Using Tidal Connect on a raspberry pi without Volumio (2024)

Dear fellow forum members,

I'd like to use Tidal Connect on my raspberry pi's. However, I strongly dislike repeated payments. Therefore, I don't want to wish Volumio.
A lifetime fee would be no issue, but that is not possible at the moment.

Anyone know of a free or one-time payment way to get Tidal Connect on a RP4?

Hi @Geertidow,

Take a look at PiCorePlayer: https://www.picoreplayer.org/
It is free to download and use and supports Tidal Connect via Logitech Media Server and Squeezebox: https://www.picoreplayer.org/landingzone_features.html#streaming

Edit: here's a nice summary: https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?p=2068055&sid=0949a163f3312378459edad593a74ae4#p2068055

I thoughr it did not support tidal connect, only tidal through lms. Key is using the native function.

Edit: I had picoreplayer and never discovered tidal connect on it. Furthermore spotify connect stopped working properly recently.

Geertidow said:

Dear fellow forum members,

I'd like to use Tidal Connect on my raspberry pi's. However, I strongly dislike repeated payments. Therefore, I don't want to wish Volumio.
A lifetime fee would be no issue, but that is not possible at the moment.

Anyone know of a free or one-time payment way to get Tidal Connect on a RP4?

Click to expand...

See Also

Volumio to support Tidal ConnectBest OS/server to stream Tidal/Qobuz via Raspberry PI

It is very simple.
HifiBerryOS: https://www.hifiberry.com/hifiberryos/ + https://github.com/TonyTromp/tidal-connect-docker
Works flawlessly.

Working flawless is... not something I'd say. Initially it worked well with Moode, but newer versions broke it. Especially with the DAC hat I use. In the end I needed to get help by a linux wizard to get it to run properly, and it's still not entirely flawless. Also, Tidal can (and does) at any point break compatibility with newer versions of the Tidal app. In that case you'll need to acquire and replace a certain file on the Pi.

I believe Tidal charges for the priviledge of offering Tidal Connect, thus there won't be a free option.

To be honest... get a Wiim mini. It's pretty affordable and just works. A Pi with a decent DAC hat and case etc. will cost a similar amount and give you a ton of grey hair.

kadajawi said:

Working flawless is... not something I'd say. Initially it worked well with Moode, but newer versions broke it. Especially with the DAC hat I use. In the end I needed to get help by a linux wizard to get it to run properly, and it's still not entirely flawless. Also, Tidal can (and does) at any point break compatibility with newer versions of the Tidal app. In that case you'll need to acquire and replace a certain file on the Pi.

I believe Tidal charges for the priviledge of offering Tidal Connect, thus there won't be a free option.

To be honest... get a Wiim mini. It's pretty affordable and just works. A Pi with a decent DAC hat and case etc. will cost a similar amount and give you a ton of grey hair.

Click to expand...

In the NL there are lots of 2nd hand Bluesound Node's. I bought one and will scrub off the sticky layer (white version). Approximately the same price as a Wiim mini.
As much as I'd love to keep Moode, Tidal connect is important to mee. From what I read, flawless is not the right word for HifiBerry and Tidal Connect.
I listen to a lot of music so I really like it when it just works.

EDIT: and I'm just not the kind of guy for a paid subscription.

mice said:

It is very simple.
HifiBerryOS: https://www.hifiberry.com/hifiberryos/ + https://github.com/TonyTromp/tidal-connect-docker
Works flawlessly.

Click to expand...

Like I said, using a binary ripped from another player's firmware image (iFi Zen Stream). This one does appear nicely packaged though, which is more than I can say for some of the others I've seen using it.

kadajawi said:

Working flawless is... not something I'd say.

Click to expand...

Hmm... maybe you're having trouble installing and configuring it correctly? Because I can confirm once again - here and now it works for me without any problems! (RPi 3 and Digi+ Pro with System Software 20230404)

WiiM idea seems good. But are you sure it's not "messing" with your network in a way you wouldn't want? It's so damn cheap...
And when it comes to Pi and HiFi BerryOS - I know what I have!

HarmonicTHD said:

Doesn’t MOODE (free) work with Tidal?

Click to expand...

No, AFAIK moOde doesn't have a Tidal-connect layer.

mice said:

WiiM idea seems good. But are you sure it's not "messing" with your network in a way you wouldn't want? It's so damn cheap...
And when it comes to Pi and HiFi BerryOS - I know what I have!

Click to expand...

But you don't know what's in the binaries taken from iFi's firmware.

somebodyelse said:

you don't know what's in the binaries taken from iFi's firmware

Click to expand...

I neither confirm nor deny...

mice said:

Hmm... maybe you're having trouble installing and configuring it correctly? Because I can confirm once again - here and now it works for me without any problems! (RPi 3 and Digi+ Pro with System Software 20230404)

WiiM idea seems good. But are you sure it's not "messing" with your network in a way you wouldn't want? It's so damn cheap...
And when it comes to Pi and HiFi BerryOS - I know what I have!

Click to expand...

Can you use HifiBerry with a NAS (SMB)?

Geertidow said:

Can you use HifiBerry with a NAS (SMB)?

Click to expand...

Yes - as in the attached picture.