Tidal Talk

Letter from Shenzhen (23-17): TIDAL Talk

Streaming Jazz and Pop (23-1)

First Part touches on some aspects of TIDAL that needs to be talked about, but are often ignored.

How I "Stream" By "Stream" I mean I just use Tidal on my Windows Laptop, connected by a USB Cable (Unitek; and how to buy it on TB here) to my DAC (a humble Chinese 1-bit TDA-1305 DAC). No Roon, no Streamer, no anti-jitter, no clock, no NAS, nada. By the yardsticks of many, mine is not even proper streaming. As Tidal doesn't always work that well here in China (see below), I also alternately use Naxos Music Library (NML). I also have Tidal on my Android Cellphone, so I can stream my albums via Bluetooth at others' places (as I did at UMI headquarter). Sometimes, I watch a Concert on Chinese Bilibili (using laptop app). Bilibili has many worthwhile Classical Concerts (like Shenzhen Symphony Live, also many excellent ones copied from Youtube by users). Of course, occasionally, aided by VPN I watch a Youtube or two. But this article focuses on Tidal. For the occasional songs (Chinese or not) not to be found elsewhere I also resort to 酷我，网易云 and QQ.

Regular vs Premium Let it be known that my use of Tidal is courtesy of a friend's inclusion of me in his "family" plan. I can only stream "High", which is supposedly 16/44.1 CD quality. Premium users can stream "Max", which now is presumably hi-res FLAC files (after the MQA debacle). I have a few friends who use Premium. Some report that with certain material, "Max" can sound worse than "High" (usually meaning too sharp). I'm not in a position to comment.

Tidal Sound Quality Keep in mind I only use "High". I have mentioned before that I don't think Tidal is a neutral rendition of CD in that setting. I always have a suspicion the Tidal sound is a little beautified, that is "treated". In many ways I find the much lower res (mp3/aac quality) NML more honest (certainly when it comes to ambience). I'm too lazy, but perhaps it's time to do it - to compare CD with Tidal "High" using the same DAC. I'm lazy partly because I doubt Tidal will match CD replay. My Tidal Family friend recently sent me a terse message on wechat: "...how come youtube sounds so much better?..." Indeed, he's not the first one to say so. Variously, icefox and ELO have remarked how good Youtube can sound!

Force Volume In Settings, one can choose to equalize volume between albums. Don't! I find adjusting the volume on my Preamp to be noticeably better.

Provenance It pays to check where the album is sourced from. I concentrate on Classicals and I've noticed a few things. Whereas recent albums usually come straight from the source, it is not at all true for older albums. Pick any older conductor, and Tidal has a lot of albums from dubious sources. Most of these have non-original (and yucky) album covers. The same album may be available from different sources - search for the ones that come from proper sources, like Universal, Warner, etc. Keep in mind that Tidal is a European company, and their copyright laws are much less strict than in the US, 50 years vs 100 years. So, right now any material before December 1973 is now free of copyright restrictions. One can transfer from LPs and use some kind of noise cancellation and put it out as your own transfer, and many are doing that. There is a Spanish Blue Moon label doing brisk business in HK selling Living Stereo CDs and you can be sure they were from LPs, not licensed by Sony/BMG (and not available in the US). Complicating matters is that some of these actually sound quite good, even better than official re-issues! Confusing, heh? It's a completely different thing for NML - even if you are served MP3/aac, you can be sure it came from the proper source.

Tidal in China Tidal doesn't really work in China, unless one resorts to VPN. Strangely, as my friend's account that I use was registered in Hong Kong, I could access it without VPN, though it halts and gets stuck often. With VPN, it runs without any problem. 

A Test for You! Here is a well known album Boss Tenor by Gene Ammons, available in 3 different versions on Tidal. 

As in the Top Pic, Left is from Concord (2006): https://tidal.com/browse/album/3969072; my screen shows "High", which was how I streamed it.

Right is also from Concord (2006): https://tidal.com/browse/album/77701197; my screen says "Max" but I could only stream it "High". These 2 have the original cover art, and is from the same original source.

Middle is the kinda the odd man out, but likely still kosher. It is from "2019 Lumi Entertainment distributed by Warner X", https://tidal.com/browse/album/118469536, which is only "High" on my screen. It does not sport the original cover. Also, it's most obvious it's at a Lower Volume; make sure you equalize volume before comparison.

I pitched this to my friends, and got uneven response. In HK, one prefers Right, the other Left. Another at first Right but converted to Middle after equalization of volume. Me? Unequivocally the Middle, which I think has more air and ambience, the others being excitingly upfront (also louder) but airless. I also think the Middle has the better rhythm and Pace. But, I'd seriously think the result depends on one's system!

More complications! I pitched this to my NYC friends and, lo and behold, they only could play the 2 original cover albums (left and right)!!! The middle one is "...not available in your area..." !!! For sure, that Middle album originated from Europe and does not conform to US Copyright Laws, even if it seems to be sanctioned by Warner (X) (but playable here in Asia). Are we audiophiles supposed to decode what X means?

Tidal is a mud pond. If you are in it for the music, it's perfectly fine. But if you are the neurotic Audiophile who believes in absolute fidelity, well well...Spend the greatest time and money on so-called "hi-res" and what do you get? I'd not explain further....But I seriously doubt the other companies (like Qobuz), no matter their pitch, are any better. As for Apple? I'd not touch them with a ten-foot pole!

I'd welcome your feedbacks if you listen to these tracks!

Casual Recommendations Casual indeed! I don't listen to jazz and pop that often, but I keep my antennae open. And I try out albums praised in magazines and elsewhere. Occasionally, it satisfies, but more than often it doesn't.

A reader wrote me and mentioned this album, and I absolutely love it! This Mali Singer

can do everything - make sure you also hear her earlier albums!

Tidal played this out of the Blue, and I loved it. Home from POSE TV Cast.

I have no idea what it is, but it sure sounds great! 

Willy Deville. I owe this to a most unlikely person, Gideon Schwartz of  ultra high-end Audioarts in NYC, who's also an estimable author of retro gear! During my first visit, I loved his replay of Willy Deville's Miracle (still not available on Tidal). Some time later, I scored one in the Dollar Bin, and he was either delighted or miffed when I told him about it when I paid him a second visit. No matter, no less a figure than Dylan thinks Deville should be in the R&R Hall of Fame. I'm sure Gideon agrees and I'll second. For a long time, Miracle was the only Deville I played, and often. But now, I can stream quite a few of his albums (also predecessor Mink Deville) and I recommend you do too! Here's an Excellent biography, discography of Willy.

A Soundtrack for you. Ainda of Wim Wenders. By Madredeus. I've heard most of their albums, but this one is for sure the best, Lovely cozy film too!

And then, there is the haunting one of Double Life of Veronika, with several covers.