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Qobuz - help!
#1
Hi All,

Played with Qobuz this weekend for the first time - excellent. 

Streamed via AIR3 and sounds pretty much the same as my NAS rips via AIR3 and Roon.

One problem - can you run it headless via iPad control on a MacMini?

I've tried it via VNC, and it works, but it is a rubbish experience and caused me to swear a lot.

Sorry if this is going over old ground but it would be great if someone has got this to work.

The iPad Qobuz app seems to only stream to the iPad which is taking the piss really.

The Qobuz catalogue is enormous, with lots of stuff I like and don't have in physical form - would be great to have the 'armchair' experience as well.

Many thanks

Kevin
Devialet 1000 Pro; Magico A5 loudspeakers; Metronome T3a Signature CD Transport; dCS Network Bridge; Kuzma M turntable; Kuzma 4Point14 tonearm; Koetsu Sky Blue; Benzmicro LPS; Audioquest Vodka Ethernet; Transparent Reference Digital RCA-RCA; Transparent Reference XL MM2 speaker cable; Transparent Reference mains cable; PS Audio P5 PowerPlant; Artesania and Finite Elemente equipment racks 
North Somerset, UK     
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#2
I'm interested in answers to that question, too, as I enjoy Qobuz and am in the process of switching my streaming to a headless Mac Mini.

At the moment what I think I'm going to do is use Audirvana+ which has built-in support for Qobuz, along with the A+ Remote app on an iPad. Based on a couple of hours casual fiddling around with an evaluation copy, A+ seems to play Qobuz pretty well and I find it easier to browse favourites using A+ (compared to Qobuz desktop). I haven't tried A+ Remote yet, though.
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
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#3
I'm interested in answers to that question too.
I bought an Auralic Aries bridge to stream Qobuz. Auralic has a very good app with Qobuz and Tidal intergrated.
Devialet Dione

Rotterdam, NL
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#4
(09-Jan-2017, 14:52)thumb5 Wrote: I'm interested in answers to that question, too, as I enjoy Qobuz and am in the process of switching my streaming to a headless Mac Mini.

At the moment what I think I'm going to do is use Audirvana+ which has built-in support for Qobuz, along with the A+ Remote app on an iPad.  Based on a couple of hours casual fiddling around with an evaluation copy, A+ seems to play Qobuz pretty well and I find it easier to browse favourites using A+ (compared to Qobuz desktop).  I haven't tried A+ Remote yet, though.

A+ Remote works very well. The only downside is that the GUI is not as nice as Qobuz desktop or A+ and the volume control is a bit small Wink
IMac macOS 10.15.3 (no link to Devialet Sad ) / MacBook Pro Retina OS X 10.14.4 / Linn LP12 / Devialet 200 Wilson Benesch Discovery. 
Qobuz Desktop Latest Version / Audirvana 3.2.18 / Audirvana Remote / iTunes 12.9 / AIR 3.0.4 / Wi-Fi / FW 8.1.0 / SAM 50%
Cambridge, UK (Updated 27th February, 2020)
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#5
I use A+ on a Macbook Air, this is like an iPad with a keyboard. It doesn't need to be a new Air, mine is 4 years old and it works pretty decently.

When Devialet releases their OS card for the Pro later this year, we may have other options to play Qobuz from an iPad.
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#6
Yes, it would be great if the new streamer board integrated support for Qobuz. Not beyond reasonable expectation that it might happen, I'd say.
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
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#7
(09-Jan-2017, 21:05)thumb5 Wrote: Yes, it would be great if the new streamer board integrated support for Qobuz.  Not beyond reasonable expectation that it might happen, I'd say.

I actually think that might be the best part of the new streamer board. No doubt this will be controlled through the Spark interface via an iDevice.

Not at all surprised re Roon and MQA, actually I think there is a better chance of MQA integration (given Tidal link) but IMO that won't happen in 2017.

Guillaume
Industry disclosure: UK distributor for Shunyata Research

220 PRO, totaldac d1 server with additional external power supply, totaldac d1-seven, Echole PSU for Totaldac, Wilson Audio Sasha 2, Shunyata Research cables, Shunyata Hydra Alpha A10 + DPC-6 v3, Various Entreq ground boxes and cables, Entreq Athena level 3 rack, 2 X SOtM sNH-10G with sCLK-EX + 10MHz Master Clock input + sPS-500 PSU, i5 sonicTransporter w/ 1TB SSD

UK
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#8
Dear All,

Thanks for the feedback - very helpful indeed.

I tried Qobuz via Audirvana+ and the A+ iPad remote last night. A breeze to set up and completely stable via Air3 on the MacMini.

Not quite Roon level of user experience via the iPad but nonetheless I thought it was excellent - can browse the whole Qobuz library very easily and the time from selection of album to good sounds is no more than a few seconds. It is a different experience to Roon/NAS i.e. with Roon you are limited to the albums on your NAS (~ 500 in my case) whereas with Qobuz it is virtually limitless - great fun browsing. Even with 500 albums on my NAS I still get bored!

Soundwise I found it very interesting. It is tonally lighter than Roon (or Roon is a wee bit richer) but significantly more detailed (decay etc) at the top end. I would say a tad drier in the mid. With some streams I found it a bit sharp - glare is probably the right word. Is this due to better transparency of A+ or is A+ doing some processing I don't like??

The thing is that when I played the same streams via the Qobuz player straight from the Mac (no A+) it was more like Roon - richer. 

Mmmm....

I'll persevere as the thought of controlling (virtually) the whole musical universe from your iPad whilst sitting on your arse is too good a prospect to give up on!

The new streamer board is getting more interesting by the minute.

Kevin
Devialet 1000 Pro; Magico A5 loudspeakers; Metronome T3a Signature CD Transport; dCS Network Bridge; Kuzma M turntable; Kuzma 4Point14 tonearm; Koetsu Sky Blue; Benzmicro LPS; Audioquest Vodka Ethernet; Transparent Reference Digital RCA-RCA; Transparent Reference XL MM2 speaker cable; Transparent Reference mains cable; PS Audio P5 PowerPlant; Artesania and Finite Elemente equipment racks 
North Somerset, UK     
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#9
(10-Jan-2017, 12:20)KIBM Wrote: ...

Soundwise I found it very interesting. It is tonally lighter than Roon (or Roon is a wee bit richer) but significantly more detailed (decay etc) at the top end. I would say a tad drier in the mid. With some streams I found it a bit sharp - glare is probably the right word. Is this due to better transparency of A+ or is A+ doing some processing I don't like??

The thing is that when I played the same streams via the Qobuz player straight from the Mac (no A+) it was more like Roon - richer. 

Mmmm....

I agree with your comments about A+ sounding a bit sharp when streaming Quobuz and usually use Qobuz Desktop instead - even though that means I lose A+ Remote functionality.

However, in my system I prefer A+ to iTunes for playback of local rips...
IMac macOS 10.15.3 (no link to Devialet Sad ) / MacBook Pro Retina OS X 10.14.4 / Linn LP12 / Devialet 200 Wilson Benesch Discovery. 
Qobuz Desktop Latest Version / Audirvana 3.2.18 / Audirvana Remote / iTunes 12.9 / AIR 3.0.4 / Wi-Fi / FW 8.1.0 / SAM 50%
Cambridge, UK (Updated 27th February, 2020)
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#10
(10-Jan-2017, 22:11)PhilP Wrote:
(10-Jan-2017, 12:20)KIBM Wrote: ...

Soundwise I found it very interesting. It is tonally lighter than Roon (or Roon is a wee bit richer) but significantly more detailed (decay etc) at the top end. I would say a tad drier in the mid. With some streams I found it a bit sharp - glare is probably the right word. Is this due to better transparency of A+ or is A+ doing some processing I don't like??

The thing is that when I played the same streams via the Qobuz player straight from the Mac (no A+) it was more like Roon - richer. 

Mmmm....

I agree with your comments about A+ sounding a bit sharp when streaming Quobuz and usually use Qobuz Desktop instead - even though that means I lose A+ Remote functionality.

However, in my system I prefer A+ to iTunes for playback of local rips...

Phil - agree that it might appear to be an A+/Qobuz thing as Qobuz desktop is much more like Roon in my system.

Incidentally, I tried Tidal/Roon last night - very good indeed and not far off Roon/NAS for quality. Like Qobuz it is unbeatable for sheer quantity and diversity of material. Very impressed. Tidal might even be better than Qobuz for my musical tastes (rock, pop, jazz, electronic).

Anyone want to buy a CD Transport  Smile

K
Devialet 1000 Pro; Magico A5 loudspeakers; Metronome T3a Signature CD Transport; dCS Network Bridge; Kuzma M turntable; Kuzma 4Point14 tonearm; Koetsu Sky Blue; Benzmicro LPS; Audioquest Vodka Ethernet; Transparent Reference Digital RCA-RCA; Transparent Reference XL MM2 speaker cable; Transparent Reference mains cable; PS Audio P5 PowerPlant; Artesania and Finite Elemente equipment racks 
North Somerset, UK     
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