Official Qobuz Issues Thread

[starace]

I have issues with the A&K SR25 and even the latest (Sept. 13 2021) app version. Two particular albums get imported, de imported, and re imported for offline use, and never show up in the offline album list. Most of the albums so far do. It must be a bug of some sort.

 

During importing, there are lots of errors where the app seemingly can't keep up with the downloads, and some tracks never get downloaded, so I have to finish the album later. In general, I feel the importing of albums issue the worst/less refined feature of Qobuz compared to all the alternatives. I understand slow downloads for HiRes files,  but CD quality downloads (imports for Qobuz, not purchases downloads) are much more easy and seamless with the other competitors such as Deezer and Amazon HD (I am not including Tidal as I am no longer considering them an option.) I am a trial subscriber, and am hoping Qobuz works for me. But the bugs and cumbersome aspect of importing albums is disappointing. 

 

Sound is great when everything is working well. I appreciate the Hires files, as there often are minute differences to appreciate.

 

There may be memory leaks as the app is more prone to slowdowns and track stoppage when doing too many things at the same time. Again, rarely the case with the other apps. 

 

Please accept my apologies if all of this has already been covered. I tried to search for these issues to no avail.

 

Stay safe, and enjoy your music.

[starace]

Too many bugs with offline imports. Just now went outside home, and the track from the album I just imported last night stopped playing because I left the wifi area. "No internet connection". Wasn't that the point of offline imports? The third track plays offline. The first two are no longer imported and need to be re imported to the release.

 

I feel "it's Astell & Kern's fault, not ours" is not a proper solution to be offered. This does not happen with the other streaming apps. It's an unique problem to Qobuz and makes it look very bad and "amateurish", even if the best people are working on your software. Also saying "do not import then" does not solve anything, or help Qobuz help themselves so they better compete with their peers.

 

Yes, I am a bit upset, but do not take it personally. I can imagine that had I already paid a yearly subscription, I would be really mad at this. It feels incomplete. If it does not work properly, a beta asterisk note should be added to the offline imports part of their ad ("still being implemented" or something similar.)

 

Or perhaps a note added that Qobuz does not work well with mobile DAP players due to their general nature of being on and offline quickly. Until the app stops getting confused by being online and offline, Qobuz is nearly unusable. Since I have my own CDs and do not purchase digital media (I prefer physical), the buying part serves no purpose to me. I rather have a special edition CD and booklet I can touch. Old debate, I know, and what I intend to discuss. My point is that Qobuz should ideally work well on the road, not just an streaming platform at home, especially if it is to compete with their peers.

 

In short, my criticism *means well*, and I do not hate Qobuz and their team. It is just that these issues keep me from enjoying and making a final decision about choosing Qobuz for the long run.

 

Be well.

 

(It could be that the app told me the album was successfully imported when it wasn't, rather than the magic online-offline track vanishing. In any case, the app should let us know if there were errors importing, rather than claim the album was successfully imported. To find out when actually offline is pretty bad! There may be lag and miscommunication between several parts of the software.)

[starace]

Just confirmed the first two tracks of an album that was working offline yesterday just "disappeared" from offline availability, and need to be re imported to the album. It is not just a matter of improper importing. They imported successfully but disappeared from the album, either when attempted offline again, or some time before that 

 

Anyone that would not find that to be inappropriate? Any help is appreciated, but I think the software is faulty. Wish it was "my fault" or "user error".

 

No hostility intended. Glad that it works fine for many.

[starace]

I do not use Bluetooth-just a stubborn thing, prefer cables, but no offense to those who do use it. I do not do activities that warrant Bluetooth use for most people either.

 

I used to drive eons ago, but since I am in NYC, I commute all the time. It is there that Qobuz breaks down the most for me-though earlier today, just going outside home "deleted" two tracks from an earlier downloaded album. Then on the subway, the first two tracks also disappeared, showing a "no internet connection available" message-and it was working fine on the subway yesterday after several re-imports. The no longer offline files need to be replaced once again.

 

It's as if the cache of tracks is bugged in some way, wrongly deleting them for no obvious reason. I cannot trust that any given album will properly function next time it's accessed offline.

 

Perhaps the sudden transition to online to offline while in use messes up the current version of Qobuz's software. 

 

Addendum: it *just deleted another imported album's 1st track while accessing it on the subway, offline.* I am sorry to say it's just unacceptable. The track was properly downloaded and has been listened offline many times. It's really badly coded software, or a very buggy new version.

 

Do not want to be negative-more, just want the issues to go away.

[starace]

1 hour ago, rando said:

 

Would be decisive if one was able to isolate what disconnect is responsible.  Exact element present in other apps your A&K appears to remove in order to maintain core functionality when running Qobuz. 

 

Even if you've lost interest 'in a New York minute.' 

 

On the contrary, have been trying to make it work. It ruined 4 albums in less than an hour this morning during my commute. The issues do not stop.  Keeps deleting files at random when offline. It may not matter when I leave online to offline. As long as it is offline, the following two error messages occur "Error. Could not complete the operation" and most critically, "Internet connection not available" (meaning the offline track was deleted, no longer accessible, and needs to be re-imported.)

 

Happens with Qobuz 6.3.0.1 running alone, never happens with all other apps whether alone or with a busy Android environment.

 

(It's not about New York or New Yorkers. If you do not like the City fine, but it's not related to Qobuz or issues with its software. Been trying too hard to make the app work well. It's nit lack of effort on my part. These errors should not happen whatever your views on New York or a "fast life" are.)

 

[starace]

3 minutes ago, alpha Q said:

Same thing has happened to me ever since version 6 dropped. Across multiple updates, and testing between some android phones and DAPs i will have import errors, missing tracks. 

 

For now i am remaining on apk version 5.20.0.1 as it is still the most stable version for me in terms of download speeds and tracks not getting removed randomly. Try using that version instead, it might help. 

 

Hoping app functionality improves but seeing as we’re on 6.3.0.1 now it doesn’t seem likely it will get close to 5.20.0.1 stabilty.

Will try when I return gome to my own wifi connection. Would be a pity to leave a good stream service over horrible software implementation (not a personal attack, but imagine all potential subscribers they may have lost already due to this?) Hoping for the best!

[starace]

51 minutes ago, starace said:

Will try when I return gome to my own wifi connection. Would be a pity to leave a good stream service over horrible software implementation (not a personal attack, but imagine all potential subscribers they may have lost already due to this?) Hoping for the best!

 

48 minutes ago, rando said:

I fear you misunderstood my use of the term "New York minute" as derogative.  When it was meant to imply an immediate solution may not be stored in the head of a member here.

 

Verbally take me to task for stepping into the void if you must.  It isn't impractical to inquire if you have taken some common sense steps at some point between your first and latest message.  

 

Best of luck

Sorry for misconstruing your intent. It was a combination of my own frustrations with the software, and typed online statements not always conveying the proper nuances. I must apologize and thank you for intending to help.

 

I will indeed try the older versions later today to see if I can stick to Qobuz. Wonder what will be "lost" by switching to the more stable V5 version.

 

Take care, and sorry once again for the belligerent tone.

[starace]

V 5.20.0.1 working well *so far*, the missing albums which never registered as offline imports now appear in the list. It seems V6 is currently broken as far as my SR25 is concerned, and not stable enough. Slower, "leakier", was just a bad experience. Thanks so much for the great suggestion. Just thought the latest version would be "better". Everything looks similar, just snappier, so I am not sure what new features does V6 add. Let's see if I do not get any vanishing tracks...

 

If this works, I may indeed stick with Qobuz. :)

 

[starace]

43 minutes ago, jedijimi said:

I've rolled back to 5.2 one day after 6.x rolled out as well. I watch this thread every time I get a notification. Waiting patiently for a new stable version to hit. Stay with the 5.xx version until dev's sort it out. Hopefully next update we get will bring remote feature. ;)

I had to go to V5.19.1.2 for my SR25, because 5.20 was much better than 6, but for ultimate "never lose an imported track" reliability, that is the version I had to go with. I lost a few tracks with 5.20, but always lost them with 6. Haven't lost any in days since installing the one A&K recommended (V5.19.1.2). 

 

That said, for non A&K users, perhaps 5.20 is the best!

 

I am almost sure I am keeping Qobuz now, but the software could be better-even the best version for the SR25 I am currently using. Hopefully I am able to truly upgrade versions in the future without those nasty bugs.

[starace]

Nowhere is it clearly stated how to reset the master volume. No google search helps. I do not want any artificial digital boost of the signal. I accidentally lowered it and cannot find a way to reset it to the "standard". I can move the slider-I am not referring to that. Maximum was not the original setting. Is there a default setting anywhere? A simple answer should be more easy to find. Need the standard player volume, without Qobuz adding or taking away output.

[starace]

No problem-I did not realize it was merely a software slider for the unit's true output. Thought it was something else.

[starace]

Idagio-have not tried; was curious due to a post above. No gapless for non-iOS users. Think about that-as bad as non-gapless music playback can be for non-classical genres, it is *essential* for Classical.

 

Deezer also has problems with gapless playback (advertised as such, but not in practice-I canceled my trial due to that.) They rightly claim flac files are gapless (true!), but these flac files are *not played* gapless-"near gapless", with an audible click artifact, or worse, a track starting slightly earlier. It is as if their player itself is causing these "gapless playback" issues. I may have stuck with them if they were indeed true gapless.

 

*Qobuz is true-gapless.* I kept my subscription for Qobuz after a month because I also liked their library for the genres I enjoy (especially classical.) Still , there are indeed many "gaps", but only in their library, and their artist tagging is horrible (artists/bands with the same name will ruin your searches... John Williams and John Williams are not one and the same; and a similar situation with a few band names accross genres.)

 

I do not know how Qobuz library acquisition works, but I do hope it is always expanding. I have enjoyed many obscure classical tracks, but some releases that I think "important" (they are actually nice niche albums that I know or already possess in CD format) are missing. Many older artists are near forgotten, some famous, others not so much. I am however happy most of the time with my searches.

 

Please fix:

 

Double/triple artist results with the same name. The system should discriminate and not be fooled by identical results (the aforementioned John Williams guitar vs conductor is an egregious case, but does happen frequently with other musicians as well.)

 

App speed is subpar compared to Tidal/Deezer/Amazon/Spotify. I like how it looks, but the speed is horrendous for lower powered Android based CPUs. The latest versions are even slower and buggier, rather than better optimized. What it offers should be balanced with how it works-quantity vs quality. Do not sacrifice the latter, as not everyone has a powerful system for Qobuz. My Note 9 runs latest versions like a breeze; my SR25 can only use a specific version from last Summer, otherwise it gets too slow and offline downloads even get lost/deleted (problem discussed earlier by myself in this thread.) The SR25 is very slow compared to the Note 9 even with the right version, but now it generally runs much better, and without downloaded file self-deletions.

 

If Qobuz was able to run flawlessly through all platforms and did not have these artist search issues, it would be near perfect in most ways. Not interested in paying extra to another company to "fix" Qobuz. (Also, I make my own "music discovery" and honestly need no such feature in my daily use, for the most part.)

 

*Please optimize and keep improving the Qobuz app. It is objectively the slowest option I have used.*

 

Be well-apologies if my comments come off as harsh.