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 2 responses by mitch4t

.
Tidal will be a boon to audiophiles. However, will the unwashed non-hifi masses pony up twenty bucks to listen to the radio? For ten bucks a month, Rhapsody and Pandora quality is more than good enough sound quality for most. I just don't see a guy with a Best Buy receiver-based system paying $20 per month. I can't see the earbud iPhone-iPod guy paying $20 per month.

The $20 question is, are there enough audiophiles for Tidal to survive?
.
.
Implementation is everything in this case. If Tidal can get this thing right, it would be the final nail in the coffin for any type of disc music.

Killer implementation and a comprehensive database of music would make Tidal the new 800 lb gorilla of the music world. I hope they have enough start-up money to get a serious all-encompassing music library. If the library has too many holes, or if the implentation is wonky...it won't fly. Sure the die-hard audiophiles will bite, but that's not where the money is. The real money is with Ordinary Joe with the ordinary music system. Getting them to subscribe is the key. Audiophiles have long been waiting for something like this and are ready to jump if it's the real thing.
.