Sonos adds Qobuz for CD-quality streaming

Quboz Sonos

Sonos has added French company Qobuz to its list of streaming music services, bringing a CD-quality streaming service to Sonos for the first time.

Qobuz on Sonos is now available in a total of nine countries in Europe: France, Germany, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria.

Users who pay €19.99/month will get unlimited streaming access to CD-quality FLAC files at 16-bit/44.1kHz.

You can download tracks in this format and also in high-res audio quality, known as 'Qobuz Studio Masters', up to 24-bit/192kHz.

For the next three months, Sonos is offering new customers who buy a Sonos Connect or Connect:Amp from selected AV dealers a free three-month Qobuz trial.

Sonos recommends a minimum 2mbps internet connection for streaming in CD-quality, so be sure to check your network is up to scratch.

The Sonos systems aren't currently able to play high-res audio, so while Qobuz supports high-res downloads, you will only be able to stream in maximum CD-quality.

Sonos already offers access to streaming services including Rara, Rdio and Spotify, but the highest-quality files offered by those sites are 320kbps.

French site Qobuz offers a library of music for download or streaming, with a library of more than 17 million tracks, and more than 5000 albums in Studio Masters high-res quality.

The 17 million tracks are available to stream in all countries as of today, and will all be made available to download over the coming weeks.

by Joe Cox

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Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is Content Director for T3 and What Hi-Fi?, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for more than 15 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).