Since Roon doesn’t support the new Tidal API for high-res yet, is it possible to output 24/192 from my Mac via Tidal Desktop app?
Unfortunately my M10 V2 doesn’t have USB IN, so I can’t verify the bit depth/rate using it.
Has anyone with external DAC tested the Tidal highres played on your Mac’s native Tidal Desktop app via USB Out?
I tried … and no go …for me
I also played with MIDI to try to set the bit rate… but DAC did not register other then 16/44…and my DAC does not support MQA which could be the bottleneck
Not sure if I missed a step…
So Im back to Qobuz till Tidal figures it out with Roon…
I get that “Tidal Connect” may not work with other apps yet.
But what is preventing “Tidal Desktop” itself from sending 192/24 out from a computer?
Has anyone successfully gotten 192/24 output from Tidal Desktop app maybe on a Windows machine? I have Mac so I can’t test.
Yep 24/192 works fine here with the Tidal app running on Windows 11 and a Loxjie D30 DAC. Just make sure that you use exclusive access in the output configuration.
Tidal Connect will play 24/192 to the M10 as will the BluOS controller.
Yes but Tidal Connect will only be available closer to the end of the year.
As for BluOS Controller? I think all third-party app API has not even been released by Tidal yet so who knows how long it will take BluOS to add native support for 24/192.
I subscribed to Tidal for 7 years and for the past 3 it worked flawlessly. I recently dropped Tidal and now subscribe to Qobuz, are you saying that Tidal removed the Tidal Connect feature? It’s a feature I miss in Qobuz.
No, Tidal Connect still exists - you just won’t be able to play hi-res FLAC (non-MQA) using it until Tidal (and presumably hardware manufacturers) release the appropriate updates which are slated for later this year sometime. When you play an album labeled Max in Tidal via Tidal Connect at the moment, it plays the MQA version.
In my Desktop App it says that it is a MAX song but there is no way to determine what the actual resolution is playing.
It states "Up to 24-bit, 192 kHz. I guess that is only for sure it that it is 24 bit. DoNo.
–MD
Check the sample rate on the directly connected USB DAC when you play a Tidal Max track using Tidal desk desktop app.
Is says that the current sample rate is 192000 Hz. However from the Tidal Desktop App there is no way to determine what it is.
–MD
I guess it depends on the used streamer or DAC.
My Loxjie D30 DAC which is connected to my laptop shows what is playing on its display.
If it is MQA then it will show the MQA logo with the bitrate in kHz. If it’s a high-res FLAC then it will show the HiRes logo together with the bitrate.
My Cambridge Audio CXNv2 doesn’t do MQA so it will output FLAC anyway.
I did notice that high-res only works when you select exclusive mode in the output settings.
Thanks for this confirmation. So now we know Tidal Desktop is doing “Max or Hires Flac” properly at 192/24, is anyone here using a Mac and external DAC who is also getting Tidal Desktop to output 192/24 in a bitperfect way?
Unfortunately my NAD M10 V2 DAC/amp does not have USB input so I can’t test.
It will work in the same way from a mac, you have to set it to exclusive like windows.
I wish it was this simple, there are many posts on Roon Community saying that Mac needs additional apps or plugins, such as “Lossless Switcher” to allow bitperfect output. In some circumstances, exclusive mode doesn’t work, eg. Amazon Music, so it’s all very confusing.
I think the best confirmation is someone using Tidal Desktop app on a Mac testing this and reporting it. I really wish I could test it myself, but without an external USB DAC I can’t do this test.
I can check when I get home from work this afternoon. And connect the Loxjie to my MacBook Pro. But my guess is it should just work.
I’ll keep you posted.
When you check it, please play different tracks that have different sample rates, to verify whether Exclusive setting implies auto output sample rate switching (which is the required feature that third party software Lossless Switcher provides).
Thanks.
Note: iOS provides this feature without third party help, unlike Mac OS.
I really wonder why Apple after all these years still can’t get this right? There isn’t a lack of pro music production and serious users on Mac OS and this feature seems really basic for the OS, but it still requires third-party apps or plugins to make bit-perfect playback works.
That’s for Apple Music as it doesn’t have an exclusive mode in the app as it has to be programmed for. Tidal and Qobuz both have otherwise MQA would never have worked either on a Mac if it didn’t have exclusive mode in the app.
Alright let’s see.
Default setting of my MacBook is 32 bits 44,1 kHz. The Loxjie D30 DAC shows PCM 44,1 kHz.
Ok test nr 1
Looked up a 24/192 album by typing 24 192 in the search.
Ella and Basie! By Ella Fitzgerald & Count Basie.
The Loxjie shows the high-RES logo and 192 kHz. So this is a high res FLAC.
Next up Sexy Boy from Air’s Moon Safari. Which the Loxjie recognizes correctly as a 44,1 kHz MQA and decodes it appropriately.
Last test…
Chiasm - Isolated which is a normal 44.1 kHz FLAC. The Loxjie identifies it as PCM.
To summarize. TIDAL works perfectly fine with both Windows and macOS when using Exclusive Access.
