platform adding 24bit qobuz streaming s2

PLATFORM ADDING 24BIT QOBUZ STREAMING S2 UPGRADE
PLATFORM ADDING 24BIT QOBUZ STREAMING S2 ANDROID

We’re excited to see support for 24-bit streaming on Sonos, but we feel that folks are being slightly vague on the details.

PLATFORM ADDING 24BIT QOBUZ STREAMING S2 ANDROID

This new integration builds on Qobuz’s continued expansion of hardware partnerships, including the addition of Hi-Res compatible hardware on the Android platform several years ago.” And now, it is continuing to expand access to “higher-resolution streaming on Sonos by introducing 24-bit streaming, compatible with most products on the Sonos S2 platform, which supports up to 48 kHz/24-bit audio resolution. In 2013, Qobuz became the first music service to offer 16-bit FLAC streaming on Sonos. “Qobuz has been at the forefront of high resolution music streaming, and we look forward to customers enjoying their music with the clarity, depth, and room-filling sound of Sonos.” Now, on Sonos devices, we’re making it easy for millions more people to experience the improvement Hi-Res audio can make.” “Our open platform enables partners to bring the best of their experiences to the Sonos system and our mutual customers,” said Ryan Richards, Director of Product Marketing at Sonos. Qobuz USA Managing Director Dan Mackta said of the partnership, “Qobuz has always strived to make the highest quality audio accessible, as people become more interested in better sound. It states, “Tracks with a sampling rate above 48 kHz will be delivered to your Sonos hardware as 16-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC (CD lossless quality).” If the Sonos S2 platform is limited to 24-bit/48kHz - does that mean it’s all going to be downsampled to that or will Qobuz offer everything in 16-bit/44.1kHz CD quality? According to the Sonos Support website, that seems to be case. And we know we’re not the only people who are going to notice.Ģ4-bit/48kHz certainly qualifies as hi-res streaming but what about all of the content on Qobuz that is 24-bit/96kHz or 24-bit/192kHz? Spotify HiFi launches soon but that’s only adding lossless (and not hi-res) albums to what is available on their platform.īefore Sonos and Qobuz users get too excited, there’s a catch. Qobuz is currently available in twelve countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.Qobuz does offer the largest library of hi-res albums, but it still only represents 5% of the music available online from them and Tidal.

PLATFORM ADDING 24BIT QOBUZ STREAMING S2 UPGRADE

The upshot of this latest Sonos/Qobuz upgrade is that end users now have the option to stream roughly 2% of the Qobuz library in 24bit/44.1kHz or 24bit/48kHz it also means that around 98% of that same library will still stream in the same CD-quality that Qobuz subscribers using Sonos have enjoyed since 2019 when the streaming service walked away from lossy MP3 encoding. Qobuz will instead – for now at least – serve a CD-quality (16bit/44.1kHz) stream. We might presume that S2 Sonos hardware simply downsamples all 24bit/96kHz and 24bit/192kHz streams to 24bit/48kHz - but we’d be wrong. (What happens next I had to pull not from the press release but from my Qobuz press contact). And the details of S2 Sonos hardware is that its 1) D/A conversion is capped at 24bit/48kHz and – therefore – 2) anyone pulling down a Qobuz stream (via the S2 Sonos app) with a sample rate higher than 48kHz will hit a wrinkle. Available through the Sonos S2 app, supported tracks will play in up to 48 kHz/24-bit. Well, sort of.Īs with our recent Cambridge Audio x Tidal Connect story, the devil lives in the details. And now, it is continuing to expand access to higher-resolution streaming on Sonos by introducing 24-bit streaming, compatible with most products on the Sonos S2 platform, which supports up to 48 kHz/24-bit audio resolution. Around 4% of the French streaming service’s 70-million song library is available in hi-res – anything from 24bit/48kHz to 24bit/192kHz – and that hi-res content will now play via S2 Sonos gear. Makers of the world’s best-known music streaming speakers Sonos have today announced the imminent availability of 24-bit hi-res streaming for anyone using Qobuz in conjunction with their S2 platform.

Platform adding 24bit qobuz streaming s2