[toolio]

I hope that Roon Labs provides an alternate lossless streaming service option other than Tidal if only to have a choice, but I'm also worried that Tidal will not be around much longer. Qobuz would be perfect to pair with Roon to fill in the gaps in anyone's music library and for high-quality exploration and discovery of new material.

Unfortunately that will do no good for Roon customers, me included, who don’t live in the US or the handful of countries in which Qobuz is available. I’d rather see Roon partner with another hi-fi service such as Deezer to avoid problems if Tidal disappears.

 

[raelamb]

Looking forward to the imminent Qobuz launch in the US. Hi Res streaming unencumbered by MQA. Got a beta and streaming 96, 192, and DSD flawlessly on my ipod touch/ Chord mojo combo

I misspoke. Qobuz does not stream DSD. Minor issue though since they do all other hi res without MQA

 

[rkw]

Looking forward to the imminent Qobuz launch in the US. Hi Res streaming unencumbered by MQA.

But still encumbered by audible watermarks. I'm not a fan of MQA but there is something positive about it — MQA recordings do not appear to be encoded with audible watermarking.

 

[toolio]

But still encumbered by audible watermarks. I'm not a fan of MQA but there is something positive about it — MQA recordings do not appear to be encoded with audible watermarking.

Didn’t I see previous posts with people complaining about MQA watermarking? Or am I confused? I don’t hear any, but my aging ears aren’t as frequency-receptive as they once were.

 

[rkw]

Didn’t I see previous posts with people complaining about MQA watermarking? Or am I confused? I don’t hear any, but my aging ears aren’t as frequency-receptive as they once were.

This is the watermark I'm talking about: https://www.google.com/search?q=audible+watermark. It adds a noticeable distortion to the sound.

MQA has some kind of "authentication code" embedded in the data that can also potentially be used for DRM, but I haven't seen complaints about it being audible.

All streaming services must use the music files supplied to them by the music labels. If it's from Universal Music Group, the files will be processed with watermarking, or MQA encoded (sometimes both versions are available on Tidal). However, it doesn't appear that MQA files have the audible watermark distortion. When some people say that MQA sounds better, IMO the difference is coming from lack of the watermark, not because of MQA technology.

 

[toolio]

This is the watermark I'm talking about: https://www.google.com/search?q=audible+watermark. It adds a noticeable distortion to the sound.

MQA has some kind of "authentication code" embedded in the data that can also potentially be used for DRM, but I haven't seen complaints about it being audible.

All streaming services must use the music files supplied to them by the music labels. If it's from Universal Music Group, the files will be processed with watermarking, or MQA encoded (sometimes both versions are available on Tidal). However, it doesn't appear that MQA files have the audible watermark distortion. When some people say that MQA sounds better, IMO the difference is coming from lack of the watermark, not because of MQA technology.

That all makes sense. However, I could swear some people were decrying an audible watermark in MQA files. Or maybe it was Tidal MQA files. That might make more sense. It could have been here or in a Roon discussion.,

 

[gimmeheadroom]

That all makes sense. However, I could swear some people were decrying an audible watermark in MQA files. Or maybe it was Tidal MQA files. That might make more sense. It could have been here or in a Roon discussion.,

I got the same impression as @rkw. Basically UMG is screwing up downloads of all everything they "own." I did not see anything having to do with MQA or Tidal. In fact I find Tidal MQA is really pretty nice. I don't think MQA is a good idea for downloads in general but if you're streaming music over cellular or a crappy internet connection MQA makes sense.

 

[toolio]

I got the same impression as @rkw. Basically UMG is screwing up downloads of all everything they "own." I did not see anything having to do with MQA or Tidal. In fact I find Tidal MQA is really pretty nice. I don't think MQA is a good idea for downloads in general but if you're streaming music over cellular or a crappy internet connection MQA makes sense.

Ok. Thanks. It seems I was recalling incorrectly. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Ok. Thanks. It seems I was recalling incorrectly. Sorry for any confusion.

If not for confusion I would have no idea what to think next

 

[gefski]

Anybody use Audirvana+/Tidal?

I can't load anything from Tidal tonight. A+ works fine for all my music files and I can get online and communicate, but no Tidal files at all. Did full shutdown, no change. It's been pretty glitch-free for a couple years. Will see what tomorrow brings.

 

[maninthehighcastle]

Tidal is not sreaming at the moment. Can someone confirm. I'm in germany. Offline tracks are working.

 

[Spider fan]

Tidal is not sreaming at the moment. Can someone confirm. I'm in germany. Offline tracks are working.

Down for me too in the USA.

 

[Den Sol]

Yup can confirm down in the US.

 

[peterinvan]

Tidal streaming was down in Canada as well yesterday. Now working fine.

 

[gtdaqua]

Hi,

This is my first post in head-fi.org. I have been reading lots of material, mostly from this site, to help in deciding my first headphone for me. It was truly worth it. This could be an interesting read for you. I have been (can't believe I just said that!) a gamer for nearly 8 years with a pretty good rig on 92" Grey Screen imaged by an Epson 4K Projector with Denon AVR, BIC America Sub, Klipsch Center,L/R and this has been an amazing experience and thankfully it still is. I wanted to buy a headphone when the wife wants to sleep peacefully and after weeks of research of amp,dac I went with Beyerdynamic DT 990/600 Limited edition and this has opened a whole new world!!

The sound was unbelievable when I re-watched Mad Max: Fury Road on my 92" and decided I will re-watch some block-busters. I am not a music guy. But all that has changed now. I played some songs through Spotify and they were really awesome-sounding on my DT 990. I upped the game and activated my 6-month trial on Premium through my Rogers account. The premium music (320Kbps-claimed) was so nice to me that I thought this is the way to listen to music. I listened to the same track in Saavn (South Indian music) which max streams at 128Kbps and now I do not want to go there again. It was also hard for me to believe that this is how 128Kbps sounds. But, again, this also changed when I signed up for Tidal Hifi which is double the price of Spotify. The same South Indian music tracks were so full in my ears that I could quickly notice the difference between Spotify and Tidal Hi-Fi and now I do not even want to use the premium Spotify. I even listened to a track that I do not like because the the sound was very 'legible' (I do not know what term audiophiles use, but I hope you understand). After listening to a few tracks continuously in Tidal and going back to Spotify, I was able to find that range was reduced, bass was cut in the ends and ultimately, I could feel tired after hearing them. On the other hand, Tidal Hifi doesn't sound tiring at all and in fact, I feel better when I listen to these songs even though historically I have avoided these songs in the past. (Speaking about history, I never listened to music so intently that I thought I would go and buy a headphone - 'was' happy to spend $$$ on projectors, computers, speakers etc.)

I am surprised to see that some people do not see the difference between Spotify Premium and Tidal Hi-Fi. Honestly, there is no comparison here. I did several A/B tests on my favourite tracks and inside first 10 seconds, I was able to find the difference. With the lossless audio, it is as though, the musicians are in the same room as you and you are hearing the instruments and their reverbs firsthand. I can show a few tracks where the Tidal Hi-Fi speaks for itself. I think this is because of the Headphones too. The difference is even so legible and pronounced when I hear it through my iPhone even though it doesn't drive my DT 990/600 to a very good extent. At home, my Denon AVR drives my headphones.

I want to thank head-fi.org for this beautiful site filled with lots of information regarding audio and related technologies. Things have changed so much that I have not gamed since I signed up with Tidal! I keep listening to my fave songs I have listened for several years and my jaw is on the floor. My wife is surprised to see this change in me - married for 7 years! Now I will continue to use Tidal Hi-Fi and ignore the 6 free months I have with Spotify Premium.