Tidal Integration: What's Still Broken in 1.8

Since 1.8 is such a major release, I thought it was time to revisit what’s working and what’s still broken with Tidal integration.

Since there is no “on the go” access to Roon, Tidal integration is extremely important to those of us who have deeply curated collections that we wish to enjoy on our commutes, at our workplaces, or while exercising outdoors. Without two-way synchronization, all of the great discoveries unearthed through Valence, Roon radio, and metadata connections are of no value to us once we leave our homes.

This list is undoubtedly incomplete. Add your comments below and I’ll try to update the post periodically to incorporate them. (If you are tempted to leave a comment saying these features aren’t needed or aren’t important to you, please move along. Everyone listens to music differently, and these features exist in other music software for a reason–even if it’s not a reason you understand.)

Tidal Playlists

What Works:

  • Roon can play a Tidal playlist
  • Roon can make a local (Roon-only) copy of a Tidal playlist, then delete songs or add songs to that Roon-only playlist
  • Roon can add songs from a Tidal playlist to a Roon-only playlist

What Doesn’t Work:

  • Roon cannot add songs to a Tidal playlist
  • Roon cannot delete songs from a Tidal playlist
  • Roon cannot create a Tidal Playlist
  • Roon cannot add songs to the Roon library if they originated from a Tidal playlist
  • Roon cannot add songs to the Roon favorites if they originated from a Tidal playlist

Tidal Albums

What Works:

  • Roon can show a list of Tidal album favorites (which can then be added manually, one-by-one to the Roon library)

What Doesn’t Work:

  • Adding an Album to favorites in Tidal does not add it to Roon favorites
  • Adding a Tidal album to Roon favorites does not add it to Tidal favorites
  • Adding a Tidal album to the Roon library adds it to Tidal favorites, but it should not
  • Removing an album from Tidal favorites does not remove it from Roon library
  • Removing an album from Roon library removes tracks from Tidal favorite tracks. (But apparently fails to completely remove it from Roon sometimes?)

Tidal Tracks

What Works:

  • Adding a track to favorites in Tidal adds it to the Roon library.
  • Roon can show a list of Tidal favorite tracks

What Doesn’t Work:

  • Adding a track to favorites in Tidal does not add it to Roon favorites
  • Removing a track from the Roon library removes it from Tidal favorites
  • Roon cannot add tracks to the Roon library from the Browse > Tidal > My Favorites > Tracks listing
  • Roon cannot add tracks to Roon favorites from the Browse > Tidal > My Favorites > Tracks listing
  • Focus does not work in the Browse > Tidal > My Favorites > Tracks > More listing.
  • Focus can be used in the My Library > Tracks to identify Tidal tracks, but this list includes ALL songs from Tidal album favorites, not just favorited tracks
  • Focus does not have a way to limit results to tracks that are NOT Roon favorites, so there is no way to identify which tracks should be added to favorites manually

HOW IT SHOULD WORK (IMHO)

  • Roon should be able to edit Tidal playlists. (Soundiiz can create Tidal playlists, rename them, change their description, delete tracks, and add tracks, so it would seem this capability exists in the API. Plex and BluOS can add songs to Tidal playlists, and even this capability would be a game-changer.)
  • Automatic two-way sync of Roon and Tidal favorites (Album, Tracks, & maybe artists)
  • There should be some way to remove Tidal tracks from the Roon library without removing them from Tidal favorites, at least at first. Even if it’s a brute force “delete everything Roon knows about my Tidal library and reimport from scratch”
  • In 1.8, the full Tidal catalog becomes more a part of the Roon library. There is less of a need (in my opinion) to have Tidal tracks and albums that are added to the Roon library (unless they are marked as favorites). This status of “in my library but not in my favorites” could perhaps even be invisible to the user.

I love Roon, and I desperately want it to sync with Tidal in a useful way!

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Are there non-Tidal apps that do this ?

Plex and BluOS can both add tracks to Tidal playlists. (If I could add any one single feature to Roon, that would be it.)

BluOS shows a menu option for deleting a Tidal playlist, but I did not test it.

I’ll update the post to be more specific.

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i am with you 100% @Andy_Spinks

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Here is one of my previous posts on this point (and I know you have ones too):

Maybe I’m confused on terminology but in Tidal app, I clicked on the :heart: icon.

I now see that album in my Roon library.

Just wondering whether, if I use Bluos as an endpoint in some zone (in fact I use 6 of them), so that the Bluos Node ii is an intrinsic part of my network, is there any way to use Bluos’ capability of adding tracks to Tidal playlists which would effectively substitute for Roon’s present inability to do so? Can this be done transparently, that is, if this is possible can I access the playlist in the usual way and find the added tracks included?

Thanks for pointing this out. When I tested it a few days ago, it did not appear in the Roon library, even after hitting the resync arrow on the Tidal page in Roon. However, I tested it now and it did appear. I think it was just slow syncing. I have removed the second statement about the Roon Library. (The statement about albums not being added to the Roon favorites still applies. Let me know if you experience something different.)

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Yes BluOS can add tracks to Tidal playlists, which will be reflected in the Roon view of that playlist as soon as the library syncs. And BluOS works great for playing albums or playlists, as long as you start from the first track. It’s not so hot for music discovery, in my opinion, which is why I would love to be able to use Roon to discover new music and add it playlists I can listen to in the car or out on a walk.

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Thank you Andy. To be quite honest, I don’t really understand how the Bluos unit can be used to augment or vary some function on my Roon network. My only simplistic understanding (as explained to me by the people who set everything up) is that it functions as an endpoint–which is required in order to connect a device (or something like that). I am an audiophile but have no technical knowledge. Is there something I can refer to in order to gain an understanding of what the Bluos unit does or can do in a Roon network?

I forgot to mention Soundiiz, which can create Tidal playlists, rename them, change their description, delete tracks, and add tracks.

There are two or more databases- Roon and Tidal. Talking streaming here, both databases are links to song files in Tidal.

Tidal app is software that can access and update Tidal which Roon software syncs to your Roon.

BluOS comes with an app that can also access Tidal. With it you are making changes to Tidal which Roon software syncs to your Roon. BluOS app does not do anything directly with Roon.

Interesting post @Andy_Spinks. Thank you. I also want to “master” playlists in Tidal. I think there has been a little progress though.

It used to be the case that personally-curated playlists in Tidal were synced in Roon when Tidal was joined to Roon…but not thereafter. There were a few threads about it - here for example:

I’ve just noticed that’s changed though. A playlist I created in Tidal just a couple of days ago has appeared in Roon. That’s a big step forward, but it does highlight another couple of issues for me.

  1. If this was a bug that’s been fixed, it would be great to assign a ticket number to that bug so I track if it’s been fixed.
  2. If this was new functionality, why not publish a roadmap and sing and dance when it’s been delivered?

I’ve looked for an announcement about this functionality being delivered and can’t find one. It was a major frustration for me that’s been removed, and it’s irritating that I learn that by chance. It would also be great to allow users to vote on their priorities like (say) Microsoft do. If it gets enough votes, it gets developed.

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I think you were misunderstanding how it worked and works. Playlists sync from Tidal to Roon continuously- no recent change.

Microsoft does allow voting on UserVoice but people get super frustrated that the top vote getting requests have sat open for years.

@RobOK I understand very thoroughly how it works now and how it has worked for the 3-4 years I have been a subscriber. I have tested it very thoroughly and have documented in detail what doesn’t work. Perhaps my use of the word “broken” is confusing—I know that these things have NEVER worked, but they should have worked from the start.

Hey @RobOK . I think your note was directed at me. If you search for “tidal playlists sync” in the threads, you’ll find many, many threads that refer to personal Tidal playlists not syncing. You’ll also find comments from Roon tech support employees acknowledging the issue.

With regard UserVoice, I get that Microsoft leave items unattended for years. My point was more that perhaps Roon could do it how it should be done - publish (i) a roadmap for future enhancements and (ii) a list of stuff that they know is broken and are working to fix.

My personal experience (and per the threads - that of others) is that personal Tidal playlist syncing didn’t work and now it does. It would be great to have that referenced in a release note or reply to one of the many threads somewhere.

Apologies, i was replying by phone, was not intended for you. I appreciate the work you did to document, you and i are on the same page!

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@Lee_Johnson1 Sorry for my hasty reply above in the thread, it probably deserved a more nuanced treatment. I am highly unsatisfied with the state of Tidal - Roon integration around Playlists.

I was reacting to the part quoted above. I have been using Tidal and Roon for a long time, mostly around playlists. While I have had SLOW sync, measured in hours, I have never had the case where a playlist I created did not show up in Roon. Just because it works for me (albeit not always smoothly), doesn’t mean it works for everyone – i do see a lot of variations of sync problems. The way you had said it was a more universal - “Roon used to work this way”, and I don’t think that is true. I have never had to reconnect Tidal to get playlist to sync. Sorry for any confusion on my post.

Very much agreed that the sync has problems. My biggest wish is to make Tidal playlists editable in Roon, i…e a TWO WAY sync!!

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Thanks @RobOK. Helpful context. On reflection, I see that my narrative could have been phrased far more clearly. I assumed that Tidal / Roon playlist syncing didn’t work for anyone, but have now learned that isn’t the case. I’m delighted it’s working for me now - whatever the reason may be. I’m right there with you and @Andy_Spinks though - a two-way sync would be fantastic.

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Roon favourites are not the same concept as favourites in any streaming service it’s for choosing favourite albums or tracks in your current Roon library this itself is made up of local, and streaming but this unrelated.

If you add an album in Roon to your library it adds it syncs back add that to Tidal favourites. If you add an album in Tidal as a favourite it will add it to your Roon library not Roon favourites.

Playlsits in Roon may contain local and streaming tracks so syncing playlists is tricky unless you have a seperate playlist system for each service which is kind of how it works for the others that sync back. But not from Roons point of view for s UX experience as separating them breaks the unified feel