Tidal streaming options - through ethernet

[Leeps]

I currently stream Tidal via Airplay to my AV receiver. The more I use Tidal, the more I like it, but I am conscious that using the ethernet cable rather than Airplay unleashes the full force of my 50mbps internet connection and reduces the likelihood of wifi dropouts, particularly when my network is also doing other things.

If I was a Spotify user, the answer would be simple: an Amazon Fire TV; ethernet cable into my router one end, optical out into my AV receiver the other end, all controlled by my ipad app. The End.

But streaming Tidal through ethernet doesn't seem to have such cheap solutions (less than £100).

So far my choices seem limited to Sonos Connect, Bluesound Node or other hardware that bundles Tidal with it (like Oppo Bluray players for example).

I was thinking how nice, cheap and accessible it would be if Tidal offered their service through a small cheap box with an optical out, like the Amazon Fire TV (unlikely I suppose now Amazon have their own streaming service, although that argument seems shallow considering this little box DOES offer Spotify Connect) or the Roku 3 I already have.

Why the fuss?

It just strikes me that the TV based ethernet streamers mentioned above are cheap and offer 1080p HD pictures from numerous sources for about £70. But audio-only alternatives cost over £300. Ultimately I'll probably end-up buying a Bluesound or something like that to enable ethernet streaming, but I do suspect the presence of snake-oil type overcharging compared to a Roku which offers more for considerably less.

Rant over. But if you hear of Tidal coming out on a small cheap box anytime soon, please do let us know.

 

[davedotco]

Fot what it is worth I found Spotify Connect superior to Spotify over Airplay in all respects. Most likely expectation bias caused by my old fashioned preference for wired connections, but it sounded pretty good to me.

When I A/B tested Tidal flac against Spotify, both over Airplay, I found that a touch of HF eq on Spotify made them very, very difficult to pick, the only fly in the ointment being the lack of eq in Spotify Connect.

 

[daveh75]

There's a plethora of sub £100 Android boxes that'll do what you want.

I think AVF did a roundup of what they consider the best quite recently, and are particular fans of the MINIX boxes...

Or, if you can find the APK for Tidal you could sideload it on the Fire TV

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Hi guy's,sorry to but in,but I'm just wondering if the fire tv does indeed use spotify connect or is it more like airplay,as in the stream goes directly to the device and on to the fire tv,this method kills the battery on your device quickly as opposed to the device being used only as a remote via connect.Also as the op mentions it also has the benefit of a hard wired connection and sound quality is of better quality using connect.At the moment I'm using my ps4 to stream to Arcam ir dac,but would prefer to use something like the fire tv for more convenience and the longevity of my ps4.

 

[davedotco]

Fire tv uses an app (built in) to connect directly to Spotify.

You run the Spotify app on your mobile device, this acts as a remote control to the app running on thr Fire tv.

There is no Airplay involved and your mobile device is not connected to Spotify, only the Fire tv is connected.

Once you have selected the music to play, you can switch of your mobile device or use it for something else entirely, that is the whole point of Spotify Connect.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Thanks very much,that's what I needed to know

 

[Rallye666]

You could always build yourself a Raspberry pi with volumio as its operating system.

Includes airplay and can also be used a top notch streamer for all your music stored on PC/MAC/NAS.

Just choose your ouput board - either an on board PI DAC, or a DIGI+ to send the signal to your choice of outboard DAC.

Not exactly a plug and play solution. But once its up and running it sounds fantastic, is easy to use and you get some satisfaction that you (kind of) built it!

All for less then £50

 

[Leeps]

I don't own any downloaded music. Never even owned an ipod. I hung onto CD's throughout the ipod generation and skipped straight to streaming from Spotify and now Tidal.

I've never liked the idea of downloads, iTunes, NAS drives, backups and the like. I prefer the simplicity of a streaming service and the ability to try out new music without committing yourself to the individual cost of an album. Having got used to Tidal, I can't imagine paying £15 for a download, even if it is hi resolution, when I've not had the opportunity to listen to it beforehand.

The main point I was trying to make was the fact that very capable audiovisual streamers (like my Roku 3) seem to be significantly cheaper than audio only streamers like the Sonos or Bluesound (although I appreciate that economies of scale can have a significant affect here) and when I say "streamer", I really mean a way of handling a streaming service, not streaming my own downloaded material.

You'd think it would be in Tidal's interest to offer an app on Roku to open up their subscription based service to a wider audience. It would be especially helpful if Tidal did an equivalent to spotify Connect, so I could continue to use my ipad app to control the music (as it's a very nice interface) but simply pull the music directly from Tidal hardwired through my router, thus avoiding the need to have my TV switched on to play music. I actually avoided the non-Connect type Spotify on my Roku 3 for this reason: I'm paranoid about screen-burn on my plasma.

 

[daveh75]

The Gramofon is promising Tidal support soon.

So a £45 audio only solution

 

[Leeps]

Interesting, although I don't think the Gramafon offers a digital output. My analogue inputs on my AVR aren't fantastic either, so I'd be looking for something I can connect with some kind of digital output.

 

[jamesrfisher]

Interesting, although I don't think the Gramafon offers a digital output. My analogue inputs on my AVR aren't fantastic either, so I'd be looking for something I can connect with some kind of digital output.

It doesn't. I checked with them and digital outputs are something they are thinking about

 

[iMark]

I saw this in a computer shop on Saturday. Haven't heard it, but it has both analogue and digital outputs and isn't very expensive.

https://www.sitecom.com/en/wma-1000-music-streamer/345

 

[Leeps]

Interesting product to some I suppose, although my AVR already allows wireless streaming with its inbuilt Airplay.

I'm looking to stream Tidal, wired through ethernet. Partly to free up the iPad's battery and also to potentially maximise the quality of the source. Picky aren't I?

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Hay guy's just been reading this thread and, really to get the benefits of tidals high res files your going to need a very good streamer and dac, quality stereo amp with some good speakers. You really will struggle to tell the difference between tidal and spotifies extreme setting on budget kit.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10203552373284939]

Leeps as others have suggested I would seriously consider Spotify connect. I play it via a CA Streammagic and the sounds is,to my ears, sublime. I do have Hires flacs in a server, which it also plays, but to be honest the convenience and reliability of the streaming is so good I don't bother.