Tidal Connect has arrived!
Hey Bluos,
what great and nice surprise: Tidal connect has arrived in Busound. Hidden in your news: the minor release rolled out today contains tidal connet. Using tidal app as controler for any blueos device including all my bluesounds like using Spotify but in HiRes means MQA!
Currently only from the andoid (and I think ios) apps, but it works perfekt.
Ralph
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Official comment
Our Pleasure Ralph
Thanks for #LivingHiFi
Tony
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Works fine with my Samsung tab S6 (android 10).
But my phone, Oneplus 3t (android 9), does not see the bluesound node in the tidal app and is connected to the same network. The bluesound app can find the node. With the Google nexus 7 tablet the same problem.
(the tidal app on my Chromebook does see the node, but when selected the app crashes)
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Since you are using the TIDAL App, you will need to contact TIDAL Support... sorry...
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Hi Bluos,.
Nice addition with the option to use Tidal connect. Just want to point out a few quirks that I'm not sure are working correctly. Which I think comes back to the implementation of the Node2i within Homekit and IOS/Airplay2 more generally.
One of the frustrations with the Node2i and IOS is no ability to quickly control the player, volume etc - as in the drop down controller menu on IOS without having to scroll to the purpose made widget or open the BluOS app. These are unfortunately additional steps which makes for a quick adjustment that much slower. (Side note, I'm actually hoping for a new widget based on IOS14 which might allow for a more seamless integration on the homescreen).
In any case I've read elsewhere that this cannot be done because Bluos is following the rules Apple have set yet other devices seem to play nicer in this space. Now, with Tidal Connect its possible to use that drop down menu to pause and adjust volume etc but it takes a bit of flicking back and forth between the Tidal app and IOs menu - it kinda works but its not perfect, leading me to think its a bug.
I'm still confused why the Node2i integrates with Homekit but with such limitations. Why can the Spotify app, Tidal app, Amazon music app etc integrate with IOS to allow the menu to be easily pulled down. Seems like BluOS app should really do this.
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Thanks for TIDAL Connect, really great addition :)
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Yes, definitely a great addition. I've been hoping that this would be available at some point, so great that it's here. Thanks!
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Yeah - I also stumpled about this new feature yesterday and I'm really amazed. :)
One question to the BluOS-staff:
The following Tidal-Microsite states, that the NAD products support both Tidal connect and Dolby Atmos tracks via Tidal: https://tidal.com/supported-devices?filter=tidal-connect,dolby-atmos
I tried to stream various of Tidals Dolby Atmos tracks but with no success - I still only get a PCM Stereo stream.
Sooo, what is the current status of Dolby Atmos streaming via Tidal? Is it supported or not?
And again: Thank you for bringing support for Tidal Connect! :)
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Hi Tino
TIDAL Streaming through BluOS only supports 2.1 channel playback.
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Thanks a lot for Tidal Connect! The missing piece...
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Hi Tony,
thank you for your answer.
As a followup to this topic:
Will the 2.1 limitation to playback tracks from Tidal persist, or will this change in the future?0 -
I don't understand this at all. How is Tidal Connect better than using Bluos to control a node 2i?
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Hi Music Lovah,
Tidal has provided a lot of new features in last month. Starting with "New Arrrivals for You", "Producer & Songwriter-Radio" up to "Master Quality Radios" and a lot more. The BlueOS App can provide only a small supset of these features and BueOS cannot follow this fast deployments. Remember "My mixes" take a very long time! By using the App you can use all this features with your node 2i from the start without loosing the multi-room feature. For me it is a really big step forward for the use of Tidal with BlueOS and a great coup of BlueOS to be the first to provide it.0 -
Thank you Ralph Hensel
I will have to have a look at it. I thought the point of BluOS is to aggregate all your music services in one app. If I understand, Connect is a step back, now we should use the Tidal app and the node 2i is one of the possible players. Same thing with Spotify. It doesn't even work directly in BluOS. Now are we back to many separate desktop apps instead of BluOS controller?
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Hi Music Lovah,
"Connect is a step back, now we should use the Tidal app and the node 2i is one of the possible players. "
It's actually the best of both worlds. You can still play Tidal through BlueOS app if you choose to do so. To get the full richness of the Tidal experience (and there are many features supported by the Tidal app but not BlueOS app) now you can stream directly to your BlueOS device in full quality. I think this is a great step forward for the BlueOS ecosystem.
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I understand from your comments you like it, but it is not a step forward for BluOS if I understand. It's a step backward. It means the native app from the streaming company is the best way to control BluOS devices, not the BluOS app. And it means when we use it then we are back to multiple apps and lose the aggregation capability.
Really what this sounds like is total lack of integration (as before Bluesound existed) and then total lack of Bluesound influence on partners (Tidal, Spotify etc.) in the ecosystem. Fragmentation leads to chaos and unhappy customers. This is not called a step forward.
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Thanks all for your feedback
Isn't it nice that you have the option?
Music Services are their own business. Bluesound and other streamers must implement them based not on their own guidelines or recommendations but based on those provided by the independent music service. Many of the common ones such as TIDAL, Spotify, or Apple Music have adopted or migrated to an end-point solution to create a more uniform approach to their customers. TIDAL differentiates itself by being a hi-res service and the largest collection of MQA content available. As a result, they understand the importance of deep integration into the App so have chosen the best of both worlds.
Deep integration allows you to mix your collection with their massive library when creating playlists.
Endpoint solution allows our mutual consumers to benefit from rapid development of new features or ways to enjoy music without waiting for hardware companies like Bluesound to implement their API (which can take months or even a year for a company such as ours who is on a rapid development life cycle).
TIDAL and Bluesound together give you the best of both these worlds.0 -
Music Lovah,
This is actually a great thing. Many people don't use multiple services. I only use my node 2i for streaming music from tidal, that's it. This means I can now use the tidal app and use all the latest features without having to wait for an update (if the api even supports it). I don't want to 'control a BluOS device', I just want to listen to music. It just happens that I'm using a node 2i to play that music.
Bluesound always depends on the api that services make available to them and I'm sorry to inform you that Bluesound doesn't have any real influence in that regard. Tidal, Spotify and others are businesses. They will only add things to the api if it's in their own interest. It's unfortunate but there's nothing Bluesound can do about it.
Personally I'm not a fan of the BluOS app. I can't go to the next song by swiping on the artwork, I don't like how it handles playlists (I only listen to a single tidal playlist at a time and want to shuffle it immediately which is a hassle in the BluOS app), I can't delete songs from a tidal playlist and so on. Some issues are probably api limitations, others are personal preferences or UX issues. It's great that the BluOS app exists and for certain use cases it's the only option. I'm just glad that I'm no longer forced to use it.
I'm now a very happy customer.
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I too welcome the tidal connect development, and also note the slight loss to the "all in one place" Bluos app which was one of the things that attracted me to the platform in the first place. Tidal still works fine from either app, but I'm seeking out the Tidal app because it has many advantages over the Bluesound one. That's not necessarily a great thing for Bluesound.
Anyway, on to my question. In the Tidal app, I am finding that I have to select the Bluesound player EVERY time I select a new track. If I start playing an album and send it to one of my BS players, it will play subsequent tracks correctly to the BS player. However if I skip forward or backward a track, it often loads the next track but drops the BS player and stays in the paused state. If you unpause it plays to the controlling device, not the BS player. Similarly, if I'm part way through a track and go back to the home page and select something new it will always drop back to playing the new track to my device and I have to select the new player again. This is obviously super annoying. Does anyone else see this behaviour? Is there a way to "lock" tidal onto a player as happens with Bluos or is this just a bug that needs ironing out?
Which begs the next question... if the latter is it a Bluesound problem or a Tidal problem?
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HI Stelvio
You have an issue of some sort, please select Help, Send Support Request so we may see the log file.
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Thanks, will do.
FWIW I've replicated the behavior on 3 NAD/BS players and 3 different controllers also.
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I have not experienced having to select the Node 2i after each track. Have you tried opening Tidal in the Bluesound app and leaving it running in the background, then opening the Tidal app?
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No I haven't tried that, not sure what it would do? My impression is that the streams from the bluesound and Tidal apps are quite separate. If you're playing from the bs app and open the Tidal app, it is not aware of the play queue from bluesound. It has its own queue and you basically 'interrupt' the bluesound queue when you send something from the Tidal app to a bluesound end point.
I haven't logged a support job yet, I prefer to have a better handle on exactly what's happening, and to have already gone through some diagnosis and "prove it's not my network" steps beforehand.
I'll do a bit more diagnosis first, give all my system and network any updates, a full reboot and so on. One thing that occurred to me is that I have a couple of chromecasts that show up on the tidal connect interface, so I'll see if they behave the same as the bluesounds do. That might give some indication as to whether it's limited to bluesound devices or the entire tidal connect interface.
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" My impression is that the streams from the bluesound and Tidal apps are quite separate."
Curiously, with the Bluos app running in the background, a tap on it will bring forth the same track I was listening to directly from the Tidal app. "Is there a way to "lock" tidal onto a player as happens with Bluos..."
Perhaps keeping Bluos running Tidal in the background does just that. Perhaps not?
Hopefully you will resolve the problem. I would appreciate it if you could post your resolution.
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"Curiously, with the Bluos app running in the background, a tap on it will bring forth the same track I was listening to directly from the Tidal app."
Not really, Bluos knows what's happeneing now, but when running as a tidal connect endpoint does not know what will happen next. "it is difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future" said Mark Twain about Bluos not knowing what the tidal app will send next, versus what the BLuos app itself has requested Tidal send next. From a control perspective, when running tidal connect Bluos is out of the loop in terms of the playlist, as I understand it.
I tested it today and (as expected) had no problems using Tidal Connect with the two chromecasts on my network. I could skip forward and back at will and select anything from the home screen without having to re select the endpoint player.
Repeating the test on any of my 6 bluos devices I initially got "Failed to connect to server" on the Tidal app, which was new. I could clearly communicate with all the requested BS players and Tidal also, but connect wouldn't work. I shut down all my bs devices and my network, restarted from my router, back to AP's, to my wired BS flex, then others.
After that I was back to the previous failure mode (variety is the spice of life) where it would connect to the BS device, and would sometimes remain connected when skipping forward, but going back to the home screen of Tidal app and selecting something new drops the BS player every time.This is on top of a day of frustration playing with my library trying to sort out why my art does not appear other than when one player is selected (the one I do a full rebuild index on). I even deleted every graphic file other than cover.jpg and all those are <600kb, I got mp3tag to strip out embedded artwork from all 41,000 tracks, reindex/reload artwork/rebuild index/reboot, windows/android controllers, still no dice. Separate problem for a separate support ticket. The pain of Bluesound being so consistantaly let down by its software.
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As a follow-up to this, I have changed from a satellite ISP connection with ~630ms ping to a fixed wireless with similar top speed but a ~20ms ping and the consistent problems I had with Tidal connect seem to have disappeared.
It does not work properly with a high latency connection, something is timing-out and dropping the connection.
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Love tidal connect! Can't thank you enough. So great feature. Used to use tidal app, but blueos app itself elf works with tidal even better. Original v1 powernode and node n100 heavy user. Bought them for 300usd both and the systems so much rock!!
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