Tidal next week..

  .........   err ........  its for free .... gift horse comes to mind

Or as Moses said on Mt Sinai ,  naches !!! if they are for free, I'll take ten.  

I've been beta testing it for a while, I would cancel Spoty,  then after 90 days, its make your mind up time.   

Im completely new to the world of Naim Superuniti, I've tried Spotify which my unit came ready to go and I found it to be intuitive to use, but i understand that Tidal promises better quality, if you pay the premium.

So it seems like a move to Tidal would be worth a try.

My question is, is it easy to do the update?

Yes - just take care to read, understand & follow the instructions - zimples

You might need to buy a USB-Mini USB cable if you don't already have one - they come free with most camera's - plug it in between laptop & the socket in the back of your Naim

Also good to have an ethernet between laptop & Naim (or your LAN) & don't trust wireless

The integration is really nicely done - a full integration into the Naim apps rather than the Spotify Connect approach.  The beta has been lengthy and thorough - not long to wait now!

Is Tidal premium CD quality or does one have to opt for Tidal Hi Fi?

One has to opt for Tidal Hifi unfortunately. Premium is 320kps

...and just in time for RMAF, no doubt - well done, guys!

Oh dear.

Well done Naim , Now we may also have hopes in Quobuz service integration , I got used Qobus vast classical and Jazz albums, although maybe Tidal can match that , I'm thrilled with the news

Does Tidal now support gapless?

Will the new Naim app support global search (e.g., one search showing results from both my UPnP library as well as my subscribed streaming services?

These were the two main reasons I cancelled Tidal and went with Sonos Connect/Deezer Plus (and Music Vault).

Thanks and ATB.

Hook

The roadmap does have a destination!

Looking forward to it.

Thanks,

G

Hi again Hook,  howz life in sunny Minnesota,  when are you heading south again ??

I've been beta testing this & did check out gapless,  but only on one album - Pink Floyd, DSOTM – the one & only Tidal version is a special edition 2011 release that I think they nicked from iTunes. It has some tracks added from other PF works,  if you are a Dark Side purist (me) its sacrilege, but even if you are not the rational behind it does seem rather strange.  But yes gapless works OK on that album anyhow.

Look, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but I can't help thinking that Naim may have backed the wrong horse with Tidal. You only have to Google news about Tidal to see there are serious problems with their long term viability. Two CEOs have quit recently and 71% of music execs don't think Tidal will be around next year.

Tidal really need to position themselves as the high quality streaming service of choice for the audiophile and don't try to compete with Apple (and the others). If you are not bothered about sound quality you will pick from the others that have the biggest catalogue and are the cheapest. Tidal can never live in this space - its already fully occupied by very competent providers. Yes, the market for high quality streaming services is smaller than the mainstream services but get the quality, service and catalogue right and charge the 'right' price and maybe, just maybe it is doable.

I for one really hope Tidal survive and I will be doing the upgrade and checking them out.

Sorry to point out the elephant in the room.

Please someone tell me I have got this completely wrong.

Why is my parade suddenly all wet?

G

Hopefully what Naim have done is chosen TIdal as the first of the high res streaming services that they will support, and that they will now move on to others.

I think Tidal has better geographic coverage than Qobuz, and if so can see why that would make sense for them, and maybe there are a bunch of other commercial / technical reasons why starting (hopefully) with Tidal makes sense.

Who will survive in the world of lossless streaming is anyone's guess.  It wasn't so long ago that it looked like Qobuz were going under.  Hopefully Naim will be supporting all the leading players so we can enjoy the services that survive.

I've really enjoyed the service during beta testing, and have surprised myself with how much I've chosen to use it.  Their mobile app works very well also, and I've switched off my Spotify subscription and am paying for Tidal now. The choice of music is apparently not as broad as Qobuz, so Tidal won't work for everyone.  Hopefully they, Qobuz, Deezer can all survive and there is competition to improve services.

Naim's work on the integration is first class IMO, and I would encourage everyone to check it out - especially with 3 months free. 

David

Thanks, David.

That is (somewhat) reassuring.

 I think the same can be speculated about all the streaming services.

Qobuz was in the french version of receivership a few months back & the doom-sayers all said it would go - still here I notice.  I read a report on Deezer a while back along similar lines.  

Streaming HD audio is relatively new & growing pains are bound to be ahead for most, if not all. I can see a lot of remodelling & a period of continuous market alignment changes going on for quite a while.  

I would however like to see more than one basket of eggs in Naim's streaming support. 

If it goes away, they can port some other service's API into the Naim App (or whatever the technical jargon is for what Naim have done). 

Might be a stupid question, but are there any plans to implement this in the Naim servers as well??

Many regards,

Michel

Is the 3 month free trial limited at Premium level ...... or do we have to subscribe to the £20 sub to try out CD quality?

Could you NAIM guys who already run the TIDAL @ CD quality subs say what you feel it's like?

Thanks

Chris 

Please don't get me wrong, I am very excited about the prospect of a hi res streaming service and don't want to appear as a doom-sayer.

Let's hope Tidal (or A. N. Other) get the business model right and don't rely too much on the fickle nature of stars like Jay Z who seems to have already lost interest in Tidal.

As far as I know, the servers don't have the appropriate hardware on board, so it cannot be done. Naim may have other plans of course - but I think the answer is that if you want streaming services you need to get a streamer - which sounds logical when you think about it!

Wonderful news. I'm curious how it works in practice. I have been on Apple music the last three months, but it does not work for me. To search a song on occasion is good, but not as a music stream service. It works flawless, but the interface is clunky and the sound quality too low.

Tidal will bring more sound quality, at least, that's the promise!