Were you able to ask Google: Play this and that on Tidal ? It wasn't possible last time I tried, if it works now, I might ditch Spotify, as I have them both.

edit: tested... "voice commands are not possible on that app" so the answer is no.

 

I had the same issue/experience previously, however my assistant has started to play music via tidal as of a few days ago. It seemed to coincide with an update in my vehicle of Google assistant in AAOS.

(As I think of it now, I've been doing this with the tidal app as the active audio app. Not sure I've tried it with there first being another audio app active... If that makes sense)

 

Have you compared Masters on your phone through BT vs Hifi through the AAOS?

 

There'd be no point. Bluetooth can't support 9k+ bit rate. I thought BT 5.2 was basically capable of 900-something kbps, which is also well below Tidal's HiFi.

 

Why is it not possible to set it to "Master" directly in the app? Is it bandwidth issue or?

 

It appears to be that Tidal simply doesn't allow for it with the AAOS app. Like I said, I can select "Master" for the phone app, on both WiFi and cell. In the car it never allows for it, regardless of cell or WiFi connection strength.

 

I found that a good recording translates to BT. You can and I have built a high end car system around BT. I forgot the tidal terms. Hifi is lossless and masters is their MQA. Tidal has a lower tier below Hifi.

The bit rate matters but I found 320bps music a bit sloppy with bass notes.
If you have a high resolution track over BT it doesn’t seem to lose as much.

 

I found that a good recording translates to BT. You can and I have built a high end car system around BT. I forgot the tidal terms. Hifi is lossless and masters is their MQA. Tidal has a lower tier below Hifi.

The bit rate matters but I found 320bps music a bit sloppy with bass notes.
If you have a high resolution track over BT it doesn’t seem to lose as much.

HiFi = 1411kbps (aka: CD quality)

Master = 9216kbps

Of the different codecs available for Bluetooth 5.2, LDAC supports the highest bit rate at 990kbps. Everything else is below that, some might have higher resolution (LDAC is 16-bit). The worst is probably anyone using an Apple product to stream to AAOS, since AAC (Apple's codec) is limited to 320kbps. They make up with that by retaining 24-bit resolution and some fancy processing IF the receiving audio piece (headphones, speaker, car) is also an Apple product. If it's not, like the Polestar, then the resulting quality is 16-bit equivalent.

 

Let's hope PS will support Bluetooth LE:

 

I think there's something wrong with your car - those EQ settings would be completely unlistenable in mine.

 

Agree, his EQ settings are borderline unlistenable for me.

 

I will say that I switched to Tidal and went through the exact same process as you. I don't have my EQ settings off-hand but I think they're pretty similar to @stevelup and his "HK Reference".

My experience was pretty similar. I'd say greater than 99% of my music from Spotify and YouTube Music (I did both) were matched successfully. The only thing that threw me a bit was the "Liked" songs getting dumped into "Tracks" instead of a different playlist, but that was OK and I've gotten used to it now.

As far as the sound quality, my experience so far has been awesome. The Tidal streaming in HiFi mode has been far better than Spotify for the same tracks. I listen to a pretty wide range of stuff and two tracks in particular stood out for me in comparison; Time by Hans Zimmer (from Inception) and The Mugician by Keyon Harrold. Both pretty different tracks but so much better between the two services. Time in particular I could hear more orchestral back-end stuff like people moving and so on... much clearer and less muddy. Having watched Keyon perform The Mugician live a couple of times, the quality of the Tidal version of his song got me much closer to that in-person experience. Again, I could hear the occasional click of valves on his trumpet and there was a richness in the bass that is just missing from the Spotify version of the same song. And yes, I have high quality streaming turned on in Spotify already.

I haven't noted any problems with no caching of the music yet so it remains to be seen how that pans out. But generally I'm really happy with this switch to Tidal.

Am I ready to dump Spotify? Yeah, pretty much. Even long before the current tempest in a teacup with Joe Rogan I was already considering a move away from Spotify because of the way it treats artists and the crappy sound quality. This recent thing just reminded me I needed to try out Tidal and this so far has been a great experience.

I do note that so far the Tidal app seems to lack the ability to create a generated playlist from a currently playing song. I used that feature a lot to discover new music so if anyone knows how to do it in the AAOS app please let me know?

 

I was also thrown by the "liked" songs being dumped into "tracks" rather than a playlist.

Also funny that I too use Zimmer's "Time" as a benchmark song.

 

Tidal is the best sounding streaming app I have ever used in the PS2. I was disappointed with the sound system with Spotify and went to Tidal in the car. I do pay for the Hifi. I think this is a huge difference maker. The bass is rich and not a thud. The voices are so clear.

 

Tidal is excellent and I used it for 5+ years until I switched to Apple Music last summer when it started lossless. I just prefer it more than Tidal for less money.

 

That's a different system in a different car... The fact that they both have a nine band eq is where the similarities end!

Honestly, my car sounds utterly horrific with your settings - as would most others. You and a small number of other people have an issue where there's a massive lack of low frequency energy, and your settings are compensating for that.

I promise you, I'm not making this up, your settings genuinely are totally unusable in my car, and it very much sounds like mine are unusable in yours. So there's clearly some inconsistency there - either hardware or software.

 

I wasn't saying they were the same car, simply that your settings go against general convention AND against what has been used in a 'similar' system (including the HK system), and what's used by XC40 owners. These are all HK developed systems for Volvo based cars, using the same suppliers. It would be odd to have the results be this drastically different.

And again, sitting in my other car with that similar system, from within the HK family, and recreating as similar a listening experience as the P2 system can support...the result is the settings I have.

I don't deny you, or others, are experiencing what you are. But I'd chalk that up to a potential hardware or software issue, which isn't really that far out of the realm of possibility with Polestar, is it?

Or again, maybe it's that you like more of a "pop" or vocal forward sound. 😝

 

While waiting for something, I plugged in your settings again. My wife, who is not an audiophile, and didn't know what I was doing or why, looked at me and asked "why'd you change it to that, it sounds tinny".

 

Which in my opinion indicates something is not quite right in your car. The neutral (flat) setting should be fine, especially with the Dirac tune. The other settings are for taste. If it needs such extremes than I think either taste is extreme (doesn't sound like it is) or something is not quite right with the car. I couldn't listen to it with sub and bass and low frequencies up to such an extreme.

Granted it is hard for me to change between systems, especially as my daughter makes is a dj/producer and masters to neutral, but bass to such an extreme would be unlistenable with a good master.

 

I also suspect there might be difference in the eq reponse depending on which «sound experience» is selected. In my car I would guess +/- ~3db at each band is the most I can get. I would like to have an old fasion fader instead of the «sound experience» setting. (Also 3’rd party plugins like BBE or similar might perhaps help getting better sound on low volume).
I use Spotify, Tidal and AudioWagon and think the sound quality is plenty good enough for listening in a car, but Premium? - No.

 

Actually - I am not sure that the "Tone and equalizer" works at all in my car. Extremely little response and I am not able to detect the difference when the tone and equalizer setting is changed. Perhaps Spotify - that I tested this with today - is bypassing the "Tone and equalizer" processing stage?
It sounds like the setting is neutral (flat) no matter what I do.
Lucky for me that setting sounds just fine I might add.

Edit:
Have just retested using AudioWagon and a known good sounding track. Sub., Bass and Treble sliders responds as expected but the EQ. section does not respond.

 

Try using the 'reset' button at the bottom of the EQ screen.

 

I have tried the reset and that didnˋt change anything. As I regulary use professional sound equipment such as digital mixing consoles I was expecting similar real-time response in the car. I was kind of hoping that there is something dead simple I have missed since the EQ does not respond.

 

The EQ is powerful and responds instantly, so you've got a problem.

Maybe try an infotainment reset? Press and hold the home button at the bottom of the tablet until the screen goes completely blank (hold it beyond the 'screen cleaning' mode).

 

Have tried infotainment reset (not because of this issue though), so if the EQ is supposed to be very responsive there is something wrong for sure.
Has anybody seen a block diagram showing the HK sound system and the connection to the infotainment?
For example, the following would be interresting to know:
Is the DAC located in the HK-part?
Are the EQ and Surround processing utilized as SW plugins in the infotainment or are they implemented as firmware in the HK system?
Is there any difference in the 2021 vs 2022 issues of the car?

 

It does not automatically restart when re-entering the car if it's been more than a minute or two. Tidal doesn't seem to cache any of it's music locally, like Spotify does. So Spotify wins in that regard

Great review!

I’ve just been trying Tidal which I like very much on other devices. The fact it doesn’t resume is frustrating to the point I find it nearly unusable. Is Spotify doing that? I wasn’t clear from your description? I won’t be using Spotify but I was trying to understand if it’s a general restriction. It’s fine on YouTube Music of course.

 

Spotify restarts the second your butt hits the seat. I really like that about it!

 

Interesting, so it’s not some mad limitation of AAOS. Presumably Tidal will fix it as it’s quite annoying.

 

Is Tidal able to resume now?

 

Anyone try Tidal app versus Tidal BT streaming to the car? Can you tell the difference?

 

Only briefly, but tidal over Bluetooth sounded absolutely crushed compared to direct

 

No complaints using Lossless Apple Music by BT to the car. It's clear enough for car applications.

And YES, I can tell the difference if I streamed the same tracks in lower resolutions.

 

I also like Tidal. However, after the latest update, sometimes you have to wait a long time to open your saved playlists. Is it just me or is this a problem?