Article: Qobuz Announces Opening of US Beta

[The Computer Audiophile]

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[Rt66indierock]

Cool thanks

[Hugo9000]

Thanks, Chris!  I signed up for the beta.  Nice to see that they want to compete with Spotify for the more casual streaming customer, by offering the $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr lossy tier, as well as having CD-quality lossless and Hi-Res tiers for those who want that.

 

I currently use Spotify for music discovery and occasional times when I'm lazy or away from my CD collection, so as long as the user experience is decent on Qobuz, I'll probably drop Spotify.  Who knows, they might interest me in the higher service tiers if the classical selection includes enough of my favorites to make it worthwhile.  At any rate, the variety of tiers and choices of monthly or yearly plans is appealing!

[agladstone]

I actually received an invite to the Beta via email on last Friday (I had previously joined the wait list). 

I had to fill out a survey and I’m awaiting response for next steps! 

[Hugo9000]

Too late to edit my post above, but it seems I wasn't using "music discovery" correctly.  I don't use suggestions based on genre or tracks or albums I listen to.  I look on arkivmusic.com by composer or performer or composition, and if a recording looks like it might be interesting, I try to locate it on Spotify, which is sometimes a chore as they don't list things consistently with classical.  I do all the work, and then use Spotify to check if a recording meets my artistic standards and to get a basic idea of sound quality before deciding to buy the album on CD or SACD.  So my use of Spotify is just a bit more convenient than using youtube haha!

 

Qobuz is said to actually be useful for classical fans, so if they let me into their beta, I'll be giving it a try.  No email yet to acknowledge my joining the waiting list.  (If I don't get to join their beta, then I'll remember the snub for all time, and never ever ever ever use their service and will advise everyone I know to stay away!  haha!    )

[TAV]

Yes

1 hour ago, agladstone said:

I actually received an invite to the Beta via email on last Friday (I had previously joined the wait list). 

I had to fill out a survey and I’m awaiting response for next steps! 

 

Yes,  same here.  The email indicated they would respond within a week.  So it appears to be a limited "Open Beta". 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi from Qobuz US, You signed up on our website to be among the first to experience true Hi-Res audio streaming in the US. The big day is finally approaching! We are soon going to select our first open beta testers based on specific criteria. Please complete the form below to have a chance of being selected as one of the first to experience our platform: We will notify you within a week whether you have been selected as a first-round beta tester or placed on our waiting list.

[bobbmd]

@The Computer Audiophile: That is great Chris I have had Qobuz since 2013 or so with a "French" address(new france=new york state). I haven't signed up for a USA account yet(have asked a lot questions) @leftchannel@Jud@AudioDoctor@DavidChaff etc about what would happen to all my playlists I made on Qobuz-my favorites-purchases etc. A while ago I transferred all my playlists from TIDAL(including MQA ones) to my French Qobuz account via Soundiiz(thank you for that). Today I upgraded to STUDIO HiRes-WOW!

You and others may find this interesting Qobuz STUDIO recognizes TIDAL MQA as HiRes either 24/44 or 96 or 192 BUT... some MQA albums or songs revert back to 16/44! Which means some TIDAL Masters/MQA are just CD quality.

Also on A+3 Qobuz doesn't show any STUDIO albums(only 16/44) but my Meridian E2 DAC says 24/176 and with TIDAL A+3 indicates MQA both in upper right hand corner and upper left hand corner

Bottom line is STUDIO HiRes is wonderful hope it will be as good on a USA account when I decide to switch it will be less expensive 24$ vs 24 Euros/month and I will have to transfer all that TIDAL stuff of mine again.

bobbmd

[ShawnC]

Looking forward to Qobuz's launch here in the U.S., another key factor for me will be if/when Roon implements this streaming service.  I'll only try it after this merger happens.

[Forehaven]

Yeah, I just checked over at Roon Community, and the latest word is so lame:

 

We don’t generally talk about what’s coming or when, but people are welcome to ask questions and discuss what they hope is coming.

[charlesphoto]

4 minutes ago, Forehaven said:

Yeah, I just checked over at Roon Community, and the latest word is so lame:

 

We don’t generally talk about what’s coming or when, but people are welcome to ask questions and discuss what they hope is coming.

 

Which is also incredibly smart business and personal practice. Never make commitments or announcements in public that may not get released or accomplished. Yes, I too would love to know when Roon will integrate with Qobuz - but considering I can’t actually access Qobuz even as a beta in the US right now (email sent, no reply so far), then what’s the rush? I’m sure once the two companies finally sign on the dotted line, swap code, etc then we’ll hear about it. Until then, enjoy what you have. 

[skater999]

Has Qobuz mentioned adding MQA files? .. I see that they are not listed as a partner at the MQA site...MQA files sound more like live music than Hi - Rez files....  Hi- Rez files do sound better than CD files..But MQA is what you want if you want to hear the correct timing of the music..The correct timing is what gives MQA files the sense of live music that no other digital files can do...I have noticed that those of us involved with live music  ( I play piano )...find that MQA is what we want to hear ...   I am beginning to think many people just don't have enough experience with live music to know the difference.         

[jmsent]

2 hours ago, charlesphoto said:

 

Which is also incredibly smart business and personal practice. Never make commitments or announcements in public that may not get released or accomplished. Yes, I too would love to know when Roon will integrate with Qobuz - but considering I can’t actually access Qobuz even as a beta in the US right now (email sent, no reply so far), then what’s the rush? I’m sure once the two companies finally sign on the dotted line, swap code, etc then we’ll hear about it. Until then, enjoy what you have. 

Which is exactly what I plan to do. Tidal is working just fine for me at the moment. Qobuz certainly looks attractive, but in the end of the day it will require dealing with my old Squeezebox network and getting favorites migrated over and so on. I'm in no hurry and will wait until they get it past "beta" stage. There's no online App available for Qobuz through mysqueezebox.com, but I guess you can access it through 3rd party plugins in Logitech Media Server. Of course I guess that also means always being connected to your local network in order to get access to Qobuz via Squeezebox.  

[left channel]

11 minutes ago, skater999 said:

Has Qobuz mentioned adding MQA files?

 

No, they have not.

[left channel]

37 minutes ago, jmsent said:

Which is exactly what I plan to do. Tidal is working just fine for me at the moment. Qobuz certainly looks attractive, but in the end of the day it will require dealing with my old Squeezebox network and getting favorites migrated over and so on. I'm in no hurry and will wait until they get it past "beta" stage. There's no online App available for Qobuz through mysqueezebox.com, but I guess you can access it through 3rd party plugins in Logitech Media Server. Of course I guess that also means always being connected to your local network in order to get access to Qobuz via Squeezebox.  

 

The Qobuz plug-in for Squeezebox/LMS works perfectly. I use it to stream Hi-Res tracks almost every day. Yes you must be connected to your local server, but remote access is certainly possible via VPN or other secure method.

 

 

 

[vclements]

I have given up hope of SlowBuz ever being live for the public this year.

It's a constant string of delay after delay after delay.

[bobbmd]

@skater999 @leftchannel : as i said above the MQA titles/playlists from TIDAL that I moved to Qobuz actually show them being streamed in Qobuz’s HiRes format 24/196 BUT some revert to 16/44 cd format indicating to me that TIDAL is misleading us on some albums they are not MQA 

[charlesphoto]

47 minutes ago, jmsent said:

Which is exactly what I plan to do. Tidal is working just fine for me at the moment. Qobuz certainly looks attractive, but in the end of the day it will require dealing with my old Squeezebox network and getting favorites migrated over and so on. I'm in no hurry and will wait until they get it past "beta" stage. There's no online App available for Qobuz through mysqueezebox.com, but I guess you can access it through 3rd party plugins in Logitech Media Server. Of course I guess that also means always being connected to your local network in order to get access to Qobuz via Squeezebox.  

 

Same here. I have to say, looking at the Qobuz splash page, it’s a lot more geared to an open minded fifty four year old than Tidal is. If I see one more new ‘trap’ release....!

[left channel]

18 minutes ago, bobbmd said:

@skater999 @leftchannel : as i said above the MQA titles/playlists from TIDAL that I moved to Qobuz actually show them being streamed in Qobuz’s HiRes format 24/196 BUT some revert to 16/44 cd format indicating to me that TIDAL is misleading us on some albums they are not MQA 

I think that's just a matching problem. Soundiiz is not perfect. This could be a mistake that's actually a nice problem to have, since at least you get a match, and can adjust from there if higher-res alternatives exist on Qobuz.

[Bones13]

i filed out the survey last week too. nothing so far.

[jmsent]

7 hours ago, left channel said:

 

The Qobuz plug-in for Squeezebox/LMS works perfectly. I use it to stream Hi-Res tracks almost every day. Yes you must be connected to your local server, but remote access is certainly possible via VPN or other secure method.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the info. That's encouraging.

[intensemojo]

Just got the confirmation email and signed up! It's working, finally.

 

hmm....which track to start this new relationship with

[Bones13]

got my "wait listed" email today.  I never was the "popular" sort.

[crenca]

On 1/9/2019 at 7:37 AM, Forehaven said:

Yeah, I just checked over at Roon Community, and the latest word is so lame:

 

We don’t generally talk about what’s coming or when, but people are welcome to ask questions and discuss what they hope is coming.

 

That is lame.

 

On 1/9/2019 at 7:46 AM, charlesphoto said:

 

Which is also incredibly smart business and personal practice. Never make commitments or announcements in public that may not get released or accomplished. Yes, I too would love to know when Roon will integrate with Qobuz - but considering I can’t actually access Qobuz even as a beta in the US right now (email sent, no reply so far), then what’s the rush? I’m sure once the two companies finally sign on the dotted line, swap code, etc then we’ll hear about it. Until then, enjoy what you have. 

 

Except, that its so lame that it can't be a "smart" business practice...because (as if this needs to be spelled out) customers think to themselves "how lame"...

[idesign]

I am using the beta through Audirvana+ and there is no appreciable difference in sound quality when compared to TIDAL. The overall selection of albums available in Qobuz is seriously lacking and too incomplete to switch from TIDAL. However, I have found the selection of classical music to be somewhat more complete than TIDAL after spot checking a number of rare and hard to find recordings. The only meaningful benefit of Qobuz over TIDAL is that I no longer need to avoid MQA. 

[Dr Tone]

9 hours ago, idesign said:

The only meaningful benefit of Qobuz over TIDAL is that I no longer need to avoid MQA.

 

More importantly, showing your preference of MQA free audio with your hard earned $.  If we don’t quit funnelling the money via hardware and content to BS, MQA will linger around.