Tidal next week..

The official release says 90 days free at Hifi quality which as I understand it is CD quality.

On the CD quality service, I did do a few comparisons of Tidal tracks to ripped CDs.  Some sounded a bit better, some a bit worse.  After that I just got on with discovering new stuff and enjoying the music :-)

One point though to set expectations - not everything on Tidal is available at CD quality. 

David

Cheers both ...... 

Wow, that is pricey. i am put off the cad$20 here for the hifi subscription. spotify premium is bundled "free" with my cell phone plan as seems to becoming the trend here in canada, so i won't be losing sleep on this i'm afraid...

best,

tim

It's great that Tidal is supported, and I am sure many people will enjoy the choice without compromise (vs CDs anyway) offered by lossless streaming, as I have for the last year or so.  The fact that this is now an option via any provider is something to be celebrated.  

It's customary for me to mention Qobuz in any thread about Tidal, and this will be no exception.  I have a feeling of disappointment that Qobuz was not the chosen service.  Which is weird, as I do not own, or intend to own, a Naim streamer.  It's just that I love the service, the brand, and the attitude toward music, and would love to see them gain ground through support from manufacturers such as Naim.  It seems to me that the high-end audiophile market is what Qobuz is geared toward, while Tidal strives to rival spotify and bait the masses with exclusives from mainstream artists,  and imagery of scantily clad beyonce-type things.  I know which I prefer.....although, should Tidal start doing exclusive new video content of scantily clad Avril Lavigne types, well, then I'm in, and forget Qobuz.

I agree about Qobuz being better but Tidal is still pretty good. As a beta tester (I assume it's ok to emerge from purdah) I've been very impressed with Naim's implementation - truly seamless unlike Spotify and good sound quality, also unlike Spotify.

When I unsubscribed from Qobuz I received the following reply below, make of it what you will. I  was told exactly that at the Bristol Show in February so I'm not holding my breath but I will switch back if it comes to pass.

Michel Girard

Support et Service Clients
249 rue de Crimée
75019 Paris."

It's at least great that something is coming with Naim now. I would have hoped that it would have been Qobuz as I am already having a subscription with all kind of other benefits. Including real high resolution streaming. 

I will test Tidal and see how much I will use it, or not. All depends for me to what extend they have new content which I would like to try out before buying it.

I've never tried Qobuz or Tidal properly. Looking forward to giving Tidal a go. 

Well done Naim!

Well done Naim! I'm happy I held out for this. Linn almost got my money 

How can you check their streaming catalogue? I just looked at the web page and it told me nothing.

I did the 30 day trial and it was CD quality for free for 30 days.  The Tidal website, when accessed from here in the States, offers a 30 day free trial, not 90 as some have posted.

Spotify lossy was free for 90 days for me . . . but I did not renew it past the 90 days.

One way is to do the free trial.  To me, that is the best thing to do; try it.

If you like pop, rock, R&B and so on it will be ideal. If you like classical and jazz, not so good. In fact, it's pretty rubbish. I've been beta testing it and I'm certainly not going to be paying £20 a month. 

I'm averse to giving away my details unless I can get some indication of their 'product'. The listen.tidal.com page (which supposedly allows browsing their catalogue) redirects after 5secs to the app install page. Not good.

Very encouraging news on Tidal - thanks Mike!

Life is wonderful here in the northland - nights are cooler, and leaves are starting to turn color. We are flying south on Friday morning. Three weeks in the sunny, hot RSA!  First Pretoria, and then a nice stay in Barberton, including three days at the Kruger's Lower Sabie camp.  Am looking forward to everything except the long plane ride!

Hope all is well!

Hook

NAIM announcement did say available October and 90 day trial. As the update is not released yet I am assuming, rightly or wrongly that the 90 day option will come with that update.

It is understood that firmware version 4.4 will feature native support to TIDAL and enhance network playing functionality of our streamers. But what about SQ? Shouldn't it be a primary question if not a concern? How will my NDS SQ be changed or affected? Please let me know and help me not to lose sleep again over downloading or not downloading.

Chag -

I also raised the issue of one second dropouts which others using NDX/NDS have suffered from, particularly on the highest res files (DSD and 24/192) on version 4.3. I was told that the next  update would fix this. Will be interesting if by 'next' they meant 4.4.

Claus

nigelb,   the beta rev to fix the 192 & DSD 1 second drop-outs has worked perfectly for me.

Chag,  the consensus with the beta group has all been positive for SQ.   

 Lower Sabie & the big southern bulge over to Pretoriuskop & up to Skukuza  has never ever failed to deliver for me.  The only time I ever saw black rhino in SA was about 1 mile from LS camp.

For me its only bettered by Sabi Sands for animals,  but the beautiful Sabie River is tops for scenery..  My next trip will be next spring (Aug/Sept) for wild flowers north of CT & then to Hazyview & Kruger.  

Het jy 'n goeie reis en het 'n Windhoek vir my. 

My Afrikaans is a bit rusty but I think I would say something like: 

"Ek wens vir jou 'n goeie reis, en ook vir my 'n Windhoek te hé (omdat Tidal nou op Naim beskikbaar is)." 

Sawubona King Size,  Naim sonder Tidal is soos 'n Windheok sonder 'n glas

Ahh yes I see that -- Tidal on its own offers 30 days, but Naim must have worked a special deal for us