Editor’s Note: Tidal resolved the problems long ago; I continue to subscribe a year later.
On May 1st, Tidal billed my credit card for the first month of music streaming. Yesterday, my subscription to Google Music ended. I should be satisfied with the switch, given how much more I enjoy 1411kbps lossless listening over the more typical 320kbps compressed streaming music. But recent, recurring service problems put my customer continuation into question.
Download TIDAL; TIDAL provides several apps to access its services via Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices. TIDAL can be downloaded for Android devices through the Play Store or for iOS via the App Store. We also support Windows and OSX through our desktop app. Don't seem to be able to find a definitive answer, but maybe I haven't looked hard enough. I'm streaming Tidal HiFi – FLAC 1411 kbps Lossless (16/44.1 khz) – files over Airplay from 2013 Macbook Pro (Sierra 10.12.1) to M-CR611 Melody Media. Tidal account is definitely active as I can use the Tidal desktop app and via LMS fine. I have reached out to Tidal support too. Hoping i can get this working before my Roon free trial period ends so I can fully evaluate Roon! TIDAL provides several apps to access its services via Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices. TIDAL can be downloaded for Android devices through the Play Store or for iOS via the App Store. We also support Windows and OSX through our desktop app. Anytime, Anywhere. Enjoy TIDAL on all your devices. TIDAL is the first global music streaming service with high fidelity sound, hi-def video quality, along with expertly curated playlists and original content — making it a trusted source for music and culture.
Quality of content, or available selection of it, isn’t the problem. I find plenty of music to enjoy, and the default playlists are smartly curated. The high-fidelity is just that. But slow starts, drop-offs, and song skips disrupt the listening experience—and for a service costing twice as much as major competitors, like Beats, Rdio, or Spotify, I expect more but get less. There is no customer support option that I can find, either.
No Oasis
If the problems hadn’t started before last week’s switch from Cox to AT&T for Internet, I would suspect cause there. The problems’ consistency raises questions about the service, whether cause is far-away server or how Tidal caches content locally. For example, trying to listen to one of the default playlists day before yesterday, Oasis song “Wonderwall” wouldn’t start. The obnoxious spinning circle that appears over the play button stared me down. Vox music player mac. More than a minute later, the song finally started, played about 10 seconds, then stopped again.
If the problems hadn’t started before last week’s switch from Cox to AT&T for Internet, I would suspect cause there. The problems’ consistency raises questions about the service, whether cause is far-away server or how Tidal caches content locally. For example, trying to listen to one of the default playlists day before yesterday, Oasis song “Wonderwall” wouldn’t start. The obnoxious spinning circle that appears over the play button stared me down. Vox music player mac. More than a minute later, the song finally started, played about 10 seconds, then stopped again.
I wrongly presumed the problem might be with Chromebook Pixel LS. Sometimes, Adobe Flash crashes. So I pulled out my Nexus 6 smartphone, launched Tidal’s Android app, and tried to play “Wonderwall” there. What the frak? The song, and others, behaved the same way, freezing the same place after playback finally started. Ah, yeah. Thirty minutes later, I made another attempt, and Tidal smoothly streamed.
That brings me to yesterday’s catastrophe. Hey, for $19.99 month the description applies to my dissatisfaction. While Nexus 6 charged, I listened to Tidal on Nexus 9 for the first time. One of many Tidal playlist sections is History, where I found an Elton John playlist. I hadn’t listened to the old boy for awhile and thought: “Why not?”
Problems started with “Rocket Man”, the second song in queue. The Tidal app skipped to the next track before finishing the one I listened to; near as I can estimate, maybe 30 minutes from the end. The same thing happened when listening again—and to every other song in the playlist. Consistency must mean something: The skips all occurred around the same places.
Pay More for What?
Tidal offers no online support forum that I can find or meaningful Help section. If I’m wrong, please correct me. For a premium-priced service promoting premium-quality content, I expect something to assist subscribers when problems arise. I instead looked to other sites for assistance, like this forum from Computer Audiophile, but found no resolution. Streaming problems are common enough, however, to disturb.
Tidal offers no online support forum that I can find or meaningful Help section. If I’m wrong, please correct me. For a premium-priced service promoting premium-quality content, I expect something to assist subscribers when problems arise. I instead looked to other sites for assistance, like this forum from Computer Audiophile, but found no resolution. Streaming problems are common enough, however, to disturb.
When you pay more, you expect more. Number of streaming problems using Google Music: Zero. Is there a periscope app for mac. Same applies to iTunes in the cloud, when I had a Mac. Both services cost considerably less and will host my content in the cloud.
If problems persist, and Tidal continues with limited customer service options, I will be compelled to cancel the service and withdraw my review recommendation for it. Lossless is useless if content doesn’t play.
Sigh…
I can’t express how much more I enjoy Tidal than other streaming services. Best to do app for mac and iphone. Best apps mac os 2018 fotos. I hear the difference, but concede not everyone will or will care.
I can’t express how much more I enjoy Tidal than other streaming services. Best to do app for mac and iphone. Best apps mac os 2018 fotos. I hear the difference, but concede not everyone will or will care.
Yesterday, when listening to “Rocket Man” on Nexus 9 something about the song sounded flat. When “I’m Still Standing” started, I could really hear the difference. Opening the Tidal app, “HiFi” was grayed out for the track—and all others in the playlist! I wasn’t lossless listening.
Then I remembered: The app’s default streaming setting is “Normal” not “HiFi”, which I don’t fraking understand. I hadn’t used Tidal on the tablet before, so the default was active. Why, why, why would a streaming service promoting lossless as differentiator, charge more for it, but then give customers less out of the box, so to speak? People can’t hear the difference if there isn’t any.
Last month, I cajoled music aficionados, or anyone else, to take the Tidal challenge. Listen to nothing else for a few weeks, then go back to 320kbps MP3 or 256Kbps AAC. I hear the difference, which is why the Elton John songs sounded flatter before I changed the setting to “HiFi”. These old songs were shockingly fuller after changing the setting, presenting great separation and soundstage. They are excellent for comparing Tidal’s Free Lossless Audio Codec to other compressed formats.
If the music even plays.
I won’t cancel Tidal yet, and service separation will be disappointing. But if the saying “You get what you pay for” is true, I’m not getting my money’s worth—not for twice as much when other services smoothly stream. Sigh.
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears on BetaNews.
Part 1. How to Download Songs from Tidal onto Computer
How to enjoy lossless CD-quality of Tidal music if there is poor Internet connection? The most ideal way would be downloading music from Tidal for offline listening. So here in the part, we are going to share with you how to download tidal music to PC or Mac using third-party software.
Tool Needed: Best Tidal Downloader on Mac/Windows
AudFree Tidal Music Downloader is a flagship product developed by AudFree. It is well-designed to help Tidal subscribers get the music download from Tidal playlist and save them in common audio formats. This professional tool can run at high speed to download and convert Tidal to MP3, FLAC, WAV, AAC, M4A, and M4B without losing any audio quality. Besides, it is intelligent enough to detect all metadata such as title, artist, genre, album art of the music and keep them within the output music files.
With the help of this all-in-one Tidal music converter, it opens up more possibilities for you to enjoy Tidal music in plain format on any device. Moreover, you get to keep Tidal music forever even if you cancel your Tidal Premium or HiFi subscription. AudFree Tidal Music Downloader now offers a free trial for both Windows and Mac users to fully explore its various functions.
AudFree Tidal Music Downloader
- Losslessly download track/playlist/album from Tidal
- Convert Tidal to FLAC, MP3, AAC, WAV, etc.
- Work at 5X speed on Windows to convert Tidal songs
- Support to customize other audio parameters
Detailed Steps: How to Download Music on Tidal to Computer
Before getting started, there is some preparation work you need to do. Please make sure you have downloaded and installed the right version of AudFree Tidal Music Downloader on your computer. Also, a Tidal desktop app is required to finish this process.
- Step 1Add music from Tidal to AudFree
- Launch the AudFree Tidal Music Downloader on desktop, and the Tidal app will run automatically at the same time. And then please find the Tidal songs, albums, playlists that you wish to download from Tidal to computer within the Tidal app. Right-click on it to copy its link and paste it in the search box of AudFree software. Click the '+' button to load Tidal music into it.
Tidal Mac App
- Step 2Set output format for Tidal music
- Go to Menu from the top-right corner and select 'Preferences' > 'Convert' section. Here, you get to select your ideal output format for Tidal music download. You can also customize other audio parameters including bit rate, sample rate, and audio channel. If you choose to download FLAC from Tidal, you get to select the bit depth between 16 bit and 24 bit.
- Step 3Download and convert Tidal MQA music
- When all the settings are saved, simply click the 'Convert' button to start the downloading process at high speed. After that, you can open the converted list and locate your downloaded Tidal music files in the output folder on your computer.
Tidal App Not Working On Mac
- Video TutorialHow to Download Music from Tidal
- Here is a video tutorial that can help you learn how to download from Tidal more clearly. Following every step in this tutorial, and you shall have no problem getting your Tidal music downloaded.