Author Topic: Tidal  (Read 20573 times)

OldiesButGoodies

  • Guest
Tidal
« on: December 02, 2014, 04:07:52 PM »
Anyone here have any experience with this service?

http://tidalhifi.com/us?gclid=CJnol-KRqMICFSIV7AodM0MAgQ

OBG

bearjew

  • Guest
Re: Tidal
« Reply #1 on: December 02, 2014, 06:38:00 PM »
ok, i read your post about a half hour ago, and i tried it, and HOLY SHIT!!!  i'm so used to using spotify right now that i forgot what dynamic range was!  going to have a long conversation with PBJ (who i share a spotify account with) about switching.  i'm blown away!

Offline Sir Thrift-a-Lot

  • Ready For Intervention!
  • ******
  • Posts: 3813
  • Karma: +1/-0
Re: Tidal
« Reply #2 on: December 02, 2014, 06:41:23 PM »
I signed up a few months back but never got the promised email about them going past Beta.

bearjew

  • Guest
Re: Tidal
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2014, 08:23:08 PM »
seriously, tidal just gave me a new appreciation for my car.  i've been in audio limbo since my speakers are still being built, so this is like the coolest thing for me to cling to right now.  i've never heard my car stereo sound this impressive (which is only as impressive as a stock car stereo can be).  all of the drums have come to life, and the bass sounds real again.  the vocalist doesn't sound like he's in a closet anymore either (except freddie mercury and elton john :P).  thanks for posting this pepe; seriously just made my day.

OldiesButGoodies

  • Guest
Re: Tidal
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2014, 09:32:59 PM »
Sounds promising!  I may kill spotify as well if it sounds as good as described by many in the webs.  I am stuck doing work, so will not get to it until tomorrow probably. Now you have me salivating.   


The price is somewhat high (20 bucks vs 10 for Spotify Premium),  but the poor lads in England are even more screwed, with a $31/month tab. 

Offline AdamG

  • Double Secret Probation!
  • **
  • Posts: 220
  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tidal
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2014, 01:06:58 AM »
Any of you gainfully employed folk wanna help a starving college student out and toss me some account info!  :P

bearjew

  • Guest
Re: Tidal
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2014, 04:57:08 PM »
Man I wish I had a sub right now.  I miss bass.
« Last Edit: December 03, 2014, 06:15:47 PM by bearjew »

Offline StephenWVU

  • Audio Geek!
  • ***
  • Posts: 357
  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tidal
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2014, 08:12:27 PM »
Ask to try Pepe's M&K MX 5000. If my setup didn't already do 16 Hz I'd be all over it.
Speakers: Nearfield Acoustics Pipedreams Reference 18
Amplifier:
Mark Levinson ML3 (subs)
Phison A2.120SE (towers)
Preamplifier/DAC/Phono: Phison PD2SE
Server: Pi & NUC
Turntable: VPI HR-X, VdH Colibri XGW

OldiesButGoodies

  • Guest
Re: Tidal
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2014, 12:57:17 PM »
Thanks Steve!  I am going to have to figure out a way to use that sub in the HT as it is not moving in CL.  It is really better for music IMO (but the Amazings already have 8 12" woofers doing that job).

I am playing with Tidal side by side with Spotify (at work, using a Focusrite DAC and AKG cans) set at the "high definition" setting which is supposed to be 320Kbps.  Tidal sounds better - just not sure it is "twice the price" better.  Definitely comparable to CD quality.    I hope to try it tonight with the Amazings and the Sunfire.  Certainly comparable quality to what I get from Rev's Jriver server playing FLACs.

If any of you find a particularly good track in Tidal that demonstrates the service's full ability please post it here...

Thanks

OBG

Offline papabearjew

  • Musicholic, Instigator
  • Ready For Intervention!
  • ******
  • Posts: 1054
  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tidal
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2014, 12:53:42 PM »
Streaming from Tidal on my Android phone as a test. I don't have a functioning computer. Is the difference between Tidal set to hifi and Spotify premium noticeable on Android phones/tablets?  Is hifi setting better than high def?
Can I share the account with my son or wife at the same time? 
When I bring up an artist and list all the albums in chronological order on Spotify that's real important to me. How do I get Tidal to do it?

Thx

bearjew

  • Guest
Re: Tidal
« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2014, 03:47:45 PM »
Streaming from Tidal on my Android phone as a test. I don't have a functioning computer. Is the difference between Tidal set to hifi and Spotify premium noticeable on Android phones/tablets?  Is hifi setting better than high def?
Can I share the account with my son or wife at the same time? 
When I bring up an artist and list all the albums in chronological order on Spotify that's real important to me. How do I get Tidal to do it?

Thx

it has to be set to hi-fi, and you want to make sure your phone is on wifi and not on 4g, this thing will drain your data plan in a few hours.  from what i can tell on my phone, the hifi setting on tidal beats the hell out of the extreme setting on spotify.  the extreme setting on spotify is 320k, whereas hifi on tidal is 1411k.  all of the stuff i pull up is generally in chronological order; it may just be a select few artists where it is screwed up.  besdies, quite frequently on spotify they put earlier albums later because they get re-mastered.  like pantera's 1990 album "cowboys from hell" comes before their 2000 album "vulgar display of power" because it got re-mastered later.

Offline schwarcw

  • Ready For Intervention!
  • ******
  • Posts: 1625
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • No one here gets out alive!
Re: Tidal
« Reply #11 on: December 09, 2014, 04:14:12 PM »
You guys are probably texting each other from across the room!   O0 :(|) >:D :P
Carl

bearjew

  • Guest
Re: Tidal
« Reply #12 on: December 09, 2014, 05:24:44 PM »
You guys are probably texting each other from across the room!   O0 :(|) >:D :P

haha nope, i'm home, as is he i think

Offline papabearjew

  • Musicholic, Instigator
  • Ready For Intervention!
  • ******
  • Posts: 1054
  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tidal
« Reply #13 on: December 09, 2014, 08:21:59 PM »
You guys are probably texting each other from across the room!   O0 :(|) >:D :P

haha nope, i'm home, as is he i think

Nope, I'm at a brothel. Don't tell your mother. Never mind, they denied me service because of all the nasty open scars

Offline tinpan

  • Audio Geek!
  • ***
  • Posts: 344
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • VA Gold
Re: Tidal
« Reply #14 on: December 30, 2014, 09:50:10 AM »
So, first day with the Tidal trial and still noodling with it. So far, it integrated with Sonos so I can play Redbook CD quality files on any of my systems. That is kind of nice. It seems to have a nice selection of Music, I was able to find some of my favorite tracks like Gene Harris and Harris and Hamilton. It was also nice to find the complete collection from Beegie Adair so it was nice to hear the album Love Elvis.

This part is so far so good.

A couple questions though. Some of the tracks seem to be grayed out and not available. I went back today and they seem available today so I am not sure what is up with that.

It also seems to have a hit or miss search function. Looking for the following Cal Tjador -Time for Love, Cyrus Chestnut - First time Ever and Jimmy Cobb - Ma Turk. Found the Jimmy Cobb today.

I wonder if you can put a playlist together and share it. That would be pretty cool.

I haven't been able to crack the code on hi res playback yet. Everthing going through my Sonos is 16 bit. I think I'll need to run a USB cable from my MacBook to my DAC to listen to hires files. That would be cool but I didn't see that option in the Tidal preferences menu. I can pick internal speakers or air book which defeats the purpose of hires.

More later
Tinpan

If you can read this message, thank a teacher.
If you are reading it in english, thank a veteran