Controlling Qobuz

Thanks Simon,

In my case, that would be a Vodka Chain, but that's a subject of its own ;-)

Keith

Get an Auralic Aries and connect it to a DAC/digital input. 

With the Auralic ipad app, you can control Qobuz, Tidal and your music via upnp. I bought myself a 3 months Qobuz streaming subscription and enjoy now flac in 16/44 streaming quality��

Works like a charm...

ralf

Bluesbreaker - To my knowledge, none of the CD quality streaming services (Tidal, WIMP, Deezer, Qobuz) yet offer an IPAD/IPOD/Android application to control computer playback.  In time, some of the services will.  Tidal is supposed to be close to releasing their application, according to a company representative who posted on Computer Audiophile.  So for now, that leaves the usual list of VNC applications (I use Jump but not for music).   You might want to read the Jul 7, 2014 article in Computer Audiophile that discusses the future of music streaming.  It summarizes the current state of streaming and future (potential) changes. 

Simon - Thank you for confirming that Qobuz FLAC streams from an inexpensive device can sound better than Spotify Connect with a high-end Naim streamer.   I’m still a bit shocked at this, but it says volumes about the importance of the source material.   As for the quality of the streamer affecting the sound, your concise explanation highlighted why an inexpensive transport cannot reproduce music like a well-designed, more expensive product.   I have some doubt whether noise, jitter and other issues will vanish to the point of being inaudible with a high performance DAC, but I could be wrong.  I will say that when using a Rega DAC, the W4S modified Sonos Connect sounded much better than the unmodified version.  This experience, though limited, leads me to believe that transport quality is still important.  The W4S Sonos upgrade includes low noise power supplies and logic boards with better clocks and jitter. These features make a decent transport better.  Maybe with a better DAC like Naim, Chord Hugo, or Resonessence, both the basic and modified Sonos would sound the same.    

KRM – Sonos can work fine in a wireless mode in many settings.  My Sonos router and Connect are on different floors and ends of the house… with no dropout issues.  I do have a Sonos portable unit (Play 5) in the middle, which extends the network.  So network is rock solid.  As for wired sounding different/better, I’ve researched this but not found a clear answer.  Last year I decided to do a little test to see how the Sonos Connect would sound in a wired network.  With a 100’ of CAT 6 cable run across the floor, up the stairs and down the hall, my Apple Airport was connected to the Sonos (W4S).  No extra switch was used.  The system functioned without issue.  I clearly heard a change in sound: more apparent detail and resolution.  However, the wired network highlighted shortcomings in my system, which was slightly bright (Totem monitor speakers).  I decided not to have the wired network installed and bought new speakers (Harbeth P3esr), which sound more better.  If you buy a Sonos Connect, my advice would be to start with the wireless network.  If you have dropout issues, install a wired network.  If your system is nicely balanced and you enjoy the sound, using Sonos Connect in a wired network might be a nice upgrade. 

The Auralic does look interesting. Any chance you can post a more comprehensive review of it and what you have compared it to?

SJB

Kendrick, my advice for trouble free operation with Sonos especially if you use Sonos Play devices and you use lossless streaming as well is go wired but then use TOSLINk to your Naim reclcoker/DAC from the Sonos Connect. This really sounds top notch here, and I can't detect any undue brightness, in fact it is *slightly* mellower than my NDX in UPnP mode.

Simon

Hi SJB,

please have a look at audiostream.com where you can find a nice writeup about aries... yes..it looks cheap but it beats my macmini/audirvana by miles. Cool feature: you can control aries with the lumin app, that' s one of the best UI I've ever seen. Nice as well- plug an usb disk in it and you don't need a NAS setup.

The aries belongs to my favorites in 2014- and yes, the external PSU is noiseless:-)

if you can give it a try,

ralf

Is there any particular reason for favouring optical over coaxial to connect the Sonos? Conventional wisdom would suggest the latter is the better bet.

Keith

Thanks Ralf,

does it stream from directly connected USB storage now, this seems to be promised in the article?

if so does it work well?

SJB

Keith, well optical does provide a defence against conducted RFI, and Graeme got an earth loop when he connected his Sonos electrically to a Hugo, so it suggests the Sonos doesn't use galvanic isolation. Again not an issue with Optical. However Naim equipment I believe uses isolation so electrical coax might work fine between Sonos and Naim

Simon

Yes, it works. I tested it with  a 1tb drive with flac, wav, and 2-3 dsd files. As soon as you connect a drive/usb stick  with the USB port, aries starts a server and scans the media. This server is the one you'll select as the library when streaming your music. I can not talk about bigger drive sizes, but 1tb works quite well (I use a NAS to store my music)

ralf

Simon –  Thank you for the cable suggestions.  Some glass Toslink cables are supposed to be quite good, like the Wireworld SuperNova 7.   I may demo this cable with the Sonos Connect to see if it betters my Naim DC1 (with a V1 DAC).  Are you using anything special in the way of a Toslink cable, which I gather you prefer over the Sonos/DC1 combination? 

For anyone considering the Auralic Aries and can demo the product, be sure to carefully evaluate the software.  Many considered the Lightning DS application a “beta” quality product with plenty of issues (see Computer Audiophile forum).   After trying the Aries for one week last fall, I would agree.  Sonos and NStream users, particularly those with limited computer skills, may be disappointed until the product matures.   The developer is trying hard to please and making changes, but it may take time. 

Kendrick, no a regular plastic 3m long fibre lead. If i am really critical, I can hear a slight absence of some inner detail and timbre/texture that I hear with the electrical SPDIF when playing UPnP from my NDX into my Hugo, but I am not sure whether this is the Sonos jitter or Toslink connector... or even the Qobuz source though I tend to doubt the latter. But this is only really noticeable when doing a and b comparison of certain albums and certainly doesn't detract from my Sonos/Qobuz enjoyment.

Simon

Simon and Wat -  Thank you for sharing your experience with Toslink cables.  May give one of these cables a try sometime soon.