Apologies for what is probably simple user error, but I’m new to both the Lumin app and online streaming service. Have used the Lumin T2 for a couple years, exclusively for streaming my local content via Roon…
When I look up an artist such as Frank Zappa for example, in Roon, under Discography I select, say, Waka/Jawaka and scroll down to see that Qobuz has three different options for resolution.
When I lookup Frank Zappa on Qobuz in the Lumin App and choose any of the related folders, then scroll down to find a single Waka/Jawaka version - the 192/24 version. Why am I not seeing the other options?
I’m guessing that Roon has a different (higher) level of access to the Qobuz database to that of the Lumin app. It appears that the Lumin app is getting the same result as a search using the Qobuz app does (192kHz/24bit).
This is the goal. We try our best to achieve this, although this is not guaranteed due to technical complications and other factors.
Instead of more or less, my definition of what is the correct set of Qobuz library to be available to a user is dependent on the user subscription type, streaming settings and region etc. according to Qobuz app / web. If there is a third party app that shows a different result from Qobuz app, even if you see something extra that is not supposed to be present, I’d consider that to be an anomaly.
I agree with that view if we assume Roon to be that 3rd party app. Roon appears to frequently show (with my basic Qobuz subscription) multiple albums of the same artist/title and the only difference being the sample/bit rate. The op’s observation, Waka/Jawaka (& to further complicate matters - Waka / Jawaka) is a good example.
@Phydeaux@PixelPopper I managed to get an official answer from Qobuz about why Roon seemingly offers more versions than Qobuz native app.
In short, generally Qobuz native app (and therefore Lumin app that relies on Qobuz API) will show only a higher quality version and drop redundant lesser quality versions when some conditions are fulfilled. This is actually a feature offered by Qobuz.
Roon has access to Qobuz catalogue database and chooses to offer multiple versions instead.
it’s not just Qobuz, it happens with Tidal as well. I often see the 2-3 versions of an album that appear to be exactly the same. same artwork, same release date, same number of tracks, same resolution.
It’s unclear from your post if the issue you describe is the Lumin app vs the Tidal app or if you’re comparing the Lumin app to Tidal as displayed in Roon.
Also, you say the multiples are identical resolution. This is not the case with Qobuz, where the multiples are different resolutions.
Thanks for the update Peter. It explains the large number of versions, it would be useful to have an option to toggle, in Roon, to display only the best quality versions rather than using a temporary filter such as Focus.
In both of these cases, Lumin app shows the same duplicates as Roon does. The first example also shows the same as Tidal app. The second example is complicated by the presence of ATMOS. So this duplicate album issue is caused by Tidal itself rather than Roon or Lumin, and is different from the issue discussed in OP (which was about Roon showing different versions).
In the second example, Tidal API gives the wrong metadata lacking MQA indication for the second MQA version but Roon shows it correctly.
The conclusion is still the same as before - this is a Tidal behavior, not a Roon issue, not a Lumin issue.
In the first example, I think I figured out what happens to ATMOS album. The second version - if you check with Tidal app, should originally be ATMOS, but since neither Roon nor Lumin can play ATMOS, it is replaced by another version in playback - in this case, MQA. This is also why the metadata given to Lumin app is not MQA, because it should originally be ATMOS instead.
The second example has two different versions. They have different dates and different track lengths, even the album art are different in brightness. This leads me to suspect that all those duplicates in Tidal may not truly be duplicates, they could really be different copies sent by the labels.
