Tidal Adds Dolby Atmos Music

[edisonbaggins]

...it seems that so far, Tidal, Dolby, Amazon, Apple, and NVIDIA have conspired to restrict Atmos streaming to a limited number of supported devices--several of which clearly aren't being "supported" properly yet...

Those bastards!

 

[humprof]

I believe that was an earlier question by myself as well; as there may be some AVRs that have Tidal access built-in; but if they go through HEOS that may be restrictive, still not sure until someone actually tries all that?

Oh, right; forgot about that. Yes, I think we determined that since HEOS is Bluetooth-based, it's effectively restricted to stereo.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I believe that was an earlier question by myself as well; as there may be some AVRs that have Tidal access built-in; but if they go through HEOS that may be restrictive, still not sure until someone actually tries all that?

HEOS is a total no-go.

 

[beerking]

I'm going to keep highlighting exceptional tracks:
RUFUS..featuring Chaka Khan
I'm telling you something good!!

RUFUS in Atmos...sheer joy

 

[EricKalet]

Maybe I'm just tech challenged but I found Tidal to be frustrating: paid for the highest level of resolution but never got anything better than 16/44, which is rebook CD.. Never found 24/96 recordings. Thoughts (be kind)?

Tidal only does 44/16 unless you upgrade to "Master" which you'll be able to access MQA stuff, but of course, for MQA you need the DAC that can handle MQA. This was why I quit Tidal a little over a year ago to go to Qobuz. However with Tidal having Atmos, I'm back

 

[harync]

Is anyone getting Tidal Atmos directly using an AVR that supports Tidal streaming?

My Pioneer VSX-LX503 supports Atmos and comes with Tidal installed. It will only play stereo and just skips over the Atmos songs when selected. The Tidal implementation is horrible, BTW. I'm waiting for delivery of a Fire TV 4k stick tomorrow.

 

[EricKalet]

Is there such a thing? In any event, it seems that so far, Tidal, Dolby, Amazon, Apple, and NVIDIA have conspired to restrict Atmos streaming to a limited number of supported devices--several of which clearly aren't being "supported" properly yet...

When I couldn't get my Fire TV Stick 2016 to work, I tried streaming via HDMI to my AVR from the Tidal desktop app on my Windows 10 laptop. Doesn't matter whether I select Atmos, 7.1, 5.1, or 2.0 as the Windows sound output mode to my AVR; Tidal streams in stereo only.

I used to stream via Tidal on my AVR. Shit interface TBH, I like the app better on ATV4k.

 

[Eggplant]

Those bastards!

Dolby Labs is not a charity. They created Atmos to make a profit through licensing fees. That is how they have always operated.
Most of those fees come from Atmos-equipped AVR’s, speakers, and streaming devices. They don’t get any benefit from your playing back Atmos tracks on your old equipment.

 

[humprof]

Tidal only does 44/16 unless you upgrade to "Master" which you'll be able to access MQA stuff, but of course, for MQA you need the DAC that can handle MQA. This was why I quit Tidal a little over a year ago to go to Qobuz. However with Tidal having Atmos, I'm back

Wait--what? (Sorry, Eric; I don't think I've connected all the dots here.) So:

• How do I know whether my AVR has a DAC that can handle MQA?
• Doesn't Atmos, like MQA, also require "Master" quality (and therefore require an AVR with the same DAC)?
• If my AVR doesn't have a DAC that supports MQA/Tidal "Master" quality, then...it wouldn't truly be able to stream Atmos from Tidal in any case?

Sorry again if I'm being slow or adding needless confusion to this thread.

 

[humprof]

Dolby Labs is not a charity. They created Atmos to make a profit through licensing fees. That is how they have always operated.
Most of those fees come from Atmos-equipped AVR’s, speakers, and streaming devices. They don’t get any benefit from your playing back Atmos tracks on your old equipment.

I think what Baggy is getting at is that many of us have old equipment that is in fact Atmos-equipped. Both my Windows 10 laptop and my Marantz AVR, for example, will happily play Atmos from other sources.

So what I would tell Dolby is: if you're gonna roll out Atmos, then roll out Atmos--on all platforms, and all devices, with all of the content you've been telling us about for months and months now--all at once. Don't do it in such a piecemeal, half-assed fashion. Amazon Echo Studio and headphones for a couple of months. Tidal, via headphones and soundbars--but only over Android phones!--for a couple more months. Now AVRs--but only from Tidal, and only via a limited number of devices, at least half of which aren't in fact set up to work properly--for a couple more months.

(And...and...if I do play along and spend somewhere between $35 and $200 for another piece of equipment that I wouldn't otherwise buy, and tentatively commit to yet another streaming service that I wouldn't otherwise commit to, then at least do me the courtesy of making sure that everything is good to go, as advertised, from the day you roll it out!)

 

[Goona]

There are so many really good Dolby Atmos tracks available in Tidal. One artist who doesnt disappoint is Beck.
His 'Amazon Original' Up All Night, Paisley Park Sessions track, is one of the best I've heard so far.

Think we will need a separate thread to rate these Tidal Atmos tracks...unless we get hit by a Tidal Wave!!

For anyone hesitating and has the set up to hear this streaming service from Tidal, can I just say, that after listening to a wide variety of Atmos tracks, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I second that emotion. So did you get your Firestick working?.

 

[beerking]

I second that emotion. So did you get your Firestick working?.

Sure did...arrived yesterday, updated straight away to the latest version...and bingo...crappy remote but I'll put up with that to get to hear this incredible Atmos streaming....I still can't believe I'm listening to this!!

 

[Goona]

Sure did...arrived yesterday, updated straight away to the latest version...and bingo...crappy remote but I'll put up with that to get to hear this incredible Atmos streaming....I still can't believe I'm listening to this!!

Try Stitches and Demi Lovato Sober

 

[harync]

So what I would tell Dolby is: if you're gonna roll out Atmos, then roll out Atmos--on all platforms, and all devices, with all of the content you've been telling us about for months and months now--all at once. Don't do it in such a piecemeal, half-assed fashion. Amazon Echo Studio and headphones for a couple of months. Tidal, via headphones--but only over Android phones!--for a couple more months. Now AVRs--but only from Tidal, and only via a limited number of devices, at least half of which aren't in fact set up to work properly--for a couple more months.

You have a very valid point, but this is dependent on many different manufacturers implementing a standard across many different types of devices: AVRs, TVs, dedicated streamers (Fire, AppleTV), all running different OS's. Apple was ahead of the game and it looks like Amazon was caught off-guard and was delayed in pushing it's Fire TV update out.

In my own cases, I'm guessing a firmware update for my Pioneer AVR will be needed to get the native Tidal app working with Atmos. Pioneer is pretty slow and infrequent in rolling out updates, so I'm not holding my breath. Something similar happened to me with LG and Disney+ (it took a couple months to get Atmos).

For streaming devices that need to download dozens of differents apps (Amazon Primevideo, Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, Tidal, etc), they are made to handle this exact situation and it's not a surprise that they are at the forefront.

TVs are closer to streaming apps than AVRs and are trying to become the hub of an AV system (connect all your devices to your TV and use eARC to an AVR just for ATMOS/DTS-X processing and amplification.

 

[César]

Oh, right; forgot about that. Yes, I think we determined that since HEOS is Bluetooth-based, it's effectively restricted to stereo.

But HEOS is not Bluetooth based, it's Wi-fi based. In my opinion the limitation is on the application itself, but not in the transport technology.

 

[EricKalet]

I used to stream via Tidal on my AVR.

Wait--what? (Sorry, Eric; I don't think I've connected all the dots here.) So:

• How do I know whether my AVR has a DAC that can handle MQA?
• Doesn't Atmos, like MQA, also require "Master" quality (and therefore require an AVR with the same DAC)?
• If my AVR doesn't have a DAC that supports MQA/Tidal "Master" quality, then...it wouldn't truly be able to stream Atmos from Tidal in any case?

Sorry again if I'm being slow or adding needless confusion to this thread.

Sorry if I confused anyone...so easy explanation...

MQA and ATMOS are two separate and distinct formats and they are for totally different things. So in other words, one has nothing to do with the other.

MQA is Master Quality Authenticated for stereo only (at least at the moment). MQA is also a lossy codec and requires a special, in many cases, a standalone DAC, which not all AVR's have. MQA is supposed to be the highest quality recording, taken from the master tapes, and in order to preserve DRM, Tidal uses MQA to provide a high res stereo format for streaming music.

Here is a good article to understand more about MQA: MQA audio: What is it? How can you get it?

 

[raml]

Dolby Labs is not a charity. They created Atmos to make a profit through licensing fees. That is how they have always operated.
Most of those fees come from Atmos-equipped AVR’s, speakers, and streaming devices. They don’t get any benefit from your playing back Atmos tracks on your old equipment.

I watched a interview with two dolby guys and they said that they cant do anything for implementing dolby stuff like atmos/tidal in avr's. The decision is ONLY done by
manufacturer. Sad but true...
Edit: the same story with movies... The dolby atmos suite for studios is priced very low, compared to other software, but the studios dont want/use it.

 

[EricKalet]

But HEOS is not Bluetooth based, it's Wi-fi based. In my opinion the limitation is on the application itself, but not in the transport technology.

Well it uses WiFi to transmit the wireless signals, but it is based on the Bluetooth technology. I believe the second generation of HEOS is capable of handing high res audio, but can't find any real technical details.

 

[raml]

Try Stitches and Demi Lovato Sober

And Imagine Dragons - Beliver!!

 

[César]

Oh, right; forgot about that. Yes, I think we determined that since HEOS is Bluetooth-based, it's effectively restricted to stereo.

But HEOS is not Bluetooth based, it's Wi-fi based. In my opinion the limitation is on the application itself, but not in the transport technology.

I've tried playing a Tidal Masters playlist from HEOS and all I could get was Flac 16/44 in my AVR. The way I saw it works is that once you start playing the music, it is streamed directly to the AVR via its wi-fi or ethernet interface (you can even switch your phone off and have full control from the AVR)