |
@junzhang10, As I reported earlier, I’ve experienced zero dropouts with Qobuz or Tidal from my cellular service (Verizon). If you’re experiencing drop outs that’s probably due to limited bandwidth or coverage of your cellular provider. It wouldn’t be wise to make ‘absolute’ statements like “you will have Qobuz drop out” 😉 I can understand your somewhat ‘biased’ preference for Tidal (half price subscription). I don’t want to get into any MQA debate here, please continue to enjoy your favorite tunes on Tidal. |
At home in a serious listening set up, with wired ISP, Qobuz will sound better than MQA. If you use cellular (on the road). you will have Qobuz drop out, MQA will sound better since the bit rate is lower. I have student discount on Tidal at 1/2 of the price of Qobuz. Also I have the dream of Oppo 205 which has a MQA decoder build in. I will say, MQA sounds better for me. Still, a lot of classical record in is in 44.1Hz/16bits. So Tidal Hifi is right there. |
I have Qobuz and Tidal currently. I would like to go down to just one service. I don't care much about MQA, but I find Tidal has a few more of the artists I want to listen to, but then I find Qobuz has some others in hi-res where Tidal doesn't... Hoping that Qobuz eventually catches up on artists and selections and I would just go down to one. Love Roon though! (hoping Qobuz gets Tool to let them stream...) |
I was a Qobuz beta tester and after my free month signed up for the service, using their Windows10 app, which was dreadfully unreliable, so after a few weeks cancelled my subscription. I recently converted my Roon setup from having the core run on the Windows10 Pro machine to a newly acquired Roon Nucleus Plus server and it works flawlessly. So I re-subscribed to Qobuz and now have it and Tidal running on the Roon box and have nothing but good things to report! I'm undecided on which sounds better Tidal or Qobuz, if I had to chose one, I'd say Qobuz wins "by a nose". I find it has a better selection of classical than Tidal. I find that some of the remastered 1970's and 1980's rock & roll sounds fuller, cleaner and more dynamic in MQA, but some don't. More than a few of my classical favorites sound dull and lifeless in MQA. One thing I really like about the Roon Nucleus Plus is that, when I have it decode MQA, the end result sounds better (on my non-MQA capable DAC) than running the same option when the Roon core was running on the Windows machine. I believe that my setup with Roon and both Qobuz and Tidal is "hear" to stay. |
I recently signed back up for Tidal for a cheap 3 month stint they offered me to "come back". There really is no comparison between Qobuz hires ( 24/96 and 24/192) and Tidal MQA. Sometimes the MQA version can send a little warmer but generally the Qobuz files have more detail and dynamics to the music. Of course if you start with a poor recording, well all bets are off! Until the "next big thing" comes along I will stick with Qobuz even though it is $5 a month more than Tidal for the top tier service. |
I naively thought MQA and the Qobuz offered hi res would sound the same but they didn't guess my ears aren't that messed up. Using my Lumin T2, I could hear differences between the two formats. I know MQA is lossy and I agree with Lalitk and DDude003 there's no "need" for MQA. Bob Stuart must be watching his dream of his own proprietary format slowly starting to fade away in relevance. Lots of bandwidth now and only increasing. MQA is irrelevant IMO. |
Well, after one week of using Qobuz, I am cancelling Tidal. IMO, the Qobuz GUI is much easier to use and I also enjoy the "booklets." Much of what I listen to regularly is on Qobuz and a lot is higher resolution, which I can actually hear. I also found "downloading" so I can listen off line in my car (from my phone connection) is much easier and quicker to download as well. I like the Qobuz entry portal much more than Tidal. I really disliked all the JayZ type stuff that's pushed at you. Finally, I didn't care for MQA sound. Maybe it was my imagination but it felt like I was missing some of the music. Comparing the two versions of the newest Springsteen on Tidal MQA or Qobuz hi res, Qobuz was the clear winner for me. Total yearly cost with Qobuz will be less than $10 per annum. |
you are asking the key question ...do Qobuz and perhaps Tidal introduce low levels of compression even in their premium services? Btw, I rip my files to my NAS with dbpoweramp, using an Apple Optical Drive and the aforementioned MacAir, and rip and store in FLAC it would be great to see one of the Audiomags, such as Stereophile or Hi Fi News, or someone on this Forum, could measure the streams and compare to CD rips to answer the question |
Mahler, that's a tough one to answer. You're totally wired except for the Android which is the controller. Could it be how the music was digitized to your drive vs. the digitized track on Qobuz? I've been wondering if there could be any compression added by Tidal or Qobuz when I hear a difference in the same song. |
When you use your cellular phone to streming Tidal and Qobuz, you want to make sure it is streaming at least Tidal MQA and 96khz/24bit. Some cell company will cap the streaming rate. many times, the iphone will streaming at lower bits rate and listener thought it is streaming at hiRes. During travling, you can't tell MP3, MQA or 96k/24bit. You will need a quiet listening room and good equiptment to listen to HiRes |
I use Ethernet and therefore no stability issues, nor did I mention any in my last post. I am simply talking about comparing the sound directly, into the same input of my DAC, using the Bluesound Node as a player, of how one recording sounded when replayed from Qobuz vs my NAS. I guess I could compare a few other recordings, but I am pretty time crunched at the moment. One variable may be the the Qobuz-Bluesound handoff. Are others using Bluesound to play Qobuz? |
+1, @jond. Thanks for the update and I am happy your Tidal and Qobuz sound quality has improved. This is a perfect example of the fine tuning required to get the best quality from music streaming. As noted, the simple task of moving the wireless gateway to another room solves the problem. Great job. |
+1 @hgeifman I recently had an issue where my Aries Mini kept crashing and couldn't find my network. I called Comcast out and finally had them move my wireless gateway from my office to the living room. The tech told me the office was basically a "dead zone" hence my issues. The system is in the living room so now there are no issues at all with instability and an added benefit a nice bump in sound quality. I was happy with the sound before but its even better now, on both Tidal and Qobuz. |
Excellent sound quality that is available from Qobuz and Tidal REQUIRES all components to be working 100%. This includes the streamer, hard drives, modem, router, switch box, Internet signal strength, all other Internet components, DAC, external ISP amplifiers, cables and everything else. Unfortunately, if some of these components are not working correctly, you are going to get poor streaming results and poor sound quality. My Qobuz sound quality is now excellent and I enjoying their hi-res albums very much. Streaming and poor sound quality issues need to have the above mentioned components checked AND, if needed, an email to Qobuz for additional assistance. Musical streaming is complicated because of the many moving parts that need to be working. Sometimes it is not plug and play and requires additional research and efforts to get everything work. Please do not give up. I hope the above helps. |
| Post removed |
We took a long car trip last weekend. The Qobuz app on my Android Phone did not work well. My wife likes Neal Diamond and we were attempting to play a greatest Hits collection but no matter what track I selected it would only play the same one—“Solitary Man” became “Solitary Song”. I finally made my first Amazon mp3 purchase in years to buy the album since I still have Amazon mp3 app. Back at home I access Qobuz via a tab on Bluesound. I was searching for alternative recordings of Chopin Etudes than my long term favorite (Mauricio Pollini). Unsatisfied with a few others I went I chose Murray Perahia, whose recording I also have on FLAC in my NAS. I then played the same Perahia tracks that I had been listening to on Qobuz directly from my NAS with Bluesound and no question about it, Qobuz sounded veiled by comparison. |
I had TIDAL for about 6 months and signed up for Qobuz went it went live in the U.S. I listen mostly to classical and jazz. I think Qobuz sounds better, but my Naim NDX2 doesn’t support MQA (and probably never will) so with TIDAL Studio I only get the first unfold using Roon DSP. I have no desire to step in that festering pile of MQA anyway. Qobuz -> Roon -> NDX2 sounds great, even with 16/44.1 tracks. Anyway, happy with Qobuz so far and feel like I’m getting my money’s worth. I’m currently running Roon on a 2012 Mac Mini i7 with 1TB Samsung EVO SSD, but am looking at building out a NUC8i7 for Roon ROCK. |
Used to stream Tidal and Deezer. Switched to Qobuz as a beta but the limited rock catalogue made me drop it and stick with Tidal. Then when officially released in USA tried again on the hirez level. Found the rock catalogue has expanded a lot although still not a match for tidal. But imho the hirez SQ beats tidal MQA and you do not need a MQA compatible DAC to enjoy 24/192 with Qobuz. So made the switch to Qobuz few months back and not looked back. They do seem to be adding more rock titles every week so I am content at this stage. |
I've had Qobuz for a few months now, and also subscribe to Deezer. I dropped my Tidal subscription a few weeks after getting Qobuz - Qobuz has a better selection of classical recordings, and sound quality is generally as good or better than Tidal. I used Tidal with a Bluesound Node 2, either through the analog outputs (MQA fully unfolded) or into a Benchmark DAC3L (MQA partially unfolded). To me, Qobuz hi-res offerings sound as good or better than MQA (with my gear, of course). Deezer also has good sound quality, and a better selection of older and obscure rock and jazz music than either Tidal or Qobuz. |
I currently have Tidal and also had a Qobuz 30 day free trial at the same time. What I found was that SQ was VERY recording dependent. Sometimes a recording sounded better on Qobuz and another recording sounded better on Tidal. I found this to be true both with Hi-res (MQA vs. 24/96 FLAC) and standard redbook streaming. To me, the only reason not to get Qobuz is if your streamer/DAC allows for a full unfold of MQA. If, however, you can do full MQA, then the decision comes down to content. |
When comparing streaming services it should be noted that different issues of an album may be in each service's catalogue. For example, Tidal may be offering a newly remastered album compared to a different remaster on Qobuz. Original issues are also offered in addition to the various remasters released. This applies to the CD quality releases, not so much hires. Within all genres Qobuz offers an original issue plus a remastered version. The difference in sound quality between the two is quite noticeable. |
This post is for Aurender users only using the Aurender Conductor App: For the Qobuz tab, If you enter the words #hires in the search box, all the Res Albums will be displayed. This is exactly what I was looking for. This is great news. I do not know if the above will work for other music severs but you probably should test it to see what happens. |
As pr my post above, Qobuz Customer Support reports “Please try to delete this from your favorites and put it back again: 0886444614023, Maybe it changed the catalog number”. I already HAD deleted the album and re-added and, yes, the content returned. I am going to forget about it. I also agree with david_ten's post above. As I said above, Qobuz hi-res albums sound terrific. Their hi-res sound quality is excellent and is much better than the non-hi-res albums. Qobuz hi-res streaming is the REASON WHY you should subscribe to Qobuz. IMHO, the hi-res sound quality is easily worth the price. In other words, Qobuz is a recommended music streaming service. I also find myself listening more to Qobuz Hi-Res Albums than Tidal. I subscribe to both and probably will continue both subscriptions for a while. We will see. |
It's a mistake to 'label' and pronounce general / overall SQ differences between Tidal and Qobuz, etc. The differences heard, though fully valid for the individual / their system, are dependant on factors other than the services being evaluated and are fraught with problems when proclaimed as prescriptive / definitive. |
