Time To Dump Tidal? Bluesound / BlueOS Now Has Deezer HiFi

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So Deezer is now the 2nd (Tidal being the first) 16/44 streaming service in the United States?  The home page indicates Sonos users as well.  Is there a desktop app (edit:  answer is yes)?

 

For Roon users, is a better 16/44 streamer mean it is "Time to Dump Tidal/Roon?"

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Just now, The Computer Audiophile said:

Wow, perhaps the desktop app is lossless now!

 

https://support.deezer.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115005516009-Introducing-our-new-desktop-app

 

Perhaps...I so hooked on EQ/DSP (either Roons or DMG through JRiver) but I am curious I will download the app...I wonder if there is a way to get JRiver to see it through DLNA, is it ASIO enabled, etc. etc.

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3 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Based on some quick simple testing the desktop app appears to be bit perfect as well.

 

Unless I am making a mistake, I can only sign up to the 9.99 a month "premium+" (which I assume is 320) and not the "Hi Fi" service.

 

The desktop app is very very simple - I don't see any user control or indication of what service you are getting - the about simply takes you to your browswer and give you their simple plan management on the web site, which again does not indicate how I can upgrade to the "Hi Fi" service.

 

Perhaps it is working for you because you already have a device like Bluesound??

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4 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

There it is - thanks!.  I don't see how it is bit perfect - everything will have to be routed through OS sound libraries unless I am mistaken.

 

I will experiment a bit now that I have a bit of time...

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9 hours ago, Johnseye said:

 

I've never had a problem with my Tidal connection through a browser.  When I use it on a PC with their dedicated app, which is necessary for MQA, it constantly hangs.  So I don't use the app.  Streaming through Roon is never an issue.

 

For me, I get more hangs/non service through Roon.  I can switch over (or simply play through another device concurrently) and the app/browser is good to go...

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3 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

I can't imagine not doing it in the first place.  It's fundamental to so much music and most players support it.

 

I think it is a product of a large, consumer electronics industry that puts together products by checklists, committees, and at the absolute lowest cost etc. They are often really really (really really really) out of touch with the end users.  I find most music players (hardware and software) have such glaring defects it is painfully obvious that almost no one in the creation process actually uses those products for what they are intended.  That's what makes Roon and such things such a pleasant surprise.

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6 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

Roon is by far the most user friendly because of its simplicity and capabilities. It does have some shortcomings. They are tight with Apple but limited with Android. Already in this thread I hear people begging for Chromecast support. I'm sure they have a list of to do's and they seem to be engaged with their community. In the end they can only do so much with their available resources. 

 

Oh I agree that Roon has shortcomings.  For example I dissented in their recent elimination of the "paw masher".  However, those shortcomings are not the result of gross indifference and lack of connection to end users.  Lack of gapless in Deezer or any other product is due to a gross lack of understanding of the sector they are trying to serve.  The only other possible explanation that I see is what Samuel referred to - patents and IP limitations.

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12 minutes ago, bobbmd said:

@schiit: could you elaborate on your comment 'how terrible TIDAL's connectivity is...'?

I have had TIDAL since its inception and prior to that(whatever it was before JAY-Z/Beyonce etal bought it) and have never had a 'connectivity' problem, I have had Time Warner now Spectrum with at least 100Mbps and use both ME2 or AQ DFR NEVER any hangups or fail 'to connect' especially with MQA/MASTERS. Nor have I ever had a 'connectivity' problem with Qobuz ROON or A+3 with the above DAC's or Schiit Gungnir or original Modi. Just curiosity on my part no criticism or skepticism.

bobbmd

 

I have intermittent (for example, for a few minutes up to about an hour) where Tidal simply can not stream consistently.  A track might be ok for 30 seconds or so and then, nothing.  The desktop will tend to pause, whereas Roon will give that well known "track unavailable" error and skip to the next track (in vain).  sometimes (but only sometimes) this is cleared up by selecting another album.  For the first few months I had Tidal I thought I could correlate this behavior to high traffic times (evening, etc.) but the fact is this behavior can and does occur anytime.  I have ruled out application/device problems, bottlenecks in my network, upstream in my ISP, and general internet traffic.  Fortunately, this behavior is short lived most of the time (10, 20 minutes usually) otherwise I would just do 320 Spotify.

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4 minutes ago, wushuliu said:

 

1. You have absolutely no idea what these companies are doing. So any kind of speaking from authority on that is pointless. That's why we are having dust-ups like with MQA. There is zero transparency when it comes to streaming. Zero. Unless of course you know something we don't, in which case any illumination would be helpful.

 

2. What I'm hearing has nothing to do with the Windows mixer. I have listened to these albums on multiple formats both lossy and lossless, including Google Play and rando Youtube uploads - the audibility of compression varied (some in mp3, some lossless) but the presentation/tonality/eq/whatever were more or less the same and not like Deezer. As I said, it's possible the desktop App is to blame, but the windows mixer is not the culprit here. My PC is custom builty (by me) runs on LT3045 powered SSDs with an dual mono ES9018q2m dac with XMOS u208, itself powered by an LT3045 and IFI iPurifier. I keep track of my OS installs and sound quality with both fancy stuff like Jplay or basic playback software like MPC-HC, etc. etc. etc.

 

I've been doing this a long time.

 

At any rate, this just MY feedback. Not an absolute statement. Anyone can take a few minutes and compare for themselves.

 

Wushuliu,

 

Does not what you say about zero transparency in #1 also apply to #2?  If I am not mistaken (I could be - do you have information?), there is "zero transparency" as to what the Windows mixer does, even when set to what (to the end user) appear to be the optimum and non-interference settings.  My personal sense is that when set up correctly, it is relatively non-interfering but that is subjective...

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3 minutes ago, wushuliu said:

 

And yet... there is. Duh Duh Duuuuuuh.

 

Again, bitperfect has nothing to do with it. These files don't come from some Platonic Master Pure Source Matrix. We have no idea where these files come from, how they are delivered, what the masters are. We know nothing. Nothing.

 

 

 

LOL!  "Platonic Master Pure Source Matrix".  Apparently, if we all adopted MQA this (and everything else including Pure Enlightenment) would be ours....alas, if only it were true.

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7 hours ago, wushuliu said:

 

So a normalized track from Tidal should fail the bit perfect test, correct?

 

Yes, but this is a user selectable option done on the app level after the stream...so, the end user would have to intentionally alter the "bit perfect" stream.