THE ABSOLUTE QUALITIES of our sound

Discover and understand

High-resolution audio

Hi-Res is part of our DNA: our mission is to make you listen to music as it was designed, played and recorded.

Many ignore the extent to which compression deprives music of a part of the emotion and lightness that belongs to it. Respecting sound means understanding its language. It also means fighting against the abusive, sometimes false, use of its lexical field: High Fidelity, HD, HIFI, LossLess, CD quality, HD - we will help you understand each other better.

What is high quality audio?

Numerous technical terms are explained in the glossary at the end of this page

BEFORE YOU START

Sound is the vibration of a fluid in the form of waves, vibrations perceived by the human ear. It is the sound intended in its natural, analogical state. The reproduction of this sound passes for capture and then for surrender. The computer and digital era has revolutionized the way we capture and render: we now speak of digital audio. Our work in Qobuz is to give you access to the most faithful musical reproductions. respecting music as it was conceived, played and recorded MP3, from the name of its format, corresponds to an audiocompressed file with losses: it contains less information than the original files. The compression process causes the loss of numerous sound details, particularly in the harmonies of the loudest sounds. The result is a very degraded quality in a small memory space. With the improvement of internet connections, MP3 is no longer the most widespread format.

Compressed format with losses from 128 kbps to 320 kbps • Resolution: 16 bit

The CD quality

The CD quality groups a multitude of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WMA Lossless ...) which have the peculiarity of being compressed without loss / no lossy or uncompressed at a resolution and a data sampling rate (16 bit / 44.1 kHz ) identical to that used by the CD (defined according to Nyquist-Shannon's theorem). No lossy data compression reduces file size without altering the original quality. Its speed (bitrate) is 4 times higher than the MP3

Uncompressed or no lossy compressed formats • Bitrate: up to 1411 kbps • Resolution: 16 bit

Hi-Res audio

Hi-Res audio (for High-Resolution or High Resolution) is the peak of digital audio. These files - compressed no lossy or uncompressed - deliver superior sound quality to CDs. They are 24-bit encoded with frequencies up to 192 kHz - they are the same files used in recording studios. So they offer you a much more precise, faithful and respectful sound rendering of the work of artists and sound engineers compared to all other audio files. Moreover, compared to MP3 files or even CD-quality ones, the gain in listening richness and in sensations is incomparable!

Uncompressed or compressed no lossy format • Bitrate: up to 9216 kbps Resolution: 24 bit

quality first of all

Contrary to what happened with MP3 in recent years, we work to bring to all music lovers the comfort and precision in listening so dear to music lovers and audiophiles. For music, for artists and their works and for all those who collaborate. It all starts leaving you free to choose the quality of your music, in download or streaming without limits.

Available formats

streaming:

Qobuz Premium: MP3 320 kbps

QOBUZ HI-FI: CD QUALITY

(FLAC 16 bit / 44.1 kHz)

QOBUZ SUBLIME: HI-RES 24-BIT

(up to 192 kHz) on your streaming purchases and CD quality on the whole catalog)

See the subscriptions

Available formats

in download:

Formats using no lossy compression: FLAC, WMA, Lossless, ALAC

"Raw" formats without no lossy compression: WAV AIFF

(you can also download your purchases in lossless compressed formats - MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, but only if you have good reasons to do so!)

Go to the store

An accurate work on the

musical and sound chain.

The excellent musical experience is guaranteed by a group of actors, each responsible for a part of the chain. Qobuz fights because the needs are the same at every level.

Artists, Recordings

Mastering, Labels / Major

We conduct a preliminary work with the recording studios, in association with the Musical Labels and Majors, to obtain Hi-Res 24-Bit files with exactly the same sound as the one released by the studio mixer.

Reception and control

of audio files

We pay great attention to the compliance of the audio files that are delivered to us by our suppliers: sampling frequency, resolution ... we refuse up-sampling and other techniques.

Applications

We develop applications that respond to a single need: offer the best possible listening quality with a simple and pleasant use.