2. digital
  3. 1416255201

TIDAL Lossless Streaming Service

Has anyone else tried lossless streaming from Tidal? I've been a Spotify user for a while now. The catalog available is pretty stunning, and 320kbps is listenable, but I'm not satisfied with lossy material for serious listening.

Tidal launched a couple of weeks ago, streaming a lossless catalog in FLAC to a web-based player. They have a large catalog and the same kinds of curated playlists that Spotify offers.

I am clinging to my Squeezebox Touch until it dies, so I was not interested in a PC-based approach to stream the service. A user community, however, has created a SBT plugin called Ickstream that allows the Touch to play nicely with Tidal. It took me about an hour to get subscribed to Tidal (first seven days free) and get Ickstream implemented on my Touch.

Sound-wise, running into a PS Audio PWD II, Tidal is clearly more three-dimensional, tonally rich and satisfying than Spotify. Compared to FLAC rips from my hard-drive, however, it is lacking just a little bit of detail retrieval and seems a bit noisier in the spaces between the notes. The difference is small but definite.

So, I'm ditching Spotify in favor of Tidal. $20/mo is worth it to me to have damn-near best-available fidelity on damn-near every album I ever want to hear. And I can download unlimited mp3's to my phone for travel. Would love to hear your experiences.
cymbop

Showing 1 response by mcondon

mcondon
233 posts
 
I liked the demo I heard of Tidal, but most audiophile music streamers don't seem to support it yet. I have heard that Aurender is working to provide access to Tidal through their servers. That said, I would welcome the chance to hear new music that is well-recorded with good resolution. That's what this hobby should be about. It's a shame that it is easier to "surf" for new music using an iPod than using a megabuck stereo system.

True, I can't see paying $20 a month to hear Tidal yet, but think it has a lot of potential, especially if they widen the accessibility and iron out the bugs quickly. If bugs persist, bad word of mouth will hit a tipping point and it will likely fail.

The PS Audio Bridge and the Auralic Aries, although streaming hardware rather than streaming software, should serve as cautionary tales. I have looked at the endless threads about the bugs of both products, and can't see why anyone would buy or subscribe to a product that involves so much potential aggravation. Not surprising that the Bridge has disappeared into the ether and Paul McGowan is saying his team reinvented the wheel yet again, this time with the Direct Stream DAC (of course, after you break it in for a few thousand hours.).

Bottom line: I hope Tidal succeeds quickly, because time is not on its side.
More to discover