Official Qobuz Issues Thread

[rodrigaj]

@David.. Qobuz, Hi-Res Music Evangelist

 

Well that is encouraging.

 

In all the years that I have been a Tidal subscriber, not once has Tidal represented themselves here.

 

Welcome!!!

[rodrigaj]

5 minutes ago, David.. Qobuz, Hi-Res Music Evangelist said:

 

Glad to be here, Rod. Hope I can be of service.

 

OK, I'll start with this:

 

I am in the USA.

I have given Qobuz my email address repeatedly over the last several years via variations of this window:

 

 

I have never once received anything from Qobuz regarding your upcoming entry into the USA market. I have gotten all of my information from this forum and nothing from Qobuz.

 

Is anyone at Qobuz intercepting these email addresses and doing something with them?

[rodrigaj]

@austinpop

I totally agree with this.

 

One of the things I began noticing with Tidal was the increase in 96kbs offerings even as a HIFI subscriber. No indication prior to playing that you were getting such low quality streaming. Podger on Channel Classics was definitely one of those offerings.

 

I suppose one can argue that listening to the whole recording at 96kbs is better than a 30 sec sample, so in this respect Tidal is better than Qobuz.

 

 

[rodrigaj]

2 hours ago, Sal1950 said:

Yes that clears it up for me,  thank you very much for the personal reply!

I'm on Spotify now, always refused to do business with the punk gangster ownership of Tidal. I'll probably switch over to you after the US rollout. Hoping many Tidal customers do the same. Good luck.

 

In the USA, there was a short period of time of about a year in 2014 to 2015 when Tidal was a great music service. This was when it was first introduced in the USA. They had their startup issues, but they were responsive to their customers and understood the needs of all music lovers. I have often wondered what the original WiMP management must think of the service today.

 

Spotify Premium is quite good. I have been pleasantly surprised. Not HiRes or Redbook but it serves me quite well for music exploration in the classical genre.

 

Qobuz will hopefully be what Tidal set out to be in the beginning - only better. I'm looking forward to the introduction.

[rodrigaj]

33 minutes ago, rickca said:

Qobuz needs to communicate with its subscribers.  If you plan to make changes that may disrupt service, tell us.  If you then outperform and manage to make the changes without disruption everyone will be happy.

 

TIDAL never communicated with subscribers and made a real mess transitioning their CDN.  That's how they lost me to Qobuz 3 years ago.  Don't make the same mistake.

This is especially true for new subscribers.

 

Imagine signing up for a service as a trial subscriber and getting ERROR messages. You have no history with the service and after a level of frustration with "what am I doing wrong", you sign off and never give them a second chance.

 

Since quitting Tidal, I have been a subscriber to Spotify Premium. Spotify Premium has outstanding service. They are super responsive to their listeners, are constantly tweaking their apps and they are experts in shaping the streaming environment to listeners music preferences. It should be the service that all streaming services try to emulate.

 

I suggest that everyone at Qobuz take out a Spotify Premium subscription and live with the experience for several months. I'm serious.

[rodrigaj]

6 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

DLNA / UPnP is the most nonstandard standard. Ask the guys at jriver what it’s like to make an app work with numerous devices. It ain’t easy. 

 

This is so true as I discovered last December when I purchased my DLNA compliant DAC + renderer only to discover that Audirvana + v.3 would not function as intended. I found I needed to purchase another renderer that had been A+ "approved".

 

I'm not blaming anyone except myself... When it comes to DLNA the consumer must ask specific questions regarding software and hardware compatibility. If you can't find anyone who has made successful use of software "x" with hardware "y" - even if both are DLNA compliant - it probably won't function as intended.

[rodrigaj]

48 minutes ago, steveoat said:

Are we any closer to a launch?

 

About a week or so ago, Qobuz, on facebook, mentioned that those who signed up for early notification would hear soon.  Any news as to when this might be?

LOL, I've been waiting for notification for years. Never once received an email, even when RMAF was scheduled.

 

Your best bet is to hang out here.

[rodrigaj]

@austinpop Thank you for your comparison between Tidal and Qobuz. I especially like the choice of the Brandenburgs in your assessment.

Since I gave up on Tidal and my evaluations of Primephonic and Idagio are complete, I am eagerly anticipating Qobuz. 

[rodrigaj]

To be perfectly honest, I didn't hear any degradation in SQ when I switched from Tidal to Spotify Premium. Between Spotify and ripped CDs, both streamed from my uR, yes there is a difference, but between Tidal and Spotify, not really.

 

I have no idea why that is, but I look forward to trying the same test with Qobuz.

[rodrigaj]

DLNA capability is a weak link for streaming services. Spotify Premium has Spotify Connect which is very good. Idagio and Primephonic both rely on Airplay, with no DLNA option in the foreseeable future, and unlike Qobuz and Tidal don't have the Linn Kazoo, Lumin app or A+ alternative.

 

I would have expected the Digital Living Network Alliance to make this easy for developers to use.

[rodrigaj]

1 hour ago, Jud said:

 

Sal, have you ever taken time on a job you were doing to get it really right, only to have them ask what was taking so long?  

 

They've got one shot to make a good enough first impression in the largest streaming market in the world to possibly persuade people to leave what they're familiar with. That takes some doing.

I remember Tidal's USA entry prior to Jay Z's purchase when dropouts and hangups were the norm. It seemed like a year before they got it all sorted out. Some services such as Medici TV never get it right.

 

Until the official Qobuz intro, I'm quite content to wait. I was offered a Beta test slot which I declined. IDAGIO and SPOTIFY Premium and METOPERA on Demand are perfectly suitable until Qobuz USA make their official entry.

[rodrigaj]

13 minutes ago, Mark Dirac said:

Bad news for Qobuz. This is too cheap. Not sustainable. Qobuz need profit margin to pay for development and maintenance of the several apps and the library.

Unless they are looking for a buyer - Apple bought Primephonic this past week.

[rodrigaj]

PDF booklets were a feature of Primephonic that made their service so much better than other streaming services. Sadly, they were bought out by apple several weeks ago. Gone is their search function and their PDF booklets. They also made an effort, when booklets were not available, to verify the recording date (i.e., not just release dates).

 

I believe Idagio is the only streaming service that fills this classical music void. Qobuz has the PDF booklets now, but the search function still lacks the rigourous metadata maintenance  that only a classical music service can offer.

 

Still, Qobuz is far better than Tidal and Spotify.

[rodrigaj]

3 minutes ago, jglacken said:

Ok, they are back?  I am a Qobuz customer too so it is my business!

Read the agreement you signed when you signed up for Qobuz.

[rodrigaj]

@David Craff

 

Years ago I opened a qobuz France account in order to download music. This was before the streaming service was available in the USA. I never had a streaming account, just a download account. I never used a VPN.

 

Now that I want to try the USA streaming service through my new Audirvana Studio account, I can't. I can't use my Audirvana voucher for the 3 month free trial.

 

Furthermore, the web browser keeps coming up in French and there is no way I can reset this.

 

I want to try the streaming service, but I can't because a few years ago I downloaded a few albums?

 

Can you help or tell me who to contact?

[rodrigaj]

16 minutes ago, bobbmd said:

Try asking Damien/ Antoine at Audirvāna Studio support— I too had my original Qobuz account with French address with a few downloads and switched easily to a USA account with Dan Mackta’s help and streaming has never been a problem 

I tried in the Audirvana Studio browser site, but I keep getting shoved into their forums which are of no help. I'll try here at the Audiophile Style Official Audirvana Studio thread.

[rodrigaj]

1 hour ago, rodrigaj said:

I tried in the Audirvana Studio browser site, but I keep getting shoved into their forums which are of no help. I'll try here at the Audiophile Style Official Audirvana Studio thread.

Trying again at the Audirvana forums.

[rodrigaj]

Thank you @David Craff

 

I am happy to say, I am now streaming Qobuz. I was able to apply the 3 month special voucher that Audirvana offers to their one year subscribers.

 

If you are an old Qobuz customer from the USA, with a French account, here is what I had to do:

 

First, I had to go to Qobuz support to get the account changed to USA. There is no way you can do this yourself.

Then...

I was not able to use the code directly on the Qobuz account web site. It said it was an invalid code.

So...

I went back into Audirvana, and from there I was able to use the code.

I'm all set now. Streaming Qobuz from Audirvana as we speak.

[rodrigaj]

Streaming Qobuz with Audirvana.

 

How do I get the "Descriptions" and "Biographies" that come with some albums in English? Right now they only appear in French and I can't find any apparent way to switch the language.

[rodrigaj]

6 hours ago, David Craff said:

 

Hi,

 

You will have french content only for a french account or country with a french language. And the editorial content can't be switched to another language.

But I'm in the USA, and Qobuz Support had my old account switched from France to the USA. See:

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/46611-official-qobuz-issues-thread/?do=findComment&comment=1182807

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/46611-official-qobuz-issues-thread/?do=findComment&comment=1182782

 

I guess I need to go back to Qobuz Support.

 

[rodrigaj]

@dmacktaNot sure how the browser cache could affect Audirvana with control from Audirvana Remote. I get the French editorial content while looking at Audirvana Remote on my iPad.

[rodrigaj]

10 minutes ago, David Craff said:

 

did you logout your Qobuz account from Audirvana ?

I just disconnected Qobuz and reconnected Qobuz on Audirvana and I still get the French editorial content.

 

Moving over to Qobuz App on MacOS...

 

I just checked Qobuz MacOS app and it appears, the French editorial content is there as well. In addition, some artists editorial content appears in English, while others appear in French.

 

For example: Leitla Schayegh biographical information is in French, while the "About" information on her album is in English.

https://open.qobuz.com/album/snwd3y9nqofga

[rodrigaj]

8 minutes ago, David Craff said:

 

can you send me the email associated with your account?

 

PM sent

[rodrigaj]

This may have come up before, but is there any hope for a Qobuz Connect in the future?

 

New Qobuz subscriber here. Right now I am listening to Qobuz through Audirvana Studio / Audirvana Remote (Mac mini / iPad).

[rodrigaj]

This problem of missing or diminished tracks is really annoying when you are a classical music lover. You pick a symphony from a recently reviewed performance, and the adagio movement is skipped. Ruins the album in its entirety... Fortunately, that has only happened once to me on Qobuz.

 

After many years with Tidal, I dropped the service when they started doing that, only in their case, they were reducing bit rates on certain tracks - to lossy mp3.

 

The record labels are still trying to figure out how to make money streaming. The streaming companies say it is labels fault.

 

I know I will never go back to Tidal. I went to Primephonic until they were bought out by Apple. I went to Idagio, but I could never get them to understand that Airplay is a faulty way of streaming. So now I'm with Qobuz. As consumers, we can always speak with our wallets.