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In Reply to: RE: Paging Ivan 303, Maxim, Loan Arranger posted by PAR on July 01, 2017 at 00:19:34
I too had noticed the English capability only recently. This let me shift from the browser player version to the desk top Qobuz player. I have to say that using the Chrome translator in the browser produced just as good results or better as some of the playlist are still in German.
My bigger concern with Sublime+ is that, at least in Classical, A large percentage of the albums shown as Hi-Rez do not play in the player higher than 16/44.1 and a few at MP3! I have a Favorites list of over 100 albums, thirty percent of which demonstrate the problem. Of the current Discover list of 12 Albums, 9 are designated as Hi-Rez but only one plays above 16/44.1.
I have been in touch with Qobuz but after sending them a play list with about 20 examples, the line has gone dead. Its been two weeks now. This is not what I signed up for for US$400. Has any one canelled and gotten a prorata refund?
Follow Ups:
OK. I have had exactly the same problem but it may depend on how you have configured the player.
You need to set the output audio device in the desktop player ( that little graphic in the play bar that looks like a TV set with a vertical arrow) to WASAPI exclusive mode for your DAC . I am assumng that you are a Windows user - if not then I am out of ammunition.
Try it and let me know . If it doesn't work we can try to progress from there. I have gone from zero success with playing hi-rez via my DAC to 100% success at all streaming rates.
Of course you also need to set " Music Playing" in your account settings to 24/192.
Thanks for the response and yes I am running Windows 10. I checked and I have both settings you mentioned correctly set.
The problem I have posted about seems to be somewhat related to the company label. For example almost all albums from Naxos and Chandos that I have played in Hi-Rez on the old Classics Online site, are available on Qobuz but only play at 16/44.1. Also some of the DG albums flash a message that the Owner has not given permission! They play at MP3!
Do they also only play the first 30 sec of each track? If so, those albums are not available for streaming on QOBUZ but only for sale as downloads.
That's one of the issues with QOBUZ. Some music really isn't available for streaming and it varies with country depending on licensing (I'm streaming in France, kind of). That said, there seems to be fewer and fewer of these of late. At least for us 'French' folks.
All the albums I have problems with will play the whole thing, not just a sample.
Try going to Classical and the to Discovery and see if you can play thr Hi-Rez albums at the true rate.
By the blue picture of the CD/MP3 at the bottom of the screen?
I have no other way to know what QOBUZ is really sending.
I can only see what Apple Core Audio is sending to my DAC (says 44.1 but who really knows?).
Yes, the indicator on the player bar shows Hi-Rez through MP3. also my DAC reads out the sample rate that verifies the same as the player.
As Ivan says some repertoire is restricted for streaming. This affects only a small percentage of tracks available on Qobuz+ and may be a temporary situation only during the recording's new release period although all of some record company's repertoire is permanently so restricted e.g. Channel Classics.
This is because Qobuz, unlike most streaming services, offers not only streaming but also sales. So a record label may be happy to allow MP3 samples to encourage sales but not see any economic advantage to them from streaming. Sublime+ has introduced a further form of restriction where a full hi-rez download may be purchased but streaming is limited to redbook.
Much of the repertoire that is currently restricted from Chandos and Naxos will in all likelihood become available for streaming at full resolution after a period once it becomes back catalogue in their eyes.
So, when the logo on Qobuz says " available in hi-rez" it is correct but that availabilty may occasionally mean sales only.
As Ivan also points out the number of tracks so restricted has diminished recently and now only a limited range are so affected. You must have been unlucky in your choice. Out of over 70,000 albums available in hi-rez we are probably talking of a couple of hundred only (if that).
If you would like to, post or send me via a PM a sample list of what you are having problems with and I can verify if the same applies to me and the UK service.
used to be only 30 seconds but now we get 45 seconds at mp3.
If the OP is getting the whole album at MP3, something else is going on and I have NO idea what?
I think that we need to wait to see if the OP gives a list of albums with which he is experiencing trouble. You and I spend our time with the classical genre albums but perhaps the OP has experience of other genres where the restrictions that the record company may place upon streaming are different to the ones we are used to.
Aside from commercial/copyright restrictions which may occur from time to time there is also the possibilty in some cases that the record company has supplied the wrong file in error. All the documentation says it is e.g. 24/96 but in fact the file is 16/44.1 or even MP3. Can such cock ups occur? I suspect so.
OK. Here is a playlist of about 20 albums that demo the resolution mis-characterization of which I am having a problem. Hopefully all of you can tap into it and see for yourself what I am talking about. As I come across others, I add them to the playlist so it will continue to grow.
Go to:
http://open.qobuz.com/playlist/1476036
I have sent the list to Qobuz customer service in both the German and French services. Maybe PAR can do the same to get a response from the UK service.
Another demonstration of the lack of availability of Hi-Rez classical albums is to do a simple search for the composer Copland. The results appear to be an endless choice of albums, however, only three show up, near the top of the selection,in Hi-Rez and of those, only one is in the higher resolution advertised.
Do another search, this time for Mahler. The results are somewhat better but not up to advertised expectations: Of the first 18 albums 16 are shown as Hi-Rez but only 4 are 24 bit, 4 are MP3 and 4 are 16 bit. The two shown as 16 bit are of course in that resolution.
The best results come in a search for Mozart:Of the first 18 albums 17 are shown as Hi-Rez 16 are actually 24 bit, none are MP3 and 2 are 16 bit but but one alleges to be 16 bit. If all searches came out this good I would have no complaint. Maybe I tend to search for the wrong, less popular, composers.
I think that your basic problem is an unrealistic expectation.Sublime + is only 51 days old today. To expect all or most of the albums on offer to be available with 24 bit depth is frankly naive given the fact that Qobuz is not offering only brand new recordings but those available over the whole history of recording which have been digitised and commercially released. Very few, if any, recordings made using digital methods between approx 1973 and , say, 2000 or even later will ever be available in true 24 bit resolution as the technology was then not in use. Other analogue recordings that were digitised during that period may never be digitised again using hi-rez technology as they are of comparatively minority interest.
Furthermore there is the question of record company compliance in making hi-rez recordings available which I have covered in my earlier posts.
Right now you and I are early adopters of a hi-rez streaming service that already offers a greater magnitude of hi-rez recordings than any competitor. The number of hi-rez recordings available will increase substantially over the period of your subscription. By way of example when I joined Qobuz around 8 months ago the works of some of my favourite British composers were noticeable by their complete absence. Now, however, they may be represented by a great proportion of all the recordings made post the 78 era. Of course 100% is unlikely ever to be achieved.
Just accept, as an early adopter, that the repertoire available to you in hi-rez will grow and that, irrespective of hi-rez, the 16/44.1 files still sound great subject to the original recording (which, after all, trumps all).
I would add that when you say that recordings are not avialable in the format advertised this is incorrect. Nowhere does Qobuz state that any given recording is available for streaming in a particular format. They just say "available". Which they are as Qobuz is both a streaming and a download purchase ( BTW at a big discount) service.
Edits: 07/05/17 07/05/17
From the Qobus Sublime+ web site introduction: "Sublime+ offers access to more than 90% of the Qobuz Hi-Res catalogue of over 70 000 albums, but also to the rest of the Qobuz catalogue, i.e. 40 million tracks in 16-Bit FLAC quality (CD quality, lossless)."I guess my real gripe is with the statement that 90% of the total Hi-Rez catalog is accessible. That means, to me, for streaming. That is what their selling, a streaming service not a download sales catalog. In classical, for me, they do not come close to 90%. Maybe there is a chance of hitting 90% if you count all those albums mislabeled as 24 bit but really are not available for streaming at the advertised resolution.
"With Sublime+ you can choose the quality that's right for you at any time: with streaming and offline importing alike." Another quote form their pitch.
Edits: 07/05/17
" I guess my real gripe is with the statement that 90% of the total Hi-Rez catalog is accessible. That means, to me, for streaming. That is what their selling, a streaming service not a download sales catalog. "
That is your personal interpretation of what they are selling. This has led to your expectation but does not reflect their actual offer. The offer for Sublime + reads (copied and pasted from the UK home page):
" The best music subscription in the world: unlimited Hi-Res streaming, Hi-Res downloads at a special price".
Sublime+ and Sublime plain vanilla are not, and never have been, streaming only services. Incidentally newcomer Primephonic has a similar pitch.
BTW those special prices really are with albums costing, say, 12-14 gbp at other download sites being available from Qobuz to Sublime members at 8-9 gbp. Of course as the service is only currently available in the EU those prices include VAT at circa 20%.
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