Official TIDAL HIFI Streaming Issues Thread

[maelob]

funny i just turned the amarra sq on and getting the same issues. i really want to like it but it seems app is so sensitive to many variables- i first upgraded my internet service to 75 mbps, then i decided to go wired, i upgrades my osx to Lion on my 2007 santa rosa macbook upgraded with 4g ram- whats next new computer. i know my laptop is old but if you are going to require people the latest and greatest hardware and internet connection dont know how its going to work for them. tried the web app and still having issues. cant browse the net while listening really annoying. i really really want to like it. i am like a kid in a candy store but so far not good. maybe there is something wrong with my computer settings. they should publish a guide to set up pc/mac to get the best performance. by the way my amarra/itunes works great and i can do other stuff with the computer. any advice?

[dwobbrock]

I switched from the Desktop Tidal app to Google Chrome with ASIO Device app with jPlay 5.21 Driver. Still get stutter in first 5 seconds of first track, or when I select a new track manually. If I pick and album and play all tracks, I get the stutter on the first track. When I monitor my Ethernet connection, the next track starts loading near the end of the playing track using Google Chrome method. If I use Tidal Desktop app, select an album and monitor my Ethernet connection, the next track does no load during the previous track playback, it loads at the beginning of playback on the next track, causing stuttering/skips on every track. I am using Windows 8.1 with a 3mb internet connection. Some IE browser activity causes stuttering during playback, also if I open another app like Outlook. The Google Chrome w/ASIO Device and jPlay driver has excellent sound qualities, that is bit perfect sound compares to that ripped CD playback from jRiver MC20 and jPlay on my setup!

[flatmap]

funny i just turned the amarra sq on and getting the same issues. i really want to like it but it seems app is so sensitive to many variables- i first upgraded my internet service to 75 mbps, then i decided to go wired, i upgrades my osx to Lion on my 2007 santa rosa macbook upgraded with 4g ram- whats next new computer. i know my laptop is old but if you are going to require people the latest and greatest hardware and internet connection dont know how its going to work for them. tried the web app and still having issues. cant browse the net while listening really annoying. i really really want to like it. i am like a kid in a candy store but so far not good. maybe there is something wrong with my computer settings. they should publish a guide to set up pc/mac to get the best performance. by the way my amarra/itunes works great and i can do other stuff with the computer. any advice?

 

Curious to know -- is it working fine without Amarra SQ?

 

On my older iMac, Chrome is no longer supported. So it may well be that the OS is the problem -- but I realize with an older machine I'm not sure there's anything to be done about it. I fear that no one (hardly no one) brings out a new app and back checks against the older OS versions.

[ckpiv]

I am using Tidal on a 17" MBP with a SSD 6mg Ram running Yosemite feeding a Schist Bifrost in my office.

 

Using the Tidal OS X app Sounds better to me then the Chrome player however with the App I get constant drops and cutouts when trying to do other things on the computer. Using the App with Amarra SQ sounds great but still get the drops and cutouts.

 

Using the Chrome player the drop outs are rare and are not effected by doing other things on the computer like with the App. Using the Chrome player with Amarra SQ sounds grainy with artifacts - something is just not right. So for now I am just using the Chrome player by itself waiting for Amarra SQ update and or a Tidal App update that may cure these issues.

 

I have 50mb service and have same issues regardless of wifi connection or ethernet direct to Airport Extreme.

[dwobbrock]

50mb speed! My meager 3mb connection has the same problems as your connection....I think that puts the would be bottleneck causing the skips/stuttering on the Tidal side!

[jiminlogansquare]

The bottleneck could also relate to how/when files get loaded into memory for playback. Or it might just be a mystery problem with how TIDAL app and/or TIDAL through Chrome interacts with Amarra sQ. They might just not play well together. But I will repeat my observation that when I use the TIDAL app on my Mac Mini and have it output directly to my DAC, without using Amarra sQ, it works flawlessly. I have listened for almost ten hours without a single dropout, click, or other artifact.

[thequietman]

I've subscribed to tidal,I'm streaming from my iPad to the Auralic Aries and comparing

to qoboz streaming on Aries. It's too soon to compare audio sq. however some of the basic albums seem to be missing on Tidal , for example I can't find much Diana Krall on Tidal, just a few Christmas songs but maybe I'm doing something wrong?

I'm curious if others have compared whats offered on both services?

Theaudioguru

[DavT]

I count ten Diana Krall albums, all with full tracks. 9 found by just entering "Diana Krall" in search. Easy as that. Scroll down and you can also see her Christmas Album.

[thequietman]

I count ten Diana Krall albums, all with full tracks. 9 found by just entering "Diana Krall" in search. Easy as that. Scroll down and you can also see her Christmas Album.

 

Thanks DavT, found them . I think the suggested search results confused me.

[Toolio]

i'm trying very hard to like Tidal. However, like many people here, I seem to have

serious stutter or jitter issues when connected to a DAC through my laptop. It seems to work just fine with the iPad connected to a DAC or even to my receiver with with airplay. However when I use the Tidal Chrome web player or the Tidal standalone player on my laptop, I get a lot of stuttering. Same thing if I listen directly through my laptop (which I am not interested in doing). This laptop works just fine with Qobuz and with JRiver, and with everything else I throw at it. (i7 processor). Like some others here I've also tried playing Tidal through JRiver with WDM. Same stuttering problem. Something seems very odd here. I have 60 meg Internet that tests above its rated velocity, so that can't be the issue. I suspect something is wonky with the Chrome web player and standalone player.

[dwobbrock]

I am using Tidal with jRiver MC20 and WDM driver. I get stuttering with the desktop version, but when routed through Chrome, only the first track of the album stutters. Watching Ethernet in task manager shows that the first track of the album is loading as play begins causing stuttering, subsequent tracks load before the previous track ends , so no problems after the first track unless I am using another application. I only have a 3mb connection. If Tidal doesn't fix the stuttering before my 30day trial ends, I'm opting out!

[Tnewell]

i'm trying very hard to like Tidal. However, like many people here, I seem to have

serious stutter or jitter issues when connected to a DAC through my laptop. It seems to work just fine with the iPad connected to a DAC or even to my receiver with with airplay. However when I use the Tidal Chrome web player or the Tidal standalone player on my laptop, I get a lot of stuttering. Same thing if I listen directly through my laptop (which I am not interested in doing). This laptop works just fine with Qobuz and with JRiver, and with everything else I throw at it. (i7 processor). Like some others here I've also tried playing Tidal through JRiver with WDM. Same stuttering problem. Something seems very odd here. I have 60 meg Internet that tests above its rated velocity, so that can't be the issue. I suspect something is wonky with the Chrome web player and standalone player.

 

I feel the same way. I keep hoping Tidal will address the issues with standalone player and the Chrome Web player. I will give Tidal another month to see if the can correct these issues.

[dwobbrock]

I've sent at least a dozen emails to Tidal support addressing these issues, and no joy!

[Tnewell]

I've sent at least a dozen emails to Tidal support addressing these issues, and no joy!

 

It would be nice if someone from Tidal would weigh in on this thread. I have seen posts from their Reps on other threads in this forum.

[Toolio]

It would be nice if someone from Tidal would weigh in on this thread. I have seen posts from their Reps on other threads in this forum.

 

I agree. We need input.

 

One thing I noticed when switching back and forth between Tidal and Qobuz is that the Qobuz standalone player offers a host of settings for my DAC--including the choice of various Wasapi options. The Tidal standalone app seems to list my Dac only by name and gives me one choice (the DAC). I am far from an expert in these matters, but could the fact that the Tidal player provides a lack of settings for experimentation affect this, or am I missing something in my Tidal setup? I am using a JDS Labs O2+ODAC for this experiment.

[russellbobby]

Streaming Tidal thru a Auralic Aries directly to a Modwright 105 works beautifully. No hiccups, no computer, no problem!!

[The Computer Audiophile]

Streaming Tidal thru a Auralic Aries directly to a Modwright 105 works beautifully. No hiccups, no computer, no problem!!

Same here.

[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...

 

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

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...

 

 

 

I have firmware 1.9 with DS 1.6 and it supports WiMP, Qobuz, and Tidal.

[Toolio]

Same here.

 

That, and the fact that it also works fine with an iPad connected to a DAC, would seem to reinforce the notion that there is something wrong with Tidal's streaming options for computers (Chrome we streaming and standalone app for PCs).

[The Computer Audiophile]

That, and the fact that it also works fine with an iPad connected to a DAC, would seem to reinforce the notion that there is something wrong with Tidal's streaming options for computers (Chrome we streaming and standalone app for PCs).

Or there is something on the PCs that is interfering with TIDAL.

[Toolio]

Or there is something on the PCs that is interfering with TIDAL.

 

Possible, too, I suppose. In the past two days I have tried Tidal on three PCs--one notebook and two desktops. One intel i7, one i5 and a quad-core AMD processor. All have 8-12 gigs of memory. I experienced disappointing results with all machines. I have two internet providers (50 meg and 60 meg speeds) and I have tried both. I have tried wired and wireless connections. Yet Tidal from the iPad to DAC or iPad via Airplay to a Denon receiver, Apple TV or Raspberry Pi remains flawless. Strange, indeed.

[ckpiv]

For me the Chrome web streaming works fine in HIFI quality although it does not play well with Amarra SQ. Without Amarra SQ I have no problems with skipping or loading and playing albums on my MPB while working in other apps. Using the Tidal HIFI standalone app is a different story. While it sounds great I can not use the MBP to do any other task - Opening mail, browsing the web etc causes drop outs and interruptions in the music. If I lower the output to from HIFI to normal it is much better but still the problems exist, and that kind of defeats the premium $ outlay. This leads me to believe that the App does need some tweaking as this problem does not occur with other apps in the past.

[wahoospiff]

Using the same signal path out of my macbook pro Tidal does not sound as good as CDs ripped and played via Itunes. I have tried both the mac app and the Chrome player. Tidal sounds good but not nearly as clear as ripped CD though signal path from mac to DAC is the same. I have confirmed that Tidal is in "HI-FI" mode. Any ideas?

[Account Closed]

I too have had nothing but problems (all the same ones as others have reported) with the Windows Desktop Player App and have in fact stopped using it in favor of the Chrome Web Player. This Windows Desktop App is one seriously defective piece of software. I really can't believe that they went live with this player.

 

I too have been in constant contact with Tidal support and while they acknowledge that there are problems, they offer no explanations and no time line for a solution. The Windows Desktop App needs to be completely rewritten. I have listened very carefully using very good headphones to both the Windows Desktop and the Chrome Player to the same pieces of music and the Chrome Player always has better audio quality than the Windows Desktop. The Windows Desktop Player is flat, lifeless and out of focus. It sounds like transients are being muted and the timing is off. I get these results from two separate systems that both have very good DACs.

 

The Chrome Player is certainly being powered by embedded Flash which has really improved over the years. The Chrome Player is also gapless (more or less). The Windows Desktop cannot be gapless because it loads tracks in the gap which is one reason for the long and unpredictable pauses. If it has to load a 6 minute track after playing a couple 2 minute tracks the gap will seem like an eternity and you will think it is broken. There also is no adverse system interaction using the Chrome Player. With the Windows Desktop App something as simple the screen dimming would cause a loss of the audio. There is some real Operating System interaction going on.

 

This is really unfortunate because those of us who use Windows based machines to run Tidal into a high end home system are a huge part of the potential subscriber base for a lossless Red Book streaming service like Tidal.

 

Tidal needs to come out and officially respond to these problems from the highest levels of the Company. They need to give those who would rely on the Windows Desktop Player as their primary method of accessing Tidal some hope that this mess will be resolved in a timely manner.

 

In the meantime use the Chrome Player. It is not perfect but the problems are less severe and it sounds Hi-Fi.