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A very enjoyable column in the September issue.
I am a big fan of Qobuz and have been subscribing to this streaming service since last September. While I mostly agree with what Michael says -- lossless streaming is the way forward -- our experience differs in one important respect. In my system, the SQ of Qobuz streaming is behind that of the same downloaded files. The difference may not be night and day, but significant enough so that I mostly listen to downloads, and keep buying the music I like, even if it is available on Qobuz streaming.
This must be temporary, and maybe I am missing some key tweaks to improve streaming SQ on my laptop, but this is were I am now: Qobuz streaming for exploring new music and easy listening, downloads for serious listening.
System: dedicated Lenovo laptop, W7 'optimised for audio', jPlay; connected through USB to m2tech Vaughan DAC, etc.
Follow Ups:
Not saying Air Play provides the same Lossless FLAC quality I can get with a direct connections to the USB DAC, but I haven't done the A:B testing between Air Play and the 5 meter USB cable I've been using to get QOBUZ into the Marantz NA7004 in my main system.
But still a happy day considering all of the trouble I went to to get an Ethernet connection up to my listening room so I could use the NA7004 as it was intended.
May not have to figure out how to master the Logitech Squeezebox Touch and all of its associated operating systems and dowloads after all! =:-0
16/44.1 streaming is not as good as the same file played from the hard-drive. Not by a huge margin but audible.
and additionally, not quite as 'good' as the same music played directly from a CD.
But, in my case much different equipment, different DAC, etc.
That said, with a decent USB powered DAC and decent headphones (HD600), streaming QOBUZ can be made to sound quite decent.
How decent? Decent enough to CLEARLY distinguish an average quality recording from one along the lines of the above.
... in the absence of a "perfect DAC". And that, the absence, is something you can certainly count on.
Totally different kinds of background system activity are involved, when playing local rips and streaming live from the Internet, even though of course part of the track is buffered. Which, in turn, means that sound quality is affected differently.
In my own tests, which I posted about before, file pulled from local SATA drive sounds better than the same one pulled from network drive, even though the network adapter and protocols are enabled in both cases. From my understanding of the processes involved with streaming, I would have to guess the sound quality in that case would have to be the worst of three.
I can report the same experience on a system running a squeezebox server and squeezelite on a headless alix PC into a es9023 dac. The local rip sounds audibly (though only marginally) better than the equivalent Qobuz stream.
Giulio
If I purchased a Squeezebox Touch, are you saying it would be 'easy' (key word) for me to stream QOBUZ lossless FLAC into my system?
Currently limited to streaming to laptop then USB to DAC in system.
For some reason, Apple AirPlay is not working with QOBUZ app from my MacBook Air. Can AirPlay Spotify, so it's not hardware.
Yes,
it is just a matter of installing the Qobuz plugin and enter your Qobuz credentials in Settings
The computer or the Squeezebox?
Where do you get the "Qobuz plugin"?
From Qobuz or Logitech?
Qobuz plugin installs on LMS. The plugin is part of "Other 3rd party plugins". You have to tick "Show all 3rd party plugins" to see it.
Link to thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?97146-Qobuz-com-streaming-plugin
System:
Readynas Ultra 2 Plus - LMS 7.8 with BrutefirDRC 4.1 - squeezelite or JRiver MC19 with Stello U3 - filter from Audiolense 4.9XO - Devialet D-Premier - KEF Q300 (redesigned filter)
Might just spring for that used Squeezebox Touch after all!
Streaming music services will be the death of much of the music business as we know it, if it becomes the dominant music delivery modality. To the degree that streaming displaces optical media and downloads (ownership of a personal copy of the music vs. pay for play), it reduces the label income stream from the more highly margin media sales.In order to get content to stream, streaming services yielded to the major label (read pop music interests) pressure to commission on a flat scale. That scale is a few pennies per play, which works out great for those with a hit recording. The problem is it's the same commission scale for all content, including more costly to produce lower play classical music, especially from smaller specialty labels.
Be careful what you wish for.
Edits: 08/16/14
Sorry, duplicate post.
Edits: 08/16/14 08/16/14
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