Tidal Offering Free 12-Day Trial Starting on Christmas, Including High Fidelity Tier

[dannyyankou]

Hey TIDAL haters, you’ll be better off if TIDAL survives. The fewer streaming services there are, the more monopoly power the remaining ones will wield, which could mean higher subscription prices, worse customer service, or lower royalties for the artists and record labels.

Before 9/11/2001, there were around 10 or so major airlines, plus some minor ones. Since then, many airlines have either been acquired by other airlines or went bankrupt. Now there are around 4 major airlines, plus some minor ones. The lack of competition is why service has gotten so awful and why they can nickel-dime us for everything.

We don’t want that to happen in the music steaming industry. Competition is good for consumers, even if there are some brands you don’t like.

Competition is good. But not if the competition is crap. Spotify, Amazon, and Google are good competition. I’m all for good competition if they put out a good product.

And besides, isn’t the point of competition to have competing services battling to win over customers? If customers don’t like Tidal, the process is just working itself out.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Wow. Imagine marketing your streaming service with your wife’s clapback album about you cheating on her. “Exclusive album.”

 

[HDFan]

it's a mono speaker with no soundstage.

We don't know that, particularly if you get 2 and set them up as a stereo pair:

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2017/11/02/homepod-tidbits-stereo-pairing/
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/apple-homepod
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HiFi streaming isn’t great unless you’ve got unlimited data,

Update. Since we know that Tidal HIFI theoretically streams at ~800 kbps that means about 248 GB for 30 day 24x7. Tested streaming HIFI for an hour and Tidal used .39 GB. So real world we're looking at about 9.36 GB a day, 281 GB for 30 day 24 x 7. Difference between the theoretical and actual can be explained by the fact that some tracks stream at different rates, up to 1 Mbps, where others are less than 800 kbps.

 

[pauloregan]

Just imagine that you have searched for rap and got Richard Marx!

 

[Seanthesheep]

You mean Apple needs to, so Spotify and tidal can both kick it. Apple will win in the long run anyway since they’re the only one that’s actually making a profit

Yes let's kill off all competition and give Apple the monopoly, what could possibly go wrong?

 

[arftech]

Tidal user here. Love it, what’s with all the hate? Switched to HIFI from Apple Music and not looked back “ if tidal gets shut down” I’d go back to Apple Music

It’s easy to read between the lines for all of the hate.

I have Tidal HiFi too and to be honest I can’t fathom the thought of using Apple Music or Spotify due to lack of sound quality that I like. Tidal with decent equipment can sound breathtaking.

 

[burgman]

It’s easy to read between the lines for all of the hate.

I have Tidal HiFi too and to be honest I can’t fathom the thought of using Apple Music or Spotify due to lack of sound quality that I like. Tidal with decent equipment can sound breathtaking.

Pretty pathetic isn’t it. I imagine many of them have ABBA and Skrewdriver posters in their basement child-caves. Tidal Masters series do sound amazing.

 

[tonyr6]

Spotify, Amazon, and Google are good competition. I’m all for good competition if they put out a good product.

Except that Google music service has the worst sound quality. I can't listen to it for more than 5 minutes without turning it off.
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Just imagine that you have searched for rap and got Richard Marx!

On another music service maybe but after searching for Richard Marx on the mobile app and I got "F**k Richard Marx" (uncensored title on Tidal) I cancelled the service and stopped using the rest of my unused trial.

 

[ke-iron]

Yes let's kill off all competition and give Apple the monopoly, what could possibly go wrong?

Nothing will go wrong. Most of their products and services are unique to them. Apple isn’t running a race either, in case you haven’t noticed they innovate and release at their own pace. They will always have people who buy their products because there isn’t something else quite like it. Apple do not price their products and services based on how their competitors price theirs.

Apple have always priced their products and services based on how much they think it’s worth to the people buying and using it.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

12 days? Like the 12 Days of Christmas? Which of the 12 days gifts does this offer correspond to?

I got 6 MONTHS of Tidal HIFI for free when I bought a 99 cent CD at BestBuy last month.

 

[x-evil-x]

I’ll stick to my beloved SoundCloud. I tried Apple Music and the selection and things I found over three months where crap. Spotify I never tried premium but never liked it much. Always end up going back to SoundCloud. I like that you can’t find music like or other places. It’s the best free music app imo because you can skip through the songs and limited commercials. Not like Spotify instant 30 second crap. Amazon music I’ve been getting into lately and like it a lot actually.
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12 days? Like the 12 Days of Christmas? Which of the 12 days gifts does this offer correspond to?

I got 6 MONTHS of Tidal HIFI for free when I bought a 99 cent CD at BestBuy last month.

They still sell cd’s?

 

[Chastepe]

What is even the point of HiFi in an iPhone 7, 8 or X. Using the Air Pods??? Is this a Joke? First of all anyone with the foundation knowledge would know that streaming music via bluetooth cannot compete with a proper wired good pair of headphones. I own the LG V30 which at the moment is the only smartphone that supports MQA Streaming plus it has a quad DAC. However in order to fully use this technology of Tidal for example properly you still need a wireless headset that supports APT X HD. To sum up I believe that at the moment there s nothing that can replace a wired sound headset for good quality CD (or Hi-Res) sound quality. I am not blaming Tidal, in fact I love the idea of lossless music and I am already on 1 month free trial testing it, but you need the right tools to hear the difference. iPhone without a headphone jack and a dedicated DAC is not the right tool, full stop.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

What is even the point of HiFi in an iPhone 7, 8 or X. Using the Air Pods??? Is this a Joke? First of all anyone with the foundation knowledge would know that streaming music via bluetooth cannot compete with a proper wired good pair of headphones. I own the LG V30 which at the moment is the only smartphone that supports MQA Streaming plus it has a quad DAC. However in order to fully use this technology of Tidal for example properly you still need a wireless headset that supports APT X HD. To sum up I believe that at the moment there s nothing that can replace a wired sound headset for good quality CD (or Hi-Res) sound quality. I am not blaming Tidal, in fact I love the idea of lossless music and I am already on 1 month free trial testing it, but you need the right tools to hear the difference. iPhone without a headphone jack and a dedicated DAC is not the right tool, full stop.

You do realize Tidal HIFI isn't just for iPhone, right? It's for Android, Mac, Windows, and more. Desktop apps are capable of even playing their Masters quality albums. With a good USB DAC and decent headphones, HIFI sounds excellent.

Second, everyone wants the best possible sound, regardless of whether you are in a sound-room with $10000 worth of audiophile equipment or not. Do you turn your streaming services way down to the lowest quality when you are streaming in the car, with wind, traffic and road noise because it's a waste to stream 320K in such a noisy environment? Of course not.

Lastly, it's a free trial. Who cares?

 

[Chastepe]

You do realize Tidal HIFI isn't just for iPhone, right? It's for Android, Mac, Windows, and more. Desktop apps are capable of even playing their Masters quality albums. With a good USB DAC and decent headphones, HIFI sounds excellent.

Second, everyone wants the best possible sound, regardless of whether you are in a sound-room with $10000 worth of audiophile equipment or not. Do you turn your streaming services way down to the lowest quality when you are streaming in the car, with wind, traffic and road noise because it's a waste to stream 320K in such a noisy environment? Of course not.

Lastly, it's a free trial. Who cares?

Of course I know - it's not only for smartphones but also for desktop operating systems such as OS X and Windows but I am only commenting on it about its use in a smartphone. In order to fully embrace Tidal's HiFi capabilities you need a headphone jack with a good quality DAC and a good pair of headphones. iPhone 7 and above has none of it.

 

[dannyyankou]

They still sell cd’s?

Yes, and a lot of people buy them. It sounds great in a stereo system or in the car.

 

[MH01]

You mean Apple needs to, so Spotify and tidal can both kick it. Apple will win in the long run anyway since they’re the only one that’s actually making a profit

There is no benefit to anyone without competition
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They still sell cd’s?

To the same people that eat with a fork and knife!!

 

[simonmet]

I agree. I have it for three months, used it twice and cancelled. They have the music but they push there hip hop garbage even if you hate it. I search for Richard Marx for example and I get explicit profane rap results first and Richard Marx album results buried on the bottom.

I’ve no idea who Richard Marx is but is he not the first artist in this list when I searched just now? From the pic I’m guessing that’s no hip-hop guy!

Further, selecting the artist reveals Tidal has about 9 or 10 of his albums and about 7 singles or EPs, the same as Apple Music. So not a good example to show Tidal’s inferiority.

 

[ke-iron]

There is no benefit to anyone without competition

That’s actually not true.

 

[MH01]

That’s actually not true.

Okay - explain.

 

[ke-iron]

Okay - explain.

What you’re saying is opinionated and is based on historical events where competition has proven to be beneficial for consumers. However that does not make it the absolute truth, because it is indeed possible to have benefits without competition. To what extent or how good would these benefits be without competition is a different question.

 

[MH01]

What you’re saying is opinionated and is based on historical events where competition has proven to be beneficial for consumers. However that does not make it the absolute truth, because it is indeed possible to have benefits without competition. To what extent or how good would these benefits be without competition is a different question.

Have you just not explained that there is some truth in my statement ?

 

[ke-iron]

Have you just not explained that there is some truth in my statement ?

You said “There is no benifit to anyone without competition”

That statement simply is not a true statement.
So the answer to your question, if there is some truth in your statement would be no.

 

[MH01]

You said “There is no benifit to anyone without competition”

That statement simply is not a true statement.
So the answer to your question, if there is some truth in your statement would be no.

I see. Fair enough .

 

[x-evil-x]

Yes, and a lot of people buy them. It sounds great in a stereo system or in the car.

I prefer running digital audio to my dsp in the trunk but thats me

 

[tonyr6]

I’ve no idea who Richard Marx is but is he not the first artist in this list when I searched just now? From the pic I’m guessing that’s no hip-hop guy!

Further, selecting the artist reveals Tidal has about 9 or 10 of his albums and about 7 singles or EPs, the same as Apple Music. So not a good example to show Tidal’s inferiority.

That is the exact trash that showed up. I am searching for a 80's artist why does it have to give me a profane titled video that has nothing to do with the artist. Only Tidal does. Not even stinking YouTube will give me that crap.