Qobuz Connect on Airlens

Dear @Paul, I read at the Wiim forum that Qobuz demonstrated Qobuz Connect on their stand during the Munich show. Development was (almost) ready on their side and it was up to the manufacturers to implement it.

Is Qobuz Connect coming to the Airlens and if so, is there an expected date?

This would be the single best reason for me to buy an Airlens!

Kind regards, Remko

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I’ve wondered the same thing, since the specs appear to suggest that at the moment, Qobuz can only be accessed through a Roon subscription.

A great little tool is BubbleUPnP on android. It’ll let you play your Qobuz playlists to the airlens from your smart phone(up to 24/192!). And here is a qobuz help link that tells you how to do the same on apple devices.

https://help.qobuz.com/en/articles/10213-is-my-hi-fi-equipment-not-integrated-or-compatible-with-qobuz

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BubbleUPnP is what I use to play to Qobuz through BridgeII on DSDAC mk1, and assume it would work the same with AirLens (think I’ve seen others in these forums state it does work for Qobuz with AL). I can’t remember why I got the paid app instead of the free one, but it was less than $10 one-time fee & I’ve been very happy with it.

I use Linn Kazoo to access Qobuz, and M connect also works. There are probably also other UPnP control points that will work.

Thx, I’m aware of all those possibilities but those are specifically not what I’m looking for. I want to use the Qobuz app on my iPhone (or iPad, MacBook) to commandeer Qobuz Connect on the Airlens. Just like Spotify or Tidal Connect. Qobuz is apparently ready with Qobuz Connect so now it’s time for the manufacturers to implement it.

Remko

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Hey Craig, I might be misunderstanding you. Are you wondering if there are apps other than Roon that can access Qobuz? If I am offbase let me know.

If not, Qobuz can be used directly from the dCS Mosaic app as well as other services. Audirvana, foobar2000, and PlayFi are some examples that do this as well. I believe there’s a good many. Some are better than others. The dCS integration isn’t great, but it is serviceable and sounds great.

That’s entirely reasonable in this era of digital streaming.

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From my understanding of the feature set as published on the PSA product page, the AirLens can only stream Qobuz if it’s accessed via Roon. Meaning in the absence of Roon, Qobuz’s own controller app wouldn’t work with the AL. If that’s not correct, then I’ve misunderstood things (not unusual for me when it comes to digital anything). I access Q now through my Aurender N100H and their “Conductor” app. If I were to replace that device with an AirLens, I’m assuming I’d no longer get Qobuz (I realize I’d also lose server/storage functionality, but that’s a different matter).

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This is an annoyingly misleading statement on PSA’s part. There are a number of other ways to stream Qobuz, notably the mConnect app designed to work with the Converse Digital module that PSA licensed for the AirLens.

Since the AL supports DLNA 1.5 & UPnP, you can use an app like Audirvana which supports Qobuz within the app.

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As a common user of TIDAL Connect, I think a native Qobuz Connect will be very welcome.

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I continue to relish the sound quality of the AirLens via coax. My listening sessions have gone from assessing the AirLens to enjoying the music.

At one point in time, Qobuz was working with PSA on incorporating Qobuz Connect with AirLens. Where are we at today, @Paul ?

I’m aware of the other solutions to stream Qobuz and currently use mconnectControlHD.

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Since Paul hasn’t responded yet I’ll give it a shot. As I understand it, there is nothing that needs to be done to the AirLens to use Qobuz Connect (which as far as I know it’s still off in the future). Where the incorporation will be is in the controller app, the primary one being mconnect mcontrol which you mentioned above already use. Convers Digital owns that app and makes the module in the AirLens. I would suspect as soon as Qobuz Connect is available the mcontrol app will be updated. I’m assuming when Qobuz Connect is implemented you will click on Qobuz in the mcontrol app and it will transfer you to the Qobuz app. That’s how Spotify and Tidal worked for me when I was using them. I sure hope Qobuz follows through on this since I find using Qobuz in the mcontrol app is clunky.

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It is true that you can use the mconnectControlHD app, to open the Spotify app, to connect to the AirLens.

You can also use the Spotify app (via Spotify Connect) to directly connect to the AirLens without using mconnectControlHD. I was hoping for this same direct connection with Qobuz Connect.

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I’ve kind of given up on Qobuz connect. The powers that be have been talking like it’s just around the corner for a long long time. Just doesn’t seem to be on their priority list.

Other audio forums “suggest” that 2024 will be the launch year for Qobuz Connect, and that it will be a gradual rollout.

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As @Paul mentioned in another topic a couple of weeks ago. Qobuz released an Qobuz Connect SDK (?) for manufacturers to implement. So I guess that PS Audio is working on it for the Airlens. :pray:t2::pray:t2:

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Good point, @remkohuijgen. I saw that post in November and was hoping for an update.

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For those interested, here’s what Paul said in the “PS Audio AirLens” thread in “Network Audio” …

I have no idea what an SDK is. Sorry if this is considered redundant …

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