Qobuz high-resolution music streaming debuts in Australia

The debate is on again whether listeners can discern anything beyond CD music quality.

French high resolution music service Qobuz

French high resolution streaming music service Qobuz yesterday debuted in Australia, giving listeners another option for music quality at its finest.

Qobuz is certainly not alone in this long established market. iTrax.com launched way back in 2007, HDtracks in 2008, and ProStudioMasters in 2012, but sites typically sell you high res albums outright, rather than offer them for streaming.

There was a yearning for high quality music after Apple CEO the late Steve Jobs crunched down music file sizes to put a 1000 songs in our pockets with the iPod in 2001.

Jobs’ iPod goes down as one of the century’s biggest inventions but the lossy formats used on the iPod compromised sound quality.

Qobuz has entered the Australian market at the right moment, as Spotify HiFi launches later this year and at least the French company has got in ahead of it.

Qobuz has been around a long time, launching in 2007, but not in this market. It‘s currently available in 18 countries and Qobuz says it has more than 70 million tracks in its library. You can buy albums in CD or hi-res quality or stream content.

The company held its launch at a mastering studio in Sydney yesterday and it was eerie to hear a recording in the early 70s of Joni Mitchell at studio quality. Those of us with scratchy analog turntables never heard music at that quality at that time.

Of course if you subscribe to Qobuz you won‘t be necessarily listening to the music in a studio and there are a few steps involved in ensuring your sound is higher quality. It requires some work

First, the recording needs to be up to the standard you desire – CD or high-res formats. While original masters can sound fantastic, remastered content can be variable and lose the authentic sound of the time. You have to know what you’re looking for.

You also have to have the right gear. If you stream to a home computer system, you’ll need speakers attached that support high-resolution audio. If you’re going mobile, you need a phone and headphones that support it.

Sony which attended the Qobuz launch displayed some high-resolution compatible headsets, and while the MDR-Z7M2 sets you back $1999.95, there are more reasonably priced options such as the MDR-1AM2 and WH-H91ON under $400.

You may need a digital-to-analog converter depending on your set-up.

There‘s been doubt for years over whether people can detect and appreciate anything beyond CD quality music.

Sony has been a big advocate of it, but it does have a vested interested selling headphones and it high-res walkman. So is Neil Young, of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fame.

The Australian reported on Young’s high-resolution Pono player way back in 2014, along with the observation that Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne concurred with wanting better quality music.

While his Pono Player was a flop, Rolling Stone magazine reports that Young is making considerable sums selling high resolution tracks directly to his followers. Some $US600,000 in revenue annually isn’t to be sneezed at.

One of the largest studies by Meyer and Moran in 2007 suggests people can’t really discern the quality differences they claim to, but there’s been lots of feisty discussion around this.

In the end, if you wish to experience lossless high-res music through Qobuz, sample it (for free) and see if it works for you.

Qobuz offers monthly and annual subscriptions. They start from $19.16 per month for studio premier billed annually. The full list of subscription prices can be found here.