Regarding Tidals 24 bit flac
Answered
So Tidal is coming out with 24 bit flac, it is currently in beta testing available for those who are connected to Tidals beta program. And in the beginning only for iOS users and later it will also come to Android users.
My question is do you know if it will be available to stream this also through the bluos app to my bluesound or only through tidals own app ?
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Genuine question. Do any of the following platforms support Hi-Res FLAC as the Tidal Max default format?:
- HEOS
- DTS Play-Fi
- MusicCast
- Sonos
- StreamMagic
- Roon
What other platforms support it?
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While the vitriol is spewing here, has anyone checked Tidal’s official support page on this topic (see link below)?
https://support.tidal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004565898-TIDAL-Connect
It reads: “HiRes FLAC is currently not supported through TIDAL Connect. Support will be added later in 2023.”
Translation: Tidal is still working on this with their partners, including Bluesound, and has not changed this “later in 2023” commitment since inception months ago. Not sure why some folks are losing it here. Especially given the fact that Tidal has 5 million users, some who have been paying good money for the top tier option and enjoying the listening experience long before FLAC was an option, and if high res FLAC was such a game changer, why does Qobuz, which has offered high res FLAC at 24/192 for years, only have 200,000 customers? That’s a mere 4% of Tidal’s customer base.
Would appreciate an update on when this will happen, however, including user selectable format—in November or December?
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Thanks for that information!
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@M 1. Are you aware that streaming platforms, competitive to BluOS already support Tidal flacs or have announced that their support is imminent (as in advanced beta)? If not you should do your research. I mention a few here Lumin, WiiM, Volumio. I am sure there are quite a few other, I'm not in the business of keeping tag on all the platforms available. Even if just one already supports it that makes your point moot. 2. Are you aware of the extremely limited geographical coverage of Qobuz vs Tidal? If not then do your research. Nothing of what you're saying is relevant to this discussion.
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@ At all people making stupid comments about leaving Tidal and going for Qobuz rather than bashing Bluesound for not implementing Tidal hires flac support. 1. Qobuz availability is extremely geographically limited geographically. For example it is not available in my country which happens to be in Europe and in the EU. We are not talking about some place in Polynesia... I am NOT going to jump through hoops and loops to fool Qobuz in thinking I'm in another region with uncertain results just for Bluesound's sake. It is easier to change HW platform 2. That is not really the point. The point is that Tidal, which we are paying for is offering a service which Bluesound, due to they own vested interests in MQA, is refusing or delaying support of. That is bad customer facing practice on the part of Bluesound, there are no ifs and buts about it. It has nothing to do with MQA vs hires FLAC, nothing to do with Tidal vs Qobuz, nothing to do with most of the argumentation of people who are tying to defend Bluesound in here. Tidal is offering new functionality to its customers which Bluesound indirectly refuse to support as such resorting to statements about customer choice (as if we are being given a choice right now). What Bluesound is doing is interfering with our contract with Tidal for their own selfish reasons. Btw When does 'soonish' expire?
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@Nlkos,
Not certain I agree with these "conspiratory theories" that Bluesound would hold back Tidal HiRes FLAC for the benefit of MQA. MQA was acquired at scrap value and the relationship with Tidal is way more valueable to Bluesound than the MQA IP at this point in time.
* Lumin indeed works
* ViiM is only in Beta testing at the moment
* Trust you on VolumioKEF, Cambridge, still cannot play HiRes FLAC. I never said that Bluesound are fast with their releases, I am also longing for the upgrade. And, yes a timeline and progress updates would be appreciated. But there seems to be nothing behind this "refusing or delaying" statements.
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Hurry Up Tony!
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WiiM official Tidal connect Hi Res also for Mini from today! Bluesound go go... you will be last!
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I really regret to sell my WiiM and replace with bluesound.
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Vous dites cher Andrew H que le timing est proche pour l'intégration de Tidal en hi-res flac mais c'est dans combien de temps ???
Je suis fidèle à Tidal depuis 3 ans pour 2 raisons le respect des artistes et le connect qui est très agréable à l'utilisation. J'ai acheté un bluesound node 2 i pour sa qualité de son, mais ma patience a des limites.
J'espère que tidal connect sera en flac hd très rapidement pris en charge intégralement chez bluesound sinon vous perdrez un client définitivement.1 -
any news on this topic?
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@alejandro pocchiari it will probably take time, if it will happen at all... It feels like Bluesound has an economic interest in keeping MQA. I've returned mine and now rocking a wiim for moore than half the price of a node, streaming Tidal High Res FLAC flawless...
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I'm finished with Bluesound. I have already sold my two Nods N130 and bought Eversolo. I lost patience for their infinite "soonish" promises. Just all the infinite promises and no act. Now you don't have to rush to the introduction of Flac Tidal Hires at all, feel free to support the "amazing" bull shi* MQA.
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I notice that some music on my phone is played as 24 bit, but the same music on my Node X is 16 bit. I hope this is resolved soon.
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@Peter Koning. I have the same problem.
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New firmware on EVERSOLO: Added TIDAL MAX support (require re-logging into Tidal account)
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I am a veteran Software Engineer, do you need help with this?
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@Jaspal, always happy to invite new highly skilled contractors to help us lol.
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@Andrew H.
So as you can experience more and more competitors implementing the update. Can we have a little more accurate target date instead of "soonish"? ;)
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More info to follow next week. Stay tuned.
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I already missed this train... I was ok with node but now is better with eversolo.
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@Jan Yes, yes, you’ve told us this already. You’ve sold your Bluesound stuff, congrats. Now you can relax with your Eversolo, and have no need to keep us apprised of your spectacularly interesting journey.
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@Andrew.H, I saw on your careers page that your team works with Java. I unfortunately work primarily with Node/Javascript so I probably won't be a good fit :-D
I will be eagerly awaiting the next next week ;-)0 -
Looking forward for next week!
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^^ Me too!
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@Jaspal, if you are referring to Android, it is a mix of Java and Kotlin and Native, uses some of the newer frameworks. We are working to remove the Java elements over time
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@Robert Jessing
Maybe you missed the FACT that Bluesound clearly suggested that what they are trying to do is have Tidal offer a choice between MQA and Flac as they do not like they way Tidal is handling the issue right now and they are working towards this goal. This clearly indicates to anyone who is not naive that BS priority is 'saving' Tidal MQA rather than providing Tidal+BS customers the functionality Tidal provides to their premium subscribers as soon as possible. There has not been any other word about it from BS in this thread apart from the above and 'soonish'. Supposedly we will have more news next week, let's wait and see. In the meantime new releases on Tidal mostly come in flac with no MQA (so we can only listen in CD quality through BluOS) and also in the meantime WiiM already provides Tidal Connect functionality for hires flacs with native app functionality being tested. I only hope competitive pressure forces BS hand since neither Tidal nor BS competitors seem to have saving proprietary MQA (masquerading as customer choice) as their priority.
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REPOST of @Andrew H. now marked as an official comment;
Hi everyone,
We appreciate your patience as we’ve worked through the final details around Tidal’s new Hi-Res FLAC approach. Our BluOS team knows that many in our community have asked for as much access to MQA as possible so we needed to test our two-pronged approach that will provide the most flexibility within Tidal’s new mandates.
On or around December 12th (depending on your timezone), we will release a BluOS update to include Tidal Max support available via Tidal Connect only. The new Tidal platform defaults to FLAC versions of tracks if multiple versions are available, so Tidal subscribers who want to listen to Hi-Res FLAC content on Bluesound can do so as of Dec 12th via the Tidal app.
For the many BluOS users who signed up to Tidal to take advantage of their MQA content, you will still be able to access MQA streaming in the BluOS App via our existing direct Tidal “Classic” integration. This will continue to operate as it currently does.
More information will be posted in the Knowledge Base FAQs prior to the launch to answer questions you may have. You can also direct questions or comments here - Matt (Bluesound Product Manager) and myself will be happy to chat further.
-Andrew4 -
Great news!
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@ Tony W. Thanks for this, Tony — excellent news! But tell us: is BS working to also give us access to Tidal's Hi-Res FLAC streams in the Bluesound app? Or will the two apps continue to provide separate functionality? It would be great to be able to use the BluOS v 4 app to access everything -- Tidal's MQA and Hi-Res FLAC -- in one place.
Not that I'm complaining! I just… want it all. ;-)
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