My guess is that there are at least three different Qobuz end-point apps.
Yes, that's what I said: Windows, iOS, Android. Details here.
... Writing a Qobuz app to run on each DAC makes sense ...
The software is in the streamer, not the DAC.
Qobuz Connect
I was enthusiastic about Qobuz connect when it became available. I have been using Qobuz with Roon and liked it, but Qobuz connect would offer a simpler, more direct connection.
However, I find that Qobuz connect intermittently will stop in a tract mid-stream, provide a notice that it cannot connect to that tract and move on to the next one. I have had this problem with several different high end streamer/dac/preamp setups on several different networks, including in a high end dealer store. The experts there, who are top notch, think that it it is perhaps that Qobuz connect is new and they have not worked out the bugs yet. There have been several updates, but the problem persists.
Anybody else have this problem? Has Qobuz commented on it?
Thanks everybody!
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No, you said "its own app" when there are multiple implementations. You and Qobuz imply there is a single app. I am trying to find reasons why people might hear differences, and having multiple implementations allows the possibility of different bugs in each implementation! When I said "Writing a Qobuz app to run on each DAC makes sense" it was because it gives TCP a chance to deliver bit-perfect transfers to the device that does the final digital to analog conversion. (TCP does not stand a chance if network congestion or dropouts exceed local buffer capacity) Delivering to a streamer which then has to communicate digital to an external DAC creates more opportunities to introduce uncorrected digital errors. For example, I2S does not have any error detection or correction ability. There is no guarantee the DAC receives the original digital. USB has a special mode for streaming which has no error correction. Forgive me for not trusting Qobuz but their website states
This is a gross oversimplification as anyone familiar with Fourier analysis can attest. Arbitrary repeating waveforms can be represented by the sum of an infinite series of sine waves, being the odd harmonics of the fundamental. |
I got an email from Qobuz support today. A real person, not a bot. The company is aware of the issue with QC and will address it coming updates. As noted, it is fairly complicated as QC must be addressed and shown to work reliably on each streamer/DAC. As misstl noted, an advantage to QC connect is that you can use it with endpoints anywhere. Roon ARC is supposed to do this, but I have not been able to get it to work reliably. Qobuz limits streaming to AC, while Roon allows multiple sources and saved music. It is difficult for one service to provide eveything one might want. That being said, Qobuz is a good company, best there is for streaming classical music. I look forward to it being more reliable. |
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