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Thread: Tidal or Apple Music

  1. #1
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Tidal or Apple Music

    Since I am going to cancel my Spotify Family account, I would like your thoughts using those 2 systems.
    My first quick look raised issues with Apple Music because I have some older Sonos speakers and only my Move speaker appeared on Airplay, but I would like to think there are workarounds. And I am not sure I wouldn't have the same issue with Tidal anyway.
    Or is there another service I should use?
    TIA
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  2. #2
    What made you drop Spotify. I’ve tried a Tidal before and found their set up pretty good

  3. #3
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by awright101 View Post
    What made you drop Spotify. I’ve tried a Tidal before and found their set up pretty good
    A controversy but not G&D material
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  4. #4
    Master SeanST150's Avatar
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    I use Qobuz, and I'm very happy with their service. But much will depend on how you will consume the music? i.e. on what devices?

  5. #5
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    A controversy but not G&D material
    Rogan?

  6. #6
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SeanST150 View Post
    I use Qobuz, and I'm very happy with their service. But much will depend on how you will consume the music? i.e. on what devices?
    An old Play:5, a series of Play:1 and a Move, all Sonos. A Bose bluetooth speaker for my daughter, and Bose QC if that helps
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  7. #7
    Interested in this discussion I am slightly put out by the Rogan/Young spat. Is there an equivalent to family subscription from other streaming services?

  8. #8
    Me too. Tidal hi res is of great interest

  9. #9
    Master r.dawson's Avatar
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    I use YouTube music family. Always been great

  10. #10
    Master
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    Tidal HiRes for me with a decent MQA DAC

    Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

  11. #11
    You can sign in to Apple Music in the Sonos app and play music from there and have it as the default music service. I use it with an old Play:5 and Play:1. I have an Alexa Dot in the same room as each speaker and use that to launch music. I don’t miss them not having Airplay.

  12. #12
    Deezer?
    Was very happy with Deezer and only moved to Tidal and Qobuz as I stared to use Roon for better hifi connectivity.
    Kids were very happy with The Deezer family subscription.
    Tidal MQA seems controversial with some people - I don’t have a full MQA decoder but doubt I could hear the difference.

  13. #13
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
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    I wonder if the 'Rogan protests' will even touch the sides of Spotify's massive revenue stream?

    I just don't think I have the will, with everything else going on, to trash my curated playlists built up over years of use, because of some YouTube helmet.

    And my kids would kill me if it all went wrong.

  14. #14
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Tidal or Apple Music

    I have no doubt closing my account will be of absolutely no concern to them. I just like to choose how and where I spend my money. And because I pick and choose where I react and where I close my eyes I have no doubt it makes me an hypocrite. I can live with that as easily as Spotify can live without my £15 a month.
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by swisstony View Post
    Deezer?
    Was very happy with Deezer and only moved to Tidal and Qobuz as I stared to use Roon for better hifi connectivity.
    Kids were very happy with The Deezer family subscription.
    Tidal MQA seems controversial with some people - I don’t have a full MQA decoder but doubt I could hear the difference.
    i couldn’t so dropped down to hifi/cd quality, have an audioquest dragonfly red which could do the mqa unfold.
    what i could hear the difference between was apple music/spotify and tidal (naim/leema accoustics system)

  16. #16
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    Since I am going to cancel my Spotify Family account, I would like your thoughts using those 2 systems.
    My first quick look raised issues with Apple Music because I have some older Sonos speakers and only my Move speaker appeared on Airplay, but I would like to think there are workarounds. And I am not sure I wouldn't have the same issue with Tidal anyway.
    Or is there another service I should use?
    TIA
    Are you invested in the Apple universe? If so maybe go with that. An alternative is SoundCloud. If you are playing over Bluetooth I don't think the extra bits will show in real word better audio.
    “ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG

  17. #17
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MartynJC (UK) View Post
    Are you invested in the Apple universe? If so maybe go with that. An alternative is SoundCloud. If you are playing over Bluetooth I don't think the extra bits will show in real word better audio.
    Yes for Apple Universe. Multiple Macs, iPhones... Most of the listening is over wifi (Sonos). My daughter uses bluetooth as she is a boarder.
    I'll look into Soundcloud too but I am not sure they have a family plan.
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  18. #18
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    We have Sonos through the house and use the Deezer family plan., £17 for 6 log ins and 12 devices.

  19. #19
    Apple Music serves me and the family well. It can offer a higher level of quality than my setup can exploit, the library is good, but mostly it’s convenient. If you use Apple kit the integration is great.Just turn off Spatial audio IMO, useless gimmick.

  20. #20
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    What I *think* I don’t like with Apple Music family plan is that I have to give everyone the right to make purchases on my account (I may have misunderstood but this is not the first time this constraint has crept up with Apple family sharing).
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  21. #21
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    I switched to Spotify when my BMW sub ran out with Deezer but , there was nothing wrong with Deezer and they did have some stuff that wasn’t on Spotify.

  22. #22
    Master Wolfie's Avatar
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    I have Apple Music

    It works fine…. Misses a few things, but, like the lossless and Airplay 2 is fantastic…

    For your speakers, I’d they have an input option you can use an airport express as an input, select line in and simply use it an Airplay speaker

    A QUESTION PLEASE!

    I have downloaded all my CDs many of which don’t appear on Apple Music, how do I synch my iTunes library to work along side of Apple Music? I have never been able to do this !

  23. #23
    Tidal and then Roon on top as well

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Wolfie View Post
    A QUESTION PLEASE!

    I have downloaded all my CDs many of which don’t appear on Apple Music, how do I synch my iTunes library to work along side of Apple Music? I have never been able to do this !
    https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204926

  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    What I *think* I don’t like with Apple Music family plan is that I have to give everyone the right to make purchases on my account (I may have misunderstood but this is not the first time this constraint has crept up with Apple family sharing).
    I’ve had an Apple Family account for a long time and this hasn’t been an issue. There is an Ask to Buy setting which can be turned on so any requests for purchases come to me for approval. I’m not sure if this is just because my kids are under 16 but it’s worked well. The parental controls are also good for restricting content and setting downtime.

  26. #26
    Craftsman Kevin's Avatar
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    I cancelled Tidal because of the MQA lossy rubbish, I don't want that anywhere near my system.
    Roon is the worst bloatware in the market and their tech support is laughable,
    I am not invested in Apple in any way.

    Spotify isn't lossless and there is the current Rogan issues.

    I have about 5000 CDs ripped to Flac on a NAS and stream using Qobuz.

  27. #27
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    I use Tidal mostly with a Fiio M15 Hi Res Dap but i do put it through Sonos sometimes
    and through my PC speakers. It's been good for me thus far.

    maseman

  28. #28
    Master mr noble's Avatar
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    YouTube Premium is fantastic.

    £11 a month (initial period free) and you never have to see an advert on YouTube videos ever again! Amazing!

    The music service is excellent too. You can download many many albums to have offline and it creates offline playlists for you based on what it thinks you may like.

    I’m in the car for 8 hours most days and love it.

  29. #29
    Master Wolfie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tobywatches View Post
    Ta…. Shall investigate!

  30. #30
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    I am testing Tidal at the moment. Is there a way to direct it to a specific room from the Tidal app itself (like on Spotify) or do I need to use the Sonos S1 app (it works that way but is not as fun.)
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  31. #31
    I cancelled Tidal because of the MQA lossy rubbish
    you could have ticked the box and just had hi-fi (CD 16bit/44khz) and not had any Masters or higher bitrate songs available to you.

  32. #32
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    Youtube Premium is currently offering a 4 month free trial and I believe you get YouTube music premium included. The downside is that YouTube only offers 256kbps max, which isn't great if you're listening via wired headphones, high end audio equipment etc.

  33. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin View Post
    I cancelled Tidal because of the MQA lossy rubbish, I don't want that anywhere near my system.
    Roon is the worst bloatware in the market and their tech support is laughable,
    I am not invested in Apple in any way.

    Spotify isn't lossless and there is the current Rogan issues.

    I have about 5000 CDs ripped to Flac on a NAS and stream using Qobuz.

    I hear what your saying about Tidal and MQA. Tidal are trying to push MQA as if it's the audio version of the emperor's new clothes. However even a quick cursory internet search will bring up just how much of a smoke and mirror's MQA actually is. The bottom line, disregard MQA as a reputable Hi Res source. Saying that, Tidal is still a decent music service and to be honest I do prefer it's ecosystem to the other's . Nothing wrong with Qobuz, I just prefer the output and layout of Tidal. Other's may disagree, which is fine, it's about what fit's best your lifestyle and audio set up.

    Roon, ok, it's an excellent interface and it's better way to browse your music collection than say Tidal's, Quoboz or the other's. It is also great way to bring together various music sources. However when you factor in the extra cost - hardware to run it's core and the on-going subscription, I personally don't think it's a decent VFM proposition.

    Apple - it makes sense if your running a Apple household, if not avoid.

    I'm currently running a NAS drive (I use the Synology DS audio app for my phone anywhere I'm out) & Tidal sub feeding my Linn DSM.I use the Linn app - Kazoo, which is not the best but it does what I need, therefore the need for the likes of Roon in my set up is not as great as other's.

  34. #34
    Anyone tried Deezer which looks promising, though not sure I fully follow how the device limit might affect us. E.g. four of us all use the same Sonos system is that one “device” or “four”?

  35. #35
    Craftsman Kevin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MrSmith View Post
    you could have ticked the box and just had hi-fi (CD 16bit/44khz) and not had any Masters or higher bitrate songs available to you.

    That removes a lot of the library, both options are not avaiable on a lot of issues. I have no problem with higher bitrate it is available on lots of other services,
    MQA doesn't equal hifi, it is as simple as that
    Why would I pay for a service and then not use it?

  36. #36
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    A quick “move” to Argentina gets you tidal for very cheap, less than £2 for the hifi family account.
    Last edited by Enda; 30th January 2022 at 01:05.

  37. #37
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    I’ve tried Tidal and Qobuz which is noticeably better on hi res and standard resolution tracks to my ears. Recently I did a back to back of Qobuz with Amazon HD music and it’s close but Qobuz has the edge again.

    The connect feature on Spotify and Tidal might outweigh pure sound quality though if you want to use their apps. I use the Linn app which brings the streaming and my NAS drive into one place, but suggested content is better on Spotify.

  38. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by tertius View Post
    Anyone tried Deezer which looks promising, though not sure I fully follow how the device limit might affect us. E.g. four of us all use the same Sonos system is that one “device” or “four”?
    We use deezer on a single device contract. All our sonos are fine - assuming it sees the sonos controller as the device instead of the individual speakers.

  39. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by Mj2k View Post
    We use deezer on a single device contract. All our sonos are fine - assuming it sees the sonos controller as the device instead of the individual speakers.
    Thanks. Sorry my question wasn’t clear - I was asking about a family contract where each person/account is using the same Sonos system (think we have seven physical Sonos units, all in the same network) - and whether each persons “connection” to the Sonos would count as another device in the device limit?

  40. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin View Post
    That removes a lot of the library, both options are not avaiable on a lot of issues. I have no problem with higher bitrate it is available on lots of other services,
    MQA doesn't equal hifi, it is as simple as that
    Why would I pay for a service and then not use it?
    but you don’t (now) pay for it, its half price without it.
    not noticed any blanks in playlists since downgrading to cd quality only.
    Before i downgraded it was normal that not everything had ‘masters’ available, i don’t recall seeing a master track with no CD quality alternative but maybe you listen do different types of music than me.

  41. #41
    I’ve just paid two quid for 90 days of Tidals HiFi Plus family service, had enough of Spotify, and can’t get a deal on Apple Music at the mo, so it’s worth a shot.

  42. #42
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by junglebert View Post
    I’ve just paid two quid for 90 days of Tidals HiFi Plus family service, had enough of Spotify, and can’t get a deal on Apple Music at the mo, so it’s worth a shot.
    How, if I may ask?
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  43. #43
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    How, if I may ask?
    https://www.whathifi.com/news/tidal-...d-hifi-streams

  44. #44
    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    How, if I may ask?
    I just went to the Tidal website and it offered me the deal.

  45. #45
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Thank you. Not available for family plan, is that correct?
    And yes, the cost from Argentina is incredible.
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  46. #46
    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    Thank you. Not available for family plan, is that correct?
    And yes, the cost from Argentina is incredible.
    When I went to sign up, the deal was the same for the family plan, so that’s what I went for.

  47. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    Thank you. Not available for family plan, is that correct?
    And yes, the cost from Argentina is incredible.
    It only took me a few minutes to sign up for the Argentina plan. I have it linked to my Revolut card and it seems good so far. Spotify seems better for podcasts but I’ve yet to find an artist that I listened to on Spotify isn’t on there.

  48. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by tertius View Post
    Thanks. Sorry my question wasn’t clear - I was asking about a family contract where each person/account is using the same Sonos system (think we have seven physical Sonos units, all in the same network) - and whether each persons “connection” to the Sonos would count as another device in the device limit?
    Ah ok, sorry I understand now. Will go and have a play later. In theory as we only have a single contract, if I can play different music across the speakers, then you should be fine with the family set up.

  49. #49
    Quote Originally Posted by Mj2k View Post
    Ah ok, sorry I understand now. Will go and have a play later. In theory as we only have a single contract, if I can play different music across the speakers, then you should be fine with the family set up.
    I did a bit more research and it seems that the “device” is your phone or similar that you use to control the stream - the speaker is not. Though I also read that if the speaker (Sonos in this case) “logs in” then it does count towards the device limit …

  50. #50
    Craftsman Kevin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MrSmith View Post
    but you don’t (now) pay for it, its half price without it.
    not noticed any blanks in playlists since downgrading to cd quality only.
    Before i downgraded it was normal that not everything had ‘masters’ available, i don’t recall seeing a master track with no CD quality alternative but maybe you listen do different types of music than me.
    Thanks for the update.
    I am pretty sure the half price 'Hi-Fi' CD quality format wasn't an option when I left Tidal.
    Is that a fairly recent addition?

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