TIDAL, the first high fidelity lossless music streaming service with HD music videos and curated editorial, has announced the launch and availability of its service in the UK and US. The service has an extensive library of 25 million-plus tracks, 75,000 music videos and curated editorial articles, features and interviews.  It’s ad’ free and available now for a monthly subscription of £19.99 / $19.99.

With distribution agreements signed with all of the major labels, including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, TIDAL has also been working with many independent labels to offer a comprehensive catalogue that includes a wide range of genres to suit all musical tastes. TIDAL has also signed agreements with licensing organisations PRS for Music for UK and ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and Harry Fox Agency for U.S.

Possibly the most eagerly anticipated music streaming service by the audio industry, partnership and integration agreements have already been made with 34 of the world’s audio brands, including: Anthem, Airable by Tune In Media, Astell & Kern, Audeze, Audiovector, AudioQuest, Auralic, Aurender, Bel Canto, Bluesound & NAD, Dan D’Agostino, Definitive Technology, Denon HEOS, DTS Play-Fi, Dynaudio, Electrocompaniet, Harman Omni, HiFiAkademie, ickStream, JH Audio, Linn, McIntosh, Meridian, MartinLogan, Paradigm, Polk, Pro-ject, PS Audio, Raumfeld, Simple Audio, Sonos, Steinway Lyngdorf, Wren Sound Systems with more to come.

“We are delighted that TIDAL has launched and that music lovers can now appreciate music the way it is meant to sound,” said TIDAL CEO Andy Chen.  “But the music is just one part of the service. The expert editorial educates, entertains and enriches the music experience whilst the music videos complement the music perfectly.  We are sure that TIDAL will quickly become the music streaming service of choice for all who appreciate high quality at every level.”

 

TIDAL, the first high fidelity music streaming service with HD music videos and curated editorial, today announced the partnership and integration of TIDAL into products from16 of the best known home audio brands. In preparation for the upcoming UK and U.S. launch, TIDAL is working closely with its integration partners to ensure that music lovers will be able to register and experience the catalogue of 25 million-plus tracks, streaming at HiFi, lossless sound quality, on some of the world’s best known home audio products.

Sonos, Denon HEOS, Harman Omni, Bluesound & NAD, Meridian, Auralic, Electrocompaniet, Simple Audio, Raumfeld, Dynaudio, Audiovector, Pro-ject, Airable by Tune In Media, HiFiAkademie and ickStream will all have products that seamlessly work with TIDAL, with users just needing to sign up to the service for access.

Commenting on the partnerships, Andy Chen, CEO at TIDAL, said: “The reaction from the home audio industry to TIDAL has been exceptional and we are really excited that our first 16 confirmed partners are such highly-considered brands in the industry. Experiencing TIDAL on high-quality home audio systems and headphones proves just how good high-quality music streaming can sound. We will therefore offer TIDAL across the broadest selection of home audio systems with these premium partners and more to come.”

As an advertisement-free, lossless, CD-quality music and HD music video streaming service with extensive curated editorial expertise, TIDAL will be available in the UK and the U.S. for a monthly subscription of £19.99 / $19.99 starting later this autumn.

D&M Holdings, a global operating company in the consumer and professional audio and video business, has announced that it has entered into a partnership with US-based Sound United for the distribution of its Polk and Definitive Technology audio products in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries. 

“Polk and Definitive Technology are leading the U.S. loudspeaker market with a combined share of more than 30 percent,” said Terry O’Connell, President Sales and Marketing, D&M Europe. “Both brands will perfectly complement our Denon and Marantz portfolios to deliver the best in music and home theatre for the demanding consumer in Europe.”

“We are excited to work with D+M, as the company is a great fit for distributing our audio products to the European market with proven success,” said Kevin Duffy, President of Sound United. “With its robust portfolio of brands and distribution expertise, we look forward to building a long-term partnership with D+M as we continue to expand our business internationally.”

D&M will start distributing selected Polk and Definitive Technology products in Europe beginning in May.

Timestep are not your average hi-fi manufacturer, they are also internationally renowned designers and manufacturers of state-of-the-art weather satellite systems of all things and now Timestep have announced the launch of the new T-01MC moving coil phono stage.

The T-01MC is a minimalist design, avoiding any unnecessary switching that would “introduce extra contacts and therefore noise and distortion” and should offer great performance with 95% of moving coil cartridges. It has been developed and tested with a wide spectrum of cartridges ranging from the Denon DL-103 to the Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement and overall design has been by the renowned Dave Cawley. The phono stage can be ordered in custom configuration to suit specific cartridges, and subsequently reconfigured to perfectly match any moving coil cartridge.

The design of the T-01MC avoids the use of integrated circuits and instead FETs (field effect transistors) are used in a fully discrete dual-mono zero negative feedback design.

The gain and input loading are fixed as in most situations this feature is a set-once process.  The settings chosen  should be great for the vast majority of moving coil cartridges on the market however, custom input loading can be specified and can be altered by Timestep at any time.  The company say that this method saves “considerable cost over switchable units, as well as providing the shortest, cleanest signal path ensuring the highest performance”.

The unit comes in at £995 and has a whopping 6 year guarantee.

 

 

Founded in June 2010 by audio industry “old dogs” Jason Stoddard  (former engineering lead at Sumo) and Mike Moffat (Founder of Theta, Theta Digital and Angstrom), Schiit Audio has a simple, if somewhat crazy, mission: “to bring superior performance, design, and quality to audio products at near-Chinese prices, while manufacturing in the USA”.

Schiit Audio has today released information on its first balanced products, the Mjolnir balanced headphone amplifier and Gungnir balanced DAC. Both products are designed to offer “end game performance at mid-level prices, significantly enhancing the price/performance ratio in balanced gear”. In addition, the Gungnir DAC is modular and fully upgradable, for what Schiit say is “virtually future-proof performance”. More »

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Audiophile audio and hifi reviews. Including: Integrated amplifier reviews, power amplifier reviews, tube amplifier reviews, stereo amplifier reviews, vintage hifi reviews, hifi amplifier reviews, high end audio equipment reviews, CD players reviews, DACS reviews, headphone amplifier reviews, loudspeakers reviews, floor standing loudspeakers reviews, stand mount loudspeakers reviews, audiophile turntable reviews, turntable tonearms reviews, hifi cartridge reviews, phono stage reviews, headphone reviews, audiophile audio cables reviews, home audio accessories reviews. We review high end audio, vintage hi fi, home audio system  and all home audio equipment.

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