Official TIDAL HIFI Streaming Issues Thread

[dbtom2]

As long as you are talking to them, could you ask them to include liner notes (as Naxos is doing for its streaming service) and generally to up their game on classical and jazz. As an early (November 2014) TIDAL HiFi adopter, I often feel like the black sheep in the TIDAL family because I am less interested in their mainstream offerings (not uninterested, just less so). At $20 a month, I feel I and all other TIDAL HiFi users deserve white-glove treatment.

 

Other improvements I would like to see:

 

A truly functional search feature (good grief, why can't it have a fuzzy logic spelling tool? Off by one letter? No music for you!)

 

Tags for classical and jazz that make sense. Ensemble, conductor, soloist(s), composer, piece, movement for classical. Leader, group name, album and song for jazz. That would be enough.

 

Tidal does occasionally report artists, albums, etc whose names closely approximately the search spelling. It takes a few more moments but it does work.

 

Thanks for the tip on Naxos. I am about to preview...

 

Are you using a Premium Naxos subscription? Are you happy with the sound quality?

 

Thanks,

T.

[jiminlogansquare]

Thanks for the tip on TIDAL search. Patience is a virtue. But I would add that an "advanced" search based on tags would be helpful.

 

Regarding Naxos, I am subscribed to ClassicsOnline HD•LL and am in their 28-day free trial period. Other than the fact that repertoire is limited to classical, as well as the inability to make offline copies on my iPhone to listen to when not connected to the Internet, such as in my car (one of the signature features of TIDAL that I use regularly and greatly appreciate and enjoy), ClassicsOnline HD•LL has it all over TIDAL from perspectives of reliability, consistency, sound quality, search function, liner notes, and myriad other criteria.

[jhwalker]

As long as you are talking to them, could you ask them to include liner notes (as Naxos is doing for its streaming service) and generally to up their game on classical and jazz. As an early (November 2014) TIDAL HiFi adopter, I often feel like the black sheep in the TIDAL family because I am less interested in their mainstream offerings (not uninterested, just less so). At $20 a month, I feel I and all other TIDAL HiFi users deserve white-glove treatment.

 

Other improvements I would like to see:

 

A truly functional search feature (good grief, why can't it have a fuzzy logic spelling tool? Off by one letter? No music for you!)

 

Tags for classical and jazz that make sense. Ensemble, conductor, soloist(s), composer, piece, movement for classical. Leader, group name, album and song for jazz. That would be enough.

 

+1

 

As far as I can tell, they have not added *any* new Classical releases in almost a month

[jiminlogansquare]

Oh, no; TIDAL does add a few new classical albums each week or two. It is not that bad. Two new ones were highlighted today. But the Naxos site puts that to shame, and I plan to subscribe to it.

[endlesscycles]

Received this morning:

 

Hi Marshall,We are not exactly sure when all will be moved, but I have been told that everything should be transfered in 2 months, so if you try again end of June it should work smoothly.

Best Regards,

Erik

[musicresearch]

I'm enjoying the Tidal subscription. But I often can't find the music I want. Sometimes because their search function isn't good (or perhaps their metadata management isn't good), or because it's not there. I often am looking for a particular recording of a particular composition, and Tidal tends to have one or two of some of the music that I'm looking for; it's a bit of a lucky dip if they have what I want. There are also quite a lot of older recordings that sound very poor. The HIFI letters tell me it's CD quality. The sound tells me its very low quality mp3 - I wonder where they get these recordings? I have found that quite a lot of the time youtube offers better sound quality than, say, a recording of some violin music from the 1930s.

 

As for Naxos. My university subscribes, but the SQ is not good, and the interface is cumbersome, to say the least. It is very useful for the range of recordings...

[jiminlogansquare]

musicresearch, is your university's subscription to Naxos the premium version (CD and higher resolution "HD" recordings)? Because I have been pleased with the sound quality of that service.

[flatmap]

Received this morning:

 

Hi Marshall,We are not exactly sure when all will be moved, but I have been told that everything should be transfered in 2 months, so if you try again end of June it should work smoothly.

Best Regards,

Erik

 

So it would seem, for those who have had problems with drop outs and pauses, that there may be a problem with the server-side service and that there is a fix in works. I guess that's how to read this?

 

I recommend that Tidal announce improved service when they're all done. Or rather, I recommend they complete the fix, and then thoroughly test.... and then announce. :-)

[musicresearch]

It is. That's a recent change for here, as I don't remember that being an option last I checked (a while ago). I still get some crackles and noise from Naxos that aren't on the same CDs that I own. I haven't made a side-by-side check with Tidal.

(BTW, one of the CDs I've compared is one I produced, and although there are 192/24 files, Naxos is working with the CD...)

 

musicresearch, is your university's subscription to Naxos the premium version (CD and higher resolution "HD" recordings)? Because I have been pleased with the sound quality of that service.

[dbtom2]

It is. That's a recent change for here, as I don't remember that being an option last I checked (a while ago). I still get some crackles and noise from Naxos that aren't on the same CDs that I own. I haven't made a side-by-side check with Tidal.

(BTW, one of the CDs I've compared is one I produced, and although there are 192/24 files, Naxos is working with the CD...)

 

While listening to a Naxos playlist of Rochmaninoff's chorale music called "All-Night Vigil" I distinctly heard unmistakable tape hiss as the playing started. I figured the masters were really old when they made an "HD" version of them. Since this was a playlist, there were no liner notes to explain where the recoding came from.

 

I know this is a Tidal thread so I'll add only that I really like the Naxos offering. Yet it had a tendency to pause at the beginning (or very end) of each track. I have to study my settings for it. Anybody else have this problem? I am using the web player or the app. Same issue.

 

Tidal has been consistent the last few days. Newer music plays without bandwidth warnings or pauses. Old music still has glitches. I was hopeful listening to The Who's "Who's Next" but halfway through, it began to stop while the little progress wheel next to the HIFI indicator spun away. Starts again, plays a few seconds or few minutes, then stops again.

[Fridolin]

I got my brand new MacBook Pro 2015 (8GB memory, 256 GB Flash) a few days ago and tested the Tidal Mac-App again.

 

Before, i listened through an old MacMini, so CPU power has dramatically improved now.

This is good for having activities like surfing the web etc. because i have no dropouts any more when doing so. Before that, even moving the mouse cursor could cause a dropout in Tidal.

 

Good, so far!

 

But one ting is still going very wrong:

Whenever a title reaches it's last 30 seconds (the time when the Mac-App begins to buffer the next title) there is a short glitch in the music reproducible every time.

 

So i must say, Tidal isn't working for me, even with the latest Mac hardware.

Shame on you, Tidal programmers!

[realhifi]

Has anyone tried Tidal on Sonos to see if there are any of the issues of buffering, streaming glitch's, etc. that people are experiencing with other devices?

[tkirmuc]

I'm subscribing for Premium service for the moment. I'm listening via Linn DS (basic model). The sound is more than OK but I'm not the High Definition extremist and Red Book standard (44/16) is enough for me. What I really miss is liner notes and full album artwork. Without this Tidal is pointless for me. I need to discover all this information, learn about people involved in creation process. Not to mention lyrics. I hope current Tidal software is just beginning.

[dbtom2]

I got my brand new MacBook Pro 2015 (8GB memory, 256 GB Flash) a few days ago and tested the Tidal Mac-App again.

 

Before, i listened through an old MacMini, so CPU power has dramatically improved now.

This is good for having activities like surfing the web etc. because i have no dropouts any more when doing so. Before that, even moving the mouse cursor could cause a dropout in Tidal.

 

Good, so far!

 

But one ting is still going very wrong:

Whenever a title reaches it's last 30 seconds (the time when the Mac-App begins to buffer the next title) there is a short glitch in the music reproducible every time.

 

So i must say, Tidal isn't working for me, even with the latest Mac hardware.

Shame on you, Tidal programmers!

 

Does anyone have suggestions for setting the cache size in the Tidal settings? I've been clearing the queue and the cache before streaming an album or playlist but I can't say that that it consistently helps. I haven't had the issue with the next title buffering, but I am certain that my MacMini performance with Tidal is better if I am using the computer and not allowing any power saving activities like screen-savers, disk-sleep, etc to activate.

 

BTW, I streamed Bruckner's Symphony #4 on Naxos last night. (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) Awesome. Very good resolution and no glitches or pauses in the stream. (As long as the Mini is kept from screen-saving, etc.) That recording will turn me into a classical music fan. I think I was able to make a good recording of it for later playback on my iPhone.

 

T.

[vann81611]

Has anyone tried Tidal on Sonos to see if there are any of the issues of buffering, streaming glitch's, etc. that people are experiencing with other devices?

 

No problem with Tidal on Sonos. The interface, however, is very basic and not feature rich. Sounds reasonably good via a Cullen modded ZP80 into a Berkeley for background listening. Have been trying to get Tidal working via Minim Server and BubbleUPnP on my NAS with Kazoo as the control point but Kazoo can't find my Sonore Rendu on my network. It see Minim but no Rendu. Have been posting about this in a thread on the Software forum but no real solution other than Tranz suggestion to try Lumin or another control point. It seems that there is a problem with the latest Kazoo update. Anyone sucessfully using the latest version of Kazoo in this arrangement?

[vann81611]

No problem with Tidal on Sonos. The interface, however, is very basic and not feature rich. Sounds reasonably good via a Cullen modded ZP80 into a Berkeley for background listening. Have been trying to get Tidal working via Minim Server and BubbleUPnP on my NAS with Kazoo as the control point but Kazoo can't find my Sonore Rendu on my network. It see Minim but no Rendu. Have been posting about this in a thread on the Software forum but no real solution other than Tranz suggestion to try Lumin or another control point. It seems that there is a problem with the latest Kazoo update. Anyone sucessfully using the latest version of Kazoo in this arrangement?

 

Problem solved. Apparently a power spike took down my network switch in the garage which was the reason Kazoo could not see my Rendu. I had previously checked Win Explorer and the Rendu was functioning. Failed to check it again before the above post. It just goes to show that it is often something simple which we fail to recognize. Tidal though the Rendu sounds great and better than through the modded Sonos. I'd also like to note that Bubbleguum, the developer of Bubble UPnP, is quick to respond to e-mail questions and is most helpful in sorting out problems. Great software and great support.

[Rexp]

What I really want to do is to use TIDAL with an external player on either Mac or PC. I've been following Geoffrey Armstrong's TIDAL add-on for Kodi, which people are successfully using with HQPlayer. Unfortunately my current player A+ does not support FLAC streaming yet.

 

Those who use JRMC, have a look at this. Kind of surprising that TIDAL and JRMC aren't getting along.

No Tidal Music Service in MC

 

It sure seems that TIDAL isn't focused on partnering with existing external players on audio optimized Mac and PC platforms. This makes no sense, because a lot of audiophiles want to do exactly that.

 

I haven't directly compared TIDAL on my rMBP to TIDAL on the Aries. What I can tell you is that TIDAL on the Aries is disappointing compared to the same rips played from a CAPS-like server to the Aries. So the solution isn't just replacing my rMBP with an Aries.

 

Prior to the recent changes to TIDAL's content distribution network, it was very reliable. Now I get frequent dropouts during the day on the east coast USA. It works fine later at night.

 

I've also found with Apple devices, TIDAL sounds better in offline mode, might be something to do with FLAC/ALAC conversion process?

[ghtaylor]

My experience with Tidal so far is not great. Yes some music sounds better but I rarely get to listen to it. Rarely will an album play all the way through. Songs will play for a few seconds then end and it will jump to another on album. Often songs end playing near end of song and will jump to another. Playlists won't play all the way through - they either jump to other song or stop playing entirely. I miss the Rhapsody "stations": one could select a station for a dinner party or other event and it would play all evening. Playlists on Tidal are very limited and short. Add the issue that they rarely play all the way through and you are always having to monkey with the system to keep music playing.

 

Similar issues when playing through iPhone. Same issues when using Mac desktop software.

 

I am considering returning to Rhapsody until Tidal improves.

[Jimmypowder]

Well I never had a problem streaming Tidal on my Aries until this week. Multiple cutouts .Sigh.

I had lots of problems on my mac but never the Aries.

[peabreu]

Same here in the last week on MacMini (Europe/Portugal). If this keeps like this I seriously consider getting back to good old Spotify...

[dbtom2]

We know that Tidal is in the process of adding/moving servers. I think I read somewhere that the process will go on until June. Seems logical that this would create new interruptions.

 

That said, my Tidal streaming performance is greatly improved over the last seven days. It is far from perfect but I have had fewer pauses and stops than two weeks ago.

 

I have also tried to understand what is happening on my MacMini during the streaming. I am concerned that my Mini and the way I use it could be contributing to the interruptions I experience.

 

My 2012 MacMini feeds my stereo via a DAC. The HDMI output runs to a 60" TV. I sit about ten feet away and operate the Mini via a Magic Mouse and bluetooth keyboard. When I'm not streaming video, I browse using Safari, write emails, messages, all while listening to music. My ISPs performance over the last few years has been very good. I stream all my TV viewing and a buffering pause is very rare. Amazon Prime Instant Video, iTunes, Sling, HBO Now, PBS, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu Plus. No problems. Until I subscribed to Tidal a few months ago.

 

My Tidal performance is much better if I turn the notifications to Do Not Disturb and quit Safari - no browsing. (Usually, I have a dozen or more webpages open. New York Times, Gmail, CA, Amazon, etc.) I run the Apple Activity Monitor app and select the Network tab. I can watch the way Tidal processes the queue. During the last twenty seconds of a song, Tidal downloads the next song. It appears to me that (and I"m speculating because I'm not a computer software engineer) while Tidal is running only the current song is being played from the cache until the last seconds when the next song is downloaded. (Tidal on Roon - when it isn't crashing on me - doesn't download the next song until the very end of the current song,)

 

It isn't clear to me why a song would pause in the middle if it was completely downloaded. So maybe it wasn't. Maybe during that brief period of the download some other process on my MacMini interrupted the download. And the song hangs.

 

Recently, I have been using Tidal after turning off other things that might interrupt. Notifications, for one. Apple home networking is very sophisticated and does and lot of things in the background - especially if we own iOS devices - that require constant communication.

 

My self-addressed question is this: I ask myself, does my MacMini have to be doing nothing else but running Tidal/Roon for my to enjoy an uninterrupted music bitstream? I hope not. Listening to good music on the same computer that I'm working at has been great the last few years. But I need to remember that Apple's OS X and iOS operating systems have become powerfully integrated over the last few versions. (Sometimes my iPhone rings and all this other Apple stuff comes awake and starts chiming and beeping. Can be disconcerting.) Maybe I need to understand better how Apple networking and iOS device integration works so I can tweak my system settings to safeguard the bitstream.

 

Then again, maybe I'm just getting better service because the music I'm downloading happens to be on the new servers.

 

No Tidal interruptions while I wrote this post. B.B. King played. RIP. You can leave Lucille with us.

[Fridolin]

I talked to a Tidal representative on the Munich High End show today.

 

I complained about the permanent dropouts with the Mac-App and Chrome browser.

He had no satisfying answers to the problem but promised a new app - soon!

 

I also mentioned the problem that not all albums that are in "HiFi" on the Mac (few enough!) are in "HiFi" in the offline iPad app, too. He said that not all Flac files have been converted to ALAC but will be - soon!

 

A similar statement i heard last year from a WIMP representative (the predecessor of Tidal).

 

Tidal had an official presentation on the High End show - but they didn't appear.

The waiting listeners were lightly confused - typical for Tidal, i thought.

[new to HiFi]

"but promised a new app - soon!"

 

for windos 7 to or just mac?

[Jimmypowder]

I talked to a Tidal representative on the Munich High End show today.

 

I complained about the permanent dropouts with the Mac-App and Chrome browser.

He had no satisfying answers to the problem but promised a new app - soon!

 

I also mentioned the problem that not all albums that are in "HiFi" on the Mac (few enough!) are in "HiFi" in the offline iPad app, too. He said that not all Flac files have been converted to ALAC but will be - soon!

 

A similar statement i heard last year from a WIMP representative (the predecessor of Tidal).

 

Tidal had an official presentation on the High End show - but they didn't appear.

The waiting listeners were lightly confused - typical for Tidal, i thought.

 

They were afraid of cutouts !!!!

Lololol

 

This company is littered with fools .

 

If Apple or Spotify came out with a lossless service , it would be the end of stuttering Tidal .

[Haninger]

I've also had frequent stuttering with TIDAL on my Aries. TIDAL told me that the music experiencing this problem is "older" and "less popular" and so hasn't been moved to the new servers.