Qobuz hi-res streaming in 1.6

Sure. I think the problem is that it’s unclear that the streaming rights are, apparently, limited to 16/44.

Its not that their software isn’t smart enough, its that they can’t quite bring themselves to identify what can be streamed in HiRes and what must be purchased on their interface - I think marketing would prefer it to appear pretty much everything is HiRes even when for streamers some of it isn’t. It must make it difficult for Roon, certainly Auralic gave up and just display as per the Qobuz metadata. Its Label and Distributor licensing as you surmise, thankfully labels are actually realising that it gives a really poor impression when they force people to buy HiRes - but I reckon they won’t stop whilst downloading revenue is still coming in. Its getting better, when ECM licensed their catalogue for HiRes streaming (much of it wasn’t even streamed) it must have set some kind of precedent and a few more have loosened the ‘must be purchased’ noose. :blush:

I’m not sure everyone is talking about the same thing. I have same problem as OP. I find a 192 or 96 album in Roon from Qobuz version. It clearly says 192 or 96. When I play, Roon shows it’s streaming at 44. I found one album that does stream at indicated 96, but others stream at 44. On a separate note, is there a way to find hi Rez Qobuz albums in Roon other than clicking on each album to see version?

Not sure about finding hi rez tracks but I am seeing the same issue you describe. Apparently, in another thread, I read that those files are being misreported and those hi rez are only available to buy and not stream and its more an issue of miss-reporting files as hi rez that are clearly not. If thats true its pretty disappointing.

And you’ll consume significantly more bandwidth. Many ISPs in the US limit the monthly amount, often 1TB, and is easy to hit with hi-res streaming.

Luckily not for the ISPs that I have access to - no data caps for me; just not enough bandwidth until I get FttH (fibre to the home) in mid-2019.

Yeah, High-Res streaming and watching 4k content on Netflix produces massive traffic. Thank good our ISP in Switzerland doesn’t limit the monthly amount of traffic.

Are there a lot of albums like the new Kate Bush reissues that are only available as paid downloads in high Rez and not available for streaming at the same high Rez?

Streaming those I assume would only result in cd quality. Of course the hi Rez isn’t even a purchase option from the streamer only Tidal

Once in USA I will choose between Q and Tidal.

I have no trouble streaming high res.
Since there are multiple versions, are you sure you are plsy8ng the high res version?
What does the Versions list show?
What does s8gnal path show?

No problems streaming hi-res to my Devialet Expert 200.

Yes, I pulled up the Glen Campbell album you show and it does stream hi res. But many, if not most others, I tried to find do not, including many of the ones highlighted as hi Rez on Qobuz home page

Guys guys guys… pay attention to what Allan from Roon just said here:

Thanks, it want clear to me this was a bug they are working on or if was a guess. Also, not sure what you mean about if seeing this inQobuz client it is a problem.

Yes that’s exactly what happens, somewhere I am sure I saw 60% of hires can be streamed stated by Qobuz but don’t quote me! I only find its the latest and most accoladed releases labels tend to ask money for, at least for a few weeks before they suddenly become available to stream when they realise six people actually bought them!

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I assume the mastering is the same between Tidal and Qobuz (i.e. the MQA of Van Halen and the Hi Rez of Qobuz)?

Same as the HDtracks versions, too? labels sending same masters out…

I have found I like good mastering at CD quality better than inferior mastering at HiRez.

I am sure I saw here somewhere someone from Roon saying that Qobuz are helping to analyse their tracks to provide Roon with dynamic range data (and eventually replay gain data) - which will help us judge at least the likely quality before playing the album. And I agree, not all albums are better just because they are hires, for sure. I usually queue up a track from several versions and let them play - some of the Doxy or Reborn Recordings so called HD masters are much louder than the original CD version, which is immediately suspect? To my ears they don’t sound any improvement and maybe even worse. The BNF french library masters are another thing entirely, again I think these are original masters held on archive and often sound glorious - even though they are sometimes taped from record! You can hear the clicks and pops :blush:

Dear all, finally back home and able to test. I subscribed to the the Qobuz Studio plan and activated it through the services section in Roon 1.6. All the high res content from Qobuz was available to stream immediately. I am perfectly happy.

One small thing to sort out: I still struggle how to look for “_all high res content from Qobuz that is high-res”: The way I tried to get this results was to use “focus” when I play an high-res Qobuz album. However the search results only give me the high-res albums that are in my library. Anybody a hint?

Iver

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Same question here, I am happy to follow if anyone has answers.

And it would be great if as in Tidal it was possible to feel the library with flagship albums of different categories.

Do you mean all that will stream in hires, as opposed to that which says hires on Qobuz but only plays CD quality? Qobuz isn’t differentiating right now… for obvious reasons, it looks great having so many hires icons on the albums in the Qobuz apps - good advert!

Yep, Focus only works on your Library. If you want to search for Hi-Res albums in the Qobuz service, you can use the Qobuz app and search for “Hi-Res”. You can also add a genre to the search term, so “Hi-res classical” should show you just classical releases in Hi-Res.

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