Need advice on Qobuz Hi-Res Streaming...

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Tinnitus Andronicus, Dec 4, 2019.

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  1. Mike-48

    Mike-48 A shadow of my former self

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    To go back to the beginning of this: If ASIO to the DAC works OK, and its only problem is conflict with JRiver when the latter is closed, it might be worth some effort finding out what part of JRiver is remaining active to cause the problem.

    In particular, searching for "Startup" in the JR options dialog, then clicking on "Windows Startup," does clicking "Nothing" help? You might need to reboot to evaluate this.

    Also, when JRiver is closed, if you bring up Windows Task Manager, then look under Processes, is there anything like "media center 24.exe" showing? If so, some part of JRiver is running.

    Finally in the Sound Control Panel (this may be different for W 10), highlight the output device (your Rega DAC), click Properties, and in the following dialogs, make sure to disable Enhancements and turn on exclusive mode, giving exclusive mode applications priority.

    Lastly, make sure you have the latest ASIO drivers for your DAC, and that they support Windows 10. I have observed that W10 drivers don't always work with W7, and perhaps the reverse is true.

    Good luck!
     
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  2. Tinnitus Andronicus

    Tinnitus Andronicus I Buried Paul Thread Starter

    These are all excellent suggestions. JRiver is not running on startup, I already checked my task manager list and it's not even listed there among the enabled and disabled apps. I looked in JR options and it is selected already as "nothing".

    I have already made both settings in Sound Control panel you suggested as well. As for background processes, I am surprised to find that JRiver is not listed in task manager when the program is closed. The only active processes that might be interfering are USB audio class driver control panel 32-bit (likely culprit) and USB app control although the latter is apparently associated with my Brother printer which is powered off all the time unless I am printing or scanning something.

    The USB drivers for both my Rega and OPPO DACs are up to date.
     
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  3. Mike-48

    Mike-48 A shadow of my former self

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    @Tinnitus Andronicus : Interesting. There are free latency-check programs that can test a computer for audio use. You might look for "Latency Monitor" to see if it provides any insight.
     
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  4. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    The mobile app leaves quite a bit to be desired for my needs. I use the app for iOS all day at work and wish it was more user friendly like the Apple Music app. It doesn't remember where I left off in a track if I pause it and open a different app, there are no suggestions based on listening history, the main page changes but once a week, single track entries are not differentiated from full albums thus bloating more modern artists' pages, and it states it cannot play my tracks at least twice a day. I paid for an annual subscription and am not regretting it due to the great sound quality but they have far to go in terms of the mobile app. I also wish there was a link in the app that takes you directly to the store where you can purchase what you are listening to.

    I haven't tried the desktop app since I can't at work and at home I run Qobuz through Roon--which takes care of the interface issue, thankfully.
     
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  5. Tinnitus Andronicus

    Tinnitus Andronicus I Buried Paul Thread Starter

    If I were to choose a software player now, I might likely check out Audirvana since it is Qobuz-friendly. Considered Roon but it is so expensive and too much for my own needs (I have one computer with one music library, one sound system in one room, I don't even now what NAS is). Now that I have invested so much time and effort into tweaking JRiver to my most meticulous needs and preferences, I am not about to switch.
     
  6. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    Audirvana works with Qobuz and your library but JRiver is a multitude better experience when browsing your library. I'm still on the 30 day trial of Audirvana and think I might end up with both. Use JRiver for my library and Audirvana for its Qobuz connection.
     
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  7. Tinnitus Andronicus

    Tinnitus Andronicus I Buried Paul Thread Starter

    What's the cost for Audirvana if you decide to keep it after the trial? I looked on their site and can't seem to find a price anywhere.
     
  8. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    It is steeper than I want to pay, $75. It's tough when I have a free version that works.

    Playing last night it stumbled requiring a shut down. It also struggled advancing songs when I was sampling an album. So now I'm not so sure it's worth the money.

    Try the free trial. They don't require a credit card.
     
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  9. Tinnitus Andronicus

    Tinnitus Andronicus I Buried Paul Thread Starter

    Two weeks into my free month trial, I am finding a lot to like with this, checking out old albums and songs I haven't heard in ages and hearing them for the first time in Hi-Res. The app sounds great in WASAPI exclusive mode, and I've learned to live with being unable to play files over 96kHz due to the apparent bug in the Qobuz app (detailed at length above). But there are some annoying drawbacks, which I would like to know if others have experienced using the desktop app on Windows, WASAPI exclusive audio out to external DAC.

    Though albums seem to play at the listed bit depth and sampling rate, I'm bothered by the fact that when I build a playlist of tracks that differ in bit/kHz rating, there are problems. Sometimes it will hiccup before advancing to the next song in the playlist and sometimes it will hang up and stall out completely, requiring me to advance to the next song manually, and sometimes even needing to close and relaunch the app. But it is completely unable to correctly change the bit/sample rates on the fly, and almost always ends up upsampling 16/44 tracks to 96 (as evidenced by the display on my DAC) or downsampling 96 to 44. I'll check the Qobuz details on a track that is supposed to be a given bit/kHz rating and it's not playing at the correct resolution. Then if I stop the playlist playback completely, and select the same song from the album, it does play it in the correct resolution. I think the only way to avoid this is to limit all playback to 16/44, which I do not want to do. This malfunction occurs as well if I have a bunch of tracks favorited and they have alternating resolution rates. In sum, I can only get smooth playback at native bit/sampling rate if I am playing a full album or a song one at a time.

    I am thinking about trying the Qobuz android app on my Samsung Galaxy S7 phone which is supposedly equipped for hi-res audio, but I don't want to open another can of worms. I read that I might need an additional app to play hi-res even if the hardware is capable of playing 24/192 FLAC. But I would also want to know if I can listen to Qobuz on my phone in an offline mode, downloading music when I am at home on my wifi in advance, because I have a minimal data plan and I cannot afford to get unltd. data plan on my phone. Playing music on my phone is not something I feel compelled to do, since I have an Astell&Kern DAP for listening on the go which I can listen to whether I have good cell coverage or not.

    So I may end up cancelling this Qobuz trial at the end of the month, unless I am willing to use it for just streaming albums at home, It would still probably save me money if it cuts down on my CD and download purchases.
     
  10. Stereosound

    Stereosound Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Official Qobuz Issues Thread
     
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  11. Tinnitus Andronicus

    Tinnitus Andronicus I Buried Paul Thread Starter

    I just installed the trial version of Audirvana and my Qobuz playback problems are gone! Been listening a couple hours so far and it's playing 24/192 files clearly, switching sampling rates in playlists with tracks of various resolution, not hanging up at the end of tracks. So much better than the Qobuz app! If I decide to keep Qobuz, I will for sure buy Audirvana. Going to do a trial of Tidal as well so since that works in Audirvana it gives me another reason to pay the $75. Thanks for the tip!
     
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  12. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    Bumping this back up. Installed the Qobuz upgrade this weekend and things are finally working almost as expected. I still have to fiddle around with Win10 sound options but once they were right Q was streaming bit perfect via USB without a hitch.

    Still no sound out of the network output without using MConnect but that's ok for now. I'd rather use USB than connect through MConnect. Hopefully they will get the network option working someday.

    So I'm back to JRiver and the Qobuz app. No need for Audirvana. The trial expired. Next we need to bombard JRiver to integrate Qobuz.
     
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  13. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Just in case you didn't know Tidal is doing a special for new members - 5 bucks for 5 months.
     
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  14. Tinnitus Andronicus

    Tinnitus Andronicus I Buried Paul Thread Starter

    I installed the update the morning it was released and it did nothing to correct any of my issues. So that is when I took up the free trial of Audirvana.

    I got the impression that JRiver are dead set against integrating Qobuz or Tidal or any such streaming service. Perhaps the only thing that would convince them is if enough users refused to pay for the annual upgrade. I already bought MC 26 but I am still using 24 (it was an impulse purchase, I don't think there is anything new in 26 that will be useful to me, but eventually I will move over to 26, they might still have some bugs to work out at this stage since 26 is only a couple weeks old).

    Yes I heard. I am going to definitely take advantage of that now that I've got Audirvana and intend to buy it. Do you know if that is a one time payment of $5 for the entire 5 months, or $5 per month for five months? Audirvana sent me an email saying that if I buy their product after or during the free trial I can get three free months of both Qobuz and Tidal but that I have to use a different email account than Audirvana or something, it is confusingly worded and I don't get it. I am still on my Qobuz trial but plan to pay on Jan 1 when the trial expires, and try out Tidal concurrently and make a decision of which of the two I will keep. Qobuz for $15 a month or Tidal for $20. I hear that Tidal has the deeper catalog but I am not attracted by the MQA albums (even though my OPPO 205 will support MQA). I am loving Qobuz now that I've got all the bugs eliminated with Audirvana, and am finding plenty of cool titles to enjoy. I am never going to expect any streaming service to carry a lot of the artists and labels I listen to because a lot of it's pretty obscure. I have found some unexpected treasures on Qobuz that I bought as downloads before trying the streaming service, such as a compilation by the Rose of Avalanche and an EP by Joalz that I couldn't find anywhere except as MP3 format on Amazon.
     
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  15. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    I don't know if Tidal bill is 5 bucks upfront or not - I just assumed it was.

    So far I've found Quobuz catalog significantly behind Tidal's. Amazon has them both beat, but it also does not have exclusive mode.
     
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  16. Mike-48

    Mike-48 A shadow of my former self

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Your concise summary agrees with my experience.
     
  17. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    I actually went back to Qobuz now that the service seems to have dramatically improved its jazz offerings in the US with the Soul Note and Black Saint titles (a better selection than Tidal's which is not comprehensive at all), and the addition of the Firehouse 12 stuff. Still missing the HatHut stuff.
     
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  18. SBurke

    SBurke Nostalgia Junkie

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Technical question on streaming from downloaded/imported files: So by now I've downloaded more files than I can store on my laptop hard drive. They are on an external hard drive. How do I get the Qobuz player to recognize the files residing on the external drive, so that when I play them through the app, I don't have to stream (with constant interruptions from lousy, clogged wi-fi), but rather play files on the drive? I did go into app settings and change my download location to the correct folder, but the app still doesn't recognize that those files are available locally. Any insight from anybody? Thanks!
     
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