Tidal drop outs with

No dropouts here.

Tidal is seamless and robust here on my NDX2, and complex searching is quite speedy too. To be honest since I got my NDX2 at the beginning of Jan, I have had no issue or dropout with Tidal at all.
My internet latency moves between 7mS and 60mS depending on load.
This of course was a major improvement in the Naim next gen streamers over the first generation streamers which were prone to latency related dropout,

Remember Tidal use shared cloud delivery platforms such as Akamai etc to serve media, so if there were major performance related issues, the chances are it would affect hundreds if not thousands of other web services everywhere and would probably make the news… and if a functional fault with the Tidal tennant, affect all Tidal users within a global region.
To that affect here is an outage map
https://outage.report/tidal

The last point on the heat map of issues was 21 December where it looks like there was issue with album art

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Latency issues aside I have had same equipment, Airpoert Extreme and Express, with no issues for a while. I had a Qute 2 in a previous home setup the same way with Express and in this home for close to a year with no issues. For the past week I can’t play more than 4-5 tracks on Qute without drop outs including iRadio. My 272, hardwired, has drop outs but nowhere near as bad. Still haven’t had my provider check there end yet however.

Recently, I had the following issues with Tidal:

  • 20/30 sec to load a track before playing it;
  • 5/10 sec of drop out at the end of a track before the next one
  • 10/15 sec of drop out while playing a track

Fun test this morning. I used the Airport Express to play Tidal via AirPlay just to see what happens. Well it was all good for a couple of songs then I started getting drop outs but nothing permanent. Just off an on. Maybe it’s my Airport Express that is causing the issues. I’ll try this again later tonight when I have more time.

Is the AE connected by WiFi back to your router? That can work perfectly well but depending on the distance and other environmental factors, may not be helping. Does the buffer level on your streamer drop?

Express is connected via WiFi used in bridge mode, think that’s the correct term, with Qute connected via Ethernet to Express. The router is hardwired to the Extreme in another part of the house. No issues until recently. After reading on another thread I may give a mesh system a go. That said I have recently installed a new smart tv that seems to overlap with my issues. I’m going to disconnect if and give if another go as well.

I’ve been having similar issues here in Auckland for the last couple of weeks - Tidal would last anywhere between half to four songs and then cut out (using Unitilite, Muso Qb, UServe - all wired). Problem seems to have been fixed though by following the Dealer’s longstanding advice when there’s an issue like this to power everything off, have a cup of tea and then power back on half an hour or so later - worked like a dream all day yesterday (public holiday down here). Touch wood that’ll still be the case this evening.

Also like others above we’ve had no issues with PS4, Netflix, or even Tidal on a Bluesound Pulse Flex over the same period… etc - just Tidal on the Naim units.

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Thanks Simon, some great information as always.

I don’t think it’s a power down fix for me. I have been having the issues with my NDX for the past couple of weeks and on Tuesday I received a demo NDS and am having the same issues on that.

Will contact my provide tomorrow and see what they say.

As I have said many times on this forum with those using WiFi in ‘bridge mode’ and then having occasional drop out issues with their streamers… this is a BAD idea unless you have specifically set up using two dedicated aces points in Adhoc mode. This is the special mode of WiFi connection that supports bridges and point to point operation. Not all equipment supports this, and you need a dedicated link for this.
One of the issues otherwise is that you will be confusing the Naim network stack… it will be expecting Ethernet connectivity through to the internet, but instead you will be giving it WiFi performance via its Ethernet adapter and so won’t work optimally with its network and transport management and will be more prone to drop outs.
I think we should make this a sticky for the next person that has inevitable dropouts using WiFi bridges not properly set up…

I get what you’re saying but it’s frustrating to have it work for 2-3 years with no issues and then all of a sudden it has an issue. Again I’m not the most technical person in the world but it just seems odd. If that is indeed the issue I guess I could bite the bucket and just gave an Ethernet installed to hardwire the Qute. Probably cheaper to do that than to buy a new mesh system to try now.

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Given the apparent geographical/equipment/ISP variation here it seems there is some more fundamental issue at hand. I’ve been using Tidal for years with very few dropouts, then in the last couple of weeks I’ve only managed to get through one album unhindered (and it was a short one).
Each day I start off hoping “today’s going to be different”, but am disappointed after no more than a few tracks. When it happens I’ve been using a workaround of Tidal app on my iPad streaming to an Apple TV then taking the optical output to my SuperUniti (it doesn’t support AirPlay natively). Not a single dropout that way.

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Well exactly, hence my explanation of why you are more likely to get dropouts when using Wifi adapters in a non Adhoc mode connecting via Ethernet to the Naim streamer… hardly surprising really… and also the susceptibility of latency on the first gen streamers…
Get a second generation streamer and these issues usually disappear… Naim learnt significantly how to improve the performance and make their newer streamers more robust to latency.

I have many many network trace logs that I shared with a Naim of the issues with latency in different environments, prior to the development of the new enhanced architectures…

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Once a 272 replacement comes I’ll replace until then I’m in first gen hell. Lol

Well if you have challenges with your first generation streamer then you can use a media proxy such as BubbleUPnP Server… that will almost certainly remove dropouts, but you need to control Tidal with an alternate app to the Naim app. Lots of posts, advice and experiences of this on the old forum… and indeed that is how I enjoyed Qobuz and Tidal on my NDX.

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Just ordered an Ethernet cable to hardwire the Qute. Hopefully that will solve my issues with it. If not I guess I’ll use AirPlay via the AE as a work around.

I am using an NDX with the most current firmware running over a CAT6 network directly to an NBN router. I have been using the NDX with the new firmware since the release of the NDX2 which happened at the same time. I am not getting unexpected stoppages of TIDAL. Sometimes I get through 2 tracks and it dies in the third track. Sometimes just seconds into the track. I am in Australia but I have never seen this kind of behaviour before and haven’t changed a thing.

I use TIDAL from a laptop at work all day every day and it doesn’t every drop out. It is something to do with the way the NDX accesses TIDAL.

There is workaround of sorts - when you open the Naim app it shows the progress of the tune for a twinkling of an eye and if you can remember it you can reload the track and scrub to the point where it died.

There is an actual problem here, I am sure of it.

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Yep, I’ve just started getting drop outs on my Nova, Uniti2 and UC2, the first two are wired Cat 6, the UC2 wi-fi. Random stops, tracks not playing in order etc. just rebooted the router, so far, so good.

Edit, spoke to soon. Tracks stopping mid way through. Never had this problem before.

I’m having the same issue in Whangarei today. What did you power down, the Naims, or router and Apps to?