Now I am really confused about this Tidal hi-res issue. Let me start by saying mconnect works great and I was up and running with Tidal hi-res/MQA about two minutes after downloading the app. The app shows the higher resolution up to 24/192 in some cases. Interestingly, the Focal/ Naim app show the same exact resolution. So I am assuming I am getting that higher resolution displayed in both apps through Tidal.
I always thought that we were waiting on an update to the software in the box (NDX2) and the app (FocalNaim app). But this tells me that only the app needs an update.
It just does not make sense to me that a third party app can make this work but Naimās own app canāt.
Can anyone help explain this? Is it the box or the app that needs updating? And will it be a better solution if/when Naim fixes this issue without work arounds?
They seem to be working on it. Naim app developers have to do the same work that the mConnect developer did, but in a much more constrained environment (a simple streaming board integrated into the Naim, instead of a phone with an exponentially higher processing power and software development capabilities.
Not defending Naim (it takes longer than it should to; itās surprising Tidal didnāt have key partners do all the work before launch), but there are valid reasons why itās more difficult.
If mconnect is like bubble, it means the Tidal stream becomes like streaming from a local storage, like a NAS. Inbuilt Tidal or Tidal Connect is something different. Basically they are different ways of doing things. Whatever, we know Naim are working on it, and hopefully it will appear sooner rather than later.
Ok. In the meantime, for any Tidal users with Naim streamers, for onetime $6 Mconnect works very well. At least thats what the numbers on the screen tell me. Who really knows?
Yes Tidal Max is supported through Roon. I believe Naim is last outā¦ If streaming and being front line with tech is important I would not chose naim. To slow. Hardware is their strength but software in general has a long way to go.
Yes, roon is fully supported and so that includes high res 192/24 and even the odd MQA file. Was hoping theyād be fully purged by now. Mostly see those 16 bit 44k MQA still around. Most of the others has been replace with true high res. I guess they forgot to replace the other ones with CD quality files.
really not that likely. 16 bit is not compressed and you have no idea how a 24 bit master was created anyway. I am still waiting for the ultimate 24 bit this only works in 24 bit highres playlist from anyone.
Sure. My comment was just a bit of a joke! I certainly wouldnāt claim to be able to identify 16-bit vs. 24-bit even if everything else is equal. Maybe I could in some instances, but Iāve never tried, actually. I do listen to Qobuz hi-res when available, because why not? And I have basically stopped buying hi-res digital downloads in favor of streaming, CDs and a little bit of vinyl, because I donāt really see the point of owning one more version of the same 100 albums! I agree that in many cases a re-issue billed as hi-res has been remastered or otherwise tweaked to boot, so you couldnāt compare apples-to-apples anyhow.
So, I suppose Iām willing to pay the modest monthly fee for the Qobuz premium hi-res tier (and some of the recordings on there sound great, regardless of whether they sound that much ābetterā than the 16-bit version), but not $30 for a hi-res download of everything of which I already have 4 recordings!
