Official TIDAL HIFI Streaming Issues Thread

[rodrigaj]

I am having the same problems as the previous two posters. The most irritating is the beginning dropouts as they are much longer. I get sporadic tics and pops as well and quick dropouts. I get the same message as the other posters, but I assumed that it was on their end because they start the message with "We are experiencing..."

 

I also ran into the curious greyed out phenomenon, where they originally said "streaming is only possible after purchase" and now it has changed to "the record label has not allowed streaming of this..." I contacted Tidal about the first message and then I noted that they changed it to the second message.

 

I signed up for the 30 day free trial from day one but if the dropouts persist, I'm leaving the service until they get it right.

 

The Android App is pretty bad, but I have not had the problems as I have had with the Tidal Mac App Player.

[rodrigaj]

i have not had any problems with using my mac mini(late summer 2013 version i7 with 16GB RAM through amarra SQ USB out to newest Schiit Gungnir RCA out to my system and also seinnheiser 598's to Schiit magni amp. no dropouts, a few pops crackles hisses distortions tho.TIDAL sounds almost or is as good as Qobuz. QUANTITY tho is limited on TIDAL. for example if i search on Qobuz for say RHINO RECORDS i get 65000 songs 5200 albums and 139 artists-i got NOTHING on TIDAL. some artists are limited and you get very few albums of covered music.i used to get a lot more frequent distortions using PureMusic's 'playthrough mode' and PM crashed every 10-15 songs no matter what i was streaming Qobuz or BeatsMusic so i disinstalled PM. bobbmd

 

How do you get streaming Qobuz in the USA? (Your location is upstate central NY)

[rodrigaj]

Something that is not clear on the Tidal website: If you read "Which Home Audio Players will Tidal be available on?" on the Tidal Help page and go to the websites of those vendors, none have information on TIDAL availability or compatibility. They only have signed agreements for future implementation.

 

I emailed TIDAL support: "could you give me a specific device or two or point me to a website"

Here is the response I got from TIDAL:

 

"Bluesound is currently the only player that supports TIDAL.

Integrations with Sonos, Aurender and Squeezebox (Ickstream) is right around the corner."

 

I have been using TIDAL connected to my Macbook Air via USB to my Wyred 4 Sound DAC and over the course of a 1 hour listening session I had four dropouts lasting 1 to 2 seconds each.

 

I am using the Chrome browser player because the Tidal player could not output the sound to the USB port. I changed the Apple Midi setup and the Sound preference app to no avail. It just would not work. It works on my iMac but not on my MacBook Air.

 

Regarding Bluesound, they no longer have the toslink output so you have to output through their DAC. The original AudioStream writeup on the Bluesound unit showed the toslink. However, if you go to their website, it is no longer listed as an output.

[rodrigaj]

In the Tidal App, there is a gear icon in the upper right corner. When you click that and adjust the

settings, there's an option for "Sound Output." I am able to select my USB DAC in the list of

options that appear there. Does that work for you? I'm using MBP Retina, 2013.

 

Yes! Thanks for the tip. I must have done that on my IMac when I first set it up and forgot about it.

[rodrigaj]

On both devices as standalone players I get gapless. I mention this because people are writing TIDAL off as not gapless, but in reality it depends on the player. If specific players aren't gapless now, let's start a list and get them upgraded.

 

So the Auralic Aries supports TIDAL right now? TIDAL help only said Bluesound was compatible.

[rodrigaj]

I got this message today:

 

"Playback stopped because you are playing on another device."

 

I was playing music upstairs and my wife was using an android pad downstairs. So I guess you can't use it simultaneously on two devices unless of course you have two separate accounts.

[rodrigaj]

Sigh....

 

Here is what Auralic sent me this week:

 

The TIDAL is not officially available on ARIES firmware 1.9 and Lightning DS 1.6

 

Also, TIDAL said that only Bluesound supports TIDAL last week. They didn't even mention Auralic in the near future list when I asked.

 

So I'm not sure how you are getting the service. Are you beta testers...

 

 

 

[rodrigaj]

I just cancelled after paying for Tidal for one month. I am tired of dropouts. This service is not ready for prime time. Back to Qobuz.

 

I wish Qobuz was available in the USA.

 

The frustrating thing about Tidal is that it is not consistent. Just when you think the problems are gone, they begin all over again. Today I was listening and the track queue just stopped. I had to go back one track and hit play and the rest of the queued songs played without any interruptions.

 

But what I find most annoying is the number of times I get the message to try another option besides HIFI. They don't seem to have enough servers to handle the traffic brought on by the HIFI choice.

[rodrigaj]

Although technically it isn't, it is quite easy just to subscribe. I'm a Canadian living in Brazil and had no problem subscribing to Qobuz. I'm even paying with a Canadian credit card. Just use a VPN to sign up from one of the the countries in which they offer service. After that no VPN is needed to play music, but if you have problems you can email them and they will make it right. Just make sure you choose one of the English language countries or you may end up with the interface in French or another language. Mine is in French. If you google the topic you can discover how others have signed up from the U.S. But you should be aware they seem to be having a bit of a financial struggle at the moment, so I wouldn't buy an annual plan, even though it offers cost savings.

 

Yes, I knew about the proxy "method". I'll probably go that route if my Tidal problems continue.

[rodrigaj]

I have now a subscription to Tidal. These are the results:

 

1) Android phone: perfect in HIFI, no dropouts.

2) Linux Chromium last version (linux open source version of Chrome): good with AAC 320 no sound with FLAC 1411 (HIFI)

3) Linux Google Chrome lst version (original from Google): good with AAC 320 no sound with FLAC 1411 (HIFI)

4) Windows 8.1 Computer 1 with Chrome last version: good with AAC 320 no sound with FLAC 1411 (HIFI)

5) Windows 8.1 Computer 2 with Chrome last version: perfect in HIFI

 

I don't know what to think...

 

I'm not going to defend Tidal, but I have always had something happen in HIFI. Maybe not for long, but certainly for three or four tracks. Your experience mirrors mine with regards to the Android experience. If they could only get that level of service up on the Apple and Windows apps...sigh.

[rodrigaj]

I have been having dropouts for the past 2 days with HIFI totally unusable. Starting last night all three modes of operation were dysfunctional. Tidal is completely down now.

 

I did submit a service report to Tidal and am awaiting their response.

 

Anyone else having problems in the USA?

[rodrigaj]

Thanks for the responses... no word from Tidal yet. Absolutely no audio, nothing not even dropouts anymore, on all three modes of play. I'm able to log in but that is all.

 

Any Wisconsin or Illinois or Minnesota people care to chime in?

[rodrigaj]

I don't have a black screen. Also, I've tried the MacOS App, the Android App, the Windows 7 App. I tried the Chrome app in both Mac and Windows as well. I don't have an Mac iOS device so I wasn't able to try that.

 

Everthing loads as it should, but the tracks never play. All I get is the revolving icon as if it is loading. I left it running last night and this morning it was still just revolving on the first track I selected. No time evolved on the track...just sitting there.

[rodrigaj]

Since I got no response from Tidal, I replied to the original service ticket and explained (nicely) that I did not have any service.

 

I went to eat dinner, came back and everything is now functioning properly.

 

I never got an explanation about what caused the problem but it's working now. I don't know what to make of all this.

[rodrigaj]

They recorded your account as paid!!!!!

 

Really...I'm old enough to remember operators on pay phones interrupting service asking for the next quarter. ("But I paid. Honestly!")

[rodrigaj]

I got a reply from Tidal this morning:

Thank you for contacting TIDAL customer support.We understand that poor performance is unacceptable for a streaming company like TIDAL. We would never recommend for you to try and stream at a lower quality. Our operations team has been made aware of these issues, and they are currently working very hard to get these issues resolved as soon as possible. We are sorry for this inconvenience, and I have provided you with a complimentary week that will be added to this months paid subscription.

So, they gave me a complimentary 1 week for my day and a half of blackout.

[rodrigaj]

You're all probably doing this, but just to make sure: All of the folks that are having problems should let Tidal know about them. Complain about each and every dropout, ask about album availability and in general be the squeaky wheel.

 

They won't improve if they think we are happy customers.

[rodrigaj]

Yardbird4, Sorry to hear of the breadth of your problems here. Are you familiar with the following site:

 

The Well-Tempered Computer

 

It is devoted to computer audio. It won't solve some of the issues you are experiencing but it illustrates the many ways modern home computers are typically problematic with streaming hi fi audio. It was educational and very helpful to me. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

This is a very good site. However, many, if not all of the Tidal complaints have been Tidal problems. When I set up my AE / Airplay / iPad link to Tidal, I initially had problems that were on my end. Then I ran into problems with Tidal.

 

I found that network related problems (i.e..., my end) were very short hiccups of interruption. Those caused by Tidal servers were of longer duration and were visible on the app with a spinning wheel. This observation helped maintain my sanity.

[rodrigaj]

You are using the stand alone player I take it?

 

I have found the Chrome web player streaming much more reliable then the stand alone OS X app. When ever I try to use the OS X App I get a message about streaming issues with HIFI quality as well as the spinning wheel. The Chrome web player streams HIFI without issue 95+% of the time. It is my opinion that they need to update the Stand alone player in OS X (not sure about windows) so you can get the quality and consistency of the chrome web player. Over all I have found the service to be improving since their introduction here in the U.S.

 

I have tried chrome (windows), Chrome (Mac), OSX, iOS, Android. The best results for me have been iOS and Android. I've been a Tidal customer since the first day of the USA introduction. Each time I brought up my problems to Tidal, they have always admitted to them, said they are working on them, and never said that if you try this or that app things will improve. So who knows?

 

Things have improved. During the past month, I have had only one evening that dropouts occurred. The next morning things were working fine again.

[rodrigaj]

I really like Tidal for discovering new music. But the streaming through any app has been hopeless for a week here in DC. Not much point in discovering music if you can't play it. I guess I will try to figure out how to send them feedback.

 

Kirk

 

Go to their website > login > menu > contact Tidal.

 

Menu is in the upper right hand corner.

[rodrigaj]

Echo nest is now owned by Spotify.

 

To save every one a search, here is the demo site that Dan alluded to:

 

The Echo Nest Demo Page

[rodrigaj]

Bill, no problem...you are trying too hard. It's tough; there are not a lot of DLNA cp's yet that support Tidal openly (i.e not tied to a renderer like Linn, Auralic, etc).

 

Since I got my Rendu, I have tried every DLNA controller available for Android. None of them work or are as rock solid as BubbleUPnP. I really did try them all.

 

Now with Tidal, it is in a class by itself.

 

BubbleUPnP is admittedly very limited in scope. If you compare it to JRemote, it doesn't stand a chance. However, its simplicity is its forte. It does what it should do. Simply and solidly.

 

Tidal's app on the other hand is a complete mess. For example, try and select a group of tracks from an album. It can only be done individually.

 

So here is what I have done. I've loaded "My Music" with favorite Tidal albums on the MacOS App. Searching through Tidal on a Mac is not bad. From BubbleUPnP I choose and play the tracks I want from the Album view. Works beautifully. And... since I already was using BubbleUPnP with Rendu to access my NAS library, I don't have to learn another app. BubbleUPnP does it all now.

[rodrigaj]

Ok. I went to AudioMidi and the default output and system output is "Resonessence Concero". That's my USB dac. Is that correct?

 

And it was recommended by you and one other that I use Chrome as my default browser. I have just now installed it and it's my default browser. I went again to my Tidal App and still have the same problem: still can't go to Hifi mode. Says "no device available". What device are they talking about?

 

Should I not use the Tidal App to listen to music? Is that my problem? Do I need to use the Web Player to listen to music? (I'm assuming the Tidal App and Web player are different ways to listen to Tidal music. Am I wrong on that?)

 

Go to the Tidal App (not the chrome browser) upper right hand gear symbol and make sure your output device is chosen. If it is not available...

Go to Audio Midi and make it your default output device. Make certain that you also have chosen the highest possible resolution that it is capable of.

 

You do not need to use the Chrome browser. Some folks claim that the Chrome browser provides the most trouble free service, but that has not been my experience.

[rodrigaj]

I clicked on the gear symbol in the Tidal app. It does not give a choice to click on my output device (my USB DAC). It says "no available device"

 

If I go to Audio Midi, my USB DAC is selected as my output device and it does work.

 

I will try to reload the Tidal App as has been suggested. No too sure how to do that, however. Do I need to uninstall the Tidal app I have now and then start from zero? I have a long list of saved song on my Tidal app that I don't want to loose.

 

BTW, I have submitted my "no Hifi " problem to Tidal, but so far no reply.

 

I forgot this as well:

System preferences> Sound > make sure your output device is chosen.

 

I would uninstall Tidal then reinstall if the Apple side of things check out.

[rodrigaj]

I just heard back from Tidal support. Turns out the problem is my semi-old MAC OS. They say the Tidal App only works with OS 10.7 and above. I have 10.6.

 

That would do it. Glad you could get it resolved. It might cost to get your OS upgraded. Apple made the last two or three upgrades free, but back in the OS 10.6 days they were charging $20 as I recall. It's been awhile.