02-Oct-2014, 23:46
I use Qobuz HiFi both with the Desktop player on a Mac through Ethernet AIR and via Sonos ZP90 aka Connect (albeit one that's been "breathed on" by Rick Cullen). I find myself listening to Qobuz about as often as my own locally-stored music.
The integration between Sonos and Qobuz is good, although it does inherit some of the quirkiness of the Desktop player. For example, it is counter-intuitive to me that favourite Albums, Artists, etc. are maintained independently from each other and that they don't seem to sort into alphabetical order (they seem to be presented in most-recently-added order). Perhaps I'm missing some clever options there, but I've got used to it now. Anyway, my point is that's how it seems to work both on the Desktop player and via Sonos, for better or worse. Also, I've never had any reliability problems, drop-outs etc. streaming Qobuz via Sonos - it just works.
As far as sound quality goes, as you'd expect there is no difference between playing Qobuz HiFi (16/44) or local CD rips through Sonos. I've also spent quite a bit of time comparing Qobuz Hifi streamed through Sonos versus the Desktop player through Ethernet AIR, and have just about convinced myself that AIR sounds marginally better. The convenience of using Sonos beats AIR hands down, though, and it's far more family-friendly, so it's what gets used for anything but really serious listening. I'm sure the difference in sound quality would be more obvious with a standard Sonos unit, although I've had no reason to try it.
Hope that's useful…if you have any specific questions, I'm happy to have a shot at them.
Ian
The integration between Sonos and Qobuz is good, although it does inherit some of the quirkiness of the Desktop player. For example, it is counter-intuitive to me that favourite Albums, Artists, etc. are maintained independently from each other and that they don't seem to sort into alphabetical order (they seem to be presented in most-recently-added order). Perhaps I'm missing some clever options there, but I've got used to it now. Anyway, my point is that's how it seems to work both on the Desktop player and via Sonos, for better or worse. Also, I've never had any reliability problems, drop-outs etc. streaming Qobuz via Sonos - it just works.
As far as sound quality goes, as you'd expect there is no difference between playing Qobuz HiFi (16/44) or local CD rips through Sonos. I've also spent quite a bit of time comparing Qobuz Hifi streamed through Sonos versus the Desktop player through Ethernet AIR, and have just about convinced myself that AIR sounds marginally better. The convenience of using Sonos beats AIR hands down, though, and it's far more family-friendly, so it's what gets used for anything but really serious listening. I'm sure the difference in sound quality would be more obvious with a standard Sonos unit, although I've had no reason to try it.
Hope that's useful…if you have any specific questions, I'm happy to have a shot at them.
Ian
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
