Tidal is ending support for Samsung TVs

[What Hi-Fi?]

The music streaming service has left a few high-profile TV brands recently, with Samsung joining the likes of Amazon Fire TV and Roku.

Tidal is ending support for Samsung TVs : Read more

 

[cryanhorner]

Quick question for someone who knows a bit more about digital than me:

If my current method of listening to Tidal was via the Tidal app on my Samsung TV, which is plugged directly into my Node streamer via HDMI-eARC (then from there into my amp), so no Bluetooth or wireless anything, am I now going to be forced to only listen to Tidal via wireless signal, thereby losing the high resolution audio that is Tidal's main selling point, because music can't (yet) be transmitted over wireless signal at that resolution?

If this is the case, then I hardly see any point in continuing to pay for a streaming platform like Tidal. But if I am mistaken, please let me know.

Thanks.

 

[manicm]

Does your amp have streaming capability? If not then get a streamer that connects to your amp, and then you can stream in full high res.

 

[cryanhorner]

Does your amp have streaming capability? If not then get a streamer that connects to your amp, and then you can stream in full high res.

No, the amp itself does not have any digital / streaming capabilities. The Node that I have slotted in between the TV and Amp is what allows me to stream, but unless I'm misunderstanding (and I very well may be), the Node is not actually a source, it still needs the music to come from somewhere doesn't it?

Sorry I'm sure this is a silly question, but I find digital to be very confusing, I mostly just play LPs, but if I'm using the Node app on my phone to control that device and "play" something, say Tidal for example, is it actually playing tidal from the Node, via a wired connection to the amp, or is it playing Tidal from my phone wirelessly to the Node?

 

[manicm]

No, the amp itself does not have any digital / streaming capabilities. The Node that I have slotted in between the TV and Amp is what allows me to stream, but unless I'm misunderstanding (and I very well may be), the Node is not actually a source, it still needs the music to come from somewhere doesn't it?

Sorry I'm sure this is a silly question, but I find digital to be very confusing, I mostly just play LPs, but if I'm using the Node app on my phone to control that device and "play" something, say Tidal for example, is it actually playing tidal from the Node, via a wired connection to the amp, or is it playing Tidal from my phone wirelessly to the Node?

Ok, first things first, does your amp have a DAC, or any digital inputs i.e. optical (toslink) or coaxial?

 

[cryanhorner]

Ok, first things first, does your amp have a DAC, or any digital inputs i.e. optical (toslink) or coaxial?

No it does not have anything like that, it's a fairly "old-school" tube-based integrated amp with only RCA inputs, so the DAC in the Node is what has allowed me to add streaming as a source option, and basically since the TV is already run through the Node into the amp, the TV became the obvious control center to actually access the streaming platform and choose music etc. (via the app for whatever streamer it may be, apple music, tidal, etc).

so just to try to layout where I'm getting lost:

I'm wondering, when I go into the BluOS app on my phone right now, I choose as the source "eARC" because that is the TV (running the Tidal app let's say) coming into the Node (streamer/dac). I think my confusion is that I am unclear on what happens if/when instead of choosing eARC as the source in the BluOS app, I chose Tidal or Spotify or whatever, would it be streaming from my phone wirelessly to the Node (lossy), or would it simply be using my phone as a remote control, and just streaming from the Node, which has a wired connection to the amp (although not to the actual internet signal, that's still coming to the Node and to the TV via wifi because the router is in a different part of the house), and would this stream potentially be in lossless resolution (assuming the source file is)? Or is the fact that the Node isn't hard-wired into the router already establishing a lossy connection?

And sorry if this sounds silly, I just need to get my head around it a bit.

 

[manicm]

Ok, I didn't read properly and realise you had the Node. No problem.

The Node has Tidal Connect. So, fire up Tidal on your phone. Choose the music you want to play, then near the top of the screen you'll see an icon, click on it and it should show up your Node as an option. Choose it and voila, your Node will now be streaming Tidal. Spotify will work in a very similar way, fire up Spotify itself and 'connect' to your Node.

 

[cryanhorner]

Ok, I didn't read properly and realise you had the Node. No problem.

The Node has Tidal Connect. So, fire up Tidal on your phone. Choose the music you want to play, then near the top of the screen you'll see an icon, click on it and it should show up your Node as an option. Choose it and voila, your Node will now be streaming Tidal. Spotify will work in a very similar way, fire up Spotify itself and 'connect' to your Node.

Got it, so ultimately either the TV or the Phone are acting only as a remote control device, and the Node is, for want of a better way to describe it, "doing the streaming" , which means I can get the full resolution of the file I'm playing reglardless. So that's great news actually.

And thank you for setting me straight on this, I appreciate the info.