StreamMagic is the combination of hardware and software that sits at the heart of our network audio players (such as Evo, CXN V2 and Edge NQ) and allows you to play digital music from anywhere via the StreamMagic App.
Whilst our marketing team hosted the seminars, this wasn’t just a marketing exercise with boring PowerPoint slides. This was an opportunity for you to get face time with the brains that make our software and for us to understand what you like and don’t like about the platform.
Our software engineers, Chris, David, and Jonathan, plus R&D Director Matthew Dore, stayed online until midnight answering questions. They had a great time talking to you about their work - it’s not very often that they chat directly with the people using StreamMagic.
A big thank you to those who submitted questions and provided feedback. Some requests were already on our roadmap, but others have jumped up the priority list, and some were brand-new ideas that got our creative juices flowing.
We will continue researching all the topics raised and update you on their progress.
Our team felt it was a very valuable discussion, and we hope you will join us next time. We want to continue these conversations outside the dedicated sessions, particularly if you have an excellent suggestion or valuable and constructive feedback.
Please look at the below for a list of the questions & topics discussed during the seminars, alongside the responses from our Software Team.
Q: Are QoBuz Connect & Amazon Music coming? (Simon)
Jonathan: Amazon is a large organisation and needs to authorise any integration. For a few years now, they haven’t authorised any new integrations. On your behalf, we stay on their case.
At the moment, we still have no details of an official Connect-like integration from Qobuz. Integrating the highest possible quality playback with a service's intended browsing experience is always preferable, so we’ll be keen to pick it up promptly if a Qobuz solution becomes available.
Q: Why is speaker balance control not included on the App for the Evo 150? (Darren)
Chris: During Evo's development, we wanted to keep true to our ethos of the simplest audio path possible. It’s now become clear that our listeners would appreciate a balance feature, alongside a more advanced tone control, that will tailor the products to fit your environment better. The team are looking into it.
Q: Why don't you make bug-fix releases any more? What are the next features?
David: We do. If you have reported an issue that hasn’t been fixed, please be patient. We do our best to ensure bugs are fixed as efficiently as possible, but sometimes the process can take a little while.
Q: Qobuz - Why three taps to get into my QoBuz Library? (Alan)
Chris: We will make sure Sticky Media is working, and our source buttons are pushing to the top layer
Q: Is there the possibility of implementing some kind of room adjustment EQ? (Pedro)
Matthew: We need to know that a number of listeners would be willing to buy an update kit or pay for an extra component to make this work.
Q: Would it be difficult to allow for the saving of a playlist? (Levi)
David: We have looked into this and hope it’s a feature we can bring to the platform. There are some complexities around UPnP servers. They sometimes re-index, and any links we save to tracks may break. We want to make sure any solution deals with this reliably.
Q: Is Spotify Connect implemented with normalization enabled? When using it through the Evo, the volume is significantly lower than using Connect on other devices, and the clarity / soundstage seems to be worse too. Using airplay from a device with normalization off also results in better quality. (Nitin)
Jonathan: Good spot! We agree. While it's a convenient feature, and Spotify ships this as enabled by default, we will turn it off so things sound better! We’re considering incorporating this as an option in the player settings.
Q: Can you implement volume start level control? (Krystian)
Chris: Good Idea! We’ll add this to the backlog for discussion with the team.
Q: I would like to be able to keep the app alive so the volume can be adjusted without having to open the app. This would be useful so you don't have to unlock your device to adjust volume levels (Jay)
Chris: Our apps have to follow some hard and fast rules. Unfortunately, controlling the hardware buttons is prevented because the mobile operating system wants to use these when an app isn’t actively open. We’ve had some thoughts on improving the situation, but there are still complexities around the interactions the app can see when it is not in the foreground (active).
Q: Can you implement a network file system so NAS users aren't forced to run a DLNA server? You allow file/folder browsing on an attached USB or SSD/HDD drive, so navigation can be the same (Steve)
Chris: Improving the experience for customers who keep their music collection on a USB or network drive is really important to us. We also recognise that this is challenging to do well. Our focus has always been on providing a stable, top-class audio experience. We are concerned that managing and sharing a potentially large music database may strain our processing capabilities, which could ultimately impact audio performance. We are continuing to explore solutions.
Sorry if you couldn’t make it, but we limited numbers to make these sessions as productive as possible for everyone involved. You can sign up for our mailing list to be first in line for the next one.
