New streaming service(s) coming in 2023

Tidal Connect is buggy as hell. Spotify’s is not.

Dunno. Tidal Connect has no issues here on both my streamers (Cambridge CXNv2 and Bluesound Node X).

But I normally use Roon.

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This is really interesting, I use Qobuz and have no such issues. In fact I have been surprised at how much of a pleasure it is to use. I am always disappointed when certain artists/albums are unavailable, but this has been minimised in Qobuz.

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I’m one of those old timey guys who still likes to sit and look cover art and liner notes but do it while playing the album on Roon. Just sounds better than my player, which is an Oppo blu-ray. I rip them lossless and never take them out of the package again. I also stream, Apple Music on the go and Qobuz at home. I dropped Tidal when they started all the tomfoolery about hi res and MQA.

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You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) :laughing:

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The first few years I had Roon, it was strictly for my local collection; I didn’t subscribe to any streaming services. :wink::+1:

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Must be your streamer or your network.

I use Tidal Connect with WiiM Mini every single day (Tidal app is great these days) and only had issues when I was the first beta tester. Once it went public, not a single blip.

There have been WiiM Mini users with issues but it came down to their network.

I have been beta testing proper hi-res with Tidal Connect (not MQA) - it is about to launch publicly any day now.

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Tidal will still gain subscribers as they have a more global approach. Compare how Qobuz expanded out of Europe it was very slow and focused on big markets US , Australia , I think they have just managed Canada.

Africa is a blind spot. Not sure about South America

Apple will still struggle in the audiophile market (do they care) until they do something ala Tidal Connect , I don’t really want an iPad on a string running my source . Indeed my streamer does not have a USB input They have made various comments re CD quality and their average user.

I am happy with Tidal ,lets hope they can stay above water :sunglasses:

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I have 2 options to listen to Apple Music in the living room.

The first one is AirPlay to my CXNv2 from my iPad . Which has the advantage that track information and album art are shown on the CXNv2’s display. However the sound quality is stuck at 256 kbit AAC. Which sounds pretty decent.

The other option would be to install my good old 2017 MacBook Air in my setup. Connect it to the USB input of the Loxjie D30 DAC which is already in the chain. As it acts as DAC for my CXNv2. So I can listen to MQA. The CXNv2 connects through digital coax.

Sound quality will be awesome as the Loxjie supports full high resolution. However no track information is being shown as the MacBook is running with the lid being closed. And I can remote desktop in from my iPad. So only on the IPad I can see what’s being played, not on the CXNv2.

If only Apple would have designed AirPlay 2 in the same way as the original AirPlay. That one did support full CD quality. That would have been so much better already.

I’ve went with option 2. Less elegant but at least I can listen to hi-res.

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Tidal isn’t perfect, but it’s probably the best compromise on the main points: quality of sound and playlists, ease of discovery, connectivity. They even have an independent site with editorials.
Their weak point is the lack of any real interest in classical music. An interesting review on choosing a streaming service for classical music sur le site Bachtrack Six of the best audio streaming platforms for classical music in 2023 | Bachtrack, in which the editorialist recommends as the best solution, Tidal for general listening and Idagio or Presto for classical music.

Nice CA stack you have there!

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They are my pride and joy. Full CX2 series set :heart_eyes:

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Interesting comment, I have had a couple of forays into IDAGIO, and when I did I made comparisons with Tidal, I rarely found an album in IDAGIO that wasn’t in Tidal.

So much so that I decided to stick with Tidal for everything, Presto hasn’t ventured to SA yet so I can’t comment

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While I am happy with TIDAL, it is not available in Japan (I use my European account), and that means I cannot link it to Alexa, cannot link it to Sonos, … it only works with Roon.
This is ok for me, but not for other family members who rely on voice commands :frowning:

OTOH, Qobuz is going to enter the Japanese market in December (planned), that should make it available to SONOS, Alexa, and of course Roon.

Thus, I will probably switch from TIDAL to Qobuz when that happens.

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@Norbert_Preining,

At the risk of going way off topic, I wonder whether this may be relevant: when I first subscribed to Qobuz the omni-present ‘Sébastien’ explained to me that use of a VPN with Qobuz was strictly prohibited; and that anyone whom they found to be doing so would be banned for life and never allowed to re-subscribe.

Presumably this is to allow strict enforcement of national copyright laws.

Just in case such a stricture is still in place and may apply in your case. Good luck :slight_smile: .

I never used VPNs :wink: I lived in Austria before and opened a TIDAL account there, and I can use it in Japan without any problems. Not sure about Qobuz.

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Norbert,

Then I’m sure you’ll be OK :slight_smile:

Just a tip in case you planned to use an account registered in one country (as far as Qobuz is concerned) but used in another. I have no view either way about Qobuz’s apparent business practices. And can see that this is OT for this thread. Just a thought :slight_smile: Good luck!

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People have posted that it works the same way on Qobuz. To open an account, you must use a credit card that has a billing address in the supported country. After you have created the account, you can stream from anywhere in the world.

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My guess is that Roon and KKBOX getting together was to solve this issue. Both Tidal and Qobuz are not well represented in Asia. KKBOX is.

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I wonder if the Harman acquisition will open doors to new streaming options.

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