Tidal announces Tidal Connect

[Soundstage]

Game over for the expensive streamers

Doing that right now with Tidal streaming from roon on my laptop connected to the D70 into the F208. Note that Roon is running with Dirac Live standalone on windows controlled from my IPad.
So with this setup I saved not only a streamer but also a DSP device to run DIRAC. Also I get EQ from roon on my IPhone (impossible to EQ iPhone otherwise) and my HD650.

 

[jannek]

No need for Tidal connect if using Volumio.
A RPi4 in a ArgonOne Case (cooled passive) running Volumio via USB to a D10s. Including BruteFIR and virtual crossfeed as plugins.

Bang, done.

By the way:
https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/22/22295273/spotify-hifi-announced-lossless-streaming-hd-quality

 

[Dave-Oh]

Doing that right now with Tidal streaming from roon on my laptop connected to the D70 into the F208. Note that Roon is running with Dirac Live standalone on windows controlled from my IPad.
So with this setup I saved not only a streamer but also a DSP device to run DIRAC. Also I get EQ from roon on my IPhone (impossible to EQ iPhone otherwise) and my HD650.

The old school audiophile in me cannot allow a laptop on my audio rack, but could probably tolerate a small fanless PC out of sight. How powerful is your laptop, and did you have any problems getting Tidal and Roon up and running on it?

 

[Dave-Oh]

No need for Tidal connect if using Volumio.
A RPi4 in a ArgonOne Case (cooled passive) running Volumio via USB to a D10s. Including BruteFIR and virtual crossfeed as plugins.

Bang, done.

By the way:
https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/22/22295273/spotify-hifi-announced-lossless-streaming-hd-quality

Yeah but.. anything that says plug in tells me there's an art to making it work. Was this really so easy a caveman could do it?

 

[Soundstage]

The old school audiophile in me cannot allow a laptop on my audio rack, but could probably tolerate a small fanless PC out of sight. How powerful is your laptop, and did you have any problems getting Tidal and Roon up and running on it?

The laptop is 5 years old and was left unused. So far it is completely silent and hidden behind the tv.
The main hassle with roon and tidal was the occasional drop out from the songs when streaming from other devices like downstairs. The fix was to plug the roon server on a wired connection and not wifi. I also got a power line wifi downstairs. No more drop out. Dirac and DSP from the server also work for my other hifi in the kitchen with the kef ls50.

 

[jannek]

Yeah but.. anything that says plug in tells me there's an art to making it work. Was this really so easy a caveman could do it?

Basically yes. Volumio setup is easy. Also the plugins are easy to install, even if not preinstalled. Of course it helps to have a little experience with SBCs for flashing SD cards and accessing via terminal.
The only work left is to generate the BruteFIR EQ desired in REW and load it to the correct directory. Thats it.
With a tablet as "remote" it's all I need.

 

[mSpot]

No need for Tidal connect if using Volumio.

I run Volumio and have subscriptions to Tidal, Qobuz, and Spotify. Accessing Tidal or Qobuz through Volumio is a terrible user experience. Other Pi players (MoOde, etc) are no better. I have started using Roon and it has been a game changer in usability.

In any case, Volumio have begun implementing Tidal Connect and it is expected to be available about mid year.

 

[jannek]

Ah, ok. I thought with the new Tidal and Qobuz integration this had improved. Using Spotify is flawless in my opinion.
Also I have to admit that AFAIK volumio does not do first MQA unfold. Forgot that as it does not matter to me.

 

[mSpot]

I thought with the new Tidal and Qobuz integration this had improved. Using Spotify is flawless in my opinion.

I agree that Volumio made improvements for Tidal and Qobuz, but the UI remains crude and primitive, like a website from 20 years ago. You still can't do some very basic things such as when an album is displayed, tap on the artist to see the artist's other albums.

Volumio's Spotify integration is limited like with Tidal and Qobuz, but fortunately Volumio also supports Spotify Connect which I find ideal. Tidal Connect will bring a big improvement, and it will be complete if Qobuz were to offer Qobuz Connect someday.

 

[MisterDee]

Regarding Tidal connect and Volumio - looks like it will be here shortly...

url: https://community.volumio.org/t/adding-tidal-connect/42022/66

Tidal interface on my phone > PC running Volumio with Tidal connect > DAC > Amp > Speakers > me smiling!!

 

[somy]

Death sentence to many streamers incl. my stupid matrix audio element.

 

[MisterDee]

Well, I'm running Volumio on two of my headless PC's - each connected to external DAC's then to amps/speakers. I'm also using the native Tidal app on phone/desktop and can connect to each of them via Tidal Connect! It's great - just like Spotify connect (but with CD quality tunes!)

Screenshot from the desktop app...

I did have to load the latest test build of Volumio (it's also the paid version) but the official release is days away!

No more crappy interface workarounds! (unless you consider Tidal's interface crappy but I love it )

 

[mSpot]

I did have to load the latest test build of Volumio (it's also the paid version) but the official release is days away!

I believe it is already officially released. It came up for me when I did a regular check for system update in the Volumio Settings.

I do have a paid My Volumio account. It hasn't been clear in the Volumio community forums whether it would be required. Now if only Qobuz would also release a Connect function.

 

[Beershaun]

That's fantastic news!!

 

[MisterDee]

Now if only Qobuz would also release a Connect function.

Indeed! I don't have a MQA DAC and don't fancy 'upgrading' so 44.1/16bit is the standard for now with Tidal but if Qobuz had something similar it would be Hi-Res without the need for MQA no doubt.

Still loving Tidal Connect via this implementation though!

 

[RosalieTheDog]

Tidal Connect on Volumio is what has made me pull the trigger on trying the whole Raspberry Pi streaming thing. I'm curious!

I am a little bit bothered having to pay a yearly fee to Volumio though, on top of the Tidal subscription. I know it's not much, but it is roughly the price of a CCA which, unless I'm mistaken, provides more or less the same ease of use as Tidal Connect.

Therefore, does anyone know if Tidal Connect is on the horizon for other Raspberry Pi OS's?

 

[Eetu]

Tidal Connect on Volumio is what has made me pull the trigger on trying the whole Raspberry Pi streaming thing. I'm curious!

I am a little bit bothered having to pay a yearly fee to Volumio though, on top of the Tidal subscription. I know it's not much, but it is roughly the price of a CCA which, unless I'm mistaken, provides more or less the same ease of use as Tidal Connect.

Therefore, does anyone know if Tidal Connect is on the horizon for other Raspberry Pi OS's?

If you don't mind using something else than the Tidal app you can also stream Tidal through apps like BubbleUPnP or mconnect on Android. Only thing to do is enable UPnP on your RPi OS first. Works with Qobuz too.

 

[Thalis]

If you don't mind using something else than the Tidal app you can also stream Tidal through apps like BubbleUPnP or mconnect on Android. Only thing to do is enable UPnP on your RPi OS first. Works with Qobuz too.

I use Bubble too........ sending stream to moode.

 

[AdamG]

Tidal Connect on Volumio is what has made me pull the trigger on trying the whole Raspberry Pi streaming thing. I'm curious!

I am a little bit bothered having to pay a yearly fee to Volumio though, on top of the Tidal subscription. I know it's not much, but it is roughly the price of a CCA which, unless I'm mistaken, provides more or less the same ease of use as Tidal Connect.

Therefore, does anyone know if Tidal Connect is on the horizon for other Raspberry Pi OS's?

Welcome Aboard @RosalieTheDog.

 

[Beershaun]

John Darko also just did a video update on his experience getting Tidal Connect working on Rpi. Volumio seemed to be the best option so far which requires a paid membership. I use bubbleupnp and Moode as well right now. The weakpoint is the user interface. It doesn't really work well for discovery. So I end up using the Tidal app for discovery search/browse and then "favorite" the item I want to play. Then switch over to the bubbleupnp app to send the stream to my Rpi. Also it's not gapless playback so there tends to be a large pause between songs, which for live albums is not desirable.