I did Tidal for a short time but I listen to mainly classical and film music.
If I had a list of 10 albums Tidal typically would have only 2 or 3 of them while Spotify would have 8 or 9. Also the Tidal search function is really bad. Yes it sounds nice but so does Spotify Premium. I cancelled Tidal. I ran Tidal and run Spotify from a laptop to an external dac over a USB cable. Sounds great. I am waiting for Quobuz to come to the US
Alan |
I've had Tidal since the first day it was available. LOVE IT!
I don't listen to classical and have found almost everything I've ever searched for.
FANTASTIC sound quality too. |
Like Arh, I too subscribed to Tidal for a short time. I cancelled my subscription after one month because (1) not all albums are in 44.1/16 - my experience indicated that perhaps about 25% of the ones I wanted to stream were not cd quality (or HiFi quality as labeled by Tidal) (2) a remote control app is not available so all interaction and program communication must be done at the connected computer (3) the gaps between tracks were long at best and frequently unbearably long at over 15 seconds, and this was with a high speed connection and dedicated macbook pro (4) I would get a static-like clicking on occasion during the louder passages on some albums that to me sounded like some type of clipping.
I really like the idea of high quality streaming and wish that Tidal would have been it for me. But it wasn't. At least not yet. |
Tidal is adding new content daily. Downloading the player is better than webplay. Crowded bandwith but still early. So far, pretty INCREDIBLE. |
Carja, both Tidal and Deezer (another similar CD quality streaming service) are available on Sonos, so a relatively inexpensive Connect is all you need. It is improved by using the digital output into a nice dac, but to get started, just get the Connect and try them both. I use both, Deezer is less expensive, but Tidal has a slightly more compatible catalogue for me.
I also have them on my Iphone and computer. |
Using a sonos I found tidal to sound no better than Spotify premium. Has any one else done a comparison |
I have been very pleased with Tidal. I used to use spottily on my wireless living room system, but would be disappointed in my main system, ( verity audio, herron, MSB ). I now listen to Tidal on both and have spent a whole day doing some serious listening to the main system just on tidal. I get no drop outs, no pauses between tracks that are not part of the normal recording and have discovered some great new music. I do wish the catalog was bigger, I particularly would like the ECM albums, they have them listed but no content at this time. |
My tidal doing MUCH better. I went to speedtest.net (free and easy and good) and found I had a download/speed problem. A new router (5G???), new wireless wifi pc adapter (say hello to 5G) and downloading at 60 mips (wish I was still a gamer - I might finally not get fragged in 1st 5 seconds). TIDAL ROCKS (jazzes, blues, classics...)... |
Thanks for all of the responses! I'm primarily a vinyl listener, but sometimes I'll pop in a CD or SACD as well. Where Tidal would help greatly is when I want to listen to music while doing something else, akin to me listening to Sirius while driving. Probably the best way to go is to do a 30 day free trial without buying a DAC (knowing me, I would want something like a $4000 Marantz and I really shouldn't be thinking like that). I could download the app on my ipad, and port it into my system via the headphone jack. This might not be optimal sound but it would give me an idea of the functionality of the app and the reliability of my wireless feed. If I liked it I could look into the Sonos without breaking the bank. Just won an Apple TV and I don't have a clue about that either but I do know that I could tap into the music stored on my computer. |
Tidal is definitely GROWING on me BIG TIME. I am streaming via my squeezebox touch/CI power supply and ickStream (pulled it all out of the closet and glad I didn't sell it). The few issues I had had have all gone away and I have a nice remote with GUI. I don't think you can beat it for $20 a month. It was hicopping a bit due to bandwith, etc but the ickstream app is SWEET. I have had no negative issues; the sound and navigation and content are realy, really good. |
My Aesthetix Romulus CD player has accessible DAC and I was wondering how to get Tidal to it. I have a Squeezbox Touch. What is ickStream and GUI? I want to hook this up to the DAC and am totally clueless. |
J135, You need to go into your squezebox software and add the 3rd party plug in, ickStream. You want "web control". Once you add the plug in, you need to add a script below (the tidal website has the info on how to do it (FAQ). GUI is just 'graphic user interface' which is the readout on the SB Touch.
How to setup TIDAL on Squeezebox:
Install the ickStream plugin in LMS (Logitech Media Server)
Full installation instructions here: http://wiki.ickstream.com/index.php/Open_Beta_Squeezebox_Installation |
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Enjoy it. I just pulled a 2nd squeezebox out of the closet and hooked it up to tidal for my headphone rig. I cant believe this is legal! Buying the upgraded PS for the old hag. She is singing so sweet. This is my lifes dream - (almost)all the (uncompressed) music in the world, at my fingertips... |
Been using Tidal for a couple of days. Very enjoyable. Sound is comparable to basic CDs . Love the convenience of using my IPad to Apple TV (via Airplay) and into my DAC.
Haven't been able to stump it, and have discovered lots of wonderful music.
Been rock solid so far. |
A friend of mine reports the "quality from Tidal, when it plays, is really, really good. But, he reports he has had some serious problems getting Tidal to play on a consistent basis. It is something wrong on their end, and they admit it, but they have not been able to fix the problem".
Are other experiencing similar problems getting Tidal Streaming to play on a consistent basis?
I like listening to streaming music because it is easy and I love the variety. I can change my mind every five minutes and quickly find different music to listen to. Of course, listening to music stored on my hard drive offers the very best sound quality. This is why I am asking about the quality and consistancy of Tidal music streaming. QuBuz is another CD quality like option but it is not available in the US. |
I've never had a single hiccup from Tidal, either with the Chrome-based web player or the ickstream plugin for Squeezebox Touch. Very, very happy here. |
I am using Tidal now for about 2 weeks. I listen about 8 to 10 hours at work. Occasional 1 second Tidal music pause when I switch browsers tasks. I have an extremely busy computer (software developer). However, music stream has never gone done.
At work I have an Emotiva DAC and Benchmard A2 speakers and a DELL XEON server. I was shocked at how much improvement I got with TIDAL and the DAC on those small speakers. I was assuming the A2's would not be able to deliver that much improvement over Beats, Spotify, Pandora. All which I used at work in the past.
This weekend I manually built up my Album and track lists on Tidal from my Beats account. No way I go back to Beats after Tidal. At home my home office system I have a Becnhmark DAC2 + KEF LS50 + Parasound A23 amp + DELL XEON server. I have zero interruptions in the music stream at home, my system is not as busy as at work. The quality of the sound is just phenomenal. I cannot see myself ever buying a CD again. Yes to some hi-res downloads but I see TIDAL being my source of new music. |
