Now, I’m not taking the credit for finding this, it was a post by DrPo that alerted me to it, but I thought it might be worth a dedicated thread to give it more attention.
I have been wanting to stream from Qobuz for ages. I tried a Chromecast dongle but wasn’t happy with the sound. I was also told about loading Bubble upnp on my Qnap, but that sounded too complicated. Anyway, DrPo’s post mentioned an app called mconnect, which costs £5.99. There is a free version but it has adverts and less functionality, but it’s fine for an experiment. The app has integrated Qobuz, so it’s simply a matter of logging into your Qobuz account, choosing the music and choosing your streamer via the ‘Play to’ button. It’s as easy as that. The app’s volume control works the Naim, so there is no need to have both apps open.
Sound quality wise, it’s pretty good, not quite up to locally streamed music, but very listenable. I’ve compared the same track streamed from Qobuz with my local rip, and it’s certainly not an ‘urgh, that’s awful’ response when listening to Qobuz. If anyone wants Qobuz on their system it’s certainly worth trying the free app and a free month’s trial of Qobuz, as there is nothing to lose.
Hopefully, one or two people may find this helpful, and once again, thanks to DrPo.
Posted on: 17 May 2018 by Simon-in-Suffolk
Nigel - yes - I use the Lumin app as a control point. As far as QNAP I don't know - but wonder over to the BubbleUPnP web site and take a look.
Frank - correct - not playing MQA master... I have not been bowled over too much - albeit on my Tidal app playing through my valve headphone amp they sounded quite good (using first level software 'unfolding') - but most of my listening is in my listening room on my Naim - and here Qobuz streams are sounding better and more enjoyable - so Qobuz now gets my subs
Posted on: 17 May 2018 by Hook
Hook, you can do it as I do, hint - vpn.
Hi Frank. The last one I tried was ExpressVPN on my iPad. Installed it so I could use my US-based services while traveling internationally. It worked ok, but slowed things down and occassionally would hang. Can you recommend a stable, fast VPN for iPad? Thanks!
Posted on: 17 May 2018 by nbpf
Quick update: Using BubbleUPnPServer I have been comparing Tidal and Qobuz - and to my ears Qobuz consistently sounds better and so I have decided to cancel my Tidal subscription and switch back to Qobuz... Qobuz also seems to have a better selection of EPs which I find surprising but pleased about.
Thanks for the update! If you play around with Qobuz, I would be grateful if you could give a try to Mahler's 5th by Adam Fischer and the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker. So far, I have not managed to stream his album from the beginning to the end without experiencing at least one jump. Best, nbpf
Posted on: 17 May 2018 by Frank Yang
Apologies to Hook, I deleted my last post regarding about how to get the Qobuz service here in the US, as I am not sure if it is the right thing to post such details here.
However, I think you will figure it out.
Think about it - if you are already a Qobuz subscriber living in France, would Qobuz stop you from listening to its service if you travel to the US for a vacation.
