Official TIDAL HIFI Streaming Issues Thread

[AudGuy]

The two machines that I listen to Tidal on are now both playing MASTER files properly, something that has not happened up until today. And I must say, the sound is really very good now. WOW, thank you Tidal !!!

 

I am not sure what they did, but now the playback settings that I have selected remain selected when a Master track is played, instead of reverting back to System Default settings which always resulted in just average audio.

 

On my non-MQA DAC playback is now showing at 96KHz instead of 44KHz, I think they have fixed MQA playback.

 

Tidal version is now: 2.1.3.226 (W:2.0.3--6) (NP:2.3.25)

[AudGuy]

Today, some new wrinkles ... another version upgrade, this time to 2.1.5.228 (W:2.0.3--6) (NP:2.3.26)

 

Upgrade actually landed on my machine last night and it has been mixed blessings. On my two machines, one is acting like nothing has changed, the other is not fairing so well. The PC that has an external DAC seems to be good while the machine with an XONAR STX audio card seems confused again.

 

Confusion is that the machine is now back to reverting to Default Audio whenever I ask it to play an MQA file. And I am getting the message that the default audio must be set to 16/44 which I have done. From time to time the message reappears in spite of being set accordingly. This is not reassuring and my impressions are that this system is not resolving MQA properly ... more testing tomorrow.

 

The system connected to the external DAC is behaving as it did previously showing either 88kHz or 96kHz when playing an MQA file. It is not an MQA DAC so this is as it should be. The device that has been selected for playback stays selected and I am satisfied that this system is behaving properly.

 

I don't know if this has anything to do with the MQA playback concerns but I am noticing a reluctance to play when selecting an MQA file. A spinning playback selector seems common now where it was almost never evident before. Sometimes a selected file will simply not play and I have to select a different track from the same disk which will play properly. This might be a sign of server overload on the MQA files.

 

I don't know what this latest update has provided but it has not been a welcome change. I will continue using my two systems and see what percolates out. I am a little disappointed because both of my systems were playing MQA files nicely, now one is and one isn't.

 

Does anybody know if Tidal updates can be rolled back ?

[AudGuy]

Thanks Marc, here is what I noticed today.

 

Start new session, load Tidal, check streaming is set to my choice(yes), select from My Music Yes/90125/Owner of a Lonely Heart, press play. Short spinning(about 2 sec) then playback as Master file. Sound is very good.

 

OK, after song ends, press stop, then backup a level to album root, select new, David Byrne/Here Lies Love/Here Lies Love, press play. Endless spinning and Nag message to set default to 16/44. And my selected playback device has been switched back to the default device. Playback starts but sound does not seem correct.

 

Next, quit Tidal and restart it. Ensure my selected device is selected (yes) and attempt to play the previously listed file. Results are the same, endless spinning and device reset to default.

 

This would tend to suggest that this problem may be being caused by the file selected for playback ???

 

IDK, further messing about may yield something and perhaps a note to Tidal may help.

[AudGuy]

Mark, you are correct ... I find that on my system that is behaving properly, nothing seems amiss with the files that give me trouble on my other system. And there does not seem to be any spinning dials or nag messages telling me to do something that has already been done. I suspect the later bit is a result from something else that is getting derailed somewhere along the line.

And to demonstrate to myself that this must be something machine specific ... I have a XONAR STX in the machine that is behaving properly, and when configured to send analog out from that card Tidal behaves pretty much the same as when utilizing the external DAC. I cannot confirm rates or anything like that, but the sound is very nice as these cards can be pretty good.

 

This whole shamozzle sort of reminds me of the woes of Pono, another company struggling to cope with success. Perhaps not on the same level as Tidal, but still a good product being hampered by overly ambitious plans. I don't really blame Tidal ... but they sure could speak up a little more and make some soothing noises. And reassure all the users that must have an enormously variant pile of equipment that they must cope with.

 

I will keep kicking the can and see what happens, to be fair, my serious listening rig is the one that is behaving properly so I am not really disadvantaged. Some guidance would be nice though ...

[AudGuy]

On 25/03/2017 at 5:13 AM, oneway23 said:

For some reason, as of only the past week or so, there are a few Yes albums that are refusing to play their MQA variants for me, primarily Close to the Edge and Fragile.  

 

I'm currently on Windows 10 x64, with a firewall exemption granted for Tidal's .exe.  Tidal ver. 2.1.5.228 (W: 2.1.1--4) (NP: 2.3.26)

 

I have uninstalled and re-installed, cleared caches, deleted files in the hidden user folders, etc., all to no avail.

 

I have 50meg DL speed via wired ethernet at home, so bandwidth should certainly be a non-issue.  I would appreciate any help, thanks!

 

It's a week later and these files still seem reluctant to play on either of my systems. I guess there may be something wonky about the files, or they are simply so in demand that the servers cannot provide them. I doubt the later so ... FWIW, I have found other files that are MASTER quality and I seem unable to actually play them, or if they play it seems to be with reluctance.

 

When there seems to be problems playing MASTER quality files, I suggest that another MASTER quality album be selected and an attempt made to play those files. If they play properly then it would seem likely that the problem is either with the files, or the file provider. Not really sure who puts these MASTER files together for TIDAL, whether it is themselves or the label, or whatever but there does seem to be problems playing certain file sets ... on non-MQA equipment.

 

Perhaps someone that has an MQA enabled DAC could comment on whether similar behaviour has been observed, or is this a problem only for those utilizing MQA software decoding, like TIDAL.