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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  


grm
dbtom2
382 posts
 
Thinking maybe that I missed the news that Tidal was sold to Apple, I Googled who owns Tidal. 

From the Tidal website:

https://support.tidal.com/hc/en-us/articles/203055651-Who-Owns-TIDAL-

It says that,

"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. 
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,989 posts
 
Tidal is an awesome service, has an incredible library, and is a pretty good value given how much I listen to it.

+1
jond's avatar
jond
5,824 posts
 
Love Tidal and could care less who owns it.
reubent
7,002 posts
 
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 with BuzzFeed 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.
grm OP
149 posts
 
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!
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