Tidal Lossless Streaming

[Maelob]

they need to fix computer app tired of droputs in the evening

 

[HemiSam]

If it's the app that's causing the drop outs I'd be stunned.  If so, life is going to get better for a lot of subscribers in one fell swoop.  Otherwise, it's capacity...a more likely bottleneck.  
 
We need these services to be successful.  I hope Tidal works through the challenges for the community.
 
HS

 

[James-uk]

I had my first issues last night on iPad app. I couldn't login and could only play my offline albums. I waited 5 minutes whilst listening offline them closed the app completely and I could then login. It was a little annoying but it's a first world problem that really is a non issue . I've decided to save more if my favourite albums offline for the times this happens again until the creases are ironed out.

 

[toolio]

I see many people now complaining about dropouts on the Linn forums, now that Tidal is available on those devices. This has nothing to apps or devices. It is just a service that clearly cannot meet the needs of its customers.

 

[zilch0md]

I see many people now complaining about dropouts on the Linn forums, now that Tidal is available on those devices. This has nothing to apps or devices. It is just a service that clearly cannot meet the needs of its customers.

 
That's correct - and it's easily proven.
 
Anyone who is experiencing dropouts while streaming HiFi quality (44/16) tracks from Tidal can easily switch to streaming YouTube videos and see whether the problem is with their equipment or their Internet service provider.  
 
A 44/16 uncompressed WAV file requires a bandwidth of only 1411 kbps (kilobits per second).
 
Tidal's 44/16 FLAC files require even less bandwidth - varying somewhere around 1000 kbps or less.
 
Even a residential DSL internet connection can deliver about 1.5 Mbps.  That's 15 times the bandwidth needed for Tidal's FLAC streaming!
 
If you have a 5 Mbps Internet download speed, you've got 50 times the bandwidth needed for Tidal streaming!
 
Check this out...
 

 
 
I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Windows Resource Monitor shows for "Receive (B/sec)" when TidalMedia.exe is experiencing dropouts. I predict the rate will be something less than 125,000 B/sec (bytes per second) - something less than 1000 kilobits per second - unable to keep pace with the 44/16 playback rate.
 
Update:  Here's a link to a tutorial on using the Windows Resource Monitor:  
http://www.7tutorials.com/how-use-resource-monitor-windows-7
 
Mike

 

[toolio]

Excellent points, Mike. And for those of us who also have Qobuz, all we have to do is switch to it to prove that there is no problem with our connection. When Tidal fails, Qobuz streams smoothly. Interestingly Quobuz apps show both the amount of time played for each song and the amount of buffer received for each song. It usually downloads the entire song in a few seconds, and it appears that Qobuz buffers the next song in the playlist while the previous one is playing. That means flawless startup´of the next song. I am currently in Brazil, which I assume is far from any of Qobuz's servers. I couldn't get anywhere near the same success using Tidal in Canada a few weeks ago (Tidal is now selling to Canada as well).. 

 

[zilch0md]

  Excellent points, Mike. And for those of us who also have Qobuz, all we have to do is switch to it to prove that there is no problem with our connection. When Tidal fails, Qobuz streams smoothly. Interestingly Quobuz apps show both the amount of time played for each song and the amount of buffer received for each song. It usually downloads the entire song in a few seconds, and it appears that Qobuz buffers the next song in the playlist while the previous one is playing. That means flawless startup´of the next song. I am currently in Brazil, which I assume is far from any of Qobuz's servers. I couldn't get anywhere near the same success using Tidal in Canada a few weeks ago (Tidal is now selling to Canada as well).. 

 
That's interesting!  It's almost as if Tidal is trying to hide the fact that they have a hard time staying ahead of playback speed - by not displaying the buffer progress - as seen in Quboz (and YouTube).
 
Also, by playing with the Resource Monitor, I've noticed that with Tidal, if I restart the same song, the buffer is emptied and has to reload.  That's lame!  It should hang onto the song it last played - write it to a temporary cache file on the hard drive, if you don't want to use RAM.  
 
I find the 5 to 8 second gap between songs to be very annoying when trying to play whole albums.  Right now, at this time of day, when I'm pulling down entire songs within the their first few seconds of playback, there is no excuse for Tidal not buffering the next song in my playlist.  
 
There's no evidence of any "intelligence" in how they manage variations in load suffered at various times of day.  They are stupidly minimizing their load by not buffering the next song in everyone's playlist - 24/7 - even during off-peak hours when they've got plenty of horsepower to do so!  
 
Mike

 

[toolio]

I just did a few tests with Qobuz on my iPad. Most songs of over 3 minutes are fully buffered within the first 20 seconds of playing the song. On a playlist, the next song is either fully buffered when it starts playing or at least three-quarters buffered. Keep in mind i am in Brazil, and the internet pipe between Brazil and Europe is often congested. I am testing on a 60 meg connection, but speedtest.net shows I am getting 20-25 megs to France. This is also Saturday afternoon in Europe, so this might be a busy time. I often get faster buffering in Qobuz--about 5 or 10 seconds per song. But either way, buffering works and Qobuz works. I just tried Tidal again because I have a few days left in the month I paid for before cancelling and I am currently getting dropouts on both the iPad and PC. My connection to the U.S. (if this is where their servers are) is robust, clocking in at 55 megs to Miami from Brazil and 47 megs to New York on speedtest.net. As I said above, I had the same dropout problem in Canada, which for geographical internet purposes might just as well be the U.S.

 

[zilch0md]

^ That says a lot - Quboz works even when Tidal doesn't.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Mike

 

[Maelob]

I sure hope they are aware of this issue and trying to resolve it, but for you technical gurus, I recommend reaching out to them and let them know the issue, just in case for some reason they a clueless of whats going.

 

[h-man]

Just trying it out too. So, far the iOS client seems to work well, albeit NOT lossless (eg DSOTM). The web based player works well as well. Not sure whether I'll extend it beyond the 7 day trial though.

 

[toolio]

  I sure hope they are aware of this issue and trying to resolve it, but for you technical gurus, I recommend reaching out to them and let them know the issue, just in case for some reason they a clueless of whats going.

They are not clueless. Many people have posted here about contacting them but getting no response. In fact, Tidal reps are in these forums because they have posted. And I see Tidal reps acknowledging the dropout problem in the Linn Forum.

 

[CAPO718]

Anybody still using this service? And any recent reviews?

 

[zilch0md]

Oddly, ever since making this post six days ago, I've had very few dropouts - even during peak hours.  They must have read my post and marked my account for priority service!  
 
Just kidding...  It's either a coincidence or they've started "fixing" the problem that many of us have experienced.
 
Mike

 

[philo50]

Anybody still using this service? And any recent reviews?

use it...love it....great sound without any problems