TIDAL IS HERE

rockn · « **Reply #40 on:** 30 Nov 2014, 04:16 pm »

Listening to Tidal now on my desktop system. Must say I'm impressed with the sq through my Audioengine 2+ with sub through a Dragonfly dac on my mac mini! Next I want to stream through my squeezebox touch on my big system which consists of Wyred 4 Sound mono amps and dac and Tekton Enzo speakers. I figure I will try it for the next month or so with holidays coming and I'll be home more often. $20 is a bit steep but we"ll see..

Charles Xavier · « **Reply #41 on:** 30 Nov 2014, 04:21 pm »

Got my first charge on Friday. Can't believe 30 days flew by.

kingdeezie · « **Reply #42 on:** 30 Nov 2014, 04:23 pm »

Does anyone know if the Windows Tidal application has access to ASIO or WASAPI drivers?

I don't see the point in lossless streaming, if I am forced to still have to go through the windows mixer in order to get the sound out to my USB DAC.

I noticed a huge difference in SQ going from the Spotify application, to Fidelify, where I was able to send bit perfect audio to the DAC.

Charles Xavier · « **Reply #43 on:** 30 Nov 2014, 04:29 pm »

Quote from: kingdeezie on 30 Nov 2014, 04:23 pm

Does anyone know if the Windows Tidal application has access to ASIO or WASAPI drivers?
You can use it with jriver
I don't see the point in lossless streaming, if I am forced to still have to go through the windows mixer in order to get the sound out to my USB DAC.

I noticed a huge difference in SQ going from the Spotify application, to Fidelify, where I was able to send bit perfect audio to the DAC.

You can use it with JRiver and set that in the settings

rockn · « **Reply #44 on:** 30 Nov 2014, 04:35 pm »

How do you get the 30 day trial? I only have 7 days.

Charles Xavier · « **Reply #45 on:** 30 Nov 2014, 04:55 pm »

Quote from: rockn on 30 Nov 2014, 04:35 pm

How do you get the 30 day trial? I only have 7 days.

they were offering it a few months back as an early adopter they do not offer it anymore at this time

mdconnelly · « **Reply #46 on:** 30 Nov 2014, 04:57 pm »

My 30 days went by fast and, in the end, I cancelled my subscription. In fact, I really liked Tidal for the novelty of it. Sound quality was excellent. I loved being able to stream from my windows app or via my iThing. I even got it to work from my Squeezebox using the Ickstream app. And the ability to save albums offline so that I could listen when not online (e.g. car, airport, etc...) worked extremely well.

So why did I cancel my subscription? For this dinosaur, my own music collection is important and I use streaming services mostly to supplement listening and for exposure to new music. What Tidal (or any service) needs is to change how people think about music such that the service becomes the dominant if not sole way of listening. While I really appreciated the quality and functionality of Tidal, if I'm using it just to inform me of what new music I may want to purchase, then there are plenty of free ways to do that. I'd rather invest the $20/month in new music than toward a music service.

I do think Tidal is missing an opportunity by not offering an initial extended service at a far better price. I suspect it takes time for some of us to change our mindset about listening to music. 7 days or 30 days isn't enough. If, say, they had offered a nicely priced 12 months intro offer, I would have given it a shot. Would my dominant listening have then shifted to the Tidal service rather than my own music collection after 12 months? The trial didn't convince me. But then, us 60+ year-olds are probably not the target demographic anyway

jarcher · « **Reply #47 on:** 2 Dec 2014, 05:09 am »

I also want to try Tidal but agree the 7 day trial is too meager. And with a music collection now over 35k tracks - many of which I've yet to listen to- $20 a month does seem to start to feel stiff for music discovery and convenience when I'm away from home.

If they did some kind of discount for a yearly subscription - like say TiVO - I'd be tempted and who knows, I might end up staying a subscriber. Under $200 would do it for me - and I think the decision would be even easier for those who haven't amassed a large music collection and care about sound quality.

yyz67 · « **Reply #48 on:** 2 Dec 2014, 05:42 am »

I just canceled a day early to be safe. But I can still stream until they cut it off. Sounds darn good right now.

I agree an intro price would be smart on their part like $10 for first 3 months or $15 for first 6 months.

pstrisik · « **Reply #49 on:** 3 Dec 2014, 04:06 pm »

I had the 30 day trial and did not renew. I won't subscribe for more than $10/month at this point.

jtwrace · « **Reply #50 on:** 3 Dec 2014, 04:18 pm »

Quote from: pstrisik on 3 Dec 2014, 04:06 pm

I had the 30 day trial and did not renew. I won't subscribe for more than $10/month at this point.

+1

sts9fan · « **Reply #51 on:** 3 Dec 2014, 04:43 pm »

I think you guys are crazy if you think $20 is too much. Its less then 2 HiRez downloads.

SlushPuppy · « **Reply #52 on:** 3 Dec 2014, 05:47 pm »

I'm going to sign-up for this service after my big move in January. I currently spend $150 - $250 a month on new music purchases. I don't think $20 a month is too expensive.

Charles Xavier · « **Reply #53 on:** 3 Dec 2014, 06:09 pm »

I had the 30-day subscription and now I just got billed for my first month I'll keep it a while longer and then decide at the end of the month

yyz67 · « **Reply #54 on:** 3 Dec 2014, 07:20 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 3 Dec 2014, 04:43 pm

I think you guys are crazy if you think $20 is too much. Its less then 2 HiRez downloads.

For me it's not necessarily the amount, but the relative pricing given the selection. I can't find at least half of the songs in my Spotify playlists so moving over I lose some favorites -- or I pay for both. I'm not knocking the concept and quality.

On a more philosophical side, this is YADS - "yet another data service" to pay for in this internet/data world: $50-100 for internet (way more than AOL used to be), $50-100 for phone/data + more to use as a personal wifi hot spot, additional $2, $5 here and there for other smart app services. It starts to add up: we're paying for "consumable temporary content" after which it is gone (ignoring "offline" modes, but you get the point).

Philistine · « **Reply #55 on:** 3 Dec 2014, 07:25 pm »

I also had the 30 day trial and didn't renew - great service but, based on 30 days of usage, I couldn't justify $20/month.
For me to jump back in I would need a lower monthly fee, or even a discounted 12 month fee, and the the ability to stream to Squeezebox devices.

mdconnelly · « **Reply #56 on:** 4 Dec 2014, 02:37 pm »

Quote from: Philistine on 3 Dec 2014, 07:25 pm

... and the the ability to stream to Squeezebox devices.

You can. There is a service called ickStream that works quite well to stream Tidal (and other services) through the Squeezebox/LMS infrastructure. They are in public beta.

mdconnelly · « **Reply #57 on:** 4 Dec 2014, 03:03 pm »

I also have issues with 'consumable temporary content'. Cable TV, internet, cell phones, netflix, etc.... It adds up quickly. And unlike other consumables, you're paying even when services don't get consumed. So, no, $20/month for high quality music streaming by itself is not bad, but it's just one more service fee on top of an already large and growing set of other service fees.

We've replaced "free" or cheap services such as TV and radio (and libraries!) with high-priced services that, for the most part, offer the same type of content or service. Has my rate of consumption increased? Nope. One could certainly argue that the quality has vastly improved... but at a high price when all added up.

But I digress... TIDAL is an excellent service and $20/month is not unreasonable. Dump your cable TV, HBO, netflix subscriptions and high-priced smartphones and listen to more music! (but keep your internet service - you're gonna need that

roscoeiii · « **Reply #58 on:** 4 Dec 2014, 03:12 pm »

Loving TIDAL. Crossing my fingers that more content is added since Google Play Music and Spotify have better selections. But damn, streaming lossless ANYWHERE with a WiFi or cellular data collection. And a great way to try before you buy (vinyl in my case). Oh yes. A bargain.

yyz67 · « **Reply #59 on:** 4 Dec 2014, 04:37 pm »

I guess I don't tend to trust these companies after what Netflix pulled with their reworked pricing structure a while back. I actually cancelled for a year after that move (purely on principle--I could afford it). Not that they cared.

But unlike cable companies, these internet content companies don't seem to offer incentives to keep you as a customer: since their customer base is huge (potentially international), there will always be more customers.

I will succumb to TIDAL (or some lossless service) probably sooner than later. But other content providers would be smart to ramp up lossless offerings if their infrastructures could support it. A bit of competition is good.