Official Qobuz Issues Thread

[rando]

@Tinnitus Andronicus

You are the second person to report issues with ASIO and W10 exclusive mode.  I wonder if it might be good to start a separate thread aimed towards exploring solutions on your end (at lengths that would be prohibitive towards others reporting Qobuz issues in here).

[Tinnitus Andronicus]

I have figured out how the auto update process works in Qobuz desktop app, since making my post.

 

I don't know about starting a separate thread. I've typed at great length about this matter already on the Steve Hoffman Audio Hardware forum where I've got a lot of discussion from users, I've typed about it in this thread, I've typed about it in my private support request correspondence with Sebastian at Qobuz. I have a repetitive stress injury to my right hand and I am tired of typing!

 

I tried the new Qobuz version JS version 5.0.4-b011 desktop version 5.0.4-b009 and it is still playing files at the wrong sampling rate when playing from a playlist. 

[Tinnitus Andronicus]

7 hours ago, David Craff said:

This will be fixed in the next release, 5.4.0 launch today.

 

Sorry to say, I am using the newly released 5.4.0-b009 beta desktop version, just downloaded and installed today, and still having the same problems in playlist playback, variable sampling rates. I created a playlist with songs that alternate between 16/44 and 24/96 and it does not play them at the correct sampling rate, it is still either upsampling 44 to 96 or downsampling 96 to 44. Not fixed.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Let's move the Windows 10 WASAPI (Exclusive Mode) conversation to this thread. I have the same issue, but it appear that @Tinnitus Andronicus won't be able to help in troubleshooting. I hope the issue is global, so a solution will help him and others as well. 

 

 

 

[Polyglot]

A new update was released, however the supremely annoying issue of being taken back to the top of search results or of a playlist after clicking on an item and then going back wasn't fixed. What a disappointment.

 

The ability to show all tracks of a release with a single click wasn't implemented either.

[Talisman]

3 hours ago, Polyglot said:

A new update was released, however the supremely annoying issue of being taken back to the top of search results or of a playlist after clicking on an item and then going back wasn't fixed. What a disappointment.

 

The ability to show all tracks of a release with a single click wasn't implemented either.

 

The "top of search results" thing is at the top of my wishlist, too.

[David Craff]

14 hours ago, Polyglot said:

A new update was released, however the supremely annoying issue of being taken back to the top of search results or of a playlist after clicking on an item and then going back wasn't fixed. What a disappointment.

 

The ability to show all tracks of a release with a single click wasn't implemented either.

 

Hi,

 

Sorry but we have many things to correct and improve on our applications. Although I understand the inconvenient side of not memorizing the scroll on the search page, this is much less problematic than crashing the application during a download.

 

However, we do not forget your feedback and requests. This is taken into account and will be improved as soon as possible.

 

Regards

[Polyglot]

7 hours ago, David Craff said:

 

Hi,

 

Sorry but we have many things to correct and improve on our applications. Although I understand the inconvenient side of not memorizing the scroll on the search page, this is much less problematic than crashing the application during a download.

 

However, we do not forget your feedback and requests. This is taken into account and will be improved as soon as possible.

 

Regards

 

Thank you for your reply,

 

I disagree though about the importance of these issues. All these annoyances add up and significantly detract from the experience. Oftentimes I find myself wishing to back to CDs exclusively where all you need to do is insert them and press play and they work every time free of disagreeable suprises. When you search for general terms like 'Harnoncourt', 'Mozart Quintets' or 'Bach Cantatas' you get many results. Being taken back to the top and losing your place in the search results list makes it impossible to examine them and the main advantage of streaming─discovery─is lost on your service. You should pay more attention to these usability details as they make or break a service. Same thing with having to click on 'SHOW MORE' and scroll down half a dozen times to gain access to all tracks on some releases.

 

Best regards.

[Tinnitus Andronicus]

Glad that David and Qobuz are listening to our complaints and requests and working on things (thanks, guys) but yeah, these various little issues can be frustrating and add up to diminished enjoyment of our discovery and listening experience. I have not noticed the above issue regarding search results but I have thought that this could be improved by adding tabs to the design, so you could click on anything in the search results and it would open in a new tab, while keeping the search page visible without having to hit the back button. I suppose that has already been suggested in the Qobuz feature requests thread (if not then it should be).

 

Streaming is a new thing for me. I've only been using Qobuz for three weeks now and I'm going to give it another month or two, and in the meantime I will check out Tidal for a couple months. It's amazing having instant access to so much music in hi-res or CD quality sound, but if I am running into too many obstacles and hurdles in the listening experience I may just give up the whole notion of streaming and go back to listening to my large local library in lossless sound on JRiver, where I have a stable playback environment without bugs or glitches that doesn't depend on internet performance either.

 

As it stands, with Qobuz I am limiting my listening to playing whole albums at a time, and the sound is spectacular and the only interruption is an occasional hiccup or the thing where it hangs at the end of a song and I need to manually advance to the next track. Annoying, and I'd like to be able to hear the music that is available in 24/192 resolution. If things don't improve in the next few weeks then I probably won't keep my subscription going. At least they are working on the problems...

[bobbmd]

@Polyglot @David Craff @dmacktaReally now get over it Polyglot--- the people at Qobuz have been EXTRAORDINARY  since coming to the USA and for me long before that with a French address of 'Oneida,New France' (which if you are interested is what the Northeast would have been called if the French had won on the Plains of Abraham--always thought that was pretty cheeky of them!)-- messers Craff and Mackta are the ONLY people from any services that respond the way they do... the other exception is @damien78 from A+3.5+.

Did you read Chris's review today mentioning Qobuz specifically per service responses?

And please-give me a break who in today's world (me included with 2 5 disc changers one sacd/dvd-a/cd changer and the other HDCD changer attached to my new Schiit Yggdrasil GS and Ragnarok 2) want to dig out discs then put them away-- what a PIA.

Try getting service and fixes ASAP from TIDAL or for that matter ROON like Qobuz(and A+3) do. 

Dealing with ROON support is like..."forget about it Jake, it's Chinatown".

Qobuz will get your problems 'annoyances' fixed as fast as they can.

relax enjoy the music... have happy holidays and New Year

bobbmd

[Polyglot]

If it were a service I were personally providing I'd be extremely interested in learning users' frustrations with it. This is very valuable information that would help me correct details that I would not otherwise be aware of and which would incur high costs for me to identify on my own, thus being able to provide a better product and survive in the marketplace while profiting from it.

 

Regarding CDs, for someone who loves music and is not just looking for 'convenience', they are an enduring treasure, and I continue to purchase as many as I can. I will likely still be listening to them long after the current crop of streaming services has gone extinct as the market for music continues to evolve. Just the other day I was listening to Wetz's Violin Concerto on streaming and it suffered from a jarring break between tracks where the movement flows seamlessly into the next one. For thirty years of listening to music on CD before the advent of streaming I never experienced this, or the interminable amount of frustration new technology has made possible for us. Things simply worked flawlessly, all the time, and you didn't have to deal with endless, stupid technology issues. You introduced the CD, pressed play, and that was it. Perfect sound forever!

 

Oh well, back to troubleshooting, I hope all our eyes and ears can make Qobuz─certainly the best of all these streaming services─a better product for all of us to enjoy. Cheer up.

[exdmd]

1 hour ago, Tinnitus Andronicus said:

Glad that David and Qobuz are listening to our complaints and requests and working on things (thanks, guys) but yeah, these various little issues can be frustrating and add up to diminished enjoyment of our discovery and listening experience. I have not noticed the above issue regarding search results but I have thought that this could be improved by adding tabs to the design, so you could click on anything in the search results and it would open in a new tab, while keeping the search page visible without having to hit the back button. I suppose that has already been suggested in the Qobuz feature requests thread (if not then it should be).

 

Streaming is a new thing for me. I've only been using Qobuz for three weeks now and I'm going to give it another month or two, and in the meantime I will check out Tidal for a couple months. It's amazing having instant access to so much music in hi-res or CD quality sound, but if I am running into too many obstacles and hurdles in the listening experience I may just give up the whole notion of streaming and go back to listening to my large local library in lossless sound on JRiver, where I have a stable playback environment without bugs or glitches that doesn't depend on internet performance either.

 

As it stands, with Qobuz I am limiting my listening to playing whole albums at a time, and the sound is spectacular and the only interruption is an occasional hiccup or the thing where it hangs at the end of a song and I need to manually advance to the next track. Annoying, and I'd like to be able to hear the music that is available in 24/192 resolution. If things don't improve in the next few weeks then I probably won't keep my subscription going. At least they are working on the problems...

We need to support Qobuz with the Amazon behemoth breathing down our necks. If you are annoyed at an occasional error on playback suggest you give the 15 day free trial of Audirvana player a go. It has always worked flawlessly with Qobuz for me.

[The Computer Audiophile]

9 minutes ago, Polyglot said:

If it were a service I were personally providing I'd be extremely interested in learning users' frustrations with it. This is very valuable information that would help me correct details that I would not otherwise be aware of and which would incur high costs for me to identify on my own, thus being able to provide a better product and survive in the marketplace while profiting from it.

 

Regarding CDs, for someone who loves music and is not just looking for 'convenience', they are an enduring treasure, and I continue to purchase as many as I can. I will likely still be listening to them long after the current crop of streaming services has gone extinct as the market for music continues to evolve. Just the other day I was listening to Wetz's Violin Concerto on streaming and it suffered from a jarring break between tracks where the movement flows seamlessly into the next one. For thirty years of listening to music on CD before the advent of streaming I never experienced this, or the interminable amount of frustration new technology has made possible for us. Things simply worked flawlessly, all the time, and you didn't have to deal with endless, stupid technology issues. You introduced the CD, pressed play, and that was it. Perfect sound forever!

 

Oh well, back to troubleshooting, I hope all our eyes and ears can make Qobuz─certainly the best of all these streaming services─a better product for all of us to enjoy. Cheer up.

 

 

It seems like all the advantages of streaming just aren't for you. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, Tinnitus Andronicus said:

Glad that David and Qobuz are listening to our complaints and requests and working on things (thanks, guys) but yeah, these various little issues can be frustrating and add up to diminished enjoyment of our discovery and listening experience. I have not noticed the above issue regarding search results but I have thought that this could be improved by adding tabs to the design, so you could click on anything in the search results and it would open in a new tab, while keeping the search page visible without having to hit the back button. I suppose that has already been suggested in the Qobuz feature requests thread (if not then it should be).

 

Streaming is a new thing for me. I've only been using Qobuz for three weeks now and I'm going to give it another month or two, and in the meantime I will check out Tidal for a couple months. It's amazing having instant access to so much music in hi-res or CD quality sound, but if I am running into too many obstacles and hurdles in the listening experience I may just give up the whole notion of streaming and go back to listening to my large local library in lossless sound on JRiver, where I have a stable playback environment without bugs or glitches that doesn't depend on internet performance either.

 

As it stands, with Qobuz I am limiting my listening to playing whole albums at a time, and the sound is spectacular and the only interruption is an occasional hiccup or the thing where it hangs at the end of a song and I need to manually advance to the next track. Annoying, and I'd like to be able to hear the music that is available in 24/192 resolution. If things don't improve in the next few weeks then I probably won't keep my subscription going. At least they are working on the problems...

Based on my experience, your choice of a Windows 10 music server is likely going to disappoint you forever with problems like this. 

[Polyglot]

11 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

 

It seems like all the advantages of streaming just aren't for you. 

 

That is a great topic and something I debate with myself constantly. For me after decades of listening to classical music I wonder what is the use of assimilating obscure repertoire that I might lose access to overnight as recordings disappear from services on a whim. There is only so much music you can listen to profitably at any given time, so having a couple of new CDs per month might bring more satisfaction than having access to a mammoth resource that you won't be able to devote proper attention to.

 

In any case, it seems people here are disinclined to discussion, so let's leave it at that - and I am indeed enjoying Qobuz so far! The Europeans are famed for their refinement and attention to detail, so I hope the Qobuz organization can profit from our suggestions. Best of luck.

[The Computer Audiophile]

4 minutes ago, Polyglot said:

In any case, it seems people here are disinclined to discussion, so let's leave it at that

Given that this site has been around for 2 years and you've been here for about 1.5 year, I'd say you haven't seen most of the discussions. People here love to discuss everything. Too much! 

 

I'd say your comments above come off as pompous, patronizing, and like you parachuted in here to offer information that nobody other than you could possibly know. Followed by how you'd run the business if it was yours. Just my observation of your comments. Nothing personal. Perhaps I've misunderstood you.

 

The Qobuz team has been here since they launched and have listened to everyone. They didn't listen to you but decided to other larger issues first. 

 

Again, nothing personal.

[Tinnitus Andronicus]

1 hour ago, Polyglot said:

Just the other day I was listening to Wetz's Violin Concerto on streaming and it suffered from a jarring break between tracks where the movement flows seamlessly into the next one. For thirty years of listening to music on CD before the advent of streaming I never experienced this, or the interminable amount of frustration new technology has made possible for us.

 

I hear you on this. It seems that occasional anomalies like this are always going to be a problem with online music streaming, no matter what. Some services are better than others, for different reasons. With Qobuz, when I listen to a full album, so far I can count on a smooth listening experience, unlike Amazon HD Music where tracks on an album may be drawn from different versions, masters, with varying bitrates, etc. Still, there can be the sort of break between tracks you're describing. Definitely annoying.

 

I spent the better part of a year ripping my entire disc collection (CD, DVD-A, SACD, HDCD) to lossless uncompressed files, tagging all of it meticulously. Now I can keep the hard copies for looking at liner notes and such, but it is so much easier now finding and playing recordings in a software PC setup sent to external DAC and not only does it sound as good or better than playing the actual discs, it has the same rock solid playback performance of CD listening. JRiver Media Center has served me very well delivering audiophile quality playback of the music in my collection.

 

I'm resigned to accepting a certain amount of playback impediments with any streaming service, because for me the trade off is I'm getting access to a huge library of music I'd never be able to afford to purchase, and the ability to listen to different versions and compare masters without having to buy them. I will still be buying discs and downloads of the recordings I really want to return to and physical media is still the best way when it comes to having booklets and liner notes. If all digital music albums came with PDF booklets and artwork I could see downloads supplanting CDs for my needs. But today I went out and bought a new 6-CD box of the Hot Rats Sessions by Frank Zappa (not on Qobuz, sorry to say) and there is nothing to compare with the total experience of opening up a box with book and artwork and extensive notes and essays. Once I get the discs ripped I probably won't be playing them much, but it's great to have the packaging and everything that goes with it.

[bobbmd]

@Tinnitus Andronicus I can sympathize with you completely-- I did the exact same thing ie ripping my 800+ cd's dvd-a's scad's TWICE-first onto my PC then when that failed onto my Mac Mini where they reside now(in some defunct iTunes library) and also(more or less in one form or another/playlists etc) on ROON A+3.5 TIDAL and Qobuz the better part 2 full NFL seasons!! never have been so bored and Never ever again.

[Tinnitus Andronicus]

2 hours ago, exdmd said:

We need to support Qobuz with the Amazon behemoth breathing down our necks. If you are annoyed at an occasional error on playback suggest you give the 15 day free trial of Audirvana player a go. It has always worked flawlessly with Qobuz for me.

 

Someone in another forum suggested this. What is your OS and setup? Are you on Windows 10? If I decide to stick with Qobuz then I might be willing to spend the $75 for Audirvana (haven't tried it yet but I need to do that). No way I am migrating my whole local library from JRiver to Audirvana given the amount of time I've invested in tweaking it all to my liking, so I'd be buying Audirvana solely for its Qobuz features and functions. But if you're saying Audirvana on a Mac is flawless, then it might not be the same with Windows.

 

2 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Based on my experience, your choice of a Windows 10 music server is likely going to disappoint you forever with problems like this. 

 

True enough, Windows is deserving of dismissive comments like yours. But a lot of us are still stuck in that environment (the vast majority of computer users, it's fair to say), so the software developers need to get their apps to work well in Windows if they're serious about expanding their market share. The audio apps I use regularly on my Windows 10 desktop perform well and dependably and so I would like the same from Qobuz.

[The Computer Audiophile]

14 minutes ago, Tinnitus Andronicus said:

The audio apps I use regularly on my Windows 10 desktop perform well and dependably

Which apps?

[Tinnitus Andronicus]

6 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Which apps?

 

JRiver Media Center 24. dBpoweramp CD Ripper and Music Converter. Audacity. CDBurnerXP. Mainly those four, I have some others I rarely use.

[Talisman]

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Given that this site has been around for 2 years and you've been here for about 1.5 year, I'd say you haven't seen most of the discussions. People here love to discuss everything. Too much! 

 

I'd say your comments above come off as pompous, patronizing, and like you parachuted in here to offer information that nobody other than you could possibly know. Followed by how you'd run the business if it was yours. Just my observation of your comments. Nothing personal. Perhaps I've misunderstood you.

 

The Qobuz team has been here since they launched and have listened to everyone. They didn't listen to you but decided to other larger issues first. 

 

Again, nothing personal.

I wouldn’t characterize Polyglot’s posts as “pompous” or “patronizing.” Maybe frustrated, but I totally get that. Let’s not do the name-calling thing, and keep things friendly. Adding “nothing personal” after insults doesn’t make it so. 

[Polyglot]

2 hours ago, Tinnitus Andronicus said:

 

I hear you on this. It seems that occasional anomalies like this are always going to be a problem with online music streaming, no matter what. Some services are better than others, for different reasons. With Qobuz, when I listen to a full album, so far I can count on a smooth listening experience, unlike Amazon HD Music where tracks on an album may be drawn from different versions, masters, with varying bitrates, etc. Still, there can be the sort of break between tracks you're describing. Definitely annoying.

 

I spent the better part of a year ripping my entire disc collection (CD, DVD-A, SACD, HDCD) to lossless uncompressed files, tagging all of it meticulously. Now I can keep the hard copies for looking at liner notes and such, but it is so much easier now finding and playing recordings in a software PC setup sent to external DAC and not only does it sound as good or better than playing the actual discs, it has the same rock solid playback performance of CD listening. JRiver Media Center has served me very well delivering audiophile quality playback of the music in my collection.

 

I'm resigned to accepting a certain amount of playback impediments with any streaming service, because for me the trade off is I'm getting access to a huge library of music I'd never be able to afford to purchase, and the ability to listen to different versions and compare masters without having to buy them. I will still be buying discs and downloads of the recordings I really want to return to and physical media is still the best way when it comes to having booklets and liner notes. If all digital music albums came with PDF booklets and artwork I could see downloads supplanting CDs for my needs. But today I went out and bought a new 6-CD box of the Hot Rats Sessions by Frank Zappa (not on Qobuz, sorry to say) and there is nothing to compare with the total experience of opening up a box with book and artwork and extensive notes and essays. Once I get the discs ripped I probably won't be playing them much, but it's great to have the packaging and everything that goes with it.

 

Personally I keep both buying─and playing─CDs. Arranging your collection, adding to it, handling the cases, looking at the artwork, and spinning the discs is much more fun than using some software - and a lot less work. Plus, they sound gorgeous on my Marantz CD player. I'll also keep my Qobuz subscription for the concert experience. Inputting a general search term such as Schumann and stumbling upon a previously unknown recording or work simulates attending a concert where the performance is an unknown. This is why proper searching, displaying, and browsing of results is so important! Also, you cannot enjoy high resolution on CD. Perhaps I'll even add Tidal for even more variety, even though that service has some truly awful issues such as albums with incorrect track order and corrupted audio files. Amazon HD I wouldn't even consider using.

 

1 hour ago, Tinnitus Andronicus said:

 

Someone in another forum suggested this. What is your OS and setup? Are you on Windows 10? If I decide to stick with Qobuz then I might be willing to spend the $75 for Audirvana (haven't tried it yet but I need to do that). No way I am migrating my whole local library from JRiver to Audirvana given the amount of time I've invested in tweaking it all to my liking, so I'd be buying Audirvana solely for its Qobuz features and functions. But if you're saying Audirvana on a Mac is flawless, then it might not be the same with Windows.

 

I have been using Audirvana for a couple of months now and it has performed flawlessly for me. It fixed all of my issues with playback, both with Qobuz and Tidal. It is highly recommended software and worth the steep price. It has a month-free trial, so you could give it a try. I also use Windows 10 for playback.

[firedog]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Which apps?

I don't get the Windows comment either. I use Windows 10, Roon, Qobuz, HQP, LMS, JRiver, dbPoweramp, Audiolense, Audacity,  and other software and have zero issues. 

[Tinnitus Andronicus]

19 minutes ago, Polyglot said:

I have been using Audirvana for a couple of months now and it has performed flawlessly for me. It fixed all of my issues with playback, both with Qobuz and Tidal. It is highly recommended software and worth the steep price. It has a month-free trial, so you could give it a try. I also use Windows 10 for playback.

 

This is what I want to hear, thanks! I'm the sort of consumer that likes to check out comments and reports by a broad base of audiophile users on the various forums before checking out new software, even when there's a free trial as is usually the case. Saved me from ever wasting my time with Amazon Music HD. I'll be checking out Audirvana in the very near future.