QOBUZ app not working on Macbook

[Ein Heldenleben]

When you installed the Qobuz app, did it go through the usual installation sequence. Like "where do you want to install this?", that sort of thing ?

Can I also please ask...you have rebooted your MacBook ?

Yes rebooted . I dragged the Qubuz icon into the app folder as prompted. Then dragged the app from folder onto tool bar as I’ve done plenty of times before
I’ve run etrecheck - no major issues (other than an out of date flash player ) and nothing which refers to Qubuz even though I put that in prompt issue box . The only safari extension is avast as I thought

[Anastasius]

Well, the only difference between our two machines (apart from the h/w but that really shouldn't throw up any issues ) is Avast. Any chance you could uninstall it ? For what it's worth, I put more faith in Apple's security regimes than any third-party anti-virus snakeoil.

Also run Qobuz from the application folder ....just trying to minimise possible areas of further interest.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Well, the only difference between our two machines (apart from the h/w but that really shouldn't throw up any issues ) is Avast. Any chance you could uninstall it ? For what it's worth, I put more faith in Apple's security regimes than any third-party anti-virus snakeoil.

Also run Qobuz from the application folder ....just trying to minimise possible areas of further interest.

Done both - still no joy ! Thanks for your help

[DublinJimbo]

[… replying to my comment that the desktop version is actually a browser app (optimised for Google Chrome)] Really ? Any evidence to support that statement ? Qobuz is a .dmg file. Nothing at all to being a 'browser app'.

I apologise for trying to be helpful.

Yes, downloading from the Qobuz site results in a .dmg file, but that's just a disk image. When double-clicked it mounts and opens the disk, revealing the contents — Qobuz.app and an alias to the user's Applications folder.

My 'evidence' that Qobuz.app is a browser app is that its appearance is identical to what loads in a browser when you use their 'web player'. Qobuz themselves list the web player under 'Other Qobuz apps' on their download page (that's the Irish version, since that's where I'm based), and that's where they state that it is optimised for Chrome.

[Anastasius]

.....
My 'evidence' that Qobuz.app is a browser app is that its appearance is identical to what loads in a browser when you use their 'web player'. Qobuz themselves list the web player under 'Other Qobuz apps' on their download page (that's the Irish version, since that's where I'm based), and that's where they state that it is optimised for Chrome.

Correct. The 'look and feel' of the Qobuz app is similar to the Qobuz web player in a browser. That's all one can say. It's not a browser app. You can't Google with it, for example.

The fact that the Qobuz web player is optimised for Chrome is irrelevant as far as the Qobuz app is concerned.

Moving on....any suggestions as what might be causing Heldenleben's problem ?

[Anastasius]

Done both - still no joy ! Thanks for your help

So, just to recap (and we're just focussing on the Qobuz app)...

You've re-downloaded it and re-installed it. Two separate actions, note.

You've not got any extraneous stuff installed from other programs.

You've uninstalled Avast.

I'm fresh out of ideas, I'm afraid. I've got a question out to Qobuz support ...we shall have to see what they say. Googling is of little help.

You could re-install OSX but I think we're clutching at straws.

My advice remains the same. Download a trial of Audirvana and use it as the interface to Qobuz.

[Ein Heldenleben]

So, just to recap (and we're just focussing on the Qobuz app)...

You've re-downloaded it and re-installed it. Two separate actions, note.

You've not got any extraneous stuff installed from other programs.

You've uninstalled Avast.

I'm fresh out of ideas, I'm afraid. I've got a question out to Qobuz support ...we shall have to see what they say. Googling is of little help.

You could re-install OSX but I think we're clutching at straws.

My advice remains the same. Download a trial of Audirvana and use it as the interface to Qobuz.

Thanks very much for all your help. I’ve downloaded it 4 times through differing browsers . I’m going to try downloading the app on my iMac and see if the same problem arises . I only put the message out because I thought the original error message “internet connection failed etc” was so specific that some one else might have come across it. I’m also waiting for the Qubuz response and will let you know what they say. I suspect they’ll just suggest everything you have ! I would be interesting in knowing when you listen to an opera (which is banded into segments ) on Qubuz through Audirvana are there any audible breaks between the bands? That’s the problem I am trying to get round.

[Anastasius]

Audirvana works perfectly and without gaps. Just double-checked. If you look down the bottom of the screen there is a long horizontal 'time bar'....bit like that on the browser version of Qobuz. Only it has two concurrent elements. One is the current time within the track but the one that does the heavy-lifting is zooming ahead and downloading the track and/or next track into a buffer so that there is no gap. You can visibly see it happening.

Now the caveat. This is on Catalina. I can't easily run it on my 10.11 system as their licensing restricts this. Rather unfortunate given our circumstances. ie me trying to help you. But you can download it as a free trial and check on your system.

What version of OS X is your iMac ?

Just going back to 'gapless playback'...I do recall giving up trying to find out prior to purchase of a CD/radio type device for the kitchen. No matter which company I asked, the question whether gapless playback was present was met with blank stares.

[Anastasius]

I've been meaning to ask. At what point in the login process do you get that error message ? Before you enter your login details ? When you hit Enter (or return etc) after entering the login details ?

[Ein Heldenleben]

I've been meaning to ask. At what point in the login process do you get that error message ? Before you enter your login details ? When you hit Enter (or return etc) after entering the login details ?

I’m on 10.11.6 - I might give the free trial a go. To be honest I can’t tell the difference between streaming on my iPad ( quite a recent one ) and the MacBook Air so I might just stick using the iPad . Only prob is I use that for all sorts of other things and I don’t like having cables attached to it. To be honest the stream from my iPhone 5s wasn’t bad ...

The error message appears when you hit return on the password .

Qubuz are on the case - they want my iPad address for some reason...quite impressed with their consumer care particularly as I’m in the free trial period and in a fit of frustration on Sunday cancelled the sub ...now I’ll have to uncancel as I’ve mentally saved a fortune in not buying CDs.
I got the sub because I’d been listening to a lot of choral music on Amazon Prime music and the quantising errors were appalling- I wonder whether they actively downgrade the stream on the sly. In comparison the R3 sounds stream was superb . Streaming particularly video is a bit of a con if the public did but know it . You wouldn’t believe what Netflix and Amazon get up to...

I still think R3 FM is better quality ...

[Anastasius]

I can't disagree with any of those statements re streaming. I also have a love/hate relationship with today's all digital TVs. You can see the poor old CPU ...even on a top-end machine ..struggling to keep all the bits in the right place and at the right time. Close-up of a face, you can see the pores but as the actor moves their head, the face defocusses ever, ever so slightly and then when they stop moving, the hi-definition resolves itself before your very eyes.

As you say video streaming can also get mixed up. Watching "Under The Skin" recently, there was a shot of the sea with a lot of turbulence. The poor old codecs were having a heck of a time trying to keep up. Most unnatural. Analogue for me, every time. Especially FM.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I can't disagree with any of those statements re streaming. I also have a love/hate relationship with today's all digital TVs. You can see the poor old CPU ...even on a top-end machine ..struggling to keep all the bits in the right place and at the right time. Close-up of a face, you can see the pores but as the actor moves their head, the face defocusses ever, ever so slightly and then when they stop moving, the hi-definition resolves itself before your very eyes.

As you say video streaming can also get mixed up. Watching "Under The Skin" recently, there was a shot of the sea with a lot of turbulence. The poor old codecs were having a heck of a time trying to keep up. Most unnatural. Analogue for me, every time. Especially FM.

Have you noticed on a Netflix / Amazon stream how the picture starts with lots of pixelation and then gradually improves to something like sd plus . I’m told that the programme that does that , to ensure that their servers don’t crash when millions are watching the Crown , was sold by Netfilx to Amazon for a sum so vast that it beggars comprehension.

[jayne lee wilson]

I’m on 10.11.6 - I might give the free trial a go. To be honest I can’t tell the difference between streaming on my iPad ( quite a recent one ) and the MacBook Air so I might just stick using the iPad . Only prob is I use that for all sorts of other things and I don’t like having cables attached to it. To be honest the stream from my iPhone 5s wasn’t bad ...

The error message appears when you hit return on the password .

Qubuz are on the case - they want my iPad address for some reason...quite impressed with their consumer care particularly as I’m in the free trial period and in a fit of frustration on Sunday cancelled the sub ...now I’ll have to uncancel as I’ve mentally saved a fortune in not buying CDs.
I got the sub because I’d been listening to a lot of choral music on Amazon Prime music and the quantising errors were appalling- I wonder whether they actively downgrade the stream on the sly. In comparison the R3 sounds stream was superb . Streaming particularly video is a bit of a con if the public did but know it . You wouldn’t believe what Netflix and Amazon get up to...

I still think R3 FM is better quality ...

Amazon's standard or Prime music services are lossy of course, with a top bitrate of only 256 kbps mp3 last I checked, so no wonder Radio 3 320kbps AAC or FM sounds better. IIRC, FM can be broadly equivalent to 416kbps per channel, but sadly the compressed dynamic range seriously compromises the audible result.

Amazon Unlimited should be theoretically equivalent to Qobuz in HD or lossless, but they are a little coy about what they truly offer, mentioning "an average bitrate of 850 kbps for lossless, and of 3730 kbps" for what they charmingly refer to as "Ultra-HD". This is much better and should sound fine (most streaming services are probably variable to some degree, though it can be hard to check; a 24/96 download replayed as WAV will offer 4608 kbps), but perhaps lower than it could be for either 16/44.1 or 24/96, and implies that variable bitrate, which may compromise hi-quality audio.

[Bryn]

Amazon's standard or Prime music services are lossy of course, with a top bitrate of only 256 kbps mp3 last I checked, so no wonder Radio 3 320kbps AAC or FM sounds better. IIRC, FM can be broadly equivalent to 416kbps per channel, but sadly the compressed dynamic range seriously compromises the audible result.

Amazon Unlimited should be theoretically equivalent to Qobuz in HD or lossless, but they are a little coy about what they truly offer, mentioning "an average bitrate of 850 kbps for lossless, and of 3730 kbps" for what they charmingly refer to as "Ultra-HD". This is much better and should sound fine (most streaming services are probably variable to some degree, though it can be hard to check; a 24/96 download replayed as WAV will offer 4608 kbps), but perhaps lower than it could be for either 16/44.1 or 24/96, and implies that variable bitrate, which may compromise hi-quality audio.

Surely they can only refer to average bit rates since lossless CODECs have variable data rates according to the material they process. I have found 44.1/16 FLACs that have lower average data rates than 320kbps mp3s of the same material (bear n mind my enthusiasm for Morton Feldman ).

[Dave2002]

I got the sub because I’d been listening to a lot of choral music on Amazon Prime music and the quantising errors were appalling- I wonder whether they actively downgrade the stream on the sly. In comparison the R3 sounds stream was superb . Streaming particularly video is a bit of a con if the public did but know it . You wouldn’t believe what Netflix and Amazon get up to...

I still think R3 FM is better quality ...

Some interesting views/comments there. I can well believe that Netflix and Amazon and others distort video and audio, though a couple of nights back we watched a bit of the Met Opera's streaming of Rodelinda, which was actually quite good. Streaming video quality can be very variable and I agree that some is poor - though maybe it doesn't matter for much of the material.

I generally don't like streaming audio, other than for sampling new releases - though sometimes it can be OK - even from Napster on occasions. Sometimes I use Spotify (free) or Youtube.

Your comment about R3 FM makes me wonder if I should reinstate my FM tuner - which I always thought had a really good sound - though it is probably highly signal/aerial dependent.

Perhaps I've not got anything better to do for a few months .....!!