Qobuz Connect finally released

[sam1000]

Thanks to this thread, I decided to try Qobuz Connect—and the results were surprising. While this is, of course, subjective, I used the same DAC (TAD D1000mk2) and found the output noticeably more dynamic and clear, with a wider soundstage and even more precise imaging.

I tested it with two different streamers: a Chromecast Audio using wifi(via optical) and a Zenith Mk3 with Ethernet (via USB). The Chromecast struggled with hi-res recordings but performed very well with CD-quality streams. The Zenith, on the other hand, had trouble with CD-quality playback. Although they claim this issue has been fixed, I still couldn’t get non-hi-res tracks to play on the Zenith—even after a firmware upgrade.

I really hope Devialet adds Qobuz Connect support to the Expert line. In the meantime, WiiM or something similar might be a solid alternative for streaming.

(P.S. I'm a lifetime Roon subscriber and have a sonicTransporter i7 as Roon core, but I don’t think I’ll be using it to stream Qobuz anymore. In 2ch I was already using sense app from Innuos. It’s odd, given that both platforms deliver bit-perfect streams, but the perceived difference was too good to my ears.)