[rkw]

I don't think anyone knows for sure. The only official word seems to be "Later this year"

Even Tidal probably isn't sure about the timing. There are multiple things they have to coordinate with each record label.

 

[BobSmith8901]

Even Tidal probably isn't sure about the timing. There are multiple things they have to coordinate with each record label.

In the idle musings dept. I thought it was interesting from a technical point of view Jesse @ TIDAL's comment that, presumably regarding the Hi Res file sizes of the upcoming Hi Res category, ...

"It's a big file, but we'll give you controls to dial this up and down based on what's going on."

https://www.reddit.com/r/TIdaL/comments/12hr68f/comment/jfuo1ng/

Will this mean that you can choose, say 24/96 or 24/192 or even 24/48 for a given Hi Res album/track or will it mean that there will be a kind of overall global control of what Hi Res zone you could choose on a given day (in the Hi Fi Plus subscription tier) to be in depending on your internet capabilities? Kind of an interesting innovation however it pans out.

I have never used Qobuz so I don't know if they use some sort of equivalent dial up or down thing or if you simply choose the streaming bit/sample per album, if there is a choice. I guess it will largely depend on what the labels give Tidal as far as their Hi Res catalogue anyway. I also wonder if Tidal will only offer original "recorded in Hi Res" (I assume Qobuz does this but there may be other label-provided types that are converted, etc.) or if there will also be some sort of new mass "converted to Hi Res" stuff that the labels provide.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

In the idle musings dept. I thought it was interesting from a technical point of view Jesse @ TIDAL's comment that, presumably regarding the Hi Res file sizes of the upcoming Hi Res category, ...

"It's a big file, but we'll give you controls to dial this up and down based on what's going on."

https://www.reddit.com/r/TIdaL/comments/12hr68f/comment/jfuo1ng/

Will this mean that you can choose, say 24/96 or 24/192 or even 24/48 for a given Hi Res album/track or will it mean that there will be a kind of overall global control of what Hi Res zone you could choose on a given day (in the Hi Fi Plus subscription tier) to be in depending on your internet capabilities? Kind of an interesting innovation however it pans out.

I have never used Qobuz so I don't know if they use some sort of equivalent dial up or down thing or if you simply choose the streaming bit/sample per album, if there is a choice. I guess it will largely depend on what the labels give Tidal as far as their Hi Res catalogue anyway. I also wonder if Tidal will only offer original "recorded in Hi Res" (I assume Qobuz does this but there may be other label-provided types that are converted, etc.) or if there will also be some sort of new mass "converted to Hi Res" stuff that the labels provide.

Tidal already has settings like that under Settings -> Streaming

You can pick Normal, Hi, Hifi, Master.

 

[BobSmith8901]

Tidal already has settings like that under Settings -> Streaming

You can pick Normal, Hi, Hifi, Master.

I know, I meant in the proposed Hi Res tier it seemed he was indicating a dial up and down (in that new Hi Res FLAC zone).

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I know, I meant in the proposed Hi Res tier it seemed he was indicating a dial up and down (in that new Hi Res FLAC zone).

I remember. But given they already have this for MQA I guess it is just a marketing comment on their part.

 

[Left Channel]

I have never used Qobuz so I don't know if they use some sort of equivalent dial up or down thing or if you simply choose the streaming bit/sample per album, if there is a choice.

Qobuz apps allow you to select a ceiling for all music, and on mobile apps two ceilings: one for WiFi and one for cellular data.

This is from the desktop app:

 

[BobSmith8901]

Qobuz apps allow you to select a ceiling for all music, and on mobile apps two ceilings: one for WiFi and one for cellular data.

This is from the desktop app:

Can you select a Hi Res bit/sample rate for an individual album/track or are they generally just at one rate from the label?

Does the Qobuz Hi Res catalogue of various albums/tracks consist of originally Hi Res produced material, like recorded at 24/96 for example, or do you know if the labels up sample 16/44.1 material to Hi Res? Not sure if you can know with certainty any of this, just curious.

 

[rkw]

Can you select a Hi Res bit/sample rate for an individual album/track or are they generally just at one rate from the label?

What I personally observe is that an album release will appear on Qobuz at one rate. However there may be multiple releases of the same album (e.g. an original release and a reissue years later) which may be at different rates, and would they appear as separate albums in the Qobuz catalog.

Does the Qobuz Hi Res catalogue of various albums/tracks consist of originally Hi Res produced material, like recorded at 24/96 for example, or do you know if the labels up sample 16/44.1 material to Hi Res?

Qobuz streams whatever files they receive from the record labels. Qobuz wouldn't know if a record label is supplying upsampled material as hi-res.

 

[Hypops]

I’ve actually been pretty happy with Apple Music for offline downloads. I can’t recall any flakiness with AM on iOS of course, or on any of my Android DAPs either really, whereas Tidal can lose the plot sometimes, especially on Android.

Fair enough. I had been an Apple Music subscriber prior to Tidal, and you're right about the usability of the app. Tidal's app, by contrast, needs regular resets and login/logout cycles to get it working again. My specific issues with Apple Music had less to do with the app's usability and more to do with the bandwidth limitations built into Airplay as well as the silliness of having to constantly futz with the Audio Midi Setup when I used it on my Macbook. No service is perfect, of course, and it's always about minimizing compromises.

 

[peterinvan]

Does anyone know if I discontinue Tidal until the upgrade, is there a way to be certain I don't lose my playlists? It has to be certain or else I'll just bite the bullet and keep paying it every month even if I'm using Qobuz too

I backed up all my Tidal playlists to the Soundiz .CSV format using a trial version of Roon.

 

[Left Channel]

Can you select a Hi Res bit/sample rate for an individual album/track or are they generally just at one rate from the label?

The tracks are delivered to Qobuz from the labels at a specific resolution, and all you're controlling with the app is whether you will stream it at the original or a downsampled level. In my example above, you can see I have selected 24/192 as my maximum, but the track I was playing is natively 24/96 so that's what I got. It did not get upsampled.

Does the Qobuz Hi Res catalogue of various albums/tracks consist of originally Hi Res produced material, like recorded at 24/96 for example, or do you know if the labels up sample 16/44.1 material to Hi Res? Not sure if you can know with certainty any of this, just curious.

Hi-Res tracks on Qobuz are supposed to be natively Hi-Res. The Qobuz folks do their best to verify the provenance of every track. If a track has been upsampled, both they and we have been cheated. Whenever such tracks get past their scrutiny (and I of course don't know how much effort they put into this), if someone with the right test software discovers a problem and reports it then they pull them from the service. Ideally.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

The tracks are delivered to Qobuz from the labels at a specific resolution, and all you're controlling with the app is whether you will stream it at the original or a downsampled level. In my example above, you can see I have selected 24/192 as my maximum, but the track I was playing is natively 24/96 so that's what I got. It did not get upsampled.

But if you choose a lower setting, does it get downsampled?

 

[Left Channel]

But if you choose a lower setting, does it get downsampled?

I only know the result. I believe they downsample, but could it be that they store multiple copies of each track? I can imagine them storing an MP3 track in addition to the highest-available Hi-Res track, but it doesn't seem efficient to also store every Hi-Res resolution in-between.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I only know the result. I believe they downsample, but could it be that they store multiple copies of each track? I can imagine them storing an MP3 track in addition to the highest-available Hi-Res track, but it doesn't seem efficient to also store every Hi-Res resolution in-between.

I don't have qobuz, not available here, but I'm pretty sure they downsample but don't upsample. You're right about MP3 though, if they serve MP3 at all that would be impractical to do on the fly.

 

[Brain Damage]

I don't have qobuz, not available here, but I'm pretty sure they downsample but don't upsample. You're right about MP3 though, if they serve MP3 at all that would be impractical to do on the fly.

This article is an interesting read in relation to hi-res audio and streaming. This may or may not answer some of the questions raised:

https://audiophilereview.com/audiophile/provenance-what-it-means-and-why-it-matters/