
#Qobuz us launch portable#
As well as streaming files, Qobuz also offers subscribers the option to buy Hi-Res downloads that can be played and stored on a server or computer at home, or on a portable DAP (digital audio player) when out and about. Six months ago, Qobuz, a French music streaming service launched in the USA, offering 24-bit FLAC music files with a resolution that’s even higher than CD quality and a format that can shine when played on high-end audio gear. It’s still a niche market at the moment, but there’s no question that high-quality streaming is taking off as the market and availability of physical media melts away with CD sales slumping, or being partly displaced by the recent vinyl revival. Increasingly, support for these streaming services is also being baked-in directly to audio equipment such as digital music streamers.

#Qobuz us launch mac#
Both services offer high audio quality on various platforms, including Mac OS, PC, iOS and Android. "They are much more interested in price, convenience, depth of catalog, user experience, and compatibility with platforms and devices including smartphones, car players, exercise equipment, and smart speakers.Currently, the leader of the pack in terms of high-quality streaming is TIDAL, followed by Deezer. consumers have not responded to sound quality as a selling point for streaming services," Verna said. Pandora's audience is expected to remain stable over the next four years, while Spotify is expected to grow to nearly 77 million, forecasts eMarketer.Ī survey of music app users released in October found about one-third had in the past month listened to Pandora (32 percent), followed by Spotify (used by 25 percent), Apple Music (21 percent), Google Play (16 percent) and iHeartRadio (14 percent), according to eMarketer. The market leaders, Pandora and Spotify, in 2018 had about 76 million listeners and 58.4 million listeners, respectively, according to eMarketer. (The more bits and higher sampling rate should result in richer sound.)īut high-res music hasn't helped Tidal, acquired by Jay Z and relaunched in 2015, make "a serious dent in the U.S.," said Paul Verna, principal analyst at eMarketer. That is roughly 29 times the quality of MP3 and better than CDs, which are mastered at 16-bit/44.1 kHz. Qobuz's high resolution library – albums include Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour," Drake's "Scorpion," Greta Van Fleet's "Anthem of the Peaceful Army," and the entire Led Zeppelin collection – are mastered at up to 24-bit/192 kHz quality.

The high-res music "is absolutely top-shelf to my ears," he said. if not superior, and may ultimately prove more intuitive to navigate as time rolls on," he told USA TODAY. And its sound is "decidedly comparable to Tidal. testing phase for audio-video news site Sound & Vision, found the service's site and app easy to navigate. Music journalist Mike Mettler, who reviewed Qobuz during its closed U.S. "What we are known for is this human hard-core music fan touch," he said. Qobuz also has plenty of music content including original reviews, artist biographies, feature stories and curated playlists. The Sublime subscription gives you a discount on high-res downloads, so if you plan to buy many, it's worth considering. The most popular subscriptions for those services run about $10 Tidal's high fidelity tier with uncompressed CD-quality music is $19.99 monthly.Ī hybrid service, Qobuz also sells music downloads in CD and better-than-CD quality to subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Other players: Amazon Music Unlimited (more than 50 million), Apple Music (more than 50 million), Deezer (53 million) and Tidal (60 million).

That's comparable to the libraries of leaders Spotify (40 million) and Pandora (40 million). Qobuz's library is made up of about 40 million CD-quality tracks and millions of high-res tracks.

Qobuz, pronounced "ko-buzz," has two subscription tiers with higher-resolution music: a Hi-Fi offering ($19.99 monthly, $199.99 a year) for CD-quality streaming, and Studio ($24.99 monthly, $249.99 annually) for better-than-CD, studio quality sound and discounts of 40-60 percent on purchased high-res downloads. The service's biggest selling point: music streamed at a higher quality than industry leaders such as Spotify and Pandora. Qobuz, a subscription service originally launched in 2008 in France, is officially available now in the U.S. There's a new music streaming service – with an unusual name – sounding off online.
