Not super clear here - you liked RTF/Mahavishnu/George Duke/Herbie and their ilk in their Fusion days, or no? I am/was a fan of a lot of fusion, but mostly listen to a lot of new “classic” stuff by Bill Charlap, etc., and ECM stuff like Keith Jarrett, Marcin Wasilewski, etc. I mostly want my nerves soothed nowadays ; )
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@badbeef - yeah, good point about fusion… it had its mainstream and those who pushed it… I liked more Spyro Gyra with a smooth beat. George Benson, Boney James, Dave Koz, Fourplay, Bob James, Norman Brown… yeah, smooth jazz…
The one and only reason i didn’t drop Tidal is due to the relatively small differences in libraries. I’m a 
user of both Tidal and Qobuz for many years but prefer Qobuz by far, i.e. SQ-wise and because of their informative and intuitive app. Here’s a sneak preview…
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@wijber - I’m hoping Q pushes Roon to get better SQ. That would push me to go Q. What do you think of the libraries since you have used both for a while
Both have great libraries, the difference is not that much. It’s just i’m in the luxury position to enjoy ‘m all 
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I agree with wijber they both have comprehensive libraries and both have things the other doesn’t so if you think you are missing something subscribe to both. The sound quality in Qobuz is definitely better in both of my systems over that last year and a half using multiple brands of streamers and their native software. As to Roon, I can look things up in AllMusic myself and don’t need to pay them to do it or buy extra gear to use it.
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Badbeef has a good handle on the differences.
I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with Octave’s database management nor its metadata.
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@Paul - we’ll see… I like this audiophile sales… like the stock market, selling hope… I can say this… I will be in the market for a streamer in 2020 and if PS Audio can deliver on SW (hope)… I will be the first in line. This point I can make; no matter what you think of Roon, it is 1,000,000 times better than Mconnect. If you get the data base management and meta data processing a hundredth as good as Roon… I know you will have the SQ… Having great SQ at the detriment of lousy interface is a non starter for me…
Since 80% of my gear is PS Audio, I have already drank the kool-aide… 
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At the time that I purchased the Bridge II, PS Audio was kind enough to include a one-year free trial of Roon. I shot out Roon against MinimServer during that year and concluded that MinimServer crushed Roon for sound quality in my system. I also preferred MinimServer’s database management features and interface. I understand that Roon’s sound quality has improved since my free trial expired, but it is still $500 and MinimServer is still free (the developer accepts donations, and yes, I donated).
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Thanks for donating! I like the freeware model.
I would not want to design a music database interface.
I appreciate it however when a UI, in addition to its own proprietary display, allows me access to my folder structure. Often it is quicker to find what I want by simply finding the files.
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I do not have much classical music in ripped form, but I understand MinimServer is particularly good for classical music libraries. According to the developer:
“Classical music doesn’t fit well into the conventional Artist/Album/Track hierarchy. For a classical music collection, the music server needs to handle full composer indexing for albums and individual tracks, musical works with multiple movements, and artist information that can include a conductor, an orchestra, and one or more soloists. MinimServer does all this because it was designed with classical music in mind. The simple and powerful browser interface indexes your music by composer, composition, genre, conductor, orchestra and soloists so that you can explore all aspects of your music collection and quickly find what you’re looking for.”
Neat! Thanks for the reference.
The developer nicely identifies a number of the challenges cataloging classical music.
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I received an email today regarding the US private/open beta (the message says both private and open). Filled out a short questionnaire and now I wait to see if I am chosen or not.
Got that as well…
“We will notify you within a week whether you have been selected as a first-round beta tester or placed on our waiting list.”
Meanwhile, been using it for the last month. It would be interesting to see if it seems any different delivered from (I’m assuming) US-based servers vs. the UK.
Does anyone know if trying to sign up for the USA beta program with the same e-mail address has any affect on an existing UK account(i.e. a “rat out”)? Does the questionnaire ask if you are a non-US subscriber?
In the process of getting Qobuz up and running I had occasion to replace all my ethernet patch cables with Bluejeans Cable cat 6a-a noticeable improvement as I am now hardwired with the weakest link being the cat 5e cable in the wall. The project began with a pure test of cables when I replaced a garden variety (Audio Quest Forest) cable with the cat6a from Bluejeans in the LANrover with music from the MacMini to the DSJr. That was the only ethernet cable in the loop. Apparently, I am among the few who has a perfectly working LANrover.
The next project is to compare Qobuz through the MacMini/LANrover/DSJr. to MConnect via the Bridge II. The interface is MUCH better through the MacMini especially when using a 65" TV as a display. Any suggestions that will make me love the Bridge II controlled via I-Pad/I-Phone?
Mark.
Re: your first paragraph - I’ll let you know if they say anything. I was up front about it in the questionnaire. Not sure why they would, as I’m a paying customer. I’m sure they realize a lot of people are working around the situation, and have been for years.
Also received the Qobuz email. I USED to have an account via a VPN which I cancelled. Hope to be picked IF and when there is a Qobuz USA site, I wll open an account. Fingers crossed.
Of course they know. It is not as if a work around is difficult.
Does anyone here currently using the Qobuz USA site/subscription notice a difference in music content vs. the Qobuz UK site/subscription - if you used this also and can compare/contrast the two?
I’m curious if the music libraries are going to be largely similar or different…