I am a longtime Qobuz subscriber and after reading much positive feedback on threads in here, this year I decided to give Qobuz Connect a whirl. I set it all up for my system in January, and initially it worked really well - so much so, I began using the Naim/Focal app far less frequently. So I was able to stream everything on the Qobuz library at the highest quality - in addition to my library of purchases. It all worked directly from the Qobuz app on my iPhone, and everything sounded great.
Sadly my enjoyment was short-lived; as the performance became very inconsistent. Now, on purchased material, if it’s a high-res file it still streams as such. Whereas now, if I try streaming a high-res album I haven’t purchased yet, it is limited to CD quality only, when streaming. When QC worked, I effectively ran their app from my iPhone into my NDX2 - powered by my XPS-DR, then from SN3 and into my speakers. It was as simple as selecting the NDX2 within the app as the QC source, and hitting play.
When it worked, QC streamed any music file in it’s highest resolution - purchased or not, as long as Qobuz had a high resolution file on the platform. I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced this particular issue? As I’ve had a back-and-forth with Qobuz for going on 3 months now, and they don’t appear to have any idea how to remedy the problem! I imagine with all the third-party end users they have rolled out QC to, they simply can’t stay across all the variables this introduces. I’d appreciate any insights from someone if they have witnessed this quirk. My initial hope is understanding what’s causing this behavior, in an effort to eventually finding a solution.
I haven’t had exactly the same issues as you ( it still streams in hi-res etc) but I have noticed a little bit of glitchiness in the last few weeks. Some tracks refusing to play, tracks jumping to the next track before they have finished.
I have deleted the Qobuz app and then reloaded it and logged in. So far it seems ok so that might be worth a try
This is a known issue. Qobuz is doing a cloud migration and it has caused problems with tracks refusing to play. There’s a long support thread about it at the Roon Labs Community forums, where they say Roon is in touch with Qobuz and determined the problem is on Qobuz’ end. It’s not a Roon thing, and affects other client apps, including Qobuz’s own.
There is also discusion about it at Steve Hoffman Forums.
I’ve had a few instances of tracks skipping or starting over recently but no loss of resolution as you describe. I’m using a Wattson Audio Emerson Digital Bridge.
Thanks for this.
Just last night I went to play one of my favorite tracks from a favorite album and the one track I wanted to play didn’t play. I seriously started rethinking my life choices and should have bought that damn turntable lol.
We have Qobuz but I find the choice confusing and tend to stick to the stuff on the NAS. Mrs HH likes it though, and downloads albums to use at the gym.
That’s of interest to me as I primarily use my streamer to listen to my ripped CDs, while using Qobuz from time to time to listen to music I don’t have. In those circumstances I cannot see much purpose in using Qobuz Connect over the Naim app, or am I missing some advantage of Connect?
There are a few features that Qobuz provide in their app but which they do not allow the Naim app to access, so you may prefer to use it to browse. Also the search results on the Naim app occasionally seem to miss tracks that are found in the Qobuz app. So the option of using Connect so that you can stay within the Qobuz app may appeal. Take your pick.
So, I attempted an earlier suggestion - which involved logging out of the Qobuz app on my iPhone, then deleting it entirely. Powering the NDX2 down - via the XPS DR, and leaving it for an hour. In the meantime, I reinstalled Qobuz app, but didn’t log in. I powered everything up again, then logged into Qobuz on my iPhone.
Sadly, there was no change. But I did notice something which could be a conflict? Seeing as the ongoing issue I am having, is Qobuz limiting me to streaming at CD quality. But when I’m connected through Qobuz Connect, it suggest I should be able to stream up to 24-Bit - 192 Khz.
Furthermore, if I open the Airplay & Bluetooth list, my NDX2 is listed in there and suggests the same quality threshold. It may simply be just another method of connection; as Airplay, Bluetooth are both protocols the NDX2 supports. But I was wondering if there just a conflict somewhere, which is disabling playback above 16-Bit - 44 Khz?
There have been widespread problems with Qobuz reported elsewhere. Qobuz have acknowledged the problem of tracks not being able to be played and are trying to remedy the situation.
I was in contact with Qobuz yesterday (via a bot) and was told that the migration to the cloud was pretty much complete but there were still some legacy tech issues to resolve.
) and was told that the migration to the cloud was pretty much complete but there were still some legacy tech issues to resolve.