Qobuz opens in Europe on 2 December 2013

I think Hook uses a Bluetooth receiver to listen to Spotify.

I'm inclined to speculate that the Sonos would sound better if my experience of Airplay is anything to go by.  I find Airplay via an Apple TV into my NDX, streaming Spotify to be vastly inferior to Spotify via the Sonos. The iPad is set to the highest quality so it's not a lower quality stream that is responsible for the difference. 

Rather disappointing really as I was hoping to free up a Sonos player for another zone but Airplay just didn't cut the mustard in comparison.

Richard

Richard,

Interesting to read your experience. This is what I expected. In addition, Qobuz seems to have nicely integrated with Sonos. I will go that route. I am curious to compare how different are the quality of streaming from the NDS and the Sonos using the NDS as a DAC. I plan to compare ripped CD in AIFF format with ALAC files streamed by Qobuz.

Cheers,

Michel

Michel

are you sure Qobuz actually streams ALAC? My impression they only stream FLAC or mp3 320k, but you can download other formats like ALAC.

Aleg,

You are right. Qobuz is indeed streaming in FLAC 16 bits @44.1 kHz for CD quality. See the following link:

http://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/off...reaming-subscription

Michel

sounds interesting , but how can I stream to Uniti2 do I need a 3 party software or will their ios app see the naim streamer

many thanks 

Mohamed

It is not UPNP so it won't be visible to Naim streamers unless Naim builds a connection to the Qobuz API, like Sonos did, but that's up to Naim to decide.

Otherwise you need some form of computer which can run the Qobuz Desktop playback software. The computer can then be (directly with SPDIF or indirectly via a USB-SPDIF converter) connected to a digital input on your Uniti2.

Cheers

Aleg

Thanks Aleg , they do show Naim logo on their website with reference to their API ! Also when I tried spotify I managed to stream it to the Uniti2 using an app called musicflow where it can see the Naim uniti as a streamer and I could see the art work on the naim screen and control the volum as well , but Naim would  read spotify 320kbit as 706 kbit so I have no clue whether the musicflow can faithfully transmit the music coming from spotify app on my ipad to the naim . Sound wise it did feel like 320kbit alright

i hope music flow will work with Qobuz as well, till Naim come up with something if at all !

Mohamed

Musicflow acts as a UPnP server which streams music to UPnP devices on your network.

With respect to Qobuz, it depends if Musicflow has developed a connection to the Qobuz API like they did with Spotify etc.

I read somewhere on this forum that there has been contact between Qobuz and Naim, but it wasn't yet going very speedy.

cheers

Aleg

I've noticed that Qobuz has been made available on Sonos in the UK over the weekend.  I presume they stream CD quality FLACs, although I'm not certain of this - can anyone confirm?  Really delighted that it's become available over here, as it opens up a number of record labels that are not available to stream otherwise (including Hyperion).

It depends on your subscription, if you take a subscription for 44.1 Flac it will stream 44.1 FLAC.

you can also take a lower quality subscription MP3 320k and you will get that.

cheers

Aleg

I guess I'll have to wait and see how it all pans out, oh how I hate the waiting game!

I have enquired to Qobuz after noticing this and also having my ip address restriction removed for purchases.  

They have advised that this will be available on 2 Dec.

Streaming at 320kbs works OK though and sounds pretty good.

Only 2 weeks to wait!

Richard

Hi,

I have decided to take the plunge and bought a Sonos Connect to be able to listen to Qobuz in FLAC, at 44.1kHz resolution and stream it into my NDS. I am using the coaxial digital connection into the NDS. The Connect paired with Qobuz is definitively a great tool. The catalog is huge and allows exploration for thousands of lifetimes. Sound-wise, which is the most important aspect, it is great even though careful comparison shows differences with the NDS as a streamer from a NAS. I was not expecting much difference since bits should be bits. I did some A/B comparison with CDs ripped in AIFF and identical albums streamed from Qobuz. Even though the Sonos is excellent, it is less detailed and less lively compared to the ripped file. This can be noticed quite clearly on drums and cymbals. Nevertheless, it is great for all occasions but serious listening. In conclusion, having the Sonos with Qobuz offers great opportunity. I strongly recommend buying the Sonos since it is not that expensive compared to the price of NAIM gear. I think nevertheless that Naim should try to develop APIs that would allow to reach the same quality for streamed and ripped music. If achieved there wouldn't be any reason to buy music anymore or care for the gory details of caring for a NAP, an UpNP server and the such. I think this is the future for HiFi.

Best,

Michel

I M using Qobuz since September

studio masters are few

problems with some album in n-stream