From a TechRadar review:

It streams music in the form of 16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC files with a bitrate of 1411kbps. And I can tell you now, it's brilliant.

For the uninitiated, FLAC is the format of choice for many people who want to listen to music files without having to put up with lossy formats like MP3.

When you compress a music track into an MP3, you have to shave off a lot of detail in order to achieve that miniature file size. Other formats like OGG (as used by Spotify) do a highly commendable job of limiting that shaving mostly to parts of the audio that might be considered 'inaudible'.

The truth is that all compression formats are a compromise, a victory for convenience over sound quality.

FLAC tracks are also compressed but in a totally different way. They're a lot more like a zipped file, so when they're played back, they can be decompressed to their original glory without any loss of fidelity.

Thus, while a CD track might take up anywhere between 60 and 100MB, a FLAC file will be more like 30 to 50MB. MP3s encoded at the maximum bitrate of 320kbps are typically only about 5-10MB in size, and there's no way to get back the information you threw away during compression. That's why MP3 is described as a lossy format while FLAC is not.

The upshot of this is that FLAC is the perfect format for delivering CD-quality music down an internet pipe.

no your initial point was how can the ops thread be a good deal.

no the deal is £0 for 3 months, come on its not rocket science its written in the title :man:

cold, not vinyl. JOKE!

Thanks op.

Interesting that Tidal themselves say HIFI option is not compressed - yes it's lossless compression but if it's FLAC then it's compressed.

I'm attempting to sign up to Tidal via the CapTune app, but I'm going round in circles. Keep entering email and password, then I'm sent to the offer, where I go through the same process, only to end up at the beginning again. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks

You need to instal Tidal on your phone after CapTune and before signing to Tidal. It works for me.

Great find :smiley:,

Now streaming flac on my squeezebox :smiley:

Just installed captune but I can't see any options settings or the offer. Thanks in advance for your help.

Nevermind, it was in the choose your music section.

Just spotted this having ended a Deezer subscription and no idea why this isn't scorching! Thanks!

Cheers just signed up

Can u cancel straight away and still get the 3 month trial? Hate waiting for the final month to cancel, I tend to forget.

Thanks, cancelled and still have my 3 months

CDs are not lossless.

What are folks using to stream this to, as a matter of interest? Guess it's pointless to Bluetooth it, but I've not seen tidal app for fire tv, won't stream direct to av receiver etc...

Only comes up with 30 days. Any ideas?

Thanks OP worked from App store and now playing via Sonos

£19.99 a month LOL probably for the cretins that complain about getting Prime with delivery, videos and music for £6.50 a month.

Free is good for those that haven't got any other access to music. From what I've heard Tidal isn't going to be around much longer. The tide is coming in!

Apart from that Jay Z or as his mum calls him, Shawn Corey Carter has an infinitely punchable face.

In fairness if I was called Shawn Corey I'd be quickly looking to change my name too!

Worked for me thanks

Good find. 3 months free and cancelled the sub so I dont forget to do so. Thanks - will be giving this a go through Sonos.

Thanks, worth a go. Listening now

The Tidal Mac and PC app can also play MQA master quality mode.
https://support.tidal.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000397069-TIDAL-MASTERS

Thanks OP. Was looking at options last night but could only find the normal 30 day trial.

Signed up via the Captune iOS app and cancelled straight away via web browser.

First impressions are that there is a noticeable difference in quality over 320kbps Spotify. Its going to be interesting whether that improvement is worth £10 more a month than Spotify.

Worked, cancelled, 3 months free

For those who are having trouble finding the deal within the CapTune app. You need to open up the sidebar and tap the cogwheel on the top right and go into the settings. Find the Tidal toggle, tap on it and select sign-up, you will then be directed to the offer page.

There may be a simpler way, but this is the one that I used.

Wow..massive difference in quality between spotify on highest quality and this. Heat added :sunglasses:

£240 a year?? Seriously? And this is considered a good deal?

been using it for a month, noticeable quality difference through headphones and my hi-fi with mid range speakers however the actual software, playlists, suggestions, etc which make streaming services appealing to me are not anyway near as good as Spotify. I won't be continuing after my 3 month trial, but.glad I have it a go

In favor of lossless music :smiley: a dragonfly DAC user. Great trial offer. shame about the usual subscription rate , hope it comes down. heat added

anyone know when this offer will end? just signed up to a three month trial last month...

It's still £240 a year after the 3 month free trial though !

yes but if you cancel before then you get charged nothing but have had 3 months for free, seriously are you still not getting it? :confused:

Oh dear ! Of course I understand that you get 3 months free and that you can cancel it after that !

The cost of £240 a year is ridiculously high though, and that is my point.

no your initial point was how can the ops thread be a good deal.

Wow this is the best deal I've seen in ages

I'm in the middle of a listening binge as we speak! I would actually pay for this service I reckon

Good but too much and the Tidal f'ers still kept taking money after cancelling, 4 mths on Barclaycard agreed to my dispute but just kept refunding the Tidal dedication each month until the fiasco ended

Other major downside music is all US orientated.

You can get this direct from Tidal anyway

Thanks OP.

Has anyone tried this - http://www.whathifi.com/news/tidal-adds-hi-res-audio-streams-tidal-masters

Are they available through the app?

^ not yet

Only the Win/Mac apps.

Worked for me cheers buddy. Have it free till April lol :smiley:. Sounds pretty good to me but I wouldn't pay 20 a month.

Awesome :smile: 3 months (sixty quid's worth) for free. Great timing as my 3 months Deezer just ran out and even then they wanted 99p for that. Had streaming music pretty much all year and never paid more than 33p a month. Who would pay £10 never mind £20?

Thank op! Cancel my spotfy a few days ago... Perfect timing

Thanks OP, just followed your instructions, signed up and cancelled. I bought a new Denon AV receiver this week so really looking forward to trying this out.

wondering when is this offer expire, as i have 3 weeks left on spotify premium still..

Perfect timing for me too. Thanks op.

So, I used my android phone to set the account up etc and streaming nicely. I have also cancelled. I have then installed app on an iPhone 6plus and even playing better with the 128g storage I have so prefer on iOS.

My question is whether the 3months will still apply on the iPhone as I prefer that with better EarPods to the android. Plus iPhone is my main phone. Thanks.

My three months ran out i forgot to cancell and got charged £19.99.. not complaining it was my fault and its a good service so happy to pay for another month, have cancelled now, is there a way to get another three months free?

This still working?

Very grateful for the deal posted! So looking forward to getting indulged with the high quality music stream from the TIDAL with the Free 3 months offer!

Still working - Thank you! :smiley:

Great deal, you can definitely notice the quality difference to the music quality from the usual suspects (spotify, google play, deezer etc).

Delighted to see this is still live. I've researched this endlessly, but still not clear whether I'll get any real benefit from the FLAC audio when listening from my phone (which is what I'll be doing mostly, with Sennheiser CX300 ii earphones) on a Galaxy S5. Anyone got any thoughts?