Qobuz Discussion Thread

[Snook]

On 27/04/2021 at 10:26 AM, lordvader82 said:

Anyone know how to get Qobuz working on corporate networks that use proxies?

At work, hoping to play some tunes, and I get a lot of "Proxies and VPNs not allowed" errors. Which sucks.

 

Don't want to go back to Tidal

Yes, simple. use your phone on a mobile phone network and headphones. 

[BugPowderDust]

On 27/04/2021 at 10:56 AM, lordvader82 said:

Anyone know how to get Qobuz working on corporate networks that use proxies?

At work, hoping to play some tunes, and I get a lot of "Proxies and VPNs not allowed" errors. Which sucks.

 

Don't want to go back to Tidal

Have you set up the proxy under the relevant section in your settings?

 

 

Or is Qobuz detecting a proxy in the path without you manually setting a proxy?

 

It's unclear from your post precisely what's broken here.

[lordvader82]

1 hour ago, BugPowderDust said:

Have you set up the proxy under the relevant section in your settings?

 

 

Or is Qobuz detecting a proxy in the path without you manually setting a proxy?

 

It's unclear from your post precisely what's broken here.

 

I think Qobuz is detecting a proxy (which I'm assuming is part of the work LAN), as I haven't specified any proxy in the settings.

It's unfortunate, as services like Tidal or Spotify don't seem to care if there's a proxy in place - just Qobuz.

[BugPowderDust]

6 minutes ago, lordvader82 said:

I think Qobuz is detecting a proxy (which I'm assuming is part of the work LAN), as I haven't specified any proxy in the settings.

It's unfortunate, as services like Tidal or Spotify don't seem to care if there's a proxy in place - just Qobuz.

It's strange that they care.  It's easy enough for them to see if one is in use though. I presume they have issues with caching if there is some form of web redirection going on (eg WCCP or similar) in your office.  

 

Could also be SSL inspection going on which will sometimes break applications who don't expect someone to be interfering with the payload.

 

Can you ask your IT team to bypass Qobuz traffic from your proxy or disable SSL inspection on Qobuz traffic?

Edited April 28, 2021 by BugPowderDust

[WorkinClassAudio]

On 20/04/2021 at 12:55 PM, cheekyboy said:

Hello folks,

 

I've spent a fair bit of time over the last 3 - 4 days comparing Qobuz with Tidal and I find the Qobuz Hi Res files more to my liking compared to the same MQA file delivered via Tidal................Tidal will definitely be getting the shunt, although I don't find the interface all that much different between the two and the transition to Qobuz was a fairly simple thing, even for me!

 

I have tried a direct comparison with Qobuz Hi Res albums compared to the same album on vinyl and every vinyl album bettered the Qobuz delivery, but I'm finding that the Qobuz Hi Res files are the closest a digital source has come to the vinyl rig that I've heard so far..................I'm actually very impressed with the Qobuz SQ.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

 

I was a Qobuz subscriber for years, then switched to Tidal when it arrived in Australia.  I've now  been a Qobuz sublime subcriber for 2 year.  Buying hirez albums as a Sublime subscriber are cheaper than CDs.  Files of any rez sound better than streaming when played from NAS drive.  Tidal don't sell files.  Qobuz sells hirez files. If I really like an album and it is on hirez I buy it from Qobuz at a discount (about $15AUS or less) and the sound leaves any streamed sound for dead.

[Chris.chapterten]

2 hours ago, GroovyGuru said:

I was a Qobuz subscriber for years, then switched to Tidal when it arrived in Australia.  I've now  been a Qobuz sublime subcriber for 2 year.  Buying hirez albums as a Sublime subscriber are cheaper than CDs.  Files of any rez sound better than streaming when played from NAS drive.  Tidal don't sell files.  Qobuz sells hirez files. If I really like an album and it is on hirez I buy it from Qobuz at a discount (about $15AUS or less) and the sound leaves any streamed sound for dead.

Very interesting. I didn’t realise that local files were any different to the streamed version? 

[Snook]

5 minutes ago, Chris.chapterten said:

Very interesting. I didn’t realise that local files were any different to the streamed version? 

Depends what version you have. There will be no difference in quality if you use something like roon and play THE EXACT same file on NAS or from cloud. (The problem is you can never know if the files are the same though or from the same master etc)

 

most differences perceived are loudness (using different software like qobuz app or tidal app is not a proper comparison) OR your listening to a different version of the same album. 
 

I have the SACD of hotel California on my nas and the tidal mqa version. The SACD sounds way better but it’s a different original abd that’s why. If I had the same original album they would sound identical. It’s physics and silly to think there is a difference in sound quality when the files are bit perfect and the same. 
 

I always laugh when people are like “my $1000 Ethernet cable makes a difference” forgetting that the data has made a journey already down non snake oil cables in the first place hahaha 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Snook

[Niktech]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't find navigating Quobuz very intuitive.

If I play a track from an album added to My favourites, but then move away from the playing now page (the one with leader dots next to tracks to add tracks to a playlist or collection etc)

to "discover" new music, it is quite a number of steps to get back to that favourites page If a song comes you would like to add to a playlist. I'm finding I have to go back in through the side bar, and then My Favourites > artist > album etc and select track. You've also then lost your train of thought in navigating this maze of where you were at "Discovering" new tunes.

 

Maybe it's just Quobuz running inside lightning DS

[ray4410]

29 minutes ago, Niktech said:

Maybe it's just me, but I don't find navigating Quobuz very intuitive.

If I play a track from an album added to My favourites, but then move away from the playing now page (the one with leader dots next to tracks to add tracks to a playlist or collection etc)

to "discover" new music, it is quite a number of steps to get back to that favourites page If a song comes you would like to add to a playlist. I'm finding I have to go back in through the side bar, and then My Favourites > artist > album etc and select track. You've also then lost your train of thought in navigating this maze of where you were at "Discovering" new tunes.

 

Maybe it's just Quobuz running inside lightning DS

yep,they could learn a thing or two from spotify,the sooner spotify goes hifi the better.

[WorkinClassAudio]

20 hours ago, Snook said:

Depends what version you have. There will be no difference in quality if you use something like roon and play THE EXACT same file on NAS or from cloud. (The problem is you can never know if the files are the same though or from the same master etc)

 

most differences perceived are loudness (using different software like qobuz app or tidal app is not a proper comparison) OR your listening to a different version of the same album. 
 

I have the SACD of hotel California on my nas and the tidal mqa version. The SACD sounds way better but it’s a different original abd that’s why. If I had the same original album they would sound identical. It’s physics and silly to think there is a difference in sound quality when the files are bit perfect and the same. 
 

I always laugh when people are like “my $1000 Ethernet cable makes a difference” forgetting that the data has made a journey already down non snake oil cables in the first place hahaha 

I've bought CDs and loaded on NAS they sound much better than the albums do when streaming.  I don't talk about things I haven't heard on my system.  Not snake oil

[Esoterica]

I'm finding more and more missing artists and/or albums lately. Can't be too critical though, seeing as it only launched here recently.

 

Some of the artists include A. Swayze and the Ghosts, Frank Iero and the Future Violents and The Beautiful Monument. They're not really obscure, but not that popular either. I was surprised about them not having any A. Swayze though. Thought they were pretty hip lately man.

[Janus77]

I did some side by side comparisons between Qobuz 24/192 files, and Tidal MQA.  From the couch i wouldn't say i could tell one was better than the other.  The Tidal program is definitely a bit nicer to use than Qobuz.

 

I'm listening through a multimedia pc --> Ifi Zen (MQA) dac --> Amp > speakers.

 

For the same price, to me it gets down to whether you think MQA loss has any impact on SQ, enough to justify using a slightly less user slick interface (only slightly, it's still fine).  I'm not convinced my ears care whether i'm getting MQA or native 24/192.

 

I'll probably end up using Qobuz, just because well why not.  You spend a lot of money on stereo equipment, may as well have the best source material possible.  I've run a frequency generator on my stereo to see how high my hearing goes, and really past about 16,000hz i'm not hearing much, so if the MQA files are getting a bit lossy at 24,000hz, i don't feel to0 concerned.

Will do some more comparisons before i decide which to continue with.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Janus77

[08Boss302]

wrong thread

Edited April 30, 2021 by 08Boss302
wrong thread

[Chris.chapterten]

2 hours ago, Janus77 said:

I did some side by side comparisons between Qobuz 24/192 files, and Tidal MQA.  From the couch i wouldn't say i could tell one was better than the other.  The Tidal program is definitely a bit nicer to use than Qobuz.

 

I'm listening through a multimedia pc --> Ifi Zen (MQA) dac --> Amp > speakers.

 

For the same price, to me it gets down to whether you think MQA loss has any impact on SQ, enough to justify using a slightly less user slick interface (only slightly, it's still fine).  I'm not convinced my ears care whether i'm getting MQA or native 24/192.

 

I'll probably end up using Qobuz, just because well why not.  You spend a lot of money on stereo equipment, may as well have the best source material possible.  I've run a frequency generator on my stereo to see how high my hearing goes, and really past about 16,000hz i'm not hearing much, so if the MQA files are getting a bit lossy at 24,000hz, i don't feel to0 concerned.

Will do some more comparisons before i decide which to continue with.

As a few other people have pointed out one advantage of Qobuz is that the artists get paid about 4x as much per stream (correct me if I’m wrong). That is a big deciding factor for me + the bonus of a more ‘pure’ lossless signal 

[ray4410]

regarding the amount of payment by the various streaming platforms  paid to artists,i do not feel guilty using a streaming service that i pay for is one that doesn'tpay as much as another pays,i had been buying vinyl since the sixties which was in the 1000s,also the same with cds+sacds which i am still buying, so i reckon i have paid my dues,i know there are a lot of new young artists that would be missing out but i don't  listen to their music,good on all that choose a service that supports the artists more financially,but as i said i don't think i am cheating anyone. 

[Tobes]

4 hours ago, Janus77 said:

For the same price, to me it gets down to whether you think MQA loss has any impact on SQ, enough to justify using a slightly less user slick interface (only slightly, it's still fine).  I'm not convinced my ears care whether i'm getting MQA or native 24/192.

For me it goes beyond whether I think Qobuz Hi-res sounds better (it does with my non MQA dac) - it's more the argument for choice - for DAC design and the availability of the original hi-res source.

I don't think MQA brings any significant benefit of any sort, so I'm against it's insidious incursion on Tidal. I don't want it to become the predominate/only source available, which is surely MQA Corp's goal.

[wolster]

2 hours ago, Chris.chapterten said:

As a few other people have pointed out one advantage of Qobuz is that the artists get paid about 4x as much per stream (correct me if I’m wrong). That is a big deciding factor for me + the bonus of a more ‘pure’ lossless signal 

 

Worth repeating. It's the artists that give us the most joy and they should be rewarded.

Edited April 30, 2021 by wolster

[Snook]

59 minutes ago, wolster said:

 

Worth repeating. It's the artists that give us the most joy and they should be rewarded.

So why do so many artists not put their material on their. Its weird. Why would you not put your material literally everywhere you can = more revenue streams. Record labels are stupid and so 1970's backwards with their business outlook.

[08Boss302]

20 hours ago, Esoterica said:

I'm finding more and more missing artists and/or albums lately. Can't be too critical though, seeing as it only launched here recently.

 

Some of the artists include A. Swayze and the Ghosts, Frank Iero and the Future Violents and The Beautiful Monument. They're not really obscure, but not that popular either. I was surprised about them not having any A. Swayze though. Thought they were pretty hip lately man.

 

I just did  a search for these out or curiosity as I still have the US version and they're on there, so hopefully they arrive soon.  I am not familiar with these artists but did a quick cross check on Spotify and looks to be pretty much equal.

 

 

https://open.qobuz.com/artist/4341916

https://open.qobuz.com/artist/3298045

https://open.qobuz.com/artist/433637

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by 08Boss302
pics added

[Chris.chapterten]

11 minutes ago, Snook said:

So why do so many artists not put their material on their. Its weird. Why would you not put your material literally everywhere you can = more revenue streams. Record labels are stupid and so 1970's backwards with their business outlook.

Agreed, it seems to be a record label issue most of the time. One of my favourite bands signed with Sony between 1990-1993 and released two of their best albums during that time. The band now has no rights to that music other than being allowed to play it live. The two albums are not available on any Australian streaming service and also cannot be bought as a download either. You can only find terrible quality versions that have been uploaded to youtube.

 

I want to buy these albums in CD quality but for some stupid reason the label won’t make them available in any format anywhere in Australia. Definitely makes 0 business sense to me.

[Snook]

6 minutes ago, Chris.chapterten said:

Agreed, it seems to be a record label issue most of the time. One of my favourite bands signed with Sony between 1990-1993 and released two of their best albums during that time. The band now has no rights to that music other than being allowed to play it live. The two albums are not available on any Australian streaming service and also cannot be bought as a download either. You can only find terrible quality versions that have been uploaded to youtube.

 

I want to buy these albums in CD quality but for some stupid reason the label won’t make them available in any format anywhere in Australia. Definitely makes 0 business sense to me.

 

Yes it's unbelieveable.

 

I have about 70 albums from Dave Matthews Band locally, but they only have their collection on spotify due to label issues. Its so bad. Just make them available everywhere and EARN MORE MONEY! Its so utterly stupid.

[Tobes]

40 minutes ago, Snook said:

 

Yes it's unbelieveable.

 

I have about 70 albums from Dave Matthews Band locally, but they only have their collection on spotify due to label issues. Its so bad. Just make them available everywhere and EARN MORE MONEY! Its so utterly stupid.

There are artists like Alt-J that are available on Spotify but not on Tidal or Qobuz.

I wonder why they would choose not to be available on the latter -  especially since, according to info posted earlier in this thread, Qobuz pay about 10 times more that Spotify?? Seems crazy, unless they are getting special kickbacks for not using the others?

[BugPowderDust]

10 minutes ago, Tobes said:

There are artists like Alt-J that are available on Spotify but not on Tidal or Qobuz.

Could be an exclusivity clause?

Really, while the labels might get a better deal for the artist at Qobuz, they probably get 10x (or more) the plays at Spotify.

 

it’s not hard to see why they would preference things in that direction.

[Snook]

37 minutes ago, BugPowderDust said:

Could be an exclusivity clause?

Really, while the labels might get a better deal for the artist at Qobuz, they probably get 10x (or more) the plays at Spotify.

 

it’s not hard to see why they would preference things in that direction.

It is hard to see why they would not be on every platform tho, barring any legal dramas and exclusiveness.

[BugPowderDust]

8 minutes ago, Snook said:

It is hard to see why they would not be on every platform tho, barring any legal dramas and exclusiveness.

If you’ve had anything to do with record labels you will know they don’t work in favour of the artists, they just work as little as they can to keep their gravy train afloat. Lazy is an understatement from personal experience.