Qobuz Connect - Anybody Heard Any Updates

[Balthazar B]

All what I know is that their with big boom boom introduced Qobuz Club is no success. And may be the installation of this (in my eyes nerving, I stopped the newsletter after one week) unnecessary feature has blocked other efforts. I am, different to a few other opinions readable here, not so sure if the economical advantage is worth the effort. The "typical" Qobuz user is different to the "typical" Tidal or Spotify user and most of this silent users are quiet and happy with app, the performance and the catalogue. So I do not believe it will create so much new users that it is high on their priority list. A company counts in other numbers as such a community like this one. With all the success WiiM has had over the last months it is easy and logical for them to state WiiM is of course the number one they will get on board.
All what was to see or read during the last at least months if not years confirms this for me. It has nothing to do that I personally do not need this feature. For the moment I "need" Qobuz, but no connect feature. Would like to see you all happy, but am sure the pure number of potentially new subscribers is highly overestimated in this or other hifi forums. What percentage of Qobuz subscribers to you connect to forums like this? Would be interesting to know. So, once more, I am not against and want all your wishes coming true quickly but remain very, very sceptic about the speed.

Qobuz Connect would let me get rid of the attractive but abominable Apple Music once and for all (Apple appears to have no interest in a customer-friendly Connect feature, and besides, I think Qobuz wipes the floor with the others when it comes to pure sonic quality). And once Qobuz has Connect in place, it should free up some resources to work on other enhancements and fixes. In terms of the latter, IMHO the commodization of AI will lower the bar for Qobuz and others to compete more efficiently and effectively with Spotify, Apple, Tidal, Amazon, etc., and outside of a Connect feature, that algorithmic discovery/radio functionality is where Qobuz trails some of its competition the most at the present time.

 

[WiiM Team]

We'll update you all when we start development on Qobuz Connect. We've been in touch with Qobuz and it's still in the development phase for them.

 

[Guest1]

Agree absolutely with the superior and competition free sound quality of todays Qobuz. Will that alone make the wiper big enough "to wipe the competition out"? Will see.
The only confirmed conclusion from repeated discussion for me is: All know that they think they really know nothing. And of course some know more nothing. Grab the magic glass bowls...or a coffee

 

[steadyshot]

The other problem is that Qobuz is available to few countries around the globe. So availability is first! In any case Tidal connect sounds fantastic and will only get better...

 

[ratty]

In any case Tidal connect sounds fantastic and will only get better...

As the legacy of MQA is gradually expunged? I'm not sure I'd trust the contents of anything from Tidal at the moment.

 

[Witterings]

The other problem is that Qobuz is available to few countries around the globe. So availability is first! In any case Tidal connect sounds fantastic and will only get better...

I did various google searches / trawling through forums to compare the 2 a while back and generally people seemed think Qobuz's overall sound quality was better.

I hasten to add, I've never tried Tidal so it's not personal experience but seemed to be the concensus after doing research.

 

[Griff]

I did various google searches / trawling through forums to compare the 2 a while back and generally people seemed think Qobuz's overall sound quality was better.

I hasten to add, I've never tried Tidal so it's not personal experience but seemed to be the concensus after doing research.

I did do a side by side of Tidal and Qobuz for CD 16/44.1 quality a while back. Same kit for both and chose same tracks ( obviously the services could have been using different versions of the tracks). I felt that overall Tidal came across slightly louder and Qobuz seemed slightly clearer. Qobuz library also has stuff that my other streaming service (Amazon) didn't have, so was complimentary. Ended up subscribing to Qobuz. Not sure if that helps and it should be noted it was a couple of years back.

 

[steadyshot]

As the legacy of MQA is gradually expunged? I'm not sure I'd trust the contents of anything from Tidal at the moment.

Yes waiting for hi res flac support in tidal connect . And I am saying connect because custom api implementation may not sound so good

 

[steadyshot]

I did various google searches / trawling through forums to compare the 2 a while back and generally people seemed think Qobuz's overall sound quality was better.

I hasten to add, I've never tried Tidal so it's not personal experience but seemed to be the concensus after doing research.

I also do not have personal experience on Qobuz since it is not available in my country .

 

[tgf427]

I also do not have personal experience on Qobuz since it is not available in my country .

Before Qobuz was available in my country i subscribed to British Qobuz using VPN.

 

[Mr Ee]

Yes waiting for hi res flac support in tidal connect . And I am saying connect because custom api implementation may not sound so good

Why would it not sound so good? Wouldn't both just be streaming the same file?

As for Tidal (mqa aside) vs Amazon vs Qobuz vs ...
Why would they sound diferent, if they were alll provided the same source file from the publisher, unless they do modify the file somehow post reception?
I've read elsewhere that, for mqa at least, Tidal may increase the volume.

(Not specifically questions for you, Steady!)

 

[Mike in NY]

I no longer believe in a future Qobuz connect. If, one day, Spotify switches to Hi-res, then, goodbye Qobuz
Fortunately, there is Wiim Home, MConnect and Bubbleupnp to do the job.

No one should, they have been hinting at, promising, then reneging on this feature in one way or another for years now. Originally this was a forever in supposed "beta" UPnP connection feature. Even though that still appears in their UI, the development of it never occurred at all, there was no beta, and their sad sack excuse was some BS about "first we have to secure our app, and UPnP is not secure" or some other nonesense. That was a couple of years ago!

More recently they returned to this calling it Qobuz Connect, and saying it would not be UPnP compatible. The livestream they did with WiiM stated this would be available sometime in 2Q23 if memory serves. Not only dd that not happen, you then had their CEO kick the can all the way to "the end of the year", followed by developers there saying vaguely "next year". Total BS treatment of customers.

 

[Smartplug]

No one should, they have been hinting at, promising, then reneging on this feature in one way or another for years now. Originally this was a forever in supposed "beta" UPnP connection feature. Even though that still appears in their UI, the development of it never occurred at all, there was no beta, and their sad sack excuse was some BS about "first we have to secure our app, and UPnP is not secure" or some other nonesense. That was a couple of years ago!

More recently they returned to this calling it Qobuz Connect, and saying it would not be UPnP compatible. The livestream they did with WiiM stated this would be available sometime in 2Q23 if memory serves. Not only dd that not happen, you then had their CEO kick the can all the way to "the end of the year", followed by developers there saying vaguely "next year". Total BS treatment of customers.

 

[Smartplug]

Much like Spotify hifi that was announced 2 years ago still no hifi till now.

 

[steadyshot]

Why would it not sound so good? Wouldn't both just be streaming the same file?

As for Tidal (mqa aside) vs Amazon vs Qobuz vs ...
Why would they sound diferent, if they were alll provided the same source file from the publisher, unless they do modify the file somehow post reception?
I've read elsewhere that, for mqa at least, Tidal may increase the volume.

(Not specifically questions for you, Steady!)

I have no idea why...!

 

[steadyshot]

Before Qobuz was available in my country i subscribed to British Qobuz using VPN.

Yeah I have to find a UK payment method... I cannot pay with my current local debit/credit card... It is harder now.

 

[bradavon]

Much like Spotify hifi that was announced 2 years ago still no hifi till now.

It's pretty clear that's done from a technical point of view but Spotify can't afford to release it for free like Amazon and Apple did.

I'm expecting they follow Tidal's route but their lossless subscription is a lot more expensive and that offers High Res too. Which Spotify won't. Will enough people want to pay double?

In a world of Amazon, Apple and even Qobuz I wouldn't.

Supporting Lossless will bring with it huge overhead for what is very much a niche product. The average person is happy with 160Kbps Spotify to a bluetooth speaker or DVD quality movies on their phone.

Tidal can charge more because they're a small niche player but if Spotify gets the messaging wrong it could do them more harm than good. Factor in only a small percentage of their 550 million users will take it up and you've got a lot of cost for no guarantee gain.

This is how I view it's not come, yet.

 

[bradavon]

I no longer believe in a future Qobuz connect. If, one day, Spotify switches to Hi-res, then, goodbye Qobuz
Fortunately, there is Wiim Home, MConnect and Bubbleupnp to do the job.

Qobuz Connect is coming. From June:

What’s more, we gave a public demonstration of the future Qobuz Connect functionality for the first time.

Qobuz at High End Munich 2023 | Qobuz MAGAZINE

The High End trade fair in Munich has become the must-attend event for Hi-Fi enthusiasts. Manufacturers are there to unveil their latest products, armed with plenty of demonstration rooms, making it the ideal place to go and try out a wide range of brand new sound systems. Qobuz was present at...

www.qobuz.com

Ensuring a Connect service works, isn't buggy, is support on all the devices people expect is no small task. Qobuz is small.

Can't come sooner enough though. I'm currently subscribing to Amazon as I can listen to Lossless from the App to my Wiim Pro but it's only a "good enough" service. Audio Quality aside Spotify is a much better service.

I gather Qobuz is good but I dislike streaming from streaming device apps. Expecting to switch from Amazon to Qobuz. Will probably keep Spotify.

 

[Guest1]

Was there any statement regarding resolution or hi-res from official Qobuz side in this promised land of Connect Felicity? As so many are focussed on the digits their DACs show...

 

[Brantome]

Was there any statement regarding resolution or hi-res from official Qobuz side in this promised land of Connect Felicity? As so many are focussed on the digits their DACs show...

A Qobuz employee stated this only last week on a Facebook streaming group whose admin is another Qobuz employee who did a Youtube video with WiiM some time ago:

”it’s largely up to the manufacturers how long it will take to implement. Our side of things is just about done. Onboarding manufacturers to start soon, depending how quickly this goes will determine when we launch the feature. In my opinion it is on track for this calendar year but there are a lot of variables and things that we don’t control.”

WiiM are in direct contact with the person responsible for Qobuz Connect so will no doubt let us know as and when they have anything to say on its implementation for WiiM devices.