If Tidal’s UI would have been anything like Spotify I would have stuck with it, It’s a very good service, however I found the UI irritating. I felt that it kept trying to push a specific vibe on me and that I had to digg for anything else. Spotify’s daily picks and weekly decoveries won me over. Almost every time I would select one I would just let it play and enjoy it. This all subjective and of personal preference. FLAC and MQA was not an easy trade off. I’m still on trail periods I prefer Tidal quality but using Spotify feels more plseant and premium quality is very good also.
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
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
137 responses Add your response
As for me, I'm used to to crack Spotify DRM protection with a DRM removal tool. We know all Spotify music are DRM protected like Apple music. There is no right for you to play all these music on any devices in any formats freely. Spotify Music Converter for Mac is the program for me to crack DRM protection and convert music to MP3, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4B, etc at faster speed with zero loss quality. After conversion, it will be much easier for you to enjoy all Spotify music in any format freely. If you want to learn its detail functions, check at: https://www.tuneskit.com |
Both Tidal and Spotify do allow downloading music for off-line listening. I've only done this with Spotify. I have no idea what the "professional Spotify Playlist Downloader" is. I'm certainly not using such. Whole albums or individual tracks can be downloaded. Downloading and offline availability isn't limited to accessing a preexisting playlist. Downloaded files can be accessed via laptop, iPhone or iPod. If you are happy with how things are working now...great. If you are running into limitations with your current method, see if this helps. https://support.spotify.com/us/listen_everywhere/on_phone_tablet_desktop/listen-offline/ |
Instead of Tidal music, I'd like to listen to music, playlists from Spotify streaming services, since it gives me the free access to over 35 million songs. Although I didn't like to use Spotify before, since there is no way for me to download Spotify files for offline listening. Fortunately, I found out the professional Spotify Playlist Downloader that can help me download and convert Spotify playlist to MP3 even without Premium subscription. As a result, I can enjoy Spotify files anywhere. |
Regarding to this issue, tidal has lossless format, however, it is too big in terms of the file size, I personally prefer the spotify songs. I can stream it for free. Actually I can’t really hear the difference between spotify and tidal because both are very good. Besides that, what makes me decide is that I can use the spotify music downloader for mac https://www.drmare.com/spotify-music-converter-for-win/ to help you download the spotify songs for offline listening. |
if you did not do a double blind test then it could indeed be placebo effect or... maybe the Bros. in Arms CD is really well mastered and Tidal used the same master(???) I would not spend hard to get $$ on a Tidal subsc. if I was (still) a student - spend it on your education; major is something with job prospects and don't take on too much debt - you can then listen to expensive components when older |
jond, Hi. My CDP/DAC is reporting 96. This is adjustable on my PC audio card through its app, I can set the sampling to 44.1, 48, or 96. I set it to 96 just guessing this would be the best way to go. Is there any reason to set it to either 44.1 or 48? I do know that once my CDP/DAC gets ahold of it, it upsamples again to 384/24. Thanks! |
Hi, Thanks for the help. I still can not find the "Masters" selection anymore. Going through all of the TIDAL UI links on my PC it is not to be found. However, I remember the Eagles had a number of Master albums, so I did a search and found them including the non-master HIFI versions of the same albums right next to eachother. It was kind of cool because I was able to A/B the Master albums compared to HIFI ones very simply, such as "The Long Run", and yes, the Master sounded slightly better! Not sure why as my PC to DAC does not support "MQA" or whatever it's called, but the masters sound better never the less. So, bottom line, even though on my UI I can't find the masters link, the music is still out there, no big deal. |
Reubent, The short answer is no, as I am just starting to work on some of the same issues myself. My son built a Raspberry PI server but he is a Spotify user and he is helping me build my Raspberry PI but we haven't gotten to the music software issue yet. Others appear to have done it from what i have seen on the web so I will share whatever I can learn. |
jyprez, Do you know how to get Tidal integration on a Raspberry Pi? I built a Rasberry Pi 3, HiFiBerry Dac+ Pro, iFi power supply music server and run the moOde Audio OS. There is no ability to integrate Tidal. If there was, I would be a very happy camper. However, when you boot it using the moOde Audio OS image, you are limited to the functionality built into moOde and streaming services are not yet integrated into the OS. Are you familiar with any specific audio OS for the Raspberry Pi that has Tidal integration? |
The good news, grm, is that we are on the verge of a music revolution that young people like yourself will enjoy and old folks like myself can get a taste of today at far greater cost than you will ultimately need to pay. I have a musicvault m7 running Roonserver into a PSAudio Directsream DAC. I have subscriptions to Spotify, Pandora and Tidal HIFI. I also have lots of downloaded hi resolution files as well as ripped redbook CD on the 3 terabyte drive of the M7 (as well as a full vinyl system which I will not get into here). I realize this system is well beyond the means of a college student (well into 5 digits) but as I said the cost of these systems is coming down just as your means are, presumably, going up. In the future everyone will have a music server at the core of their system which will stream music and coordinate it from other sources, like a preamp does today. First let me say that Tidal HIFI is far and away better than what you can get on Spotify and Pandora for sound quality. I have these other two services simply for other features they offer. A good quality system for you to consider on your budget would be Tidal HIFI (web version, no need for Roon subscription yet), a basic music server (build one from a Rasberry PI or use your PC), into a good USB DAC like the Dragonfly, into a good headphone amp (I built a Bottlehead tube amp but you might need a device that works with lower impedance headphones than my Sennheisser HD580's). As you upgrade you can get better music management with tools like Roon, a better music server, DAC etc.... |
Anyone on here thinking that streaming Tidal is the same as having 24-192k files fed into a decent DAC has a screw loose.Tidal has NEVER been associated with 24/192, (except maybe when MQA is talked about). Tidal is a CD quality (16 bit, 44.1khz) service in a LOSSLESS format. Most of the other services are MP3 (lossy) and sound that way. The MP3 clocks in at 320kbps, Tidal is 1411kbps. Over 4 times the resolution. If you compare Tidal to the other services (which I have extensive knowledge and experience with), it’s not even close. I agree with your statement about 24/192’s sound quality, but comparing THAT to Tidal really isn’t fair... |
All the times I have heard Tidal, I was extremely unimpressed. I could tell right away that it sounded compressed. If you are more into having a million songs at your fingertips than the ultimate in hi-res file quality, then it is fine. Anyone on here thinking that streaming Tidal is the same as having 24-192k files fed into a decent DAC has a screw loose. |
I find it very interesting that people are taking the ownership of Tidal into consideration as part of the process. I honestly don't know much about Jay-Z, I just never took the time and his music isn't on my radar, so I can't comment about him either way. But I like that there's awareness, whether for or against. I didn't expect to find that in this thread. |
Hi, Is it my imagination or is TIDAL applying some EQ to their playback? I have recently noticed more bass and an ever so lightly rolled off top end. Maybe its just my imagination or the type of music I'm listening to? Anyone else out there who has been listening to TIDAL for some time notice this? Maybe its just the way new releases are mastered in the recording studio? Perhaps new releases are being mastered for cell phones and ear buds.. |
Hi, hgeifman. Great recording, "Exactly Like This" by Doug MacLeod, I think it demonstrates how great Tidal can sound! Just like with CD's or SACD's, there are great recordings and some not so great. I believe TIDAL seems true to the quality of the recording. That's one of the many fun things with TIDAL, finding some really fantastic recordings and so many to choose from! P.S. it's Doug MacLeod and not MacLeon for those who choose to queue up this album and have a listen, it's great! |
Another useful feature of Tidal Streaming are their search options. For example, do a search on the top 100 classical albums or the top 100 piano albums. I found several outstanding albums that I really like. You can do the searches for violin, harp (several outstanding albums), etc. Type in the instrument you are interested in and see what you get. Top vocal artists also produce enjoyable albums. Enjoy. Tidal Streaming is a wonderful and highly recommended music streaming service. Their sound quality is terrific and the album selection is very good and getting better. If you are looking for a recording you cannot find, try searching on the persons last name only (I did this and found what I was looking for). If you still cannot find the album, send Tidal a message requesting they add that album. Of course, there is no promises but you never know. Another outstanding album is "Exactly Like this" by Doug MacLeon. This album is from Reference Recording and it is outstanding. Search on Doug MacLeon since many of his recordings are on Tidal. All his albums are highly recommended. Have fun listening..... |
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! |
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. |
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. |
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Since being armed with TIDAL, I no longer find myself purchasing CD's or going to the library in search of new music. If TIDAL manages to stick around, and/or other lossless streaming services become available, the demise of the CD may one day be a reality. I mean really, non of my college friends purchase any CD's. It's all earbuds and streaming with their cell phones. And for them, SQ is less of a factor than content. |
For the last few days I've been streaming Tidal HiFi through my Bryston BDP-2 (using the Bryston beta software) and compared to the same songs ripped to AIFF and played off a SSD, Tidal sounds a bit more two dimensional, but otherwise very comparable to the SQ of the ripped CDs. This is not an issue to me. In 2007 I sold several thousand LPs collected over a good part of a lifetime and, while I have replaced a great many LPs with CDs, it simply isn't practical financially or otherwise to continue. With Tidal, If I can think of it, I can play it. It works well for me because my tastes run to various flavors of rock, folk, blues and jazz and less so to classical which some say is lacking in Tidal. I'm still getting used to the UI and am investigating Roon, but I'm very happy with Tidal so far... |
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I like Tidal Streaming because of its excellent sound quality and albums like the one below. Search Tidal for Rodriguez and select the album "Searching for Sugar man". The move is highly recommended and so is his outstanding music. Rodriguez made 2 albums in the US and they did not sell (zero sales). Somehow these albums landed in South Africa and the sold like crazy (bootleg copies). Unbelievable. The movie "Searching for Sugar man" tells his incredible story. Everyone thought he committed suicide and an investigative reporter started looking for him. His story is wonderful and his music is outstanding. This movie is a must see and so are his albums. Enjoy. |
"to be honest most music doesn’t even benefit from lossless to much if at all over full bitrate mp3." What kind of system are you listening to when you draw this conclusion? I agree that IT'S ALL IN THE PROVENANCE as to what recordings really sound great, but find that most mp3s fall short on even moderately well setup modest systems. The only times the better formats aren't noticeable is on overly-produced compressed pop and similar recordings that were mixed and mastered with iPods in mind; often with auto-tuned vocals to make it even worse. There's plenty of great sounding red-book out there, sounding good when ripped in lossless aiff or wav, but mp3s of the same will sound compressed, undynamic and full of glare. Cheers, Spencer |
"And to be honest most music doesn’t even benefit from lossless too much if at all over full bitrate mp3. It’s those audiophile quality ones that do and those are much more few and far between." EXACTLY. kacz - as far as I’m concerned, you are preaching to the choir. I doubt Tidal’s content managers have tapped into a hither to unknown and unavailable mother lode of high resolution masters for their mostly back catalog stuff. See my comments above. Something like OMI’s Me4U as commented on by grm (also above) might be one of those "few and far between" exceptions (or an argument for the placebo effect...if I spend 2x more, it must be better). Regardless, I use Spotify much like you do albeit when I find something exceptional I am purchasing most often as physical CD unless only available as a digital file. Haven’t run into many cases where only MP3 is available. The things I’ve purchased from Bandcamp, fortunately, have been available as WAV. But as always, whether it’s Spotify or Tidal that makes you happy - it’s the music that matters most. |
No I don’t want to spend $20 a month for Tidal. Still think it’s over priced. My point is I pretty much have $120 extra a year to spend if I wanted. That’s 120 songs I can buy and actually own forever if I wanted. And also already have all the streaming I want on Spotify premium. I can just buy actual music that I own forever and listen anywhere even if I don’t have internet. Eventually you have a large library and can go months without even using or paying for any services if you want. Best of both worlds. And to be honest most music doesn’t even benefit from lossless to much if at all over full bitrate mp3. It’s those audiophile quality ones that do and those are much more fewer and far between. Which I can just buy and still save money over Tidal. Just saying it’s a good option for me and might work well for others too. Tidals selection is still no where near comprehensive enough either. I'd probably have to go hunt down and buy some of my music still anyway on top of the $20 a month. |
I'm still on Spotify premium. Which sounds fantastic. But this is what I started doing; I have my extensive play list, but when I find songs that are my favorite and high quality recordings I go and buy the WAV files some place online. Usually $1 each (from like bandcamp or something, I like a lot of smaller artists, and a lot of them use simple mic techniques and very little post processing so they sound amazing) . So I can buy 10 songs a month, 120 songs a year for what the additional cost of TIDAL would be. Only now I own the songs and put them in my library forever. To be honest I don't buy close to that many anyway. I feel I'm getting everything I need with this plan. Just only wish I could find more bands that have WAV files (or flac or whatever). What I wish is that some day spotify would just sell any song as a WAV file if you choose to download it. So listen for free, or the premium, and choose to buy any song as a WAV at any time. That would be perfect. |