Qobuz in US: When?

[left channel]

6 hours ago, miguelito said:

I can find no info. What's happening?

 

Thx.

 

The launch was expected last week but has been delayed. At least one CA user has been told by a Qobuz representative that it's been pushed out about one month but they have no specific date to announce at this time.

[left channel]

Over on head-fi someone has reported that Qobuz had a table at the NY Audio Show this weekend, and they told him to expect a launch by the end of the year. Meanwhile they were handing out trial memberships there. A Qobuz rep here on CA has stated that they plan to start with a closed beta.

[left channel]

?  Yes and pigs will fly.

[left channel]

11 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

Guys...  Sublime+ is priced exactly the same as Studio, but you're paying for it at one time instead of monthly...

 

300 / 12 = 25

 

Pay the extra 50 bucks/Euros and make that back in savings on music.

 

Unless you pay for Studio annually (and never buy downloads); then it's 249.

 

 

 

[left channel]

1 hour ago, shadowlight said:

If you are in US and would like to eval Qobuz send me a PM and I will send you a 2 month code.

 

What tier does the preview allow? Only CD-quality, or Studio/Hi-Res?

[left channel]

42 minutes ago, yaslam said:

I noticed that Qobuz's US download store has been added. Was the service officially launched in the US?

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/shop

 

Nice to see visible proof of progress! I keep hoping I've somehow missed the official launch announcement, but no, on that page if you click on "Streaming Plans" you'll get a big "404". 

[left channel]

56 minutes ago, cjf said:

it seems none of these online services gives a hoot about publishing/listing provenance data on the version of album they are selling/streaming.

 

Agreed. That mess drives me crazy. I was very happy to see Tidal has started displaying original release dates, while tacking on the re-release/re-master dates in the titles if needed.

 

Tidal:

 

Qobuz:

 

I'm sure the Qobuz people have every intention of catching up with Tidal on this when they can. I hope they all add more provenance information as time goes on.

[left channel]

10 hours ago, TubeLover said:

Unfortunately, since I just spent quite a lot of money to make my system Roon ready, unless and until Qobuz works out an agreement with Roon, it really makes no sense for me. Of course, if Tidal goes under, I just completely wasted a LOT of money, which would be very disheartening. 

 

JC

 

I'm sure Qobuz management is feeling pressure to do that deal, give how Roon Core is at the core of their core demographic. So-to-speak. 

 

Qobuz has managed to sign agreements with other entities to match their rivals — for example, they're in DTS Play-Fi along with the others — and I'm sure they're aware that Roon integration is critical to their most profitable tiers. (DTS Play-Fi is included with my Anthem preamp. I've never used it.)

 

4 hours ago, Peter Hyatt said:

Tidal & Qobuz are as different as night to the day.  

 

I think Qobuz US launch will pass Tidal enrollment rather quickly.  

 

One reason they're different is that Tidal's primary demographic is America's largest: hip-hop/R&B. Tidal secondarily targets profitable niches like audiophiles. Qobuz would mostly compete with them in that same audiophile niche, and also chip away at smaller segments like folk, country, classical, classic rock, and such.

 

And, as the article I linked to in the previous paragraph shows, it's all growing and there's plenty of opportunity to go around ...if any of the streaming services has found a sustainable business model, which is debatable.

 

4 hours ago, Peter Hyatt said:

I love the bio sketches included w Qobuz, as well as the digital books included w many albums. I’ve read some 20+ pages in length. 

 

I expect Qobuz to continue to improve as they expand.  

 

Friends from Europe have spoken well of them and I wish that I had signed up last July when I was in France. 

 

 

 

I love and prefer the Qobuz UI and content as well. For all the good reasons for Roon integration, I hope that doesn't get lost in Roon.

 

I am rooting for Qobuz.

 

[left channel]

11 minutes ago, rickca said:

I hope the delay of the Qobuz USA launch isn't just because Roon integration isn't ready.  If you were a Qobuz executive, would you launch without it and just announce an availability date for Roon integration?

 

We may never know the reasons for that decision, but I perceived a number of other issues as their original launch date approached, including poor machine translation of French content, deficiencies in search and cataloging very important to audiophiles, and the bogging down of their network/servers for the first time since I subscribed as global usage increased.

 

Reviewer and user complaints about any one of these things, including lack of Roon integration — or poorly implemented Roon integration — could cause a large number of potential customers to hesitate and then, due to inertia, never sign up.

 

So yes, given how important Roon is to their most profitable tiers, I might have waited, especially in combination with those other problems. But I haven't seen their numbers, and I'm not going to tell them what to do. Except when I do. ?

[left channel]

25 minutes ago, Ran said:

 

How many people use Roon that is it that "important"? The UPnP implementation within the Qobuz app is much more interesting as it opens up the possibilities of streamers that can be used. I like to think there are more UPnP users out there than Roon users. 

 

That may well be, but Roon users tend to be very vocal and are opinion leaders for the most profitable segment. UPnP is also important to the launch, IMHO.

 

Personally I use neither UPnP nor Roon. I use the Qobuz plugin for LMS/Squeezebox Server more often than the official Qobuz app, my equipment is midrange at best, and I am not planning to subscribe to Roon anytime soon. But I do hope to see Qobuz integration with Roon so they can match Tidal, and completion of the UPnP feature so they can surpass Tidal in that area rather than only matching them in the much more basic Cast support.

 

I feel all of these things I have mentioned in this and previous posts are essential to the success of their launch. First impressions will matter a great deal, and will haunt the internetz for a very long time.

[left channel]

The Madness of Crowds wants what it wants. ?

[left channel]

@TubeLover I believe you can also stream Qobuz (and Tidal, without MQA) through an ultraRendu using:

 

* BubbleUPnP on the ultraRendu and the Linn Kazoo controller app on another device, or

* Squeezelite on the ultraRendu and LMS (Squeezebox Server) on the sonicTransporter, with any compatible controller app including a web browser.

I subscribe to both Qobuz and Tidal, and use the LMS/Squeezelite solution to stream Hi-Res from Qobuz and CD-quality from Tidal all the time. Also the Radio Paradise FLAC streams, and lots of other good stuff.

 

 

[left channel]

8 hours ago, Chiller said:

Hey Left Channel - Happy New Year! - I'm interested to know more about LMS/Squeezelite and the Radio Paradise Flac streams. Any way to feed my Lumin D1?..... still waiting on Roon for this...

 

And HNY to you! Maybe there's a way. At minimum you can listen to a lower-res Radio Paradise "Main Mix" stream using the TuneIn app on the D1. But you probably already knew that. Other than the official RP single-device web and mobile apps, LMS is the only way to get all the RP streams and get them in CD-quality FLAC, and it will serve them up on your network.

You'd need to install LMS (it's free) in a computer, add the Radio Paradise plug-in and the UPnPBridge plug-in, and then hopefully LMS will find the D1 as a UPnP player on your network. A lot will depend on Lumin's UPnP implementation, but you may be good-to-go, and could control playback from your phone or tablet.

I recommend you also install the Material Skin plug-in; it really updates the interface on both the desktop and the mobile web app. No Squeezelite needed in this case. Want to try? 

 

[left channel]

11 hours ago, wklie said:

 

Please try Radio Paradise on an Apple device then AirPlay to Lumin.

 

So the RP iOS app via AirPlay to the Lumin? @Chiller if you try that please let us know how it sounds. AirPlay decodes the FLAC into its own format before transporting, ruining Hi-Res files, but they claim it performs equivalent to 16/44.1 CD-quality and I'm always curious how the result sounds to people.

[left channel]

26 minutes ago, exdmd said:

There is a Qobuz signup landing page confirmed working for US residents at https://www.qobuz.com/nl-nl/discover

 

Just click the 'Try For Free' button. Maybe it will continue working for a while longer:)

 

Odd. The "nl-nl" indicates Dutch-Netherlands. As opposed to en-US for English-'Murican.  And yet it's all in English and worth trying.

[left channel]

1 hour ago, exdmd said:

 

No longer working though they closed the loophole. You were also able to get in for a few days by going to the main Qobuz Facebook page first then clicking the first link shown but that too no longer works for US IP addresses.

 

😞  Oh well. Based on @yaslam's post, they may still be working on US licensing anyway. I am willing to bet that situation will improve.