John Darko
And so it begins.
After three long years of software development, including the last 12 months in beta testing, Qobuz Connect is finally with us. The service is now available to use on any WiiM streaming device. This news comes not from a press release but from a YouTube commenter. Under our recent Musical Fidelity video, he wrote, “Hello John… Qobuz connect now working on WiiM Ultra since the last update from Qobuz app IOS and Android 😉 for info”.
How does Qobuz Connect work? Simple: fire up some music inside the Qobuz app on a smartphone or tablet, select the desired network endpoint – in my case, a WiiM Ultra – and watch as the smartphone or tablet hands off the stream to that network endpoint. Just like Spotify Connect. Just like Tidal Connect.
I picked up my Android smartphone and couldn’t (and still can’t) see the WiiM Ultra as anything other than a Google Cast endpoint. What gives? The Ultra had already self-updated to the latest firmware (5.2.715362). Perhaps the Australian Google Play store to which my Asus Zenfone 10 is tied is still serving an older version of the Qobuz app? At the time of writing, it’s sitting at v8.6.1.1.
However, my iPhone 13 Mini is tethered to the German iOS app store from which version 9.0.0 of the Qobuz app is installable. It sees the WiiM Ultra as a Qobuz Connect endpoint. Huzzah! A splash screen trumpeted Qobuz Connect’s fresh arrival in case I wasn’t sure.
I fired up System 7’s Live Transmissions 02 inside the Qobuz app, selected the WiiM Ultra as the destination endpoint and watched as the music moved from the iPhone 13 Mini to the WiiM Ultra. Unlike AirPlay, the music keeps playing if we turn off the iPhone or walk it out of range. That’s because the WiiM box is now pulling the stream directly from the cloud.
A 48kHz sample rate ceiling (96kHz on the Chromecast Audio) and a lack of gapless playback are why I don’t use Google Cast outside of SoundCloud and Mixcloud. Qobuz Connect puts these limitations to bed. Well, mostly.
Qobuz Connect works with all data rates up to 24bit/192kHz and, in my tests, showed itself to be gapless for nine out of every ten track transitions. Intra-track gaps popped up now and then – and at random – when listening to the aforementioned System 7 live album (16bit/44.1kHz) and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon (24bit/96kHz). I’m confident WiiM and Qobuz will squash this gapless bug in the coming weeks.
The French streaming service isn’t a big name in the mainstream, especially when sat next to Apple Music and Spotify, but it’s popular with hifi people, and all streaming hardware manufacturers should brace themselves for an onslaught of “Does it do Qobuz Connect?”-type enquiries. Let’s head some of those off at the pass with Qobuz’s latest list of Connect hardware partners:
“Aavik
Arcam
Atoll Electronique
Audiolab
Auralic
Aurender
Autonomic Controls
AVM Audio
Axxess
B Audio
Cary Audio
Convers Digital (mConnect)
Dan D’agostino
dCS
Denon
Dynaudio
Esoteric
Eversolo (Zidoo)
Focal
Gold Note
Hegel
Heos (Marantz, Denon…)
Inklang
Innuos
JBL Premium Audio
Kalista
Libre Wireless Technologies
Lindemann
Lumin
Luxman
Lyngdorf Audio
Marantz
McIntosh
Metronome
Moon
Nagra
Naim Audio
Octavio
Rose HiFi
Rotel
Ruark Audio
Shanling
Silent Angel
StreamUnlimited
Teac
Volumio
Wadax
Wattson Audio
Wiim”
However, only one of those partners – WiiM – offers a tvOS app that puts ‘now playing’ information on the TV via an Apple TV. See it in action with Qobuz Connect in the photo below.
Further information: Qobuz | WiiM
