I have had Tidal HiFI for a couple of years but had to cancel it for three months, I’m m now ready to go back to it and realised it’s now gone up to £26-99. Are there any viable alternatives, I’m not interested in HiRes but want at least CD quality?
I have a Nova so would I be able to have Amazon HD on my iPad and play it through the Nova with no loss of quality. I find it all a bit confusing.
What’s your location? Tidal traditionally has 2 plans, “Premium” at 9.99 EUR in Germany, which is mp3, and “Hi-Fi” at 19.99, which includes both CD-quality and their MQA “hi-res” (the latter of which does not work directly with Naim gear; Naim simply plays CD)
However, they have started to split it into three plans at least in Australia, so this might be coming in other regions too. Meaning they split the CD quality out of the “Hi-Fi” into its own plan.
Qobuz is alternative that provides real hi-res, and in some regions also CD-quality in a separate plan. Even the hi-res tends to be cheaper than Tidal’s “Hi-fi”, but depends on region. Qobuz is generally available in few regions than Tidal. Tidal may have the larger catalog but it will depend o the music you listen to.
Both Qobuz and Tidal can be played directly in the Naim app. Other streaming services (e.g. Spotify, Amazon, Apple) can also be used by using the streaming company’s app and, e.g., Spotify Connect, Chromecast, or Apple Airplay (on iOS). There might be some limitations, e.g. Chromecast cannot do gap-less playback (so there will be an audible gap between tracks even if the original album does not have one)
I’m in England, I probably only listen to a couple of hours a week so paying £27 isn’t really getting value for money, I was wondering if Quboz Studio Premier would be any good. I don’t download only stream.
It’s a fine streaming plan that includes hi-res for £12 49 /Month when payed annually and if you don’t need download rebates it is perfectly fine. (Doesn’t look like they have CD-only in UK)
Most people like Qobuz on Naim, I think there was a poll a while ago and the majority is on Qobuz. If you use the forum search to search for Qobuz and Tidal you will find endless discussions.
Whether it is “any good” depends on your needs. E.g., the native Tidal app is generally better, so if you are using it mobile this may make a difference. And there is the mentioned difference in catalog, which affects some people but not others, depending on the music. Qobuz tends to have more classical (though Tidal is catching up) and Tidal has more Pop/Rock/Rap that may occasionally be missing in Qobuz (but Qobuz is also adding new stuff all the time)
You have to try with your music, there is a free trial month for Qobuz. And I believe that in the Naim app you can play 30 teaser seconds per Qobuz track even if you have no account
Have you tried logging into tidal with your old log in details. I’ve just done so and I have the option of premium for £9.99 or Hifi for 19.99.
I cancelled my tidal subscription last week and went on the 30 day Qobuz free trial. I find qobus better than tidal with regards to sound quality and will probable stick with it, as it’s only £15.00.
I did log into tidal on my phone after my subscription ran out, to check it was no longer working. I was offered Hifi for £14.99 for 12 months.
Are you by any chance looking at Tidal in the Apple app store? Apple have the cheek to charge you a much higher rate for Tidal and other apps, for which you get absolutely sweet FA. If so, just go straight to Tidal’s web page (or Qobuz, of course) and sign up there.
I went to Qobuz from Tidal after Tidal’s sign in changes made my bubble app work around useless. Qobuz is better all around for me in the SQ department. And there have been few gaps in content.And Qobuz ended up having content that Tidal didn’t.
Just went to the Tidal home page and logged in with my old login, had the option of HiFi subscription for £19-99 so I’ve signed up again.
Thanks for your advice, I’ll stick with it until something better comes along.
I would recommend at least doing the free trial of Qobuz. Cheaper than Tidal and you get lots of lossless Hi Res stuff where it’s available.
A new CD would be £15 now I think, and mosr CD quality downloads are over & 10.
Tidal and other subs still seem good value to me.
Bruce
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