Tidal

[3labman]

Tidal music service launched today. So far I like what i hear.

[milsap195]

Just signed up as well

[3labman]

Now if they just make it available on the squeezebox I'll be really happy.

[Loop 7]

Servers might be overwhelmed; the app is messaging me to downgrade quality. It's a good problem for them to have. $20 seems expensive but lossless is SO compelling.

Would love to see this on Roku or Apple TV but not even holding my breath.

[audiobill]

Good article:

www.theverge.com/2014/10/28/7080697/tidal-brings-high-quality-audio-streaming-to-everyone-for-a-price



I don't see this as expensive, given what we've spent on hardware and amounts to about one cd or download per month for over 20 million cd quality tunes.

[KeithL]

Hmmmm.

It's a good problem - in the short term - as long as they fix it.

This will be one to watch..... and I already have a few questions.....

1) Do they support WASAPI? (Hopefully their App does; I'm pretty sure Firefox doesn't).

2) How good a selection do they really have? (Spotify had a really awesome selection - if only it wasn't for the limited quality.)

3) How do they handle "offline listening"? (I assume they won't let you download and save your own "free-standing NON-DRM" FLAC copy of what you're listening to).

I'll have to admit that I find the last question to be compelling. I really like the idea that, for $20 a month, I can listen to any song I ever want to... but I'm still nervous that "my music" could mysteriously vanish... if they go out of business, or decide to raise their prices to $99 a week, or sell out to Apple, or (perish the thought) decide to stop offering lossless music due to lack of interest.

As soon as someone tries this out... do post your findings...

Oct 28, 2014 13:39:12 GMT -5 Loop 7 said:

Servers might be overwhelmed; the app is messaging me to downgrade quality. It's a good problem for them to have. $20 seems expensive but lossless is SO compelling.

Would love to see this on Roku or Apple TV but not even holding my breath.

[audiobill]

Been listening all day, now to Little Feat's "Dixie Chicken", and leaving all the computer stuff to pros!

[audiobill]

Keith, heresy I know, but why don't you at least try a free 7 day trial?

[Loop 7]

Really good point about longevity. I know Qobuz entered Chapter 11 but they may have emerged. Maybe I'm wrong, but lossless streaming is very niche and the next few years will tell us a lot about the market.

I was a dedicated MOG customer and subscribed to Beats Music until last week. I just couldn't adapt to the curation centric UI; I'm all classical about albums. I was extremely excited when Beats arrived on ATV but it's unreliable. Beats customer service has been friendly but finally admitted there are still defects to be resolved.

Remember the elegantly simple MOG UI?

[dksosku]

Signed up.. so far liking it.

[audiobill]

Oct 28, 2014 16:01:53 GMT -5 Loop 7 said:

Really good point about longevity. I know Qobuz entered Chapter 11 but they may have emerged. Maybe I'm wrong, but lossless streaming is very niche and the next few years will tell us a lot about the market.

I was a dedicated MOG customer and subscribed to Beats Music until last week. I just couldn't adapt to the curation centric UI; I'm all classical about albums. I was extremely excited when Beats arrived on ATV but it's unreliable. Beats customer service has been friendly but finally admitted there are still defects to be resolved.

Remember the elegantly simple MOG UI?

Looks just like Tidal!!!!

[Loop 7]

Tidal is built on the back end of WiMP, a Spotify competitor in Denmark, Norway, Poland and Sweden, with 25 million tracks so the catalog is likely comprehensive.

wimpmusic.com

[Deleted]

Oct 28, 2014 14:56:52 GMT -5 audiobill said:

Keith, heresy I know, but why don't you at least try a free 7 day trial?

Bill, can you makes any comparisons of Tidal vs Qobuz?

[Deleted]

Oct 28, 2014 14:45:26 GMT -5 KeithL said:

Hmmmm.

It's a good problem - in the short term - as long as they fix it.

This will be one to watch..... and I already have a few questions.....

1) Do they support WASAPI? (Hopefully their App does; I'm pretty sure Firefox doesn't).

2) How good a selection do they really have? (Spotify had a really awesome selection - if only it wasn't for the limited quality.)

3) How do they handle "offline listening"? (I assume they won't let you download and save your own "free-standing NON-DRM" FLAC copy of what you're listening to).

I'll have to admit that I find the last question to be compelling. I really like the idea that, for $20 a month, I can listen to any song I ever want to... but I'm still nervous that "my music" could mysteriously vanish... if they go out of business, or decide to raise their prices to $99 a week, or sell out to Apple, or (perish the thought) decide to stop offering lossless music due to lack of interest.

As soon as someone tries this out... do post your findings...



www.forbes.com/sites/ianmorris/2014/10/28/tidal-lossless-music-streaming-review-forget-spotify-get-cd-quality-music/2/

Oct 28, 2014 13:39:12 GMT -5 Loop 7 said:

Servers might be overwhelmed; the app is messaging me to downgrade quality. It's a good problem for them to have. $20 seems expensive but lossless is SO compelling.

Would love to see this on Roku or Apple TV but not even holding my breath.

[audiobill]

As both Qobuz and Tidal use 16/44 FLAC files, I don't hear a difference.

But I do like Tidal's interface better, it's in English, and it's $20 vs $30 a month.

I'm moving to Tidal.

[pdaddy]

Curious. If I buy a high(er) def stream but then pump it through an iOS device, didn't I just down sample my music via the device?

[audiobill]

An i-device can stream 16/44 to an airport express, then into your dac. No downsampling, do this every day!

[SticknStones]

Oct 28, 2014 16:01:53 GMT -5 Loop 7 said:

Really good point about longevity. I know Qobuz entered Chapter 11 but they may have emerged. Maybe I'm wrong, but lossless streaming is very niche and the next few years will tell us a lot about the market.

I was a dedicated MOG customer and subscribed to Beats Music until last week. I just couldn't adapt to the curation centric UI; I'm all classical about albums. I was extremely excited when Beats arrived on ATV but it's unreliable. Beats customer service has been friendly but finally admitted there are still defects to be resolved.

Remember the elegantly simple MOG UI?

I agree with every point you made! I did like the favorites on Mog as it created a collection of bands I liked and they did not push the curator. I have had difficulty with Beats where it hangs up. I have been trying Quobuz but the French thing and not getting the lossless through the browers where I have full access and limited access on the desktop despite me having paid for it.

I will try Tidal soon but need to cancel Beats and Quobuz first.

[Deleted]

New review up:

www.whathifi.com/tidal/review?utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=Enews%20bulletins&utm_content=article_1_read_more&utm_source=20141029

[SticknStones]

Okay if I play a lossless on Quobuz the XDA says 44.1Khz and it says 16 bits 44.1Khz on the webplayer. I then toggle to Beats and play the exact same track and it says 44.1Khz on the XDA-2 display. I for the life of me cannot hear the difference in going back and forth. The XMC says 48Khz 24 bits for both.

I am streaming using the XDA-2 USB to my laptop and the XMC input on the XDA-2.

Is this what you all are getting? Could this be the USB Firmware update patch that is necessary. I do not hear a sonic difference between the lossless QUOBUZ and Beats Music.

Thoughts?