Qobuz music streaming discussion and news

My Hifi subscription at $19.99 is now a hi rez Studio Premiere subscription at $14.99. Whatever the reason I'll take it!

 

So if you are in the current free trial, if you decide to continue after the trial it's $14.99?

 

I am actually not in the free trial I've been a subscriber for about 6 months but yes I would assume that to be the case. The email I got said I would automatically be transferred to the new tier on my next billing cycle.

 

I doubt Roon or Audirvana is even on Amazon's radar, they like to keep things in house. They seem to be a mid-fi service targeting modest home theater owners. They would rather sell you a couple of Echo Studio speakers and have you pay the monthly fee for the Amazon Music HD subscription.

 

Speculation isn't really all that interesting or insightful. Do you have evidence for this? I have heard through the grapevine that Roon is working on it, but I can't say it's a fact. I also wouldn't be surprised if Naim (which is what I use) adds native support for their streaming platform as well.

If Amazon wants to promote a hi-res service then it's in their best interest to expose an API that hifi devices can use. Otherwise, they are just giving that market to TIDAL and Qobuz without a fight.

 

I agree. I would jump on this if their catalog was better. I also don't think Amazon HD has really impacted that much. I think QB is just matching Tidal's 15.99 they offered

 

First you you dis him for speculating then speculate about Roon working on it. I've seen nothing about Roon working on it. They have not said a word on their forums despite hundreds of posts asking. Personally I agree with the point that Amazon just wants to sell their new speaker and have no interest in roon or even audiophiles for that matter. But ! We shall see!

 

Fair enough on the speculation front. I did do that. Sorry.

If it happens with Roon, it's because Amazon chooses to expose an API for it – not because they build the support for it – and that is something any hifi manufacturer could take advantage of. I think if Amazon doesn't expose a consumable API for their HD service, then it's kind of pointless for them to even have it. They aren't really branding anything themselves that takes advantage of hi-res music, unless they plan to. Otherwise a hifi service for their low-fi devices doesn't add up, IMHO.

 

Where and when did Tidal offer $15.99? Or did you mean Amazon HD?

 

I have a UK Qobuz account. I signed up for three months of the US service when it first rolled out, but cancelled after I wasn’t satisfied with the seemingly much smaller catalog (particularly in classical, where a lot of my listening is done).

I’ve seen passing references to the catalog improving - what do US subscribers think? Willing to reconsider with the new price drop.

 

The U.S. classical catalogue is still missing releases and labels. I'm keeping my French subscription where I've never found anything lacking in classical.

 

I haven't delved much into the classical catalog (my old LP collection keeps me busy enough), but I have enjoyed Qobuz for exploring more recent (than my analog LPs) jazz lately. $15 is small ask. I spend 10 times that much on LPs every month (at least).

 

Same here, changing jazz with classical and LPs with CDs. Less expensive Qobuz means an additional CD per month. Plus, hopefully it will force the industry away from awful lossy quality.

 

Yeah, I'm only interested in high-res. I mostly don't listen to music on mobile devices or in car. I only just this year acquired a digital front end that can start to compete with my analog playback (what I had before was good but not in the same league as the replacement). I look forward to Qobuz starting to fill out the jazz and classical catalog more. I expect Amazon HD will be more focused on popular music but am happy to be proven wrong, if they add support that Roon/Naim can take advantage of.

 

for me it was 3 months ago I think? Just got a bill this week and it's still 15.99 for hi res. I liked the sound of QB better actually but stopped after the trial. too much catalog missing. I use Tidal thru Roon.

 

Yes they did. They recently announced their Hi Fi speaker. A Homepod competition.

 

Lucky you! Qobuz would be wise to address their catalog size and so would Tidal.

 

Qobuz said in a video today they are adding about 10,000 albums a day. The labels supply the files and metadata I think they are going as fast as they are being sent albums.

 

LOL...the HomePod does not set the benchmark for HiFi. I've heard one. It's lowfi, or midfi at best. Let me know when they have something that competes with the likes of the Naim Muso or Muso QB, or Dynaudio Music. Then there will be use case for the high-res audio.

I think that Steve Jobs set the bar so low that what passes for hifi now is pretty sad.

 

I have been a Qobuz subscriber since it arrived in US and I welcome the price decrease.
I was about to cancel my subscription being very disappointed with Qobuz's classical catalogue but with the new price I will give it another chance for a few more months.

 

I have doubts that Amazon is very much interested in support for devices other than its own or those that license Alexa from Amazon. Also, I'm not sure Amazon has any interest in "HD" music as anything but a kind of come-on to get people who are already settled in their streaming choices to come back and try Amazon Music (which at present is a third place market competitor behind Spotify and Apple, neither of which have anything but lossy music). Also, remember, in Amazon's parlance, "HD" means 16/44.1 or higher. It doesn't mean what we think high resolution audio means, it just means not the 256 kbps MP3 it is streaming as standard. And Amazon hasn't not anything in its client to enable anything like bypassing Windows audio or Android audio stack. Really its choices so far in its launch of "HD" music as a snap on to Amazon Music, don't suggest that it's being done with a goal of taking advantage of hi-res music, but for some other mark purposes (having something to hype to get people to try Amazon Music, something that differentiates it from it's two leading rivals, etc).

 

to them it does. for marketing purposes anyways. not for me.

 

I'm currently on a free month trial for Qobuz and my 3 month Amazon HD freebie ends in the middle of December.

I've also had Tidal HiFi for a couple months. But at this point I might stick with Qobuz and cancel both Tidal and Amazon HD.

Based on the sound quality I've experienced streaming on Qobuz. And my dislike for Amazon's track integration and MQA used on Tidal. I think at $14.99 a month Qobuz is my best option. My main listening tastes are Pop/Rock and Jazz which I think Qobuz has a decent catalog of and hopefully will continue to expand in the future.

 

I just signed up for an entire year at $149.99. I mainly listen to jazz and now getting more into classical (although currently listening to Neil Young's Coloradao ), so the Qobuz library should be more than adequate for me.

 

Any guesses as to what the price will be after the first $149.99 annual subscription ends (or how long 14.99/month will last)?