mistersprinkles Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 I got an iMac recently and have downloaded the TIDAL app and am listening on "Master" quality level. I have a pair of KEF X-300-A speakers hooked up to the iMac and the sound is quite excellent but I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to improve fidelity further? Thanks! Link to comment
Charente Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 I started out in the same way, iMac/Tidal player ... my next step was to use Audirvana ... IMO it has better sound quality than the Tidal player and supports your Tidal account. Beyond that would be outputting the sound to an external DAC & Amp that will pair with your speakers. Main System: NAS or QOBUZ > BlueSound Node 2i > Schiit Gungnir MultiBit > PYST XLR > Schiit Mjolnir 2 or Gilmore Lite MK2 Office System: iMac > Audirvana > Schiit EITR + Audiophonics LPS25 > Metrum FLINT NOS DAC (DAC TWO chips) > Schiit Magni 3+ > Aeon Flow Open Loudspeaker System: NAIM Muso Gen 2 Link to comment
mistersprinkles Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Does Audirvana support the master stream quality from tidal? what is the website? Is it free? Link to comment
Charente Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 You mean MQA ? Audirvana supports MQA but I think not from Tidal. I recall reading something that one could only get Tidal MQA through their own player (at present) ... I could be wrong here... I've moved to Qobuz now. I found Tidal HiFi perfectly acceptable through Audirvana ... not free, but only €64 ... https://audirvana.com/ ... Main System: NAS or QOBUZ > BlueSound Node 2i > Schiit Gungnir MultiBit > PYST XLR > Schiit Mjolnir 2 or Gilmore Lite MK2 Office System: iMac > Audirvana > Schiit EITR + Audiophonics LPS25 > Metrum FLINT NOS DAC (DAC TWO chips) > Schiit Magni 3+ > Aeon Flow Open Loudspeaker System: NAIM Muso Gen 2 Link to comment
Charente Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 To be honest, I would question whether you would notice the difference between HiFi & MQA on Tidal using the iMac sound system ... you may need to go to an external Dac/Amp (via USB) that supports MQA to really get the benefit (if any). Main System: NAS or QOBUZ > BlueSound Node 2i > Schiit Gungnir MultiBit > PYST XLR > Schiit Mjolnir 2 or Gilmore Lite MK2 Office System: iMac > Audirvana > Schiit EITR + Audiophonics LPS25 > Metrum FLINT NOS DAC (DAC TWO chips) > Schiit Magni 3+ > Aeon Flow Open Loudspeaker System: NAIM Muso Gen 2 Link to comment
mistersprinkles Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Sounds like I'll be sticking with the TIDAL app Link to comment
Musicophile Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 I really encourage you to try the free trial of Audirvana. It is the best sounding app I've seen so far, has an IOs remote with it (I don't believe the TIDAL app has one), and it fully supports MQA. Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
Charente Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Agree with @Musicophile IIRC The only other way to control Tidal remotely is via Roon, which is also a good player, but requires more setup considerations and more expensive. Main System: NAS or QOBUZ > BlueSound Node 2i > Schiit Gungnir MultiBit > PYST XLR > Schiit Mjolnir 2 or Gilmore Lite MK2 Office System: iMac > Audirvana > Schiit EITR + Audiophonics LPS25 > Metrum FLINT NOS DAC (DAC TWO chips) > Schiit Magni 3+ > Aeon Flow Open Loudspeaker System: NAIM Muso Gen 2 Link to comment
Marcin_gps Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 22 hours ago, Charente said: Agree with @Musicophile IIRC The only other way to control Tidal remotely is via Roon, which is also a good player, but requires more setup considerations and more expensive. You can also use a free OpenHome player and control it with Linn Kazoo app http://openhome.org/pages/use/downloads/mac.html Charente 1 JPLAY & JCAT Founder Link to comment
Speed Racer Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 A+ does the first layer of MQA decoding when streaming from Tidal. It works quite well. Charente 1 Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 It’s even better with an MQA dac. Link to comment
GUTB Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 To get the most out of Tidal Master you'll need an MQA DAC, such as the DragonFly Black or Red. Big improvement over just Tidal doing the software decoding only. While you're at it, pair it with a Jitterbug for more quality gains. Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 I’d recommend a Meridian Explorer 2. The Audioquest are renderers only and still require Tidal to do the first unfold but the Meridian does the full unfold. Link to comment
matthias Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 On 20.10.2017 at 3:46 PM, Charente said: I've moved to Qobuz now. Hi Charente (or others), did you compare the Redbook-SQ of Quobuz and Tidal, both played with Audirvana? Some say Qobuz is superior to Tidal. Thanks Matt "I want to know why the musicians are on stage, not where". (John Farlowe) Link to comment
Charente Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 @matthias ... I can't say that I personally noticed any difference between Tidal/Qobuz SQ ... a more reliable streaming experience, yes ... perhaps because I'm in France ? The other reason I moved is that it seems to me that Qobuz has more European Jazz albums in its catalogue for my preferred genre of music. Main System: NAS or QOBUZ > BlueSound Node 2i > Schiit Gungnir MultiBit > PYST XLR > Schiit Mjolnir 2 or Gilmore Lite MK2 Office System: iMac > Audirvana > Schiit EITR + Audiophonics LPS25 > Metrum FLINT NOS DAC (DAC TWO chips) > Schiit Magni 3+ > Aeon Flow Open Loudspeaker System: NAIM Muso Gen 2 Link to comment
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