Tidal Lossless Streaming

[sonitus mirus]

Here is a link with more info regarding MQA: http://www.musicischanging.com/professional/


...and here is an interesting thread as well in the same subject: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/tidal-to-launch-mqa-hi-res-audio-streaming-in-2016/5408/79

It seems that MQA will eventually be software decoded so it will actually work with any type of DAC. Nice to know!

 
The digital signal would ultimately go through your non-MQA DAC and would be subjected to the usual filtering that is currently used.  To me, it is just a gimmick until I see a reliable test showing otherwise, which I'm confident will never be provided because I sincerely doubt that it offers any improvement to the listener.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

   
The digital signal would ultimately go through your non-MQA DAC and would be subjected to the usual filtering that is currently used.  To me, it is just a gimmick until I see a reliable test showing otherwise, which I'm confident will never be provided because I sincerely doubt that it offers any improvement to the listener.

 
It doesn't, but you have to admit it's really nice knowing that what's coming at you is a fully unadulterated version of the music as it was created in the studio. I wouldn't call it a gimmick, just the next part of the evolution of audio. Sure it's more expensive, but if money is that tight just stick with a different tier or service. No harm, no foul. 

 

[warrior1975]

I like Tidal, just because it's the best. I've tried playing around with it, but I hear no difference either. The only time I've heard a difference between bit rates was when I upgraded my old mp3 192 to 320 with Apple Match.

I hear no difference between 320 and lossless, or Hifi dsd dsf, or any of those fancy files. Better for me I suppose.

 

[apisgogo]

Hello,
 
Kindly recommend me a portable player (or setup: phone + DAC) to enjoy the best quality with Tidal HiFi music. Budget is below USD1000. I'm new to audiophile and hoping someone can point me to the right direction.
 
Thanks.

 

[ScottFree]

Hello,
 
Kindly recommend me a portable player (or setup: phone + DAC) to enjoy the best quality with Tidal HiFi music. Budget is below USD1000. I'm new to audiophile and hoping someone can point me to the right direction.
 
Thanks.

What headphones are you using?


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

[Zojokkeli]

Hello,

Kindly recommend me a portable player (or setup: phone + DAC) to enjoy the best quality with Tidal HiFi music. Budget is below USD1000. I'm new to audiophile and hoping someone can point me to the right direction.

Thanks.

I'd get a Chord Mojo and hook it up with your smartphone of choice. Also, welcome to head-fi, and sorry about your wallet.

 

[ScottFree]

Hello,

Kindly recommend me a portable player (or setup: phone + DAC) to enjoy the best quality with Tidal HiFi music. Budget is below USD1000. I'm new to audiophile and hoping someone can point me to the right direction.

Thanks.

I'd get a Chord Mojo and hook it up with your smartphone of choice. Also, welcome to head-fi, and sorry about your wallet.

Sounds good but without knowing what headphones he's using would having the Mojo really benefit? A Mojo hooked to an iPhone sounds great but a waste of time if you're listening through Apple EarPods.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

[FidelityCastro]

Hello,

Kindly recommend me a portable player (or setup: phone + DAC) to enjoy the best quality with Tidal HiFi music. Budget is below USD1000. I'm new to audiophile and hoping someone can point me to the right direction.

Thanks.

Assuming you have a smartphone with Tidal on it, spend USD500+ on the best earphones you've ever had, and you will have a fantastic sound already. Unfortunately, reading this forum will soon have you spending the other USD500 on a little amp that you can "stack" with the phone to give the sound more depth and oomph. Then you'll want something like a Chord Mojo that takes away the digital to audio conversion away from the phone, and acts like an amp as well (a "DAC/amp") and it will be better again.

Or you could get a Sony ZX2 or the new Onkyo DP-X1 or FiiO X7 but go second hand and make sure you still get the top quality earphones, or you'll be wasting the player.

As mentioned above, your wallet won't thank you (but your ears will). Note that it's a law of diminishing returns, so make sure you really, really enjoy the first upgrade to top of the line earphones with Tidal - it's the biggest step up from MP3 and earbuds that you will ever experience. Then DO NOT read head-if for at least two months. Then you will be a happy camper and won't start itching for the next upgrade lol.

PS I had an iPhone 6, discovered Tidal and downloaded the app, bought some Shure 535s (about USD300 I think) and it's been financial ruin (upgrades) and audio heaven ever since. Enjoy

 

[Zojokkeli]

Sounds good but without knowing what headphones he's using would having the Mojo really benefit? A Mojo hooked to an iPhone sounds great but a waste of time if you're listening through Apple EarPods.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 
True enough. I was just assuming he has something nice already because of the $1k budget. If that is not the case, spend as much as you can on the earphones/headphones of your choice and worry about rest of the chain later. For portable use, I have been enjoying EarSonics Velvets immensely and see no reason to ever go beyond them. 

 

[cuiter23]

Hello,

Kindly recommend me a portable player (or setup: phone + DAC) to enjoy the best quality with Tidal HiFi music. Budget is below USD1000. I'm new to audiophile and hoping someone can point me to the right direction.

Thanks.

Sony NW-ZX2.

 

[FidelityCastro]

Sounds good but without knowing what headphones he's using would having the Mojo really benefit? A Mojo hooked to an iPhone sounds great but a waste of time if you're listening through Apple EarPods.



Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

True enough. I was just assuming he has something nice already because of the $1k budget. If that is not the case, spend as much as you can on the earphones/headphones of your choice and worry about rest of the chain later. For portable use, I have been enjoying EarSonics Velvets immensely and see no reason to ever go beyond them. 

+1 on the Velvets.

 

[krismusic]

Assuming you have a smartphone with Tidal on it, spend USD500+ on the best earphones you've ever had, and you will have a fantastic sound already. Unfortunately, reading this forum will soon have you spending the other USD500 on a little amp that you can "stack" with the phone to give the sound more depth and oomph. Then you'll want something like a Chord Mojo that takes away the digital to audio conversion away from the phone, and acts like an amp as well (a "DAC/amp") and it will be better again.

Or you could get a Sony ZX2 or the new Onkyo DP-X1 or FiiO X7 but go second hand and make sure you still get the top quality earphones, or you'll be wasting the player.

As mentioned above, your wallet won't thank you (but your ears will). Note that it's a law of diminishing returns, so make sure you really, really enjoy the first upgrade to top of the line earphones with Tidal - it's the biggest step up from MP3 and earbuds that you will ever experience. Then DO NOT read head-if for at least two months. Then you will be a happy camper and won't start itching for the next upgrade lol.

PS I had an iPhone 6, discovered Tidal and downloaded the app, bought some Shure 535s (about USD300 I think) and it's been financial ruin (upgrades) and audio heaven ever since. Enjoy

+1 for headphones being the best place to put your money.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Definitely. The upgrade you'll hear going from decent to great headphones, even with no change in DAC/amp, is significantly greater than if you buy the great DAC/amp first and use the same headphones from before.
 
The only exception is if you're buying headphones that literally can't be powered without hardware you don't have.

 

[zambz]

Hey guys, I am currently a Spotify Premium subscriber and have previously also been an Apple Music, TIDAL, Deezer and Google Play All Access music member for their respective trial periods.
 
I actually would like to switch to TIDAL, even for the 320 AAC (let alone FLAC) which is superior to the lossy equivalents but the main thing stopping me is the limited desktop app.  On the desktop app, you must stream all music and video (no offline support).  This is a bit of a showstopper on a slower ADSL connection (yup, some people still have slower internet in the world, hehe) and when I take my laptop to places which don't provide me internet (e.g. headphone stores).
 
Do most of you just use TIDAL on mobile devices or are any folks here using the desktop beta on Mac / Windows?
 
Oh and one more question, there was a mention that TIDAL would support the AllPlay streaming technology (which is supported on many Hi-Fi systems).  Is anyone aware if TIDAL actually supports that?
 
[rant]The rate at which TIDAL is moving is very VERY slow, the desktop app was last updated around 7 months ago, so I don't feel confident that such essential features will come in a timely manner.  The product has been marketed by celebrities instead of a tech company.  I want to deal with tech people who can implement things fast and address issues / bugs promptly, not some organisation where it's about celebrities and the tech is outsourced to someone else who isn't present to address the community.  Though to be fair, Spotify is terribly TERRIBLY slow at giving the community what they want and fixing bugs too.[/rant]
 
Thanks heaps
zambz

 

[peterinvan]

Tidal on Mobile:
 
I have an old iPhone 4S that I have stripped out to use as a Tidal streaming device, along with my CEntrance M8 DAC/amp.  Works really well, and allows offline download from Tidal as well.
 
Desktop:
My Windows desktop system has Roon for Tidal... a great combination of a functional GUI, and useful integrated catalog of all my music on my local NAS as well as Tidal.  Plus I get bit perfect ASIO output from Roon (not yet available on Tidal Player).
 
Patiently waiting for Tidal, MQA, and Meridian to play together and fulfill all the promises they made 13 months ago.