Qobuz Offline Library

[KingRex]

I am using the App on a PC.  I do not want the offline library on my C drive which is the operating system drive.  I tried going into the Music download folder found when I drop down from my login name in the top right of the Qobuz App screen.  In there it showed the path to the C drive import folder.  I tried to redirect in there but it would say it may experience issues and would not change.  I then followed the path in my windows file system and deleted the import file from my computer.  This allowed me to create a new path to my D drive.  I imported a song and it appears to have a file under D drive.

When I go into the Music Downloads in Qobuz and look the Music Import Path I see D:\Import\.  When I go into the Browse in the Music import path and try and pick a file it says The directory is not usable.  Check read/write.  I went into the MS operating system and gave read write to everything including the Music Lovers.  I still cant seem to either find the way to play imported files or how to get Qobuz to use a file in my D drive.

Help please

[PAR]

13 hours ago, KingRex said:

I tried going into the Music download folder found when I drop down from my login name in the top right of the Qobuz App screen.  In there it showed the path to the C drive import folder

 There should be two distinct paths showing in " Music Download" in your account. The upper is the Music Import Path which is for albums/tracks to be played offline where you have no internet connection. Below that is the Download Path which is for purchased downloads from the Qobuz shop using the Qobuz app ( when purchasing downloads there is an alternative method available to download to your hard disc instead).

 

I am unclear at first sight from your description what you are trying to achieve as , and I may be mistaken,  you seem to be mixing the two terms for the same objective. Do you want to store imports or downloads ( or both) on your D drive?

 

The message about the directory not being available for imports is usually because there is nothing stored there currently i.e. it is empty.

[KingRex]

Yes I agree, there are 2 functions and paths.  I am only trying to import for offline playback.  Files perform much better on my system when files are pulled from the offline file rather than streaming.

 

That does beg another question.  I have had Qobuz for a year or so.  I had a link to get in before it launched in the USA.  Anyhow, if I start purchasing music, where do I store it and what happens if I toss my existing server and get a new one.  I hear you cant purchase files and use them on multiple devices.  In my mind, that means you are not purchasing anything because we all know a computer last maybe 7 years.  After that all your music is lost.  Am I correct.

 

But first and foremost, how I do get files into the offline library and play them back.

 

Thanks

[PAR]

56 minutes ago, KingRex said:

Anyhow, if I start purchasing music, where do I store it and what happens if I toss my existing server and get a new one.  I hear you cant purchase files and use them on multiple devices.  In my mind, that means you are not purchasing anything because we all know a computer last maybe 7 years.  After that all your music is lost.  Am I correct.

No, you are not correct. When you buy from Qobuz it is similar to buying from any download vendor. Once purchased it is yours and you can make copies ( subject to copyright law of course). In fact all of my downloads are immediately copied to an external master hard drive containing my music library, two backups and to my NAS.  All are different devices of course. All of the external hard drives are from different manufacturers to minimise batch errors. Making backups is essential. Just copy and paste from your computer to the external drive. Do not make a single backup or one day your computer drive may fail, you try to replace the lost information with your single hard drive backup only to find that it has been corrupted - that has happened to me and I expect to thousands of others.  I also keep a copy of my music library off site ( my friend keeps it at his place) and I update this every few weeks.  That is security against burglary and fire. BTW another friend was burgled last year and the thief  took his computers and all of his hard drives containing his backups.  So he lost years of rips and needledrops plus all of his wedding and holiday photos, pics of the kids growing up etc.

 

The average life of a hard drive made for domestic use is about two years. Of course if you are just using it for backups it should last longer as it will not be subject to heavy use. Nevertheless it is probably worthwhile renewing the drives every few years. Storage gets cheaper by the year.

 

 

Qobuz offers two different ways of downloading, to the app or to your selected hard drive. The latter may be your best option especially as you may want the result to appear on your D. drive.

 

I suggest that you import a few tracks via the existing default C.drive path. Then change the path to D in the import path shown in " Music Downloads" in your account. You should find that Qobuz then moves the tracks  now held in C to D. At least that's what the relevant Qobuz balloon on the app says 🤔.

[KingRex]

If your talking about downloads for the offline library, not purchases, what you suggest did not work.  The path would not change.  It gave a warning saying the quality would suffer and left the path to the C drive.  I have to go in through MS operating system and delete the C drive path and only then would it allow me to create a new path.  Now that I have a new path and files seem to go to it, I have no idea how to play them out of it.  Is there a place to look for your offline library?

[PAR]

Please help me by not using incorrect terms. Downloads are purchases. You seem to be talking about Imports.

 

Right; from the beginning. Keep the default path  for importing ( that is to your C drive). Now import an album ( Find the album go to the album page by clicking the cover and click on the option (left side white circle with three dots / click and select import).

 

Now go back to "Discover" page. Look at the top and click on "Offline Library". Is the album there? If so click it and it should play.

 

We will explore moving it to D:drive later.

[KingRex]

My offline library is in the DDrive.  The cache is still in the C drive.  It needs tp move.   My C drive is not big enough to handle the data and it slows it down.  When I try and move it it refuses and says it might be slow.

[PAR]

The purpose of the offline library is  really to enable users to access a selection of albums where they are otherwise unable to use online streaming without a penalty e.g. portable devices where data usage is metered via e.g. 4G. 

 

Your reference to using both C and D drives suggests that you are using a normal home PC or Mac rather than anything portable.  I am therefore puzzled why you want such a large offline library where  " My C drive is not big enough to handle the data " as this seems not to fit the intention of the facility.  You  can always just stream directly or do this via the "Favourites" facility which effectively bookmarks the album's location on Qobuz for streaming without having to search for it again.

[KingRex]

I have a Mojo Audio DAC and Server.  For high performance he keeps the operating system on one drive (c) of enough size to handle it. He then adds additional drives, all on their own power supplies for internal storage of music. That C drive is not large enough to handle all the cache files that build up.  Call it what you want.  It is what it is.  I want to redirect the cache to D.  Otherwise I end up dumping it each week.  Not the end of the world.  Just something I do. .

[PAR]

Ah, I see. Your problem of storage comes from the cache that builds up simply from streaming.

 

The cache size can be adjusted in "Music Playing" " Cache Management". I am wondering if it has been implemented on a semi bucket brigade basis so that if you select the lowest size available ( 1GB) this will simply delete and start to refill as capacity is reached ? I haven't ever tried this  and these days no longer use the Qobuz app as my access is via a third party device which has implemented the Qobuz API.

 

Anyway of the cache is semi bucket brigade then that would remove your need to have a great deal of storage if you stream a lot.  I will see if I can find a way of experimenting to see if this works.

 

Incidentally you can stop the cached items from displaying in the Offline Library by going to " Interface" and "Display" if it is really the overcrowding of the Offline Library that concerns you rather then the cache size per se which , unless customised, offers a maximum of 30GB.

On 10/8/2019 at 12:48 AM, KingRex said:

That C drive is not large enough to handle all the cache files that build up