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TIDAL Lossless Streaming Service

Has anyone else tried lossless streaming from Tidal? I've been a Spotify user for a while now. The catalog available is pretty stunning, and 320kbps is listenable, but I'm not satisfied with lossy material for serious listening.

Tidal launched a couple of weeks ago, streaming a lossless catalog in FLAC to a web-based player. They have a large catalog and the same kinds of curated playlists that Spotify offers.

I am clinging to my Squeezebox Touch until it dies, so I was not interested in a PC-based approach to stream the service. A user community, however, has created a SBT plugin called Ickstream that allows the Touch to play nicely with Tidal. It took me about an hour to get subscribed to Tidal (first seven days free) and get Ickstream implemented on my Touch.

Sound-wise, running into a PS Audio PWD II, Tidal is clearly more three-dimensional, tonally rich and satisfying than Spotify. Compared to FLAC rips from my hard-drive, however, it is lacking just a little bit of detail retrieval and seems a bit noisier in the spaces between the notes. The difference is small but definite.

So, I'm ditching Spotify in favor of Tidal. $20/mo is worth it to me to have damn-near best-available fidelity on damn-near every album I ever want to hear. And I can download unlimited mp3's to my phone for travel. Would love to hear your experiences.
cymbop

Showing 3 responses by dbarger

dbarger
215 posts
 
I was excited about Tidal, and signed up on the first day. Since there is no ap yet for Sonos, I was streaming it from my Mac Mini music server into my Metrum Hex. I was disappointed in the sound quality, even compared to Spotify and Beats, both of which I also have. I assume something was not optimized, but I don't know what...
This was a pain, as I usually just stream from my Sonos unit to my dac, without need to turn on my Mac. When Sonos released the Deezer ap, I signed up, also on the first day. It has the same CD quality content as Tidal, is only $10/month if you sign up for a year, a VERY deep library (at least for me), and has a great interface.
Call me a happy camper now.
dbarger
215 posts
 
Are there any streamers that have an app for Tidal yet? I have been looking and cannot find any. I am using Sonos righ now, and satisfied with it, but would like to add a Tidal option without having to fire up my Mac. Preferably just a streamer without a dac as I use my hex, but I haven't found any such device either...
I think there may be a Squeezebox option but don't really want to go there again as it has been abandoned by Logitech.
I do have Deezer also, but I do like the Tidal catalogue a bit more.
dbarger
215 posts
 
Yes, the Aries is the type of device I am looking for. Are there any other similar devices out there? Less expensive would be great.
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