TIDAL Lossless Streaming--Thoughts?

Only thing is the Tidal search engine is stupid for now genre search is totally useless there It ain't like Google . like BillyBatts says you have to use different search parameters if something doesn't come up under the genre , song selection or whatever e.g, use artist instead and when you find that you will see albums and tracks and included albums etc etc .

This is the biggest hurdle: fixing the interface, which wasn't that great to begin with even before he took over. So his real test is going to be will he be able to hire the right people to make the user experience better...
 
The absolute main criteria for me to get and continue to subscribe to Tidal Hifi is lossless CD quality, combined with enough titles (25M+) to make it worthwhile. I have had Tidal for two weeks now, and have found and listened to probably $200+ worth of old 70's and 80s' album on my main gear, with great sound quality.

Jay-Z does not seem to emphasize the lossless aspect that much, this is more about power to the musicians for him. I am bit concerned about this latest change.

I have two (minor) gripes 1) the recommendation engine is not based on my listening history, so thus the recommendations are irrelevant IMO, and 2) the discography is not presented in the order of original release rather than the dates listed for albums are dates of re-release. Other than that, the UI itself is perfectly good enough for me.
 
The sound quality has stayed the same, but I will say I have had my first problems with the site locking up here and there when listening in "HiFi" or lossless quality. I have been one that has said I like the site. But at $20 a pop, it definitely needs to always work. I see the buzz as a good thing, as publicity is a necessary thing to keep a venture like this going. But the buzz has to be sustained, and it has to be good buzz. There is already backlash against Jay Z's whole "artist owned site" being owned and run mainly for artists that are already rich. That is not a good perception for him to have out there, for sure.
 
Trying to sell Tidal based on 'more money to poor artists' is bonkers. People do not give a s**t, and as has happened, the message has turned sour and people are actually hating Tidal now.

The real differentiator is the sound quality, depth of the catalog combined with price, 25M+ titles at CD quality for $20 a month is a great deal IMO. Whether there are enough people out there appreciating this is open for discussion. But it looks like with Jay-Z in the helm, we will never find out...
 
They definitely struck out with the launch but 30 days in is a bit early to be forecasting their failure. I like the service, both thru sonos and via the IPhone app.
 
I have heard Tidal, not impressed with the sound at all. Most titles are not even CD quality. for 20 bucks a month I can the music I want and not have to listen to the other crap they have.

Based on most of your posts I not sure that you don't go through life unimpressed by anything. I would however like you to cite more specifically what is not CD quality and exactly how many of the 20 million plus titles that applies too.:scratch2:
 
That is not it - they are striking out with record labels too - one must read the WHOLE article in order to get that information. Just reading the titles - well - that is not speed reading.

I read the whole thing, more of an opinion piece really, and how much money in profits are the free services making? How much longer can that go on?
 
I have heard Tidal, not impressed with the sound at all. Most titles are not even CD quality. for 20 bucks a month I can the music I want and not have to listen to the other crap they have.

I on my third week or so on Tidal HiFi now. I have probably listened to more than 15 CD's already (on my main system), and would guestimate that over 95% of the material has been HiFi quality, i.e. lossless CD quality, and sounds as good as CD to my tinears.

They do not have all recent releases, e.g. Mark Knopler's Tracker is not yet available. But I did listen to PF's Endless River last night and saved $20 right of the bat there. I am so happy now that I did not buy that on CD... :)
 
I do - just not Tidal. 20 bucks a months is a lot - plus you have to pay for the internet connection, etc. I can spend my money in better ways.

Still waiting for you to go into detail and back up your claim on sound quality.

As far as the Internet connection, welcome to today.

How were you listening and on what kind of kit? That would go a long way toward explaining your views. Were you using only a browser? If so only chrome will allow lossless, an app based program will get around that, many android phone were incapable of lossless.

Anyway, based on my experience as well as others here and reviews elsewhere I'd have to believe your experience was a user problem, not a reflection of what Tidal is capable of.
 
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Trying to sell Tidal based on 'more money to poor artists' is bonkers. People do not give a s**t, and as has happened, the message has turned sour and people are actually hating Tidal now.

The real differentiator is the sound quality, depth of the catalog combined with price, 25M+ titles at CD quality for $20 a month is a great deal IMO. Whether there are enough people out there appreciating this is open for discussion. But it looks like with Jay-Z in the helm, we will never find out...

Yep that's the problem. He made a huge blunder PR-wise. All the backlash is irrational because it's what happens whenever an artist starts their own business enterprise. Artists are supposed to shut up and entertain, not try and make a statement, be independent and be in charge of their careers. Whether it movies, music, art, etc. once an artist decides to cross the creative/business divide in a public manner they get derided, their acumen is questioned, and the public opinion sours. This is one of the reasons mediocrity always wins.

No matter how you slice it, it makes no sense from a money perspective for Jay-Z and all these 'millionaires' to go exclusive and/or back a product that emphasizes artists first. That's what's hilarious. If they were truly greedy they would have told Jay-Z hell no I'm fine with Spotify and Apple calling the shots and stuffing my bank account. They took a big risk.

And that's the delicious irony. People are pissed at these artists because they are wealthy and have the gall to talk about superior quality, meanwhile these same consumers are more than happy to jam out to their Apple cult product and Spotify with their piss poor sound quality and absolute zero regard for artist welfare.
 
They definitely struck out with the launch but 30 days in is a bit early to be forecasting their failure. I like the service, both thru sonos and via the IPhone app.

I still can't believe the elegance of their iPhone app. It's the only service that makes me WANT to listen via my iPhone. Every other service I have ever used I'd be happy listening via internet receiver or Tablet or Chromebook or whatever. With Tidal, I want to use the iPhone app. It's truly stellar.
 
I'm crazy about Tidal. I was a Beta user through Sonos before they had the big name investors so I didn't even watch the PR event.

90% of everything I have selected to listen to on Tidal has been CD quality, outstanding in fact. Listening to a new artist, to me, Eric Bibb. A stellar blues recording with superb SQ and imaging that makes you look over your shoulder occasionally to see where that sound came from.

Even Fleetwood Mac Rumors sounds great. Yes, I have high speed internet and yes, I am subscribed to the premium tier for $20 a month. I still buy CDs I really like, those discovered on Tidal, and instead of buying a CD or two each month for $10 each and finding out I only like one or two songs on the album, I figure I'm about even. When I buy the CD, I like the whole album and know the SQ is good throughout.

I hate all of the new owners music and their arrogance. However, attracting a broad paying audience is what is going to keep great services like Tidal going.......and streaming. :thmbsp:
 
I still can't believe the elegance of their iPhone app. It's the only service that makes me WANT to listen via my iPhone. Every other service I have ever used I'd be happy listening via internet receiver or Tablet or Chromebook or whatever. With Tidal, I want to use the iPhone app. It's truly stellar.
Just goes to show how people have different tastes. I did not like the app at all. Their showcased artists didn't fit my tastes and their wasn't much in " curation" worth writing home about. They talked about having videos, but they were nearly impossible to find. I was not happy with their artist radio selections either. I did like the fact that they had a landscape mode for my 6 plus, but other than that, I much prefer Rdio in every other way.

The one benefit that Tidal has is lossless music, but I ran across a lot of music that was not " Hi fi" when I tried out the service. When it was hi fi, I did like the sound, but not enough to live with all the shortfalls and at twice the price.

That being said, I am sure they will bring in more features in the future. So, I will probably give it another shot in a few months. I believe they already added the ability to individually control bitrate on cellular which is something I complained about during the trial. Even then, they emailed me back and said they would look into it...which gives me some hope for their future. Although, I agree that their ad campaign put them in a hole.
 
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