I Must Say...Tidal’s Blowin’ My Mind!

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Khorn, May 24, 2020.

  1. Aardvark23

    Aardvark23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Somebody on the forum recommended Ethernet over 120VAC using a device like the TP-Link TL-PA8010P. For $40, the thing worked miracles for my streaming - eliminated all my buffering issues.
     
    vegafleet and jupiterboy like this.
  2. Stereosound

    Stereosound Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    To you maybe but I don’t see it that way at all. Oh well....
     
  3. manxman

    manxman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Isle of Man
    What is the resolution of the Rumours FLAC files? If 44.1/16, I can easily understand how the hi-res MQA could sound better, but if both the FLAC and the MQA have the same resolution then I'm scratching my head.
     
  4. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian Thread Starter

    Ive been listening to MQA for a few months now and on a couple of very different systems.
    My take is that in many cases MQA provides me with a more “analogue” type sound with a more palpable presentation across the board.

    Before recently getting into it, streaming and Tidal and MQA weren’t on my radar at all. I had no preconceived opinions on any of it. My DAC/Streamers were purchased on the advice of trusted others.

    All that I can tell you is what I hear through my systems and my ears. I can’t for a minute tell you “how and why“ but in most cases I’m impressed and like it.
     
    Tim 2 and B-Mike like this.
  5. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    I only have a toe in the water. Cheap DAC. However the results with hi-res are much better than CD, and in some ways better than vinyl. I see hear the potential. What I don’t like are all the versions and the dodgy software, updates, endless flash updates and file management. We shall see.
     
  6. Slimwhit33

    Slimwhit33 Forum Resident

    Location:
    N America
    I believe all Tidal FLAC files are 44.1/16. This was a Tidal forum so I was only referring to Tidal. I can say however that when listening to both a non Tidal 96 flac files and the Tidal MQA version, I have a hard time telling them apart with my equipment. Just my experience.
     
  7. manxman

    manxman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Isle of Man
    Thanks! That makes sense now. I can see why a hi-res MQA file might outperform a standard resolution FLAC file. If the MQA file were outperforming a FLAC file of the same resolution, I'd be baffled (and would probably assume that the process introduced some kind of pleasing slight distortion, as with some tube amps).
     
    Sevoflurane, wgriel and Kristofa like this.
  8. Encore

    Encore Forum Resident

    Same here.
     
  9. Rattlin' Bones

    Rattlin' Bones Grumpy Old Deaf Drummer

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Strongly encourage you to look into a tube headphone amp. Take a look at Schitt products: Modius DAC has inputs for SB, Toslink SPDIF, Coaxial SPDIF, and AES. I'm not sure how your iPhone or iPad Pro outputs works I think USB C? You may need an adapter. And for a tube amp look at Schitt Vali or Valhalla headphone amps. I use the Vali.

     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2020
    Brenald79 likes this.
  10. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    I liked most of the MQA stuff I listened to when I had that level of Tidal subscription. I downgraded to the lowest subscription tier to fill some holes in my Qobuz subscription. Since I like to use the services as a “try before I buy”, I stuck with Qobuz because they have a store I can buy what I hear and like. If Tidal sold the MQA offerings, I would likely have kept the HiFi tier and purchased whichever version sounded the best to me between Qobuz and Tidal.
     
  11. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Tidal now has $3 for 3 months.
     
  12. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I could not find any offer over the free 30 days when I looked 2 days ago. In fact, every offer I found for more than 30 days at a low cost was "expired" when I tried to get it. So I settled for free 30 days.

    Link, please?
     
  13. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    This is the first result googling “Tidal”

    TIDAL | $3 for 3 Months
     
  14. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I'm getting a large pink banner across the top saying Offer You Are Trying to Claim is No Longer Valid

    Try clicking on "claim offer" and see if you get the denial banner?
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2020
  15. JCMusika

    JCMusika Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles,
    I am a tidal user, with the whole package !! pair it with Roon and the music is Wow !! Engaging and the choices are nearly endless. I am running it on a MacBook Pro.
    In the past I was using spotify, but it’s fidelity needs something to be desired!! Switching to Tidal opened possibilities!
     
  16. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I was able click “claim offer” and continue 2 clicks further to “create account.” It was must be for Canada only. Sorry about that. Hopefully the offer is made available for you soon.
     
  17. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I guess that they don't want my $3, $4, 0r $5 .....

    Fine then.
     
  18. Slimwhit33

    Slimwhit33 Forum Resident

    Location:
    N America
    Had another listening session this morning and decided to blind compare The Eagles: Long Run Tidal MQA album (48/24/MQA 192) and the same album purchased from HDTracks (Flac 192/24). Had my son play each track off the album from each source randomly through Roon. I could not pick out which was which. They sounded the same with my setup.
     
    wgriel and manxman like this.
  19. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I’m cursed as well. I accidentally signed up for a free 30 days instead of the $4 deal. And I signed up for another 30 day free trial with a new account on my Fire Tablet 3 days ago, 2 days before they started the $3 deal.
     
  20. Deuce66

    Deuce66 Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    30 days free is plenty of time to evaluate the service.
     
    Billy Infinity likes this.
  21. Rattlin' Bones

    Rattlin' Bones Grumpy Old Deaf Drummer

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Yes it is.

    I put 20 new albums in My Collection today. I'll start listening tonite. I can usually tell in first 1 or 2 tracks if they're keepers.

     
    Deuce66 likes this.
  22. guitarguy

    guitarguy Tone Meister

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Thanks for that reference. Audirvana looks interesting!
     
  23. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Anyone know what “360” is. There’s a new album I’m listening to and quality says it’s “360” rather than “HiFi.”

    Sounds a lot different than the same songs that are available as singles in “HiFi.” Sounds horrible.
     
    Rockin' Robby likes this.
  24. xPrISM

    xPrISM Active Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    360 Reality Audio

    It works on my Sony WH-1000XM3s.
     
    Brenald79 likes this.
  25. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I want what everyone else got. Sometimes more.
     

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