Roon 1.8 on macOS 11.6.1 (soon Monterey)
iMac’s wired USB to the digital input of ParaSound Halo P6.
Since Apple acquired PrimePhonic, I have been looking at/for alternatives to Apple Music… I listen almost exclusively to ‘Classical’ music and - like most others - find Apple’s Artist/Song/track indexing and searching model difficult to use to find music which uses Work/Title then performer.
So am seriously considering qobuz.
How - and how well does qobuz integrate with Roon, please?
I don’t want to start a qobuz trial until I know it’ll work:
is the combination reliable… dropouts, bugs, unwanted gaps between ‘tracks’ etc?
how does Roon display works streamed from qobuz? In the main window? Separate from my local files?
can they be sorted shows by Album/Performer etc as with FLAC files I own and which are stored in ~/Music… etc
Thanks in advance for any help and guidance anyone can give with using qobuz and Roon!
I’ve never had a problem using Qobuz and Roon (using both together for over a year). Qobuz integrates seamlessly into roon—I don’t notice a difference between what I"ve ripped to my HD and when I’m streaming from roon.
As long as you don’t attempt to use wireless for the Roon server part you should have no trouble with Qobuz. Qobuz albums are added to your Roon library and can be sorted and viewed the same as local files. You can add albums from Qobuz via Roon they sync back to show in your favourited albums in Qobuz app.
Thanks, @Jeff_Z; your re-assurance much appreciated!
In a way that’s what worries me - puzzles is perhaps a better way of putting it
How do I distinguish between what I own (because I have bought and downloaded a FLAC file and it is permanently in my iMac’s music library) and what I cannot - so to put it - expect to be there next time I launch Roon and/or if my Internet connection were to fail (because I’m streaming it from the Qobuz servers)?
Are Qobuz works in a separate tab or something similar?
But isn’t such total integration confusing: after all I own the FLAC files which I’ve bought and saved onto my local hard drive. Qobuz streams are temporary.
Please forgive me if I’m labouring the point… not yet tried it out.
Perhaps there’s an FAQ, video or screengrab which shows me how I manage Qobuz streams and saved files differently in Roon: I did look, but couldn’t see such an illustrative document - honestly
‘1. is the combination reliable… dropouts, bugs, unwanted gaps between ‘tracks’ etc?
2. how does Roon display works streamed from qobuz? In the main window? Separate from my local files?
3. can they be sorted shows by Album/Performer etc as with FLAC files I own and which are stored in ~/Music… etc’
depends largely on your internet and local network. For me, it’s been 100% reliable for 2 years+.
Qobuz albums have a little Q icon on them to distinguish. It’s easy to tell, otherwise they appear along side your local albums.
Yes, sorting works almost exactly the same. I say almost as I’m sure someone has found something that doesn’t quite sort or filter the same on Qobuz content…but it’s been a non-issue for my use.
Start the trial, you’ll learn so much more and more quickly than trying to imagine it.
Roon puts a Qobuz icon on Qobuz albums. You can also use ‘focus’ to see only Qobuz albums or only albums in your local library. Otherwise, they both work the same and the integration is mostly transparent.
I can only get a maximum of 30 Mb/s with AT&T U-verse. Is that enough, would you say? I have never had problems with either PrimePhonic or Apple Music.
… a little Q icon…
I am obviously confused. Sorry. Isn’t Qobuz a streaming service, which means I never actually own any file? Would any ‘Album’ streamed from/on Qobuz which I see in Roon not disappear and become unavailable once I am no longer connected to Qobuz and/or if I discontinued my membership etc?
I’m obviously not sure how the (Qobuz) streaming model works (with Roon): don’t (Classical) albums which I stream using Qobuz remain the property of Qobuz as far as copyright goes… they can’t reside in my local Roon Library, can they?
Hi Mark, the Qobuz streaming service is effectively a “loan.” Your ability to stream the music is dependent on paying a subscription, when the subscription is terminated access to the music ends.
You don’t download any music files to your local storage, effectively, when you add Qobuz albums to Roon you are storing hyperlinks to the music held on remote servers.
The benefits are a massive collection to choose from and should you require a permanent copy you could purchase a copy to download from Qobuz or any other source (Software or Hardware).
A free trial is certainly the best way to familiarise yourself with the concept and method of working.
Good luck in your voyage of discovery.
the only thing that doesnt integrate very well is qobuz playlists i.e. their own curated lists - which are much easier to browse in the native qobuz app. in some cases some qobuz playlists arent even visible within roon
1 Like
SukieInTheGraveyard
(This one time, at Bandcamp... I spent too much money!)
14
The Roon Library is an indexing system that draws from a different sources. These include locally stored music and Qobuz or Tidal (dependant upon which services you pay for). Nothing resides in your Library per se.
One of the things that makes Roon unique is the deep integration between locally stored file and streaming services.
30Mb/s is plenty of bandwidth, however bandwidth is rarely the issue with network connections. Its latency and dropped packets. The Internet service providers like us all to think more bandwidth is better, and sometimes it is, but what we really should be asking for and demanding is low latency, low jitter and low drops, not more capacity.
It is this very latency and drops that cause Wifi to be less stable than wired Ethernet.
Qobuz has several choices. The streaming service and the option to purchase. When you stream, you don’t own it of course, it’s more of a rental as long as you pay your subscription fees. However, they also allow a plan with discounted purchase ability. These you do own and become part of your local library once downloaded.
Qobuz integrates into Roon as album and track ‘pointers’ like hyperlinks. They are there alongside your other digital files you own but yes will ‘disappear’ if you discontinue Qobuz or Qobuz licensing causes them to be removed in your country, etc.
So every time I selected an Album from within Roon, Roon then goes off to the Qobuz servers and makes it available to me as if it were on my local hard drive?
If that’s the case, does Roon also have to adjust its own (internal) database etc eventually to exclude anything which becomes unavailable if/when I am no longer subscribed to Qobuz?
If I’m understanding correctly, does that also mean that music really ‘on’ Qobuz which appears to be ‘in’ my Roon library could eventually play more slowly because it is subject to how well my internet connection is performing?
Your and other posters’ here replies have really cleared this up for me.
How can I determine how frequent low latency, jitter and drops are occurring, please? Is there any Mac software to reveal that?
Originally I was leaning towards their Studio Premier. Perhaps I should look at Sublime. Does that tend to be cheaper than Presto Classical, which I use now?
Keep in mind that testing, for example, Qobuz.com won’t be testing there correct destination. Most content providers deliver data via content-delivery networks (CDN) so finding the true address to test comes from the logs in Roon. Just something to keep in mind if you experience issues. Of course, you can test google.com or whatever you wish to confirm your ISP connection quality in general and over time.
