Tidal

Following the release of Meridian’s new ‘compact’ high-res format and their high-res DAC, it’s clear they are interested in making an impact on the higher quality audio world.
What’s the next step for the hi-fi company? Development is being made, but there’s still an underlying shortage of content.
With PonoMusic fast becoming a major player in the industry, with a store and player, they’ve failed to notice the inevitable shift towards streaming. With bandwidth still being the issue in this field, in steps MQA’s (Master Quality Authenticated) compact format.

Meridian have partnered with CD-Quality streaming service ‘Tidal’ to create the ultimate high-resolution streaming platform. Tidal’s current offering is 25 million streamable CD-quality tracks for £20 a month, which is double Spotify’s cost, but a price some real audiophiles are willing to pay for that cut above the rest. This price is expected to drop on the introduction of the premium lossless MQA option, which will sit at an undecided (possibly +£20) price.

Tidal offers it’s current service to iOS, Android, Mac and PC, as well as integrated into hi-fi hardware of Meridian, Sonos, Linn and Squeezebox. Whether the lossless audio will see its way onto the same players is unknown.