I bought an ND 555 with the spec saying that Qobuz is covered with chromecast but I have not been happy with chromecast at all. Qobuz works much better on the linn klimax ds so I have gone back to that for Qobuz streaming. The naim sounds better but gapless does not work when Qobuz streaming so that is hopeless for opera. Also I find using the naim app and Qobuz app together to stream can be hard to get to work properly. I was therefore pretty miffed that Qobuz streaming was promised on the Naim but is not up to the standard of the linn.
I will therefore be very pleased with a native Qobuz implementation on the ND 555 which works like Qobuz does on the linn.
Ian
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A few of us have lamented the gapless issue for nearly 2 years - ruins many genres though opera and prog rock tend to be particularly affected.
I suggest you look at either Roon or Audirvana software to bridge the gap until there is proper integration - yes an additional expense but relatively small change in the grand scheme of hi-fi.
Indeed Naim told me that as well, the main reason cited was development cost vs relevant markets.
So if Qobuz is now expanding into Asia, which are I understand key markets for Naim, then perhaps it alters the values in the equations that make Qobuz integration tenable… either that or Naim feel they have backed the wrong horse with Tidal with its increasing emphasis on MQA… or simply the rumour is bollox.
I don’t think I even care whether or not Naim add native Qobuz support. I’ve been using Qobuz via Roon on my NDX2 since I bought that a few months ago. I really don’t see changing my UX if Naim adds Qobuz natively, Actually, one of the major reasons I like Roon is that I can run it on my MacBook Pro instead of a iPhone or iPad, and don’t have to wait for those devices/apps to wake the f’ up again when I want to control the NDX2. On the Mac Roon controller is just running and ready for input.
I know I don’t care if Naim add MQA support. I have no interest in that DRM money/power grab from consumers.
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HH, Thanks for your earlier response to me on another thread. The fact I haven’t made use of the info you shared with me about Bubble illustrates perfectly how welcome ‘simply’ updating the Naim app for my nds would be to permit use of Qobuz.
One of the strongest selling points of the Naim brand is customer support and I had assumed backwards compatibility (in a similar manner to Leica and Nikon with their lenses) would be achieved and supported. I’ll keep hoping until told otherwise!
I am sure there are many like me who simply do not want to get involved in perceived faff of software from third parties to try and make the music flow.
Peter
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I quite agree. However even with Qobuz integration your NDS would sound better with Bubble.
Hi Peter. You’ll see above that Naim are not looking at integrating Qobuz in the legacy streamers, only the fancy pants new ones.
I was using Bubble and it does sound really good and better than integrated Tidal. The only issue I had is that I’ve I’d been playing via Bubble and then played something on my nas, as soon as the nas music stopped Bubble restarted. It was a right pain and involved going into Kazoo and clearing the playlist completely. Maybe I was doing something wrong, or simply being thick.
I would have thought the availability of Qobuz in the US was a significant factor, along with its recent addition to Roon raising its profile somewhat. Other manufacturers such as Yamaha, Innuos and Sonos support it natively too, so there might be a perception that Naim are lagging behind. Using Chromecast is all very well, but it’s integration is then largely out of Naim’s control, and the consensus seems to be that it’s not the best for sound quality. Plus Qobuz seem to have implemented their Chromecast service badly - lack of gapless play being not the only complaint.
As for Tidal’s use of MQA, it seems to be increasing steadily. It concerns me a little that they might stop bothering with regular 16/44 altogether, as the MQA files will still play on non-MQA devices, but possibly at reduced sound quality compared to a regular 16/44 file, if I have understood how it works correctly.
I’ve noticed this too, since I started using Kazoo. It never happened when I used the Lumin app.
I use the Bubble app to control the Bubble server and I haven’t had any issues as you describe.
I rarely use the Naim app now, only to see what new updates look like and for iRadio.
MQA encoded data will play on pcm equipment, but at a notable loss of resolution and quality.
Alas to me MQA with first oversample decode (and second level just seems to make it worse) just does not pass the critical listening test for me… it just sounds artificial over time and starts to really irritate… there is something wrong with structure of the sound… in short it just doesn’t sound right.,
I have now actively configured by Roon to avoid MQA on Tidal within my library… and I can usually instantly hear the loss in naturalness of an MQA track compared to PCM if it is get spooled up.
If Tidal ever makes PCM files difficult, I will drop it straightaway and take Qobuz… at least Roon makes that easy to do.
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And so the DRM grip starts to tighten…
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I have Tidal set to standard 16/44 rather than the so-called Masters setting, as I’ve yet to hear anything to persuade me that it sounds any better.
You’d have to play a Masters track against the same track in 16/44.
Hi
In order to avoid that, you just have to clean the playlist (in Bubble) as soon as you stop the music
Timely I just cancelled my Qobuz Studio again, hardly used it in preference of Tidal, Home, Car and Mobile.
24 bit material not to your taste?
i guess it’s the catalog. I prefer tidal too, for the biggest choice for my music. However i use it one month per year only.
The choice on Tidal is better, I agree but for me there is a decent amount on Qobuz; and it is getting better.
I guess it depends on your musical preferences, I have been running Tidal and Qobuz for the last few months to see which I prefer, I will definitely go with Qobuz mainly because of of sound quality and choice.
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