Well, Spotify launched 6 years ago... hopefully we won't have to wait quite as long as that

CHeezus... you're right. Naim do take their time

So assuming it will be a long time... How does one get music from Tidal into a Naim streamer without the use of an intermediary computer? is there a way? 

Someone suggesting plugging in a iOS/Android device directly to the streamer via USB for example... but wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose? I mean... a 5-figure sound system with a telephone as source...

OK, I just tried running the TIDAL App on my iPad 3 (iOS 8.1) using AirPlay to an Apple TV connected via an optical cable to my NDX.  This works fine and still sounds better than Spotify

Does it? That's pretty much how I listen to Spotify and thought the sound was very poor. I just assumed it was the whole AirPlay -> AiportExpress -> ND5 XS chain that made it that way... I'll have to try with Tidal.

Well, it doesn't sound as good as when I stream TIDAL from my iMac or when I Airplay > Apple TV > my Devialet amp but I think its probably the easiest way to connect to a Naim system.  Worth a go

I can't sit and listen to Spotify i.e. seriously listen.  I just use it for playing in the backsground when I'm working.  TIDAL is way better than that.

If you can get a Sonos Connect cheaply then that is probably a better solution than using AirPlay.  Sonos have committed to supporting TIDAL but I'm not sure whether that support is available yet.

EDIT: I just checked the Sonos forum and they don't have a date for TIDAL support yet so that option can go on hold...

With my ND5 I simply plug my iPad into the usb, start by playing any tune on iTunes then switch to Spotify or Qobuz and it plays fine (presume Tidal will work too). Qobuz far superior to Spotify but Spotify has more choice - must have a look at Tidal.

Hugh. Do you know if the ND5 takes a digital or an analogue signal out of the ipad?

Alonso, I don't know for sure but judging by the sound quality from Qobuz, I would be very surprised if it wasn't .

HI, just tried this with a superuniti iPad to USB (start a song on iTunes then switch to tidal) and it works great. Sounds great too now Ill have to spend (waste) some time on comparisons with various methods and vs. spotify.  I believe that this method bypasses audio processing in the ipad (or iphone) so is better than AirTunes which I believe introduces noise and jitter but of course I have that option too as well as the analog input line on the superuniti (headphone out on ipad or iphone to front 3.5mm input on superuniti).

Would be great if Naim add Tidal to the built in streamer and remote app for ease of use. The remote app has gone backwards IMHO with latest release.

AirPort Express' native sample rate is 44.1kHz; the AppleTV uses 48 kHz, which effectively re-samples / sample-rate-converts the incoming audio.

Apparently, the original AirPort Express @ 802.11b/g provides the best audio performance AND uses an USB-based audio codec to deliver the goods.

Hi Hugh -

I see a similarly quirky behavior on my NDS.  When I first plug into the USB port, the NDS sees my iPhone as a flash drive. If I press play in TIDAL, I get no sound. Instead, I use the front panel control to start playing one of the songs that are stored on my iPhone, and only then does pressing play in TIDAL result in music. It's an inconvenience, albeit a minor one.

I look forward to TIDAL or some 3rd-parties building remote apps. I would then run TIDAL (along with Asset UPnP server and other apps) on a dedicated, S/PDIF connected server, and use the iPad only for remote wireless control.  This type of setup works well for Spotify today.

ATB.

Hook

Hi Hook

Yes, as you say a minor inconvenience.

Also, I only notice a slight improvement in SQ playing Qobuz on my MacBP optical out to Hugo and this is not so convenient for me. I don't know if anyone else has tried this comparison.

One neat feature of Spotify is the ability to plug an iPad into ND5 (or similar) and then use an iPhone to control the app on the iPad. Bit lazy maybe but hey...  I look forward to Qobuz following suit.

Hugh

Just to confirm that I tried streaming both Qobuz and TIDAL from an iPod running iOS 8.1 straight into the USB interface on the front of my NDX and the sound quality was significantly better than iPod AirPlay > AppleTV > optical cable > NDX.

Interestingly, I preferred the sound of the Qobuz streaming to TIDAL. Not sure why that should be but it's not always clear with these services what version of an album they're providing so this needs further exploration.  On a positive note, I find the TIDAL iOS app both easier and more intuitively obvious to use than the Qobuz app.

I don't like having to connect an iOS device via USB to play music as it's inconvenient having a cable trailing across the room and the iOS device's battery is constantly being drained.  I certainly wouldn't use an iPhone fpr this as batteries are expensive and inconvenient to replace. Sonos Connect or Bluesound Node would probably be better solutions for me.

I think I have seen the future...

Last night I started streaming lossless into my ND5XS with Tidal (7 week trial).  And you know what? I struggled to hear the difference between its stream and my own lossless CD rips. I was blown away. Not only that,  the user interface was right up there with Spotify

Granted, not everbody (myself included) might be able to afford the £240 a year for Tidal (for now) but in terms how it delivers and allows you to consume music, services like Tidal ARE the future, especially for us Naimees

Why?

- No need to curate a local data base (e.g. music collection on NAS)

- No need to store physical media

- Access to 25,000,000 tracks and counting 

- Same quality as a ripped CD

- Access everything, everywhere

- Completely transparent to current streamers (and even more so future streamers). They don't care where the data comes from (whether it comes from a NAS or the cloud) and no hardware changes required, its the same ethernet plugged in the back!

- Access to HD streams (i.e. better than 44.1/16) does not require ANY change of hardware

OK, one could argue that few of these arguments would be applicable to lossy streaming, but the fact that  services like Tidal also offer lossless streams, greatly erodes the argument for the superiority of locally stored physical media. Yeah, yeah, opening the CD booklet and reading the liner notes is such a ''special' ritual but the arguments for a cloud based (CD quality) music solution are too powerful to disregard.  And, this is without considering the constantly growing catalogue of music in HD.

Of course, for the majority of the music-consuming population, lossy streaming services will be sufficient, but for us? lossless streaming IS the future.  For those of us who still cling to our precious CD collections, well, as Steve Jobs once said;

"Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new"

I completely agree with Alonso's experience with lossless streaming albeit with Qobuz. I've been subscribing for over 6 months and it has completely changed my listening and music buying habits. Since I started with Qobuz I haven't bought a single cd and I probably never will - this makes the £20 a month sub seem cheap.

Wimp witch should be the nordic version of Tidal or the other way round, does not have everything, but for new titles it is a good idea to check before bying the cd.

It would be cool to integrate spotify/tidal/quboz in the server firmware, but time will show.

With my old Squeezebox Receiver there are still a los of quality compared to my ns01. My guess is that if Naim is not providing a solution in a not too distant future, I will try out Bluesound since they  support 24 bit streaming.

+1  I listen to more and a greater variety of music than ever thanks to Qobuz. I cannot praise the quality of their hifi streaming service enough.