Tidal Audio Launches Lossless Streaming...

Yeah, I compared the Spotify New Release list to Tidal's, and Spotify has a lot more of what came out today: The Who, both Zep reissues, the Afghan Whigs Gentleman Deluxe etc. and several recent jazz releases are MIA or only in low res versions. Maybe not ready for my $20, but I'll stick around for the free 30. The "HiFi" really does sound great.

 

Unfortunately most of the non-contemporary acts are represented by compressed remasters :/

 

I've been listening all morning. Great sound. Library doesn't seem to be quite as complete as Beats (missing the first three Neil Young albums, for example), but overall it's very good.

However, I've had a few audio click/pop issues. To play lossless via the web browser, you have to use Chrome. I think that's the problem. (I long ago made Opera my dedicated streaming browser.) In Chrome, when I do things -- even in another browser -- like opening a web page, I'll hear a little clip/skip/pop in the audio. I tried increasing the audio cache in Chrome, which might have helped, but didn't fully solve it. I'm running a 2012 iMac with 32GB of RAM and a 40MB/s Internet connection. So I find this annoying.

If anyone has any tips, let me know.

 

Listening now, sounds great. Haven't tried the mobile players yet but the OSX app is very nice.

 

Try it free;


https://go.tidalhifi.com/us/reg/US2000/us7daysoptout/HIFI

 

Yes, Tidal has an iOS app and it uses Airplay.

 

One question; one issue (and a deal breaker for me)
Question - why stream completely uncompressed? Why not FLAC or another lossless compression format?
Issue - if it won't integrate with Squeezebox it won't work for me in my current configuration. If it integrated with JRiver, it might be an impetus to change that configuration. Right now, I'll just keep an eye on it.

 

Why do they want me to put in a credit card for a free trial?

 

To my knowledge they stream in FLAC and ALAC,and it works with Squeezebox Touch ,at least here in Denmark.
http://magazine.wimp.no/2013/09/wimp-hifi-lossless-music-streaming/

 

They do use FLAC and ALAC, but for some reason it's a constant bit rate of 1411Kbps. I am on a 30-day trial, and what I have heard so far sounded good. The library function is a little clunky, though.

 

Now that looks promising. Do you know the name of the app for Squeezebox offhand?

Edit - OK, I see the WiMP plug-in in the LMS web control panel. LMS tells me it's installed, but I can't see it as an option on any of my Squeezeboxes. Guess I need to ask at the Squeezebox forum.

 

Like almost every other service online, you put in payment information and then cancel before the trial period expires if you don't want to get charged. Works that way for all the online movie streaming services.

 

I'm hearing good things.

 

It's there. Sounds good.

 

I've been listening for a couple of hours now and with my very low bandwidth (1.5) I'm not experiencing any streaming issues at the flac 1411 setting. Also, from what I can determine, it doesn't seem to be saving data to the hard drive as Spotify does.

 

Thanks for the heads up - if the selection is good (I'll have to really look around for stuff during the trial), this is a done deal for me.

 

I am only seeing Led Zep missing from the albums you mentioned. I am pretty sure they are exclusive to Spotify.

How can you tell a release is the "low rez" version? I am not sure what that means or how to avoid it.

Personally, I prefer Rdio's interface, curation, and extra features (like remotely controlling the app running on a computer with the iOS app), but I could probably get used to Tidal. However, if they are using a lot of "low res versions", I will probably stick with Rdio...cheaper and a better service overall.

 

I agree that Rdio's interface is superior (although I'm not a fan of Rdio's recent retooling of their interface), but I could see switching to lossless streaming if Tidal price matched the other services, even with the clunkier interface. Twenty bucks per month is just too much money for the limited amount of time I spend streaming, which happens mostly in the car for me, where the benefits of lossless audio would be mostly lost sonically because of the noisy environment, and where streaming over a cell phone signal at 1411 kbps is a losing proposition, both for data usage and streaming quality.

I would use it in my office, but only at a lower price.

 

This claim from an interview with CEO Andy Chen sounds like a step in the right direction:

What is your position of royalties for the artists? Do you feel they need better compensation for their labor? Will part of the monthly fee go to an increased percentage for the artists?

“TIDAL pays out approximately 75% of our revenues to labels and rights holders organization, who in turn distribute the money to artists, songwriters, composers etc. Since our service is double the price of regular market standard streaming services, payouts per user will also be double.”

 

Really enjoying Tidal so far...
http://www.tonepublications.com/spotlight/a-first-look-at-tidals-music-streaming-service/

 

Just a few questions on your article.

1. Why are you using Bluetooth with the AppleTV instead of Airplay. I would think anyone that isn't using the ATV for a boardroom presentation would be using Airplay with wifi (which is lossless).

2. You said you compared the Tidal files with the CD. Did you compare Tidal to Rdio/Spotify? You said the difference is "huge", but I am wondering how you came to that assessment? FYI Rdio isn't using mp3s. They use AAC.

The issue with Bluetooth is not an issue with Tidal. It is an issue with the iPhone. Tidal uses a Bluetooth protocol that is compatible with my car's nav screen. Spotify and Beats have never gotten that right. I think Tidal's Bluetooth capabilities is top notch (like Rdio's). However, as you mentioned the iPhone does not use the best Bluetooth audio chip, which is more of a problem with the iPhone than Tidal.

 

Well, I signed up, downloaded software and it won't stream to my USB Dac, but it will play on the computer. Sigh. Don't feel like dealing with another science project. Fail.

 

I had the same problem. You have to change the settings in the Tidal software to select your USB DAC as the output.

 

Right. And while this seems annoying at first, it's mostly to give you the option of having music play from speakers A and the chime that tells you your download is complete from speakers B.

 

So Bluetooth streaming to an Apple device that transcodes the signal to 48 kHz sounds good enough to forego high-res downloads? That's surprising.