qobuz Qobuz USA launching soon!

[bobbmd]

@Bob Stern @Jud the 24.99$ is about what I am paying in Euros for my former CD quality 'French' account after conversion per month or it may be what i am paying for my new STUDIO account I don't really care it is a fantastic product

Are you guys talking about the streaming subscription or price for downloads/purchases? and please be nice to dmackta he went way out of his way for me

[Bob Stern]

2 hours ago, dmackta said:

Bob where are you seeing currency conversion?

If you are in the US store, everything is priced in US$

 

I meant the US dollar equivalent of the prices quoted in Euros or GBP for purchasing that specific album:

US store = $60

FR store = 35€ = $40

GB store = 23£ = $30

 

(So I purchased the album in the British store for 23£.)

 

In contrast with the large discrepancy in purchase prices for downloads, streaming subscription prices are almost identical in all countries.

[Bob Stern]

1 hour ago, dmackta said:

Please post a link to the product in question. Doesn't seem right.

 

The album titles and numbers in the URL's are completely different, suggesting that the Qobuz catalogs for different markets are completely distinct and unrelated:

 

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/wagner-tristan-und-isolde-symphonieorchester-des-bayerischen-rundfunks/0002894382412

 

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/wagner-tristan-und-isolde-bernd-weikl/0002894789514

[dmackta]

21 minutes ago, Bob Stern said:

the Qobuz catalogs for different markets are completely distinct and unrelated:

That is correct. We are at the mercy of what labels release and where, and how they price things. There are major but unavoidable differences by country.

[mourip]

14 hours ago, bobbmd said:

@dmackta just wanted to thank you on this widely read audiophile forum for your help- as I told Eric Benoit your 'support' service is second to none and a rarity in the streaming business AND I love the integration of Qobuz on ROON maybe I won't give up my French account!! Glad you signed up for CA/AS and I hope people are NICE to you

bobbmd

 

Welcome @dmackta. Great to have so much Qobuz presence here. I have a question...

 

Some of us have a "Society" account that might expire before QB goes live here in the US. What is our best option for making that transition? I believe that my account is based in GB.

[tomjtx]

I finally got my email to join the beta trial. My 1st impression is very positive. Listening to Enrike Solonis Colores del Sur on qobuz presents a wider and deeper sound stage than Tidal through my Kii 3s . Everything is more natural and there is no listener fatigue. 

 

Will do much more listening tomorrow but I pretty sure I'll upgrade to the Premium from Studio at the end of my free trial if that is possible.

 

[left channel]

23 hours ago, Bob Stern said:

 

I meant the US dollar equivalent of the prices quoted in Euros or GBP for purchasing that specific album:

US store = $60

FR store = 35€ = $40

GB store = 23£ = $30

 

(So I purchased the album in the British store for 23£.)

 

In contrast with the large discrepancy in purchase prices for downloads, streaming subscription prices are almost identical in all countries.

 

If it makes you feel any better, here are the download prices for The Capitol Studio Sessions by Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Band. "S+" means with Sublime+ discount.
 

 

Don't know why I'd buy that, but it's a fun listen, and I thought I'd have further fun with it here. 

[rickca]

I finally got my invitation to join the USA beta!  I'm very familiar with Qobuz ... I've had an account in France for a long time.

If the USA beta is a good experience, I can finally pay in USD instead of euros and save some money.  I will probably sign up for Sublime+ when my USA trial period is over.  I really should start buying some high res downloads at discounted prices.

[Sal1950]

On 1/10/2019 at 4:53 PM, TAV said:

Received my Qobuz beta signup e-mail this morning.  Had a bit of problem as the email I provided them was the same as my existing UK based account.   A quick email to Qobuz and they moved the UK account to US and yes all my purchased music was there.   Great beta customer service resolving this quickly for me.   Kudos to Qobuz.  

 

 

 

 

Just got the beta invite myself and having the same issue.  Sent a email to support and hoping for a quick resolution.

[Monty Tide]

I just started my beta.  The sound quality is impressive but the amount of titles is lacking, such as Joe Jackson’s “Fools”. Hopefully, the amount of titles will increase once the beta is over.

[Jud]

6 hours ago, Monty Tide said:

I just started my beta.  The sound quality is impressive but the amount of titles is lacking, such as Joe Jackson’s “Fools”. Hopefully, the amount of titles will increase once the beta is over.

 

The amount of titles is probably more likely to change than the sound quality, for any service.

[lmitche]

13 hours ago, rickca said:

I finally got my invitation to join the USA beta!  I'm very familiar with Qobuz ... I've had an account in France for a long time.

If the USA beta is a good experience, I can finally pay in USD instead of euros and save some money.  I will probably sign up for Sublime+ when my USA trial period is over.  I really should start buying some high res downloads at discounted prices.

My invite arrived last evening as well. The trial is up and running. 

 

No listening yet.

[mav52]

10 hours ago, Monty Tide said:

I just started my beta.  The sound quality is impressive but the amount of titles is lacking, such as Joe Jackson’s “Fools”. Hopefully, the amount of titles will increase once the beta is over.

 

They might not have that LP yet as it was just released this month and its actually called Fool not Fools

 

[Monty Tide]

Is there a way to cast hi rez Qobuz music to a av receiver?  I can listen to hi Rez on my iPad but when I cast it my receiver, it appears to be only cd quality.

[Sal1950]

On 1/10/2019 at 4:53 PM, TAV said:

Received my Qobuz beta signup e-mail this morning.  Had a bit of problem as the email I provided them was the same as my existing UK based account.   A quick email to Qobuz and they moved the UK account to US and yes all my purchased music was there.   Great beta customer service resolving this quickly for me.   Kudos to Qobuz.  

 

We move closer to general release every day.  Next step is Roon integration,  anyone hear anything new about that?  

 

 

Got my email yesterday that they had fixed my account changing it to US also.

Logged into and just starting to play with it now.

[TAV]

8 hours ago, Sal1950 said:

Got my email yesterday that they had fixed my account changing it to US also.

Logged into and just starting to play with it now.

 

That's great for you,  I'm loving the service.  I'm also hearing that general public final release will be on Valentine's day 2019.  

[Jud]

I pretty much love this guy.  He has a new album coming out in a couple of weeks.  Wonder if you kind folks (hi, @David.. Qobuz, Hi-Res Music Evangelist ) might look into whether you have or can get USA streaming rights.

 

 

[photonman]

Up and running on Beta.  First impressions are neutral.  Sound is definitely different from Tidal, even my wife mentioned how one album in particular sounded "really good" (Ryan Adams Live at Carnegie Hall).

 

I am not thrilled with the curated playlists.  I guess I am still in love with the Spotify automation and their customized "Daily Mixes" and "Weekly Discovery".  Even Tidal is now doing "My Mix" playlists based on listening habit algorithms.  These custom playlist mixes is my channel for music discovery.  So as long as I know what I want to hear it will work but sometimes I just want to chill with a playlist of songs and artists I would not have known to search for.

 

Will continue to listen and compare.

[Sal1950]

On 2/3/2019 at 12:17 PM, photonman said:

I guess I am still in love with the Spotify automation and their customized "Daily Mixes" and "Weekly Discovery".

It's always hard to change when you've been used to using something for a while.  It will take me some time to get used to Qobuz. I found the Spotify much more intuative but ???
I don't use any of the "auto" stuff,  I pretty much know what I want to hear when I fire up a streamer.

 

I haven't searched this thread much but has anyone else noticed some erratic playback of 24/192 files?  I heard popping and ticking from what sounds like dropouts in data. Using the Qobuz app on my PC via either USB>Emotiva DC-1 DAC>into a Marantz PrePro analog input, or HDMI>direct to MarantzPrePro, either path/DAC gives the same results. Change to the 24/96 stream and the problem disappears?

Shouldn't be my 90+mbps line?

Try  Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like A Wheel  24/192 

[AudioDoctor]

12 hours ago, Sal1950 said:

It's always hard to change when you've been used to using something for a while.  It will take me some time to get used to Qobuz. I found the Spotify much more intuative but ???
I don't use any of the "auto" stuff,  I pretty much know what I want to hear when I fire up a streamer.

 

I haven't searched this thread much but has anyone else noticed some erratic playback of 24/192 files?  I heard popping and ticking from what sounds like dropouts in data. Using the Qobuz app on my PC via either USB>Emotiva DC-1 DAC>into a Marantz PrePro analog input, or HDMI>direct to MarantzPrePro, either path/DAC gives the same results. Change to the 24/96 stream and the problem disappears?

Shouldn't be my 90+mbps line?

Try  Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like A Wheel  24/192 

 

No problems in ROON, it may be the app itself.

[rando]

Wondering what state of usability (US) Qobuz is in currently; ie fully functional and almost bug free?

 

This extended beta duration caught me off guard.  Planned on just enrolling once the doors officially opened.  How do you get an open beta invite (or alternately has that bus left the station), just sign up for more information on the launch page you see when visiting from the US?

 

For a third thing I'm particularly interested in maturity of the Android app and/or phone usage. 

[spin33]

I find the the iOS apps on both iPhone and iPad to be nicely designed and essentially bug free. The MacOS desktop app is as well, although a more robust navigational feature set would be welcome IMO. 

 

That at being said, my primary use for Qobuz is via Roon, rather than native Qobuz apps, and I’m  very satisfied with that implementation. I find Qobuz’s US album database to have expanded since I first began the Beta subscription and they are promising an even more robust selection by the time they make the official US launch. 

 

I believe it is still possible to sign up for the US Beta, but that puts you on a waiting list typically. Certainly wouldn’t hurt to do it, but there are journalistic reports that February 15th will be that launch date (not yet confirmed/denied by Qobuz that I am aware of).

 

17 minutes ago, rando said:

Wondering what state of usability (US) Qobuz is in currently; ie fully functional and almost bug free?

 

This extended beta duration caught me off guard.  Planned on just enrolling once the doors officially opened.  How do you get an open beta invite (or alternately has that bus left the station), just sign up for more information on the launch page you see when visiting from the US?

 

[AudioDoctor]

I would agree with @spin33 above re: Qobuz's library selection since the opening of the beta. I also use ROON as my interface to Qobuz and almost never open the app. Before ROON I was using A+.

[bobbmd]

@spin33 i mostly agree but i find ROON takes very long to load been like that for me since it started and slows down during play ie scrolling changing playlists and most recently the hi res selections only play(for the most part) at 16/44 yet on Qobuz desktop app and A+3 everything is crisp fast and play HiRes at 96 or 192 i even find the MQA selections from TIDAL(that i transferred via Soundiiz) play at hires with the logo(HiRes) and everything ie bit rate on the Qobuz app and A+3- maybe it's just the ROON site it is not necessarily a bad thing as SQ  is still great regardless

[spin33]

2 hours ago, bobbmd said:

@spin33 i mostly agree but i find ROON takes very long to load been like that for me since it started and slows down during play ie scrolling changing playlists and most recently the hi res selections only play(for the most part) at 16/44 yet on Qobuz desktop app and A+3 everything is crisp fast and play HiRes at 96 or 192 i even find the MQA selections from TIDAL(that i transferred via Soundiiz) play at hires with the logo(HiRes) and everything ie bit rate on the Qobuz app and A+3- maybe it's just the ROON site it is not necessarily a bad thing as SQ  is still great regardless

 

@bobbmd Sounds like you may have some optimization/settings issues with Roon and your Mini? I too use an i7 Mini w/16GB ram as a dedicated server and Roon ver1.6 installed. Not currently having the same sluggishness or slowdowns that you describe (although I did for the first few days after the 1.6 update).

 

Re: streaming resolution, I’ve not found any difference between the Qobuz stream on Roon vs Qobuz desktop app. There are however known issues of innacurate resolution labeling that Qobuz acknowledges and are working on. That mislabeling however occurs in both Roon and the Qobuz app.