Tidal Plans and Pricing

[Green G]

What's wrong with MQA?

It was touted as an equivalent to Flac files but Tidal was forced to admit that the files were compressed after someone did a side-by-side comparison. The company that owned MQA format recently went belly up.
I have always felt that Qobuz was better and many feel so too. They don’t have any Atmos files (yet?) but the company really courts audiophiles. The main page lists all the new releases and unlike Spotify, the listings are very diverse and I always end up finding something new to listen to. Give it a try though in the case of a Lucid forum, you may not find the same advantages as Tidal and Apple offer with their Atmos offerings.

Do I understand correctly that Atmos can only be played through the native in-car apps? After a year, you have to pay Lucid for a data subscription in order to continue to do so because you cannot through Bluetooth or even wired?

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

So let me get this straight, starting April 10, for $10.99 a month we can get Dolby Atmos in the Air natively on Tidal

What's wrong with MQA?

MQA is antiquated dieing format.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

So let me get this straight, starting April 10, for $10.99 a month we can get Dolby Atmos in the Air natively on Tidal?

Should be. As of April 10, there will only be one tier of Tidal.

 

[Neurio]

Do I understand correctly that Atmos can only be played through the native in-car apps? After a year, you have to pay Lucid for a data subscription in order to continue to do so because you cannot through Bluetooth or even wired?

It says that in the contract, but no owner has been asked to pay for a data subscription yet. It may come some day, but Lucid hasn't given any indication at this point as to when.

And yes, at this point, only the native Tidal app can provide the full Atmos experience. It's totally worth it, especially if it's going down to $12/month.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

It was touted as an equivalent to Flac files but Tidal was forced to admit that the files were compressed after someone did a side-by-side comparison. The company that owned MQA format recently went belly up.
I have always felt that Qobuz was better and many feel so too. They don’t have any Atmos files (yet?) but the company really courts audiophiles. The main page lists all the new releases and unlike Spotify, the listings are very diverse and I always end up finding something new to listen to. Give it a try though in the case of a Lucid forum, you may not find the same advantages as Tidal and Apple offer with their Atmos offerings.

Do I understand correctly that Atmos can only be played through the native in-car apps? After a year, you have to pay Lucid for a data subscription in order to continue to do so because you cannot through Bluetooth or even wired?

You are quite correct about MQA. It was invented before cheap gigabit internet connections were even dreamed of. It's now irrelevant. And Tidal/Square is abandoning it. In our reference systems at PS Audio, Qobuz sounds better. Yet, Tidal has, in my personal opinion, a great interface and better algorithms for suggested music. And the native app on Lucid for tidal sounds great.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

It says that in the contract, but no owner has been asked to pay for a data subscription yet. It may come some day, but Lucid hasn't given any indication at this point as to when.

And yes, at this point, only the native Tidal app can provide the full Atmos experience. It's totally worth it, especially if it's going down to $12/month.

$10.99

 

[Neurio]

$10.99

Even better!

 

[Green G]

You are quite correct about MQA. It was invented before cheap gigabit internet connections were even dreamed of. It's now irrelevant. And Tidal/Square is abandoning it. In our reference systems at PS Audio, Qobuz sounds better. Yet, Tidal has, in my personal opinion, a great interface and better algorithms for suggested music. And the native app on Lucid for tidal sounds great.

As an audiophile, I was drawn to the allure of the pro system in the car but left feeling deflated after listening to it. My previous cars had the option to listen in “surround sound” - artificial enhancement rather than a true 7.1.2. It did sound better and I’m hopeful that an update at some point can provide that for non-Atmos tracks.
We already have Spotify and I use Qobuz on my home 2.1 system. I guess I’ll have to get a third, Tidal, subscription.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

Even better!

You can thank the competition from Amazon and Apple. Even Qobuz was far cheaper than tidal HiFi plus

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

We already have Spotify and I use Qobuz on my home 2.1 system. I guess I’ll have to get a third, Tidal, subscription.

Lots of dying sounds coming from Spotify. It has never made a profit. And their 1.5 year old claim of high rez has become an industry joke.

The sound quality of Amz is clearly behind Qobuz and Tidal. But Amazon is not courting audiophiles, nor people with such a discerning system.

I wonder what Qobuz will do about their pricing?

 

[Green G]

Lots of dying sounds coming from Spotify. It has never made a profit. And their 1.5 year old claim of high rez has become an industry joke.

The sound quality of Amz is clearly behind Qobuz and Tidal. But Amazon is not courting audiophiles, nor people with such a discerning system.

I wonder what Qobuz will do about their pricing?

I don’t think they’re in a shape to lower it even further. It remains a niche offering in a sea of behemoths serving the ears stuffed with AirPods: for them, Spotify is more than enough. There are several aspect to music streaming currently not available on Qobuz (Atmos, no Connect feature, poor music suggestions etc) but there’s no debate on it being the King/Queen Supreme when it comes to serving the discerning ear.

When I bought the car, I was secretly hoping that I could get the Qobuz app natively in the car.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

Reading the posts of the music pros humbles me, and I love it.
As a music lover / recovering home audiophile
and car lover

I can't help saying: THE LUCID PREMIUM AUDIO WITH TIDAL IS SO WORTH IT.

Cosmo, no one ever really truly recovers from being an audiophile. You know better

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

I don’t think they’re in a shape to lower it even further. It remains a niche offering in a sea of behemoths serving the ears stuffed with AirPods: for them, Spotify is more than enough. There are several aspect to music streaming currently not available on Qobuz (Atmos, no Connect feature, poor music suggestions etc) but there’s no debate on it being the King/Queen Supreme when it comes to serving the discerning ear.

When I bought the car, I was secretly hoping that I could get the Qobuz app natively in the car.

Qobuz app on Lucid? You have me rolling on the floor laughing. Sure, 12 years after Android Auto comes.

Thirty five years ago, I had a good friend who was a music lawyer representing bands. He went on to be the Business Manager for Warner Chappelle Music. In 1990, he told me that cds were soon to obsolete and one day, you would pay to have a pipe in your house that brought in the music you wanted. Those exact words.

 

[Green G]

Qobuz app on Lucid? You have me rolling on the floor laughing. Sure, 12 years after Android Auto comes.

Thirty five years ago, I had a good friend who was a music lawyer representing bands. He went on to be the Business Manager for Warner Chappelle Music. In 1990, he told me that cds were soon to obsolete and one day, you would pay to have a pipe in your house that brought in the music you wanted. Those exact words.

A man can dream.

 

[hydbob]

It was touted as an equivalent to Flac files but Tidal was forced to admit that the files were compressed after someone did a side-by-side comparison. The company that owned MQA format recently went belly up.
I have always felt that Qobuz was better and many feel so too. They don’t have any Atmos files (yet?) but the company really courts audiophiles. The main page lists all the new releases and unlike Spotify, the listings are very diverse and I always end up finding something new to listen to. Give it a try though in the case of a Lucid forum, you may not find the same advantages as Tidal and Apple offer with their Atmos offerings.

Do I understand correctly that Atmos can only be played through the native in-car apps? After a year, you have to pay Lucid for a data subscription in order to continue to do so because you cannot through Bluetooth or even wired?

I didn't know BT had the bandwidth to support Atmos?

 

[Green G]

I didn't know BT had the bandwidth to support Atmos?

I don’t know if it does. Aside from that, I don’t know what quality the sound is of an Atmos file: I read somewhere that it’s not a hi-res file but just dispersed channels of, sometimes, less than 16/44.1. As we get wowed by the surround aspect, it becomes difficult and maybe less important to focus on fidelity.
I have a high end system for my listening room at home that I’ve deliberately kept 2.1. We have a Nakamichi 9.2.4 system in our TV room. I will occasionally listen to my Atmos Blu-rays there but as said earlier, more for the wow-factor and keep the critical listening to my 2.1 from my server and Qobuz.
None of the fidelity is of that same importance in a car obviously.
Open to counter arguments.

 

[hydbob]

I don’t know if it does. Aside from that, I don’t know what quality the sound is of an Atmos file: I read somewhere that it’s not a hi-res file but just dispersed channels of, sometimes, less than 16/44.1. As we get wowed by the surround aspect, it becomes difficult and maybe less important to focus on fidelity.
I have a high end system for my listening room at home that I’ve deliberately kept 2.1. We have a Nakamichi 9.2.4 system in our TV room. I will occasionally listen to my Atmos Blu-rays there but as said earlier, more for the wow-factor and keep the critical listening to my 2.1 from my server and Qobuz.
None of the fidelity is of that same importance in a car obviously.
Open to counter arguments.

I'll let the other audiophiles chime in here but if you search up posts from @Bunnylebowski you can see some of the extraordinary strides Lucid has taken to bring Atmos into the car.

 

[Green G]

I'll let the other audiophiles chime in here but if you search up posts from @Bunnylebowski you can see some of the extraordinary strides Lucid has taken to bring Atmos into the car.

Yes I read those. My remarks were not geared toward Lucid specifically but more in general. Car listening can definitely be very immersive given the closed environment and the proximity. It is not an apples to apples comparison to a dedicated 2.1 system in my opinion, nor does it replace it. Would love to hear other audiophiles’ thoughts.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

Yes I read those. My remarks were not geared toward Lucid specifically but more in general. Car listening can definitely be very immersive given the closed environment and the proximity. It is not an apples to apples comparison to a dedicated 2.1 system in my opinion, nor does it replace it. Would love to hear other audiophiles’ thoughts.

I happen to totally agree with you. It's just a car. As long as the sound is enjoyable, I am fine with it. My mind and senses are focused on the road, not music. But several here have spent small fortunes on car audio. To each their own. @Bunnylebowski comes from a movie sound engineer background and I come from 45 years in high end music audio business, so we disagree totally. He loves Atmos, I think it's a nifty gimic when used for music reproduction.

I will tell you that I have been privileged to know many of the true greats in high end music reproduction, from Arnie Nudell of Infinity, Paul at PS Audio, William Johnson, Henry Kloss, Mssrs Conrad and Johnson. Not one had a fancy system in their car. Even Arnie joked about the millions Infinity made on car speakers. If someone wants to buy it, he said, I'll sell it to them. He always just had a stock system.

Many here will violently disagree. I am fine with that. To be totally honest, I mostly drive my Lucid with no music. No news. It's my quiet time to think. And I love the Lucid ambiance undisturbed. That just me.

That said, the Lucid premium audio system with Tidal sounds wonderful.

 

[Fischman]

Radio Paradise sounds great in the Lucid and you can’t beat the price but no Atmos