Please Help!! looking to get into computer audio.

Thanks, dtc.  I was on the Tidal site and saw that line you quote.  That's what has me scratching my head.  Does Web player mean an app for mobile devices (which app doesn't fully reside on the device) - in contrast to whatever necessary Tidal software gets downloaded to the hard drive of a PC or Mac when you subscribe to their HiFi service?  Thanks again.

I am not a Tidal expert by any means, nor an Apple expert, but here is what I know.

I think Web app means browser based apps. If you access Tidal through a Web browser, you have to use Chrome for CD quality.

The desktop app for Windows does HIFI, I believe.When I go into Settings - Streaming it lets me choose the quality of the output. On the desktop app, HIFI is an option. HIFI means CD quality. When I use Firefox to access the Web application, it says I cannot choose HIFI and only gives me Normal and Hi, which are not CD quality.

The problem with the Tidal app for me is that the app then uses the WIndows audio system, which is not bit perfect. I am not sure how that works on Apple. Give it a try and see if it gives you the HIFI option in Settings - Streaming.

The issue with using the tablet or phone apps is getting the output to your stereo setup without using the DAC in the phone or tablet. The Android Tidal app does not let me send the HIFI signal to another system. So,  I use UPnP on an Android device since it can pass Tidal CD quality files to a DLNA renderer for playback, in my case the JRiver renderer on my PC.

Unfortunately, I do not know how to use an Apple tablet or phone to send that signal to an Apple system. However, the latest Tidal app for tablets and phones says it supports Chromecast. So, if you buy a Chromecast Audio device, you should be able to stream a HIFI signal to it and use the Chromecast Audio optical out to send the signal to a DAC, if you DAC has an optical input. Otherwise, I do not know how to send the HIFI digital signal to from the phone to an Apple desktop or laptop.

Again, I am no expert, but that is what I understand.

@dtc - I think you gave me what I needed. What I was not understanding was pretty basic..."web player" vs the alternative : "desktop app".  Since I’m using a MacBook, I’m fairly certain TIDAL for Mac will give me the HiFi option in their desktop install. I’m not real worried about portability/web-based access. Thanks for your time.

(btw - I agreed with your response to mensch about "small steps when getting started".)

sbank: "One of the benefits is getting a full PC or Mac computer and its associated noise out of the listening room and galvanically isolated from the dac."

Yes, with microRendu, the computer as server or the NAS, whichever you choose, does not need to be in the same room as the music system -- it just needs to be on the same network, which can be anywhere else in your home.

So isolation has nothing to do with choosing computer or NAS as server.