Who has tried "TIDAL" vs other streaming applications?
Hello, I'm new to Audiogon, this is my first posting into Forums.
I enjoy streaming audio from my PC and have been using Spotify for a number of years now (college student discount to premium $5 a month). I just recently stumbled upon a App called TIDAL, that streams Lossless 16/44.1FLAC with their "HI-FI" subscription (Student $10 a month). Since I can queue up Spotify and Tidal at the same time, I was able to do an A/B and used Dire Straits Brothers in Arms. I noticed that TIDAL indeed sounds better to me but am convinced none of my family members could tell a difference. I then did an A/B with TIDAL and the actual Brothers in Arms CD, to my surprise TIDAL sounded scary close, if not just as good as the CD! This is hard for me to believe, I think I'm just trying to justify the extra cost of TIDAL on a crazy tight student budget, maybe its a placebo effect? I need to drop one of the services, but which one? I would appreciate your thoughts please... Thank you! My system: PC = Gaming Rig I built myself, using dedicated high quality audio card. Krell KAV 400xi integrated Sonus Faber Electa's with Sunfire HRS Sub Cambridge AZUR 840C CDP/DAC Luxman T117 Tuner Sony SCD - C2000ES SACD Player Kimber Silver Streak throughout
Almost five years since this, my first post to Audiogon, hard to believe! Much has changed since then. I have graduated from College and found a career in alignment with my degree as a R&D Scientist working for an Automotive company. My audio system has changed slightly due to components failing, these included my Cambridge CDP and my Krell integrated. I was fortunate in that when I sent these components in for repair, the manufacturers said they were beyond hope and offered factory direct replacements at a deep discount. My CDP was replaced by a Cambridge Azure 851N streamer, and my integrated was replaced by a Krell Vanguard. I'm quite happy with both for now, but would like to update my streamer when funds permit.
Anyway, back to streaming. I still use Spotify because I am still on my Families plan and it is free to me. The Spotify User Interface and User Experience are the benchmark in my opinion that others are still trying to chase after. I have never had a problem finding anything on Spotify and for the sheer pleasure of finding different recordings to entertain yourself Spotify is top shelf. But the sound quality... Spotify takes a back seat to other streaming services such as Qobuz and Tidal, no competition. In the meantime I treat myself to a growing list of purchased and downloaded DSD recordings and they sound fantastic! When I have the resources to upgrade my streamer, I will give either Tidal or Qobuz a try again. I just really wish that Spotify would recognize there is a market out there for high rez streaming because if they offered it, I would be the first in line!!
I have tried Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify premium. I also purchased music in several formats from HD tracks and played with different software and platforms. I am comfortable to say that Qobuz mounted in Volumio virtuoso OS, is by far the greatest.
I have an Aurender N-10/Esoteric K-03 and both Tidal and Qobuz and its just super convenient and excellent sounding. You have to get away from PCs. Routers and all that stuff doesn't matter any more with a one box streamer solution. You still need a solid internet connection but all the drudge that comes out of your computer is gone.
If Tidal’s UI would have been anything like Spotify I would have stuck with it, It’s a very good service, however I found the UI irritating. I felt that it kept trying to push a specific vibe on me and that I had to digg for anything else. Spotify’s daily picks and weekly decoveries won me over. Almost every time I would select one I would just let it play and enjoy it. This all subjective and of personal preference. FLAC and MQA was not an easy trade off. I’m still on trail periods I prefer Tidal quality but using Spotify feels more plseant and premium quality is very good also.
As for me, I'm used to to crack Spotify DRM protection with a DRM removal tool. We know all Spotify music are DRM protected like Apple music. There is no right for you to play all these music on any devices in any formats freely. Spotify Music Converter for Mac is the program for me to crack DRM protection and convert music to MP3, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4B, etc at faster speed with zero loss quality. After conversion, it will be much easier for you to enjoy all Spotify music in any format freely. If you want to learn its detail functions, check at: https://www.tuneskit.com
Both Tidal and Spotify do allow downloading music for off-line listening. I've only done this with Spotify. I have no idea what the "professional Spotify Playlist Downloader" is. I'm certainly not using such. Whole albums or individual tracks can be downloaded. Downloading and offline availability isn't limited to accessing a preexisting playlist. Downloaded files can be accessed via laptop, iPhone or iPod. If you are happy with how things are working now...great. If you are running into limitations with your current method, see if this helps.
grm no reason to set it to a lower sampling frequency unless you prefer the sound, it shows up lower than 96 for me I assume because Auralic doesn't support MQA.
if you did not do a double blind test then it could indeed be placebo effect
or... maybe the Bros. in Arms CD is really well mastered and Tidal used the same master(???)
I would not spend hard to get $$ on a Tidal subsc. if I was (still) a student
- spend it on your education; major is something with job prospects and don't take on too much debt - you can then listen to expensive components when older
jond, Hi. My CDP/DAC is reporting 96. This is adjustable on my PC audio card through its app, I can set the sampling to 44.1, 48, or 96. I set it to 96 just guessing this would be the best way to go. Is there any reason to set it to either 44.1 or 48? I do know that once my CDP/DAC gets ahold of it, it upsamples again to 384/24. Thanks!
@grm the Masters section still shows up on Tidal on my Lightning DS Auralic app. Auralic doesn't support MQA either but the master recordings for me all play at either 44.1/24 or 48/24, but 48 is as high as the sampling frequency will go.
Hi, Thanks for the help. I still can not find the "Masters" selection anymore. Going through all of the TIDAL UI links on my PC it is not to be found. However, I remember the Eagles had a number of Master albums, so I did a search and found them including the non-master HIFI versions of the same albums right next to eachother. It was kind of cool because I was able to A/B the Master albums compared to HIFI ones very simply, such as "The Long Run", and yes, the Master sounded slightly better! Not sure why as my PC to DAC does not support "MQA" or whatever it's called, but the masters sound better never the less. So, bottom line, even though on my UI I can't find the masters link, the music is still out there, no big deal.
Hi, Where did TIDAL "Masters" go? I'm running the desktop app and I think after a TIDAL update I can no longer find it? When I check my settings, HIFI/Masters is selected and my HIFI does light-up while streaming.
Reubent, The short answer is no, as I am just starting to work on some of the same issues myself. My son built a Raspberry PI server but he is a Spotify user and he is helping me build my Raspberry PI but we haven't gotten to the music software issue yet. Others appear to have done it from what i have seen on the web so I will share whatever I can learn.
Do you know how to get Tidal integration on a Raspberry Pi? I built a Rasberry Pi 3, HiFiBerry Dac+ Pro, iFi power supply music server and run the moOde Audio OS. There is no ability to integrate Tidal. If there was, I would be a very happy camper. However, when you boot it using the moOde Audio OS image, you are limited to the functionality built into moOde and streaming services are not yet integrated into the OS.
Are you familiar with any specific audio OS for the Raspberry Pi that has Tidal integration?
The good news, grm, is that we are on the verge of a music revolution that young people like yourself will enjoy and old folks like myself can get a taste of today at far greater cost than you will ultimately need to pay.
I have a musicvault m7 running Roonserver into a PSAudio Directsream DAC. I have subscriptions to Spotify, Pandora and Tidal HIFI. I also have lots of downloaded hi resolution files as well as ripped redbook CD on the 3 terabyte drive of the M7 (as well as a full vinyl system which I will not get into here). I realize this system is well beyond the means of a college student (well into 5 digits) but as I said the cost of these systems is coming down just as your means are, presumably, going up. In the future everyone will have a music server at the core of their system which will stream music and coordinate it from other sources, like a preamp does today.
First let me say that Tidal HIFI is far and away better than what you can get on Spotify and Pandora for sound quality. I have these other two services simply for other features they offer.
A good quality system for you to consider on your budget would be Tidal HIFI (web version, no need for Roon subscription yet), a basic music server (build one from a Rasberry PI or use your PC), into a good USB DAC like the Dragonfly, into a good headphone amp (I built a Bottlehead tube amp but you might need a device that works with lower impedance headphones than my Sennheisser HD580's).
As you upgrade you can get better music management with tools like Roon, a better music server, DAC etc....
@audiofreak32...I must have a screw loose because I don't care for upsampling at all as it sounds less natural and more artificial than a good NOS R2R DAC to me. Too each his own, I guess.
Anyone on here thinking that streaming Tidal is the same as having 24-192k files fed into a decent DAC has a screw loose.
Tidal has NEVER been associated with 24/192, (except maybe when MQA is talked about). Tidal is a CD quality (16 bit, 44.1khz) service in a LOSSLESS format. Most of the other services are MP3 (lossy) and sound that way. The MP3 clocks in at 320kbps, Tidal is 1411kbps. Over 4 times the resolution.
If you compare Tidal to the other services (which I have extensive knowledge and experience with), it’s not even close.
I agree with your statement about 24/192’s sound quality, but comparing THAT to Tidal really isn’t fair...
All the times I have heard Tidal, I was extremely unimpressed. I could tell right away that it sounded compressed. If you are more into having a million songs at your fingertips than the ultimate in hi-res file quality, then it is fine. Anyone on here thinking that streaming Tidal is the same as having 24-192k files fed into a decent DAC has a screw loose.
I find it very interesting that people are taking the ownership of Tidal into consideration as part of the process. I honestly don't know much about Jay-Z, I just never took the time and his music isn't on my radar, so I can't comment about him either way. But I like that there's awareness, whether for or against. I didn't expect to find that in this thread.
Hi, Is it my imagination or is TIDAL applying some EQ to their playback? I have recently noticed more bass and an ever so lightly rolled off top end. Maybe its just my imagination or the type of music I'm listening to?
Anyone else out there who has been listening to TIDAL for some time notice this? Maybe its just the way new releases are mastered in the recording studio? Perhaps new releases are being mastered for cell phones and ear buds..
Hi, hgeifman. Great recording, "Exactly Like This" by Doug MacLeod, I think it demonstrates how great Tidal can sound! Just like with CD's or SACD's, there are great recordings and some not so great. I believe TIDAL seems true to the quality of the recording. That's one of the many fun things with TIDAL, finding some really fantastic recordings and so many to choose from!
P.S. it's Doug MacLeod and not MacLeon for those who choose to queue up this album and have a listen, it's great!
Another useful feature of Tidal Streaming are their search options. For example, do a search on the top 100 classical albums or the top 100 piano albums. I found several outstanding albums that I really like. You can do the searches for violin, harp (several outstanding albums), etc. Type in the instrument you are interested in and see what you get. Top vocal artists also produce enjoyable albums. Enjoy.
Tidal Streaming is a wonderful and highly recommended music streaming service. Their sound quality is terrific and the album selection is very good and getting better. If you are looking for a recording you cannot find, try searching on the persons last name only (I did this and found what I was looking for). If you still cannot find the album, send Tidal a message requesting they add that album. Of course, there is no promises but you never know.
Another outstanding album is "Exactly Like this" by Doug MacLeon. This album is from Reference Recording and it is outstanding. Search on Doug MacLeon since many of his recordings are on Tidal. All his albums are highly recommended. Have fun listening.....
Hi, Have had TIDAL for about five months now, dropped my Spotify subscription, stopped purchasing CD's and have never looked back! I think TIDAL is fantastic and they are constantly adding new artists and expanding on their features. The SQ is crazy good compared to the likes of Spotify, for example, and equals CD quality IMO. As far as who owns it, I don't care, I just hope it survives!
I don't think Apple bought Tidal. At least not yet. They were in talks, but the most recent news I read as of Sept. 15, 2016 states the following:
"
In an interview withBuzzFeed News, Jimmy Iovine, the head of Apple Music, said: "We're not looking to acquire any streaming service." He did not indicate that there weren't any talks, but it does seem that a Tidal acquisition is off the cards, at least for now."
If I recall correctly, Jay-Z is the majority owner, with about 50% ownership, and the other members of the coalition each own 3%.
I don't make any claims that the information above is correct or current. It's just off the top of my head and results of a cursory google search.
"TIDAL is an artist-owned coalition. The founding TIDAL artists are Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire (Win Butler and Regine Chassagne), Beyonce, Calvin Harris, Chris Martin, Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Jack White, Jason Aldean, J. Cole, Kanye West, Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Shawn “JAY Z” Carter and Usher"
I love these artists. Some I enjoy a bit more than others but all are extremely talented. Glad they still own it. (Not that Apple owning it would be the end of the world, IMO)
Tidal is an awesome service, has an incredible library, and is a pretty good value given how much I listen to it. Just my opinion.
Since being armed with TIDAL, I no longer find myself purchasing CD's or going to the library in search of new music. If TIDAL manages to stick around, and/or other lossless streaming services become available, the demise of the CD may one day be a reality. I mean really, non of my college friends purchase any CD's. It's all earbuds and streaming with their cell phones. And for them, SQ is less of a factor than content.
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