# Should I Continue My Tidal Streaming Service?



## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Should I Continue My Tidal Streaming Service?

This morning I started a 30-day free trial of Tidal Streaming Service. I selected the HiFi version that features lossless FLAC streaming.

I am just getting my feet wet with the service, so I have little to say yet.

Here is my question: How do I decide at the end of the 30-dayn free trial whether or not to keep the service?


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Search Results - For favorite groups, did a search yield a favorable showing of available songs and albums?

(I will continue to update this post with future search results.)

No code has to be inserted here.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I cancelled mine during the free trial...just not worth it for me.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

ellisr63 said:


> I cancelled mine during the free trial...just not worth it for me.


At $20/month for lossless streaming, value is a big question. Considerations:

Can I get enough music that I want that I do not already own to make it worthwhile?
Is the service's convenience enough of a factor to make it worthwhile?


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## witchdoctor (Feb 21, 2016)

I decided to keep Tidal because on my system the SQ is noticeably better than the other streaming services I have tried. All of the services have a large catalog and features for finding new music. The other thing about Tidal is I love the live concert streams and the video. I am not spending $$$ on a high end audio system only to listen to degraded sound quality to save $10 a month so for me it was worth it. The video streaming was a bonus.


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## Peter Loeser (Aug 11, 2012)

Guys - please think of Kanye West and his family. He has bills to pay and really needs your support. Your Tidal membership is crucial to his survival.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Peter Loeser said:


> Guys - please think of Kanye West and his family. He has bills to pay and really needs your support. Your Tidal membership is crucial to his survival.



Haha!!! Maybe that piece of garbage should try boycotting the bill collectors. It didn't work at the Grammys, maybe it'll work out for him with Capitol one. 
20 bucks a month for a quality streaming service could be worth it IMO, if the catalog, and quality were there, and it was easy to use. Most people waste more than at McDonalds every week. Look at the return on that!


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## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

Peter Loeser said:


> Guys - please think of Kanye West and his family. He has bills to pay and really needs your support. Your Tidal membership is crucial to his survival.


I was actually thinking about looking into Tidal until you said this. Problem solved. No Tidal for me.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

Peter Loeser said:


> Guys - please think of Kanye West and his family. He has bills to pay and really needs your support. Your Tidal membership is crucial to his survival.


If I was still a Tidal member I would cancel strictly because of him.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

ellisr63 said:


> If I was still a Tidal member I would cancel strictly because of him.



Lol! Agreed. What a disgusting human. 


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

OK brothers, other than the ownership...

Other pros and cons?


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## Peter Loeser (Aug 11, 2012)

AudiocRaver said:


> OK brothers, other than the ownership...
> 
> Other pros and cons?


Sorry for the slight derail Wayne. I played with it for a bit during the trial but didn't care for (or care to get used to) the interface and any difference in sound quality wasn't enough for me to justify paying for another membership. I also didn't want to re-collect all of my music within another app. I have found that for the vast majority of my listening, the quality of Spotify or Apple music over a good internet connection is more than acceptable. If i want higher resolution I'll put in an actual CD or go to HDtracks for ALAC/FLAC. If you don't currently subscribe to any other streaming service and don't mind the $20, I don't think Tidal itself is a bad option - regardless what you think about the team that created it.

On a related note - I noticed after a recent firmware update that my OPPO BDP-103 now has a native Tidal app on the home screen. I could see that being a deciding factor for OPPO owners deciding between Tidal and Spotify, Apple Music, etc.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

A native Tidal streaming app would be nice.

Like you, Peter, I have so much stuff already ripped from CDs over the years. If a streaming service is going to work for me, it will have to complement what I already have, if not replacing it all together. I have not played with the interface much yet, it will have to be pretty straightforward to keep me happy. will have to work pretty seamlessly with what I already have..

On the other hand, if it saves me from having to buy new CDs, keeps up with the new releases that I like, it might be a good deal.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

So far I have not even used it much.


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## witchdoctor (Feb 21, 2016)

One thing I liked about Tidal is being able to free up hard drive space by not having to store ripped music anymore. I had cases of cassette tapes that I loved but wasn't going to replace with CD's. I just looked up them up on Tidal and added the ones I wanted to keep to my collection. It would have cost me $$$ to repurchase them and would also have been a long slow process to convert them to digital files.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

For myself $20/month is better spent buying CD's.
The free streaming services are good enough for background music and if I need to sample something specific to see if I want to buy it, YouTube has served me well so far.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

For sampling to see if I like a group or album, youtube is unbeatable.

Had a really good experience with Tidal today. Putting up a new shed in the backyard, decided to put on headphones and listen to some music while working, pulled up Tidal on my phone and got through a couple of albums streaming from tidal. I realized how convenient it is not to have to worry about where the files are. With a smartphone, a tablet, a. X3 portable media player, a music server, a desktop machine, and the laptop, it is hard to keep track of what files and albums are where. Streaming from Tidal, that is no concern at all. I did not know out in the yard if I was streaming Wi-Fi or using data over my phone service, but I have never even used half of a month allotment of phone data, even when traveling and using it for Wi-Fi tethering, so no concern there. It was super convenient and of course top notch for clarity. Very nice.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

I assume since you listen through you smart phone, the service is portable? Can you access it with someone else's Wi-Fi and stream to their system, say if visiting someone & you want them to hear a song?


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Tonto said:


> I assume since you listen through you smart phone, the service is portable? Can you access it with someone else's Wi-Fi and stream to their system, say if visiting someone & you want them to hear a song?


I assume that you can stream from anywhere that you can login with your account and have the Tidal app downloaded and running on a proper device. I do have the Tidalapp running on several devices already.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

I have run into no problems with user interface. It will accept voice input for searches, and gives search suggestions as you type.

Availability of the music I like has been very good. I corrected my list in post number 2, I had said B-52s were not available but I had done that search wrong, their entire catalog is available. Radiohead's two most recent albums are not available. None of the King Crimson catalog is available, a disappointment but not surprising, with Robert Fripp being extremely protective of their music.

You have to go into settings and turn on HiFi streaming.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

AudiocRaver said:


> I assume that you can stream from anywhere that you can login with your account and have the Tidal app downloaded and running on a proper device. I do have the Tidalapp running on several devices already.


I can see where that would be a very nice feature. With your speaker evaluations, you could use your own music for critical listening.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

I believe that a number of rooms used Tidal for their program source at RMAF and AXPONA last time around.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

$20/month might seem steep to some, but I use Tidal streaming more than any other medium I have and it gives me much more enjoyment than cable TV would, if I had cable TV. There is a $10/month 320 kbps option, too.

I have not used Tidal video streaming much, mostly when company is over. It is an enjoyable experience, as well.

The only downside I have is the occasional buffering hang ups.


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## lmagoo (Mar 5, 2016)

Hey guys,

Love that many share my opinion of west....what a jerk!!!

I build my my library with ripping to my music server...still a better deal than a monthly cost...

Cheers,


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## showcattleguy (Jun 30, 2011)

I love Tidal. I use it daily and it not only sounds great but is so gosh convenient. I have over 1000 blurays and right now am going through a Kaleidescape nightmare trying to catalog everything i have (Kaleidescape is not a nightmare. It is a dream just the effort needed to put forth dealing with a data cap on my ISP is the crux) i love the idea of having all this content at my disposal in a lossless format without having to spring for and house another grand collection. Plus when i demo my stereo for people they can search for whatever their heart desires instead of relying on me to have content or whatever discs they have in their car. My $.02


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

lmagoo said:


> I build my my library with ripping to my music server...still a better deal than a monthly cost...


You are probably a tad better organized than I am. My ripped files are all over the place. Tidal makes that a non-issue... for me. Then there is the question of tag management...


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## tvinstallation (Mar 13, 2016)

Not a fan of the people who own it but I have to say if you are an audiophile it will probably make you think about it as an optional solution to Pandora because of its Hi-Fi Audio quality. Flac format unfortunately is not something you can easily enjoy online. 

Our specialty is home theater installation for audiophiles


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Interesting all the commentary on the ownership. I guess my question, all due respect to my esteemed colleagues, is - Is your like or dislike level of the owner or CEO of the business your first criterion for deciding whether or not to make a purchase from... Sony? Yamaha? Onkyo? Toyota? Owens Corning? Johnson and Johnson? If so, I guess that is a personal decision. It is not for me, unless it could affect the future of that business and its ability to provide the level of service I value and expect.

So far, I have liked Tidal when I have used it and value the ease of use vs. ripping and fixing tags and organizing and backing up files, at lest with my usual state of disorganization. Looks like I will keep it for now, knowing that if I hit a bump with it, I can discontinue the service with no penalty at any time.

Streaming is the way of the future, right?:whistling:


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Well for me, no. I don't consider the owner, or ceo, etc of a company when I make purchases.(Tim cook seems nice though) However, I don't see them in the news acting like self important, pompous, narcissistic little babies. Kanye actually boycotted the Grammy awards, saying he would not go unless he got "album of the year". Wah!!! That kind of thing is supposed to be earned. And how has he treated other celebrities? I'd like nothing more than him and his family to get on a boat and sail away into the Bermuda Triangle. What a waste...


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

willis7469 said:


> Well for me, no. I don't consider the owner, or ceo, etc of a company when I make purchases.(Tim cook seems nice though) However, I don't see them in the news acting like self important, pompous, narcissistic little babies. Kanye actually boycotted the Grammy awards, saying he would not go unless he got "album of the year". Wah!!! That kind of thing is supposed to be earned. And how has he treated other celebrities? I'd like nothing more than him and his family to get on a boat and sail away into the Bermuda Triangle. What a waste...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


No argument. I guess I pay so little attention to it all that the comments just surprised me a little. Cheers!


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

AudiocRaver said:


> No argument. I guess I pay so little attention to it all that the comments just surprised me a little. Cheers!



I don't really pay much attention either, but MSN seems to think I care lol!!! On the flip side, it seems like the service itself is good. Glad you can find some value in it. 


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Still grooving with Tidal...

It is just SO convenient!

No troubles with the interface, no harder than any other, to me anyway.

ALMOST everything I want is there.

Yesterday and today spent a few hours pulling up songs & groups I have liked but never owned. It was a BLAST!

Of my favorites, a few disappointments:

No King Crimson (come ON, Fripp!)
Very Little Porpupine Tree / Steven Wilson (come ON, Steve!)
Very little Zappa (come ON, er, uh, oh well, never mind)
Radiohead's _In Rainbows_ still absent, all the rest is there - ????
Everything else I have looked for is there. Zowie! Fast, good, AND fairly cheap. Lovin' it!

Streams nicely over WiFi to new Chromebook with Emotiva Little Ego DAC (Filter3), smooth, no glitches, perfect sound.

I am hooked!

Any other recent joiners?


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

I too love Tidal and do not care about who owns it.
This is such a good service to me because it has a library depth that I can only hint at in my closet of stuff, and it sounds good.
In addition, very soon it will be offering streaming with MQA and that will hit a high spot for me. Once I figure out the playlist a bit better I can then listen to what the reviewers are also listening to at a level that should equal the quality of a cd that has been burned to a server or in the case of MQA, sound quality that will exceed that of a cd burned to the server and without having to purchase HD music.

Just my 2 pennies.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

This is the coolest thing EVER! I have my wife starting to use Tidal! She cares nothing for the HIFI quality, but the variety and ease of finding almost anything ever recorded that she has been wanting to hear - that she is really starting to enjoy.

Finally, a WAF victory! Now, if I could only get rid of all those ugly cables......


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## culliganman (Dec 23, 2016)

I have Spotify premium and I can tell the difference between high quality streaming and regular.
When Tidal was newer I tried the test they had to hear the difference and I could not tell a difference even with headphones on. :dontknow:


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## linnlingo (Jan 13, 2017)

Love the convenience of Tidal. Back in early November I had major surgery and I couldn't move around much. Tidal gave me hours of musical enjoyment.:sn:


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