We do not let the endpoints play the “file”, whether it is on your disk locally or in the cloud from TIDAL. That is a thing UPnP does, and we despise that idea. From the post I just linked, I will copy the relevant parts related to connecting up the file directly with the streamer here:
- UPnP requires codec support on the endpoint, therefore making different endpoints support a different subset > - of whats out there. This also puts a burden of patent licensing on the manufacturer.
- UPnP has no good solution for streaming proprietary/unsupported/new formats
- UPnP creates an ecosystem of lowest common denominator support
The Roon Core always transforms/decodes the content from the source, applies any DSP that it was configured to do, and streams a “raw” format like PCM or DSD to the endpoint, supporting whatever limitations it (and Roon) supports (sample rate, format, etc…).