TIDAL - 6 months in

[Womaz]

What can I say? TIDAL has totally transformed the way I listen to and ultimately buy music.
Its simply the best £20 per month I could ever spend. Talk about value for money.
It all started 6 months ago as I give up on the AIR software for the umpteenth time. I purchased the AK300 DAP and a pair of Campfire Audio Lyra 2. The AK300 had TIDAL on it and I started my subscription. I was always reluctant to go down the streaming route as I was one of the unlucky ones with AIR and I also thought the sound quality would not be as good. However those of you who followed my speaker journey will know that I had to change my listening habits as new neighbours moved in under me. So the AK300 was bought as a holiday tool and for some home us too.
I was instantly hooked on TIDAL and fir 3 months did not listen to my Devialet at all as TIDAL was used exclusively.
I love the new music section as i have always followed new music releases. TIDAL has saved me money too, quite a bot of money as I was spending £80 to £100 per month on downloads. Now its around half of that and I can see myself cutting the purchase of music even further. I would stop now but I like to copy my music to listen to in the car and on my holidays too. One day TIDAL will be streamed into cars and available offline abroad I would imagine and I may even stop altogether.
Then in like a disney type of ending my neighbours move out and the apartment below is empty. This coincide with Melco now working with the Kazoo app and being able to stream TIDAL.
It is like heaven. Is the sound quality as good as my HD ? I am not so sure, but the difference is tiny if any, and the convenience of all that music at my fingertips makes me happy that for me its not an issue anymore.
So now its approaching dark nights again in the UK and a period where my music listening increases as the night time golf is impossible, and boy am i excited.

So £20 per month, I hope thy dont read this

but I would pay a lot more than this. Its like something that once you have had it, you cant live without it. INCREDIBLE value and a music lovers dream

 

[radiorog]

Sounds interesting. How do you rate the sound quality compared to regular 320kbps?

 

[Al ears]

That's good to hear. I was looking into them or Quboz since I now have the equipment to tap into these.

 

[Womaz]

Sounds interesting. How do you rate the sound quality compared to regular 320kbps?

I try not to get too hung up on comparisons to be honest. All I know is it sounds excellent to me through my DAP or the Hifi. I subscibe to the Hifi version.

 

[insider9]

I'm also with Tidal for close to 6 months. It's much better than Spotify Premium, I used before and Deezer, I'm currently subscribed to on a 99p 3 month offer. It constitutes about 75% of my listening.

But no I wouldn't pay more than £20 per month. In case they're reading this.

 

[insider9]

That's good to hear. I was looking into them or Quboz since I now have the equipment to tap into these.

I've tried Qobuz but Tidal wins for me in terms of library size. Spotify is still ahead but Tidal beats it on quality. With your Onkyo I'd get a free trial it's worth at least trying. Especially with MQA support on Onkyo.

 

[insider9]

Sounds interesting. How do you rate the sound quality compared to regular 320kbps?

I'm happy to answer this.

Depends on how you listen to music. For on the go I'd happily use Spotify Premium. For background or discovery once again Spotify is absolutely fine.

The biggest perceivable difference is in imaging and size of soundstage. Spotify just feels flatter with less air between instruments. Tonally you'd be hard pressed to find difference.

I would happily go back to Spotify once they offer same quality. Unless I finally build a streamer utilising Roon.

 

[Al ears]

That's good to hear. I was looking into them or Quboz since I now have the equipment to tap into these.

I've tried Qobuz but Tidal wins for me in terms of library size. Spotify is still ahead but Tidal beats it on quality. With your Onkyo I'd get a free trial it's worth at least trying. Especially with MQA support on Onkyo.

Might look into that but with slow internet where I work it might be a no goer, I don't need the facility at home.

 

[CnoEvil]

A friend signed up for the 3 month trial, when he bought a Sneaky DSM/LS50s....it sounded very good indeed. I'm glad you're enjoying it. *music2*

 

[jjbomber]

I would stop now but I like to copy my music to listen to in the car and on my holidays too. One day TIDAL will be streamed into cars and available offline abroad I would imagine and I may even stop altogether.

Spotify have offered this for years on their app. I am surprised Tidal don't offer it but I'm sure they will in the future. I'm glad you are enjoying Tidal. That is all music and hi-fi is; find something that is best for YOU.

If Tidal are reading this, i will join if you make it 99p a month, offer free hi-fi upgrades, supply quality headphones, concert passes for a year, executive suite at the O2, a hi-res music player and a personal interview with Jimmy Page.

 

[drummerman]

+ Tidal

Better SQ than Spotify. - Interface is getting better but still not up to Spotify standard.

 

[Pedro]

I moved from Tidal to Spotify and I'm glad I did. Even though Spotify only offers 320kps ogg, the catalogue is much better. I listen predominantly to classical music nowadays and Tidal doesn't have a chance against Spotify. Also, at the time I left Tidal (3 or 4 months ago) the search was really bad and the web player terrible.

 

[insider9]

+ Tidal

 

Better SQ than Spotify. - Interface is getting better but still not up to Spotify standard.

I think it's now only down to some tweaks. It's nowhere near as far as it's used to be.

 

[knaithrover]

I've never regretted switching from Spotify to Tidal, SQ miles better and well worth the £20 a month for 'hifi'

 

[Paulq]

+1 for Tidal here. Happily listening to Tidal HiFi and do so most days. Unlike others, I haven't really suffered from stuff not in their library and have managed to find most of the music I like.

This may be controversial but, as an owner of Meridian stuff, I do find the MQA offerings a real bonus with Tidal and the clarity is something else.

 

[nopiano]

I tried Tidal a few months ago when my Qobuz sub ran out. Can't say I could tell much difference in sq, but familiarity with the Qobuz interface won out for me.

Since then it's been updated and is even better. But I think familiarity is a key factor, along with content emphasis. As I mainly want "classical" I'm fine, with plenty of older pop and rock when I'm so inclined.

 

[Womaz]

I do agree that the Spotify user experience is slightly better , the playlists and the links to similar arts stations just works better, but it’s tidal for me from now on

 

[Deleted member 116933]

I use tidal and Spotify as I find the tidal discovery feature very heavily leaned toward hip hop which I find differcult to get around unless you know exactly what your looking for .

I have also found glitches where artists with similar names come under the same search and mingled together under the same name. E.g. Search Ramsey and you'll find 2-3 different artists that you weren't looking for.

But in regards to using tidal, its integrated into the naim app seamlessly but if your using the proper tidal app this allows you download and listen offline ( think this was mention above that you couldn't but may have misunderstood). Some say they can hear a difference between FLAC on hard drive and those on line. But you can't. TBH i struggle to hear a night and day difference between Spotify and tidal. But there is a difference nether the less. Best money I spend as I listen to alot more music nower days.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

Tidal hi fi would be a lot cheaper if more people bought into the ideal of streaming like say they did when cd first came out. I hope they do.

 

[Saigu]

What can I say? TIDAL has totally transformed the way I listen to and ultimately buy music.
Its simply the best £20 per month I could ever spend. Talk about value for money.
It all started 6 months ago as I give up on the AIR software for the umpteenth time. I purchased the AK300 DAP and a pair of Campfire Audio Lyra 2. The AK300 had TIDAL on it and I started my subscription. I was always reluctant to go down the streaming route as I was one of the unlucky ones with AIR and I also thought the sound quality would not be as good. However those of you who followed my speaker journey will know that I had to change my listening habits as new neighbours moved in under me. So the AK300 was bought as a holiday tool and for some home us too.
I was instantly hooked on TIDAL and fir 3 months did not listen to my Devialet at all as TIDAL was used exclusively.
I love the new music section as i have always followed new music releases. TIDAL has saved me money too, quite a bot of money as I was spending £80 to £100 per month on downloads. Now its around half of that and I can see myself cutting the purchase of music even further. I would stop now but I like to copy my music to listen to in the car and on my holidays too. One day TIDAL will be streamed into cars and available offline abroad I would imagine and I may even stop altogether.
Then in like a disney type of ending my neighbours move out and the apartment below is empty. This coincide with Melco now working with the Kazoo app and being able to stream TIDAL.
It is like heaven. Is the sound quality as good as my HD ? I am not so sure, but the difference is tiny if any, and the convenience of all that music at my fingertips makes me happy that for me its not an issue anymore.
So now its approaching dark nights again in the UK and a period where my music listening increases as the night time golf is impossible, and boy am i excited.

So £20 per month, I hope thy dont read this

but I would pay a lot more than this. Its like something that once you have had it, you cant live without it. INCREDIBLE value and a music lovers dream

I think the Pollyanna ending would be that your neighbors start playing the music you always wanted s.t. it happens you often tune into their livestream but the music doesn't much stop when the Active NC headphones come off. And argue and cry sybillantly. As usual you ... underestimate golf fans, too, but... don't mention Tidal paying artists, which is the other point of not doing Squattify or Amazon Cue Control Whazzat or indeed Apple Brews That!

 

[Saigu]

Spotify have offered this for years on their app. I am surprised Tidal don't offer it but I'm sure they will in the future. I'm glad you are enjoying Tidal. That is all music and hi-fi is; find something that is best for YOU.

If Tidal are reading this, i will join if you make it 99p a month, offer free hi-fi upgrades, supply quality headphones, concert passes for a year, executive suite at the O2, a hi-res music player and a personal interview with Jimmy Page.

Erm, isn't it limited to phone memory, or does Spotify let you make mixtapes and operate a drums driven audio workstation?

 

[Deleted member 201267]

Nice thread resurrection there !