Tidal HiFi now $9.99

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by winged creature, Nov 17, 2021.

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  1. DancingSea

    DancingSea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maui, Hawaii
    I think the associated gear makes a difference. Through Roon on my M1 Mac Mini via a MicroRendu 1.4 with Sbooster, I'd largely agree with your assessment of Tidal and Quboz. But Tidal via the Zen Stream and Tidal Connect sounds great to me.
     
  2. Roland Bart

    Roland Bart French doctor

    Location:
    France
    I've only tried in "direct mode" with a PC and a MacBook air, no Roon or other.
    First alarm was after I played a track ripped from CD and the same (alleged) master via Qobuz. The second was pleasing but air and dynamics were less audible.
     
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  3. DancingSea

    DancingSea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maui, Hawaii
    I’m a devotee of physical media and certainly prefer CDs and SACDs. But for previewing new purchases, and for playlists of pop music that I’ll never purchase, I’m content with Tidal Connect specifically.
     
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  4. Audire

    Audire Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida
    We have a DAC that does MQA well. However, after comparing Tidal to Qobuz, the later won the day. MQA just doesn’t do it for us in SQ. Qobuz is better for us. Richer, finer sound.

    These streaming battles are interesting. Everyone is competing against the big boys on the block - Amazon and Apple. However, not a single streaming company is pulling a profit at present. Once a company (or two) become #1 they will gobble up the smaller ones. Then there will be a monopoly and prices will be going the other direction. The best SQ will of course be more expensive.

    IMO, hang on to your media. And this is especially true as I’ve noticed some of my favorite music disappearing from streaming. I may upgrade this year by dropping streaming altogether, as I can always stream my ripped CDs….
     
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  5. DancingSea

    DancingSea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maui, Hawaii
    As crazy backwards as it is, I'm eagerly anticipating the return of high quality cassette decks and type 2 or better blank tapes! I'd like to record streaming to tape, and play it back on a good deck.
     
  6. telemike

    telemike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Greensboro, NC
    Which to choose? Spotify @320k or Tidal lossy Master format without MQA decoding?
     
  7. taynos

    taynos Forum Resident

    Location:
    Santa Monica, CA
    Apple Music . Running iPad directly into Dac Lossless sounds phenomenal and higher res on lots of stuff too, having gotten around to porting over my tidal playlists but once I get around to it cancelling tidal.
     
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  8. DancingSea

    DancingSea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maui, Hawaii
    I think it boils down to which service best integrates with your gear. And with Spotify, to what degree the thought of 320k effects your audiophile nervosa.....

    I'm using Tidal only because it best interfaces with my Dac and streamer. Otherwise, it would be Quboz. Apple has some fishy issues with its ability to play actual high res.
     
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  9. telemike

    telemike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Greensboro, NC
    Spotify Connect or Tidal Connect on a Pi4 with Volumio. Apple is ok but Airplay streams from phone and doesn't hand off to the streamer
     
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  10. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    So Tidal has the ability to make playlist folders which is great. But then you can’t easily save an album directly to a folder?! This is madness unless I’m missing something. Spotify is head and shoulders above Tidal if organization is important to you.
     
    ukrules likes this.
  11. displayname

    displayname Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas
    Tidal does have this functionality, and it’s very easy.

    Open an album. Click on the three dots in the top right corner. The first option on the list that comes up is “add to playlist.”
    This is how I do it on my iPhone. Maybe platforms or older versions of the program are different.
     
  12. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    I know that. But a folder is not considered a playlist so you can’t add an album directly to a Playlist Folder. I make playlist folders and want to keep playlists/albums within them, so the fact that you can’t add an album directly to a folder without having to make it a playlist first is ridiculous. You also can’t make folders within folders which is also an oversight.
     
  13. displayname

    displayname Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas
    I’ve never even heard of this folder feature. But it sounds like Spotify will be the platform that works best for you if that’s a key feature for your uses.
     
  14. Deuce66

    Deuce66 Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    If we could create a playlist within a folder that would eliminate a step as opposed to just creating a playlist and then dragging it into the folder once it's done. Not a big deal imo.
     
  15. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    Exactly. Tidal also doesn’t just let you save an album directly as a playlist. You have to “create” it by naming it which also seems silly.
     
  16. PineBark

    PineBark formerly known as BackScratcher

    Location:
    Boston area
    How is that possible? Shouldn't those bit-for-bit identical? Is Qobuz storing files using lossy compression then upsampling those to get "master" level? Or was there something else different about your playback pipeline between the two?
     
  17. Roland Bart

    Roland Bart French doctor

    Location:
    France
    I have the same interrogation... As I said in another post, the same track in 44.1 with Deezer sounds less "soft" than the same 44.1 with Qobuz. Same MacBook, same Dac, same amp, same speakers, same room, same ears, same single malt and same well burnt in hi-end power cables (not at all). For me two bit-for-bit identical samples should sound exactly the same. A friend of mine, with a very serious headphone system, found Tidal's 44.1 more defined and precise than Qobuz's.
     
  18. PineBark

    PineBark formerly known as BackScratcher

    Location:
    Boston area
    LOL. That could have been a key variable.
     
  19. Andy R

    Andy R Member

    Location:
    San Diego, USA
    Is the sound of Amazon UltraHd music better than TIDAL HiFi? And Amazon HD vs. TIDAL HiFi? This is for listening on an Android phone with an Earmen Eagle portable DAC.
     
  20. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    I had Tidal for years; just the first tier that allowed 24/96 kHz and it sounded great to me. Last year I switched to Ultra HD because it was cheaper bundled with Prime. I now get 192 kHz and it sounds a bit better than Tidal did.
     
  21. Stereosound

    Stereosound Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    If you are unaware of it and it’s available in your region give Qobuz a try and compare it’s sound quality to the others and judge for yourself which you think is best for you.
     
  22. audiomaniac

    audiomaniac Shamalamadingdong

    Location:
    Colorado
    I haven't seen this mentioned, but the one thing that really bugs me about Qobuz is the inability to sort favorites by artist or album in the Bluesound app. If memory serves, I think you can do this with Tidal.
     
  23. Andy R

    Andy R Member

    Location:
    San Diego, USA
    Thanks. I will try Amazon for 30 days.
     
  24. kentucky_slim

    kentucky_slim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kentucky, USA
    Have to say....Roon, sadly, has made this decision for me mostly. I dont think that Quboz sounds as good as Tidal, but it also means Im mostly forced into Tidal versus Amazon or Apple. :rolleyes:
     
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