The limitation is the input socket on the nds, not the output capability of the iPad.
There are ways around it, E.g. gen 1 musical fidelity explorer usb dac has optical output so you could use that to effectively give you optical output 24/96 on the iPad into the optical input in the nds.
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Officially, Toslink only supports up to 24/96 so anything above that may not work. Probably best to limit Tidal to 24/96 in that case as it should then be reliable, and I doubt there would be an audible difference.
Frankly Tidal is currently making an enormous mess of their platform technology… By devising a setup where the devices themselves have to figure out whether they can / should pick FLAC or MQA, both hidden behind the MAX qualifier, you already see many pre-12 Android devices such as Music Players, struggle to reproduce the correct steam… The advice has already gone out from Hiby to stick to an older Tidal release. I could imagine that Naim would patiently wait until Tidal has cleaned up most initial release mess
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Naim has to wait for Tidal to supply the necessary updated software libraries before they can put them into firmware updates for Naim products.
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But there are no problems for us Naim owners, so why complain about that?
He complains because hi res files won’t be sent to Naim streamers as the current arrangement between Tidal and Naim is that everything will be sent at CD quality regardless of whether the Naim-using subscriber has a higher quality level subscription or not.
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Okay, I understood it as it was about Flac/MQA and MQA is not supported by Naim, so…
Yes right. But the fix was that Tidal served Naim streamers with the CD quality layer and not the Master layer (now renamed Max for obvious reasons). That’s all buried in firmware, so it needs unburying or those Naim streamers won’t ever see the Max layer.
Are you using a workaround though?
Well - given naim devices can’t access max, yes.
Using a USB to Toslink converter into nDAC. Driving via iPad but we could also use a RPI or laptop.
40 quid, looks like being a 6 month stopgap.
I’ll dig out an SPDIF cable from the junk room in time, then connect to NDX2.
So far initial impression is that this device has better SQ than a RPI with digital hat we tested some time ago.
SQ is actually pretty good.
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(Answering @davidhendon) That yes… I personally am not too worried about any form of Tidal high-res availability on my Naim equipment as I predominantly use Qobuz anyway. But I also have a Tidal Hifi-Plus family plan where I see all kinds of issues arise from the (unforeseen yet forced) switch from MQA to FLAC. Probably for reasons of limiting the cost impact of this, Tidal chose to go down the route of offering one new resolution “qualifier” which they named MAX, and embedded both MQA and FLAC inside this “container” and left it up to other parties to update their hardware/software to this. It seems that they are only bothered with their own Tidal apps on Android, IOS, Windows and OSX. And this third party support is by far not the only issue…
What about all the (predominantly) Android-based devices that do not, will not or cannot update to Android 12 or above to support the new Tidal Android version? Those users probably do not represent a majority in the Hifi-Plus tier anyway… So anyone who sits in that category will probably have to buy another phone…
Anyway, I am really curious to see whether Spotify will use this moment to finally throw their Hifi tier into the market and draw users away from Tidal. Especially if it turns out that anything that is capable of running Spotify Connect seamlessly starts rendering the Spotify Hifi streams (without any major needed adjustments). Now that could definitely makes things more difficult for Tidal
(interesting topic to also follow on Head-Fi Tidal Lossless Streaming | Page 340 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org)
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I just signed up for the Tidal Max…confused by only seeing 16/44.1 through Tidal Connect I came (too late) across this thread.
While they did make it clear on Tidal’s site the hierarchy of formats, I assumed they would at least have updated their Connect service, as it is the easiest way to listen to content - I’m not plugging in my laptop or buying any additional hardware. Also that they would have at least some Hi-Res FLAC content - maybe they do? there is no way you can really tell.
While it makes sense to bundle the Hi-Res category with all the formats in entails and a ‘smart’ back end selection to get the highest quality, the formats are so fragmented that you end up on officially supported platforms i.e. Naim through official streaming platform (Tidal Connect) and cannot get the service you have paid for.
I have requested a refund.
They definitely do. Our SPDIF converter shows incoming bitrate and 24/96 is quite common, 24/192 less so (no MQA lights on, so it’s FLAC).
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Tidal refuse to provide a refund due to “recent usage” and point toward their refund policy - Im assuming the usage is the 30 mins of streaming trying to figure out why I couldn’t get Hi-Res streaming.
Despite explaining that they specifically advertise Tidal Connect with their Hi-Res Tier and it was necessary to stream something to discover it isn’t supported…
I guess my only options are to do a credit card charge back and leave bad reviews everywhere until I get bored. I don’t want to do that, but my only option unfortunately.
I’d downgrade to cd quality and bide your time for a few months until full fat hires is supported.
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You can delete your subscription. But you will pay only the first month.
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I don’t think you’ll win that battle I’m afraid. You have used the service, regardless of how briefly.
If you have a per month subscription, cancel and you’ll pay no more. If you bought an annual subscription things might be more painful unfortunately.
Try Qobuz if you can get it where you live; there are none of these issues with them. It’s cheaper too!
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Thanks for the feedback. I only selected one month for so only 20 euros. But it’s the principle of the thing…they advertise Tidal connect as a feature for their Hi Res service that they don’t deliver.
Agreed, I queried this Connect issue with Tidal support and got a pro forma “coming late 2023” closure of my case.
So likely 2024 before it hits vendor firmwares.