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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
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.
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,935 posts
 
Sorry, but I need to clarify some of my comments.

Tidal itself has been perfect. I signed up on the first day that they were available here in the states. Tidal has worked fine on my laptop and tablet.

The reason I decided to try Tidal was because I had heard that someone was working on a plug-in for the Squeezebox devices. Since Logitech completely abandoned all of it's Squeezebox users, we have had to count on these 3rd parties to help us out.

ickstream is that 3rd party. They just launched the beta this last Friday (11/14/14). It's only taken these last few days for them to respond to the problems and try to fix them. I have the UTMOST respect for ickstream. They have been GREAT and very, very reactive to what was happening. Without them all of us Squeezebox users would be screwed.

Also, ickstream will work with Deezer, Qobuz and a few other services.

Overall, I consider us very lucky to have this available and indeed hope that it continues to work well.
mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t
1,602 posts
 
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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.
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cymbop OP
315 posts
 
A data point on the depth of Tidal's catalog: I have recorded as a bass player in a studio precisely once, for a holiday compilation album of North Carolina bands. That track is on Tidal. Enter "Three Ships First Noel" in the search box to hear our track, recorded on a vintage analog tape console.

If everyone on A'gon listens to it, I'll get paid three thousandths of a cent. ;-)
davt
500 posts
 
I have used Tidal from day one here in US. Some problems with drop outs early, first few days. No problems since. I use Tidal daily on two systems and never have a problem.

One of the issues with streaming is the idea that free access will destroy the world. Hmmm. Think of the heyday's for recording artists, when gold records, platinum records etc were the talk of the town. Record stores were everywhere and people bought records, cassettes and then CD's by the millions. AND, music was free everywhere. Streamed on something called a RADIO. I never paid for listening to a radio, I just endured ads. Radio stations didn't pay artists to play their music. Artists, ( record labels ) paid the radio stations ( pay for play ). This way people heard about your music, album etc. So, in addition to getting paid three thousandths of a cent, some people who have never heard of you might buy the CD, download etc. I think that if we make music available and make it easy for people to purchase what they want at a higher quality we can have our cake and eat it too.
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