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Qobuz and VPN


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Am interested in signing up for Qobuz via VPN (I live in Calif) so that I can subscribe to their streaming service and stream via A+.

 

I've tried two things without success. First, a thread at this site suggested that simply contacting Qobuz customer service and asking them to unblock my account might be the ticket. It apparently worked for a few in the now distant past.

 

I'm not a computer wiz, so I asked a good friend who is to help me. We signed up for and set up to different VPN connections with servers in France, and in both instances Qobuz could detect I was from the US and gave the the reply in French that tells you they don't service the U.S. We even dumped cookies, closed the browser, and it seemed obvious using google that google thought we were in France.

 

So a) either I've missed something and could use some friendly and patient assistance from those who access qobuz via VPN, or b) Qobuz has gotten much smarter and more determined to block users in countries it is not currently operating in.

 

I'm new and naive enough to VPN to conclude by saying that if this is all too sketchy or illegal to discuss in this forum, you can PM or ignore me. My sense is that VPN use is widespread, indeed there is an army of companies willing to charge 5-10 bucks a month to give you a "tunnel" to surf the net through.

 

All I'd like to do is see what Qobuz is like via Audirvana, and I'd be paying for the service, just as I do Tidal.

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who can enlighten me.

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It may depend on what VPN and which server of that VPN you use. Some "trick" better than others. I've used "softether" VPN software with success.

 

Alternatively, you can setup a new email address (e.g. gmail) just for Qobuz. Find an actual address in France (anything, doesn't matter as long as it is real) and then sign up as if you are French. That should get you a "real" French account. Once you have the account, you should be able to sign in using the account and will be treated as if you are French.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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I you wanna try with VPN i will suggest you airvpn, quite affordable and easy to use.

 

If you listen mostly to classical then Qobuz is great, but if you listen to all the other genres then Tidal is the way to go, I have premium membership on both services and I regret having paid for Qobuz. My 2 cents.

Mac Pro > Amarra / A+2 > Forza Audioworks FAW Copper Series USB > Bel Canto 2.5 DAC > Horn audiophiles "The Analyst" RCA > Naim Nait 5si > AudioQuest FLX/SLiP 14/4 > Mark & Daniel Ruby

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"Alternatively, you can setup a new email address (e.g. gmail) just for Qobuz. Find an actual address in France (anything, doesn't matter as long as it is real) and then sign up as if you are French. That should get you a "real" French account. Once you have the account, you should be able to sign in using the account and will be treated as if you are French."

 

I tried this. Gmail doesn't require an address, nor does Qobuz actually. I created a new gmail account and a new Qobuz account. It still recognized I was contacting it from a US server, so it's on to this sort of thing. Will try a different vpn provider . . .

 

Thanks for responding. Other advise welcome from those who have done this recently and with success.

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If you use a VPN and are still "detected" as being from somewhere else the service you have used seems useless. So you better try another VPN like eg Vypr.

 

Another reason for things not working out as they should might be using a credit card with US/non EU origin. I did not succeed to buy from Pono due to not owning an appropiate US cc. But Qobuz does accept PayPal so this might not be an issue.

 

All in all I would say it is worth the hassle since Qobuz is by far the best streaming service imo. Good catalog + reliable and easy to use software with lots of functionality. And they where not only the first to offer 16-44 but obviously have an audiophile background...

 

Live and let live...

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Thanks zikarus. I've yet to make it to payment, so the credit card isn't the problem. Will use paypal if I ever get there. So far it has detected me in the US just at the point that you select the "Abonnement" or subscription. It flashed a pop-up saying they don't stream to the US.

 

One VPN I tried is called Tunnelbear and it has very clever and user friendly software to set up the connection. When I googled, french sites came up, so I my IP address or whatever must have looked rather French. But I'll try Vypr and others folks are suggesting.

 

What I'm after is to try qobuz in the A+ interface, since I dislike Ammara for Tidal so much. I think Damien hinted that Tidal in A+ is not far off, so I may have a choice soon of two services in an excellent player.

 

Thanks again.

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I have subscribed to Qobuz for 2+ years now, a nice fellow in Mass. via Head-fi.org talked me through it. I don't remember if I used a VPN or not but i did email Qobuz in both English and French asking/pleading to give me a subscription and viola i got one but my address is somewhere in France or is it in 'New France'? which is what the northeast USA(as well as Canada) would have been called if the French had won on the Plains of Abraham- kind of cheeky on their part don't you think-good luck with all your efforts

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"Alternatively, you can setup a new email address (e.g. gmail) just for Qobuz. Find an actual address in France (anything, doesn't matter as long as it is real) and then sign up as if you are French. That should get you a "real" French account. Once you have the account, you should be able to sign in using the account and will be treated as if you are French."

 

I tried this. Gmail doesn't require an address, nor does Qobuz actually. I created a new gmail account and a new Qobuz account. It still recognized I was contacting it from a US server, so it's on to this sort of thing. Will try a different vpn provider . . .

 

Thanks for responding. Other advise welcome from those who have done this recently and with success.

 

Yes, you still need a VPN to sign up. But once you have a "French" account, you can login without a VPN. Once you login to your "French" account it treats you as if you are in France. I do it all the time.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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Thanks zikarus. I've yet to make it to payment, so the credit card isn't the problem. Will use paypal if I ever get there. So far it has detected me in the US just at the point that you select the "Abonnement" or subscription. It flashed a pop-up saying they don't stream to the US.

 

One VPN I tried is called Tunnelbear and it has very clever and user friendly software to set up the connection. When I googled, french sites came up, so I my IP address or whatever must have looked rather French. But I'll try Vypr and others folks are suggesting.

 

What I'm after is to try qobuz in the A+ interface, since I dislike Ammara for Tidal so much. I think Damien hinted that Tidal in A+ is not far off, so I may have a choice soon of two services in an excellent player.

 

Thanks again.

 

If you use a French VPN, simply do a "whatismyip?" lookup. If you get a French IP address for an answer, I don't think Qobuz will detect you, unless it's an address they've blacklisted.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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If you use a French VPN, simply do a "whatismyip?" lookup. If you get a French IP address for an answer, I don't think Qobuz will detect you, unless it's an address they've blacklisted.

 

I was thinking this - the IP range the VPN is using has been "blacklisted" and Qobuz assumes (rightly in majority of cases) you are trying to skirt their terms of service (which you are). It is all about "the industry" and their needs, not music lovers and their needs... ;)

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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But as I said, I have succeeded in registering there with a VPN. Maybe you just have to find one that works. Or even simpler: know someone in France? Ask them to register for you. Once you're in, you're in.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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But as I said, I have succeeded in registering there with a VPN. Maybe you just have to find one that works. Or even simpler: know someone in France? Ask them to register for you. Once you're in, you're in.

 

Know someone in France?!? Insert favorite French surrender joke here... :)

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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  • 2 years later...

For folks in the US or anywhere else, who have difficulties with reading and understanding French (that would be me) the best option is to VPN into an Irish VPN server and sign up there.  Doing that you still pay in Euro but you get the website displayed in English.  The other option is to sign up using UK server but you pay in British Pound which is slightly more expensive.

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13 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

that's backwards - English is a subset of French -- imposed on them by Frenchified Vikings, starting in 1066

No, the Norman invasion inserted French, as it was at the time, into the already existing language conglomerate known as English.

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1 hour ago, Ralf Hutter said:

A few years back I emailed Qobuz and asked if there was any way they could give me access to their site, even though I live in the USA. They replied that they could. They somehow set me up an account based in Ireland, and I've been buying stuff from them ever since.

Similarly, Qobuz set my account in France, I was visiting Germany at the time. I can logon to the site and navigate with English preferences from AU via VPN but PayPal payment bounces and doesn’t work like it used to. Probably an address issue with PayPal.

 

It’s very annoying to workaround hoops and loops to enjoy music due to moronic geographical distribution schemes. No wonder it’s easier to find torrents for the same music to skirt around legal difficulties.

 

I don’t mind paying for music always have the wallet open, but if you don’t want to sell to me, someone else is very willing.

 

Of the Qobuz downloads I have, they don’t sound the full bottle, that pizzaz is missing...

AS Profile Equipment List        Say NO to MQA

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7 hours ago, mansr said:

No, the Norman invasion inserted French, as it was at the time, into the already existing language conglomerate known as English.

English is a mongrel language combining Anglo Saxon (germanic origin) , French, Latin elements among others. 

Modern English is a result of the Anglo Saxon  conglomerate and French, etc "combining" into something different, with other additions. That's why we can pretty much read Shakespeare, but have a lot of difficulty with Chaucer in the original - Middle English was still too close to Anglo Saxon (Germanic) for us to deal with it easily. 

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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5 hours ago, One and a half said:

Similarly, Qobuz set my account in France, I was visiting Germany at the time. I can logon to the site and navigate with English preferences from AU via VPN but PayPal payment bounces and doesn’t work like it used to. Probably an address issue with PayPal.

 

It’s very annoying to workaround hoops and loops to enjoy music due to moronic geographical distribution schemes. No wonder it’s easier to find torrents for the same music to skirt around legal difficulties.

 

I don’t mind paying for music always have the wallet open, but if you don’t want to sell to me, someone else is very willing.

 

Of the Qobuz downloads I have, they don’t sound the full bottle, that pizzaz is missing...

Once you get an album loaded in your cart I think you can close the VPN. You shouldn't need it just for payment. 

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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