Qobuz first to bring 24-bit Hi-Res Audio to Sonos systems

Qobuz has become the first music service to offer 24-bit Hi-Res Audio on Sonos. Marking a significant upgrade in Hi-Fi quality for the popular whole home music system, Qobuz Hi-Res streaming is available with the Sonos S2 app.

Ryan Richards, Director of Product Marketing at Sonos, said: “Our open platform enables partners to bring the best of their experiences to the Sonos system and our mutual customers. 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.”

The partnership represents the broadest hardware expansion of Qobuz Hi-Res streaming yet. Qobuz has over seventy million tracks and says it’s adding more in full Hi-Res quality every day. The Sonos S2 platform supports up to 48 kHz/24-bit audio resolution.

Qobuz USA Managing Director Dan Mackta said: “Qobuz has always strived to make the highest quality audio accessible, as people become more interested in better sound. Now, on Sonos devices, we’re making it easy for millions more people to experience the improvement Hi-Res audio can make.”

In 2013, Qobuz became the first music service to offer 16-bit FLAC streaming on Sonos.
It caters to the audiophile and ‘audio-curious’ market, offering curation, editorial content, liner notes, and a download store.

Qobuz 24-bit Hi-Res streaming is available on Sonos in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

In related news, Qobuz recently announced a Dark Mode feature for its desktop app. Dark Mode is already available on Qobuz's Android and iOS apps for smartphones and tablets, but this marks the first time the mode is available for Qobuz's desktop app downloaded to a MacOS or Windows computer.

Users can now activate Dark Mode in the Qobuz desktop app's settings. They can also toggle the theme between Dark Mode and Light Mode at any time.Dark Mode is designed to help users when scrolling in low light situations and to alleviate eye strain when looking at screens - it also looks pretty cool.