How to Connect Tidal to Roon with Max Quality Online/Offline

Part 1. Why Use Roon with Tidal?

Roon doesn't directly change the sound quality of Tidal streams, it offers several features that can improve your overall experience, which may give the impression that Tidal sounds better. Here's how Roon enhances your Tidal experience:

Advanced DSP & EQ Control: Roon's Muse audio engine equips you with professional-grade Digital Signal Processing (DSP) tools, including parametric EQ, crossfeed, and room correction. This allows you to fine-tune Tidal's library to your exact preferences, optimizing playback to match your room's acoustics or your headphones' unique sound signature.

Superior Stream Transport (RAAT): Unlike standard protocols like AirPlay or Chromecast, Roon uses its proprietary RAAT (Roon Advanced Audio Transport) to handle high-resolution Tidal streams. This ensures bit-perfect and timing-corrected delivery to your DAC, maximizing the potential of your high-fidelity system and resulting in a "blacker background" with superior instrument separation.

Better Integration with High-End Audio Gear: Roon works seamlessly with high-end audio equipment, including DACs and streamers. It provides better control over the way music is played through these devices, potentially improving the overall sound quality when paired with high-end gear. Also, it can adjust the signal path automatically to prevent clipping or format errors.

UpSampling & Filtering: Roon can up-sample lower-resolution tracks to higher bit depths and sample rates, which may give the music a more refined and smoother sound. For example, it allows you to up-sample standard 44.1kHz Tidal music tracks to DSD512 or PCM 768kHz before they hit your DAC. Many users have found that doing so provides a smoother and more 'analog' sound quality.

FYI: Roon Sound quality

Part 2. How to Connect Tidal to Roon Online

The Roon Tidal integration allows you to not only browse and add Tidal albums to the Roon library but also set the streaming quality for Tidal content within Roon. Now, let's take a look at the official way of using Roon with Tidal and enabling Tidal Max on Roon.

Tip: This method requires an active Tidal subscription.

View also: How to Get Tidal Free Trial

Step 1. Sign up for Roon at roonlabs.com if you are a new user.

Step 2. Download and install the Roon app for your Mac or Windows computer.

Step 3. Open the Roon app on your computer.

Step 4. Click the 'Menu' icon at the top left of the Roon window. Then select 'Settings' and choose the 'Services' option.

Step 5. Click on 'Login' to link your Tidal account to Roon. If this is your first time using Roon with Tidal, you will need to add your Tidal account.

Step 6. Now, you can tap the Edit icon next to Tidal and set the streaming quality to Max in the Streaming Quality section for your Tidal content.

Step 7. Finally, click the 'Done' button to finish.

Step 8. Navigate to the 'Browse' section in Roon, tap the Tidal app to explore your music library.

Step 9. Now, click any track and hit the 'Play Now' option, then you will listen to Tidal music on Roon at up to 24-bit/192kHz.

Tips: How to Check Tidal Max Streaming Quality in Roon

After connecting Tidal to Roon and starting streaming music, you may want to verify whether you are getting 'Bit-Perfect' audio or not. No worries. Roon offers a feature called Signal Path, which is a small and colored indicator light at the bottom of the playback bar. Now, let's learn how to read it for Tidal Max while playing a track.

1. Purple Light (Lossless): This is the gold standard and is also your goal. This means that FLAC files are streamed directly from Tidal to your DAC without any modifications.

2. Green Light (High Quality): This usually means that Roon is performing a software conversion, or that your operating system mixer is interfering. The sound quality is good, but not perfect.

3. Blue Light (Enhanced): This usually means that you have enabled DSP functions (such as equalizer or Volume Leveling). If you need to use the DSP function, that's fine. But if you want a clean audio stream, you need to turn it off.

Part 3. Troubleshooting Tidal and Roon Common Issues

In some instances, users may encounter issues with Tidal not working properly within Roon. Common problems include playback issues, connectivity errors, and Roon Tidal login failed. If you experience such issues, here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try.

Basic Solutions

Update Roon Core and Tidal App: Make sure your Roon Core and Tidal app are updated to the latest version before starting.

Reboot Everything: Try to restart your Roon Core, your router and your audio device.

Check Firewalls: Ensure your firewall or antivirus is not blocking Roon.exe or RAATServer.exe, as Roon requires unlimited access to your local network.

If the basic fixes don't work, check the issues and advanced solutions below.

Issue 1: Roon Skips Tidal Tracks

Fix: Head to your Router settings (or your Roon Core's network settings). Then change the DNS server from your ISP's default to Google (8.8.8.8) or Cloudflare (1.1.1.1).

Issue 2: Tidal Playlist Not Showing/Not Syncing to Roon

Fix 1: Enable 'Sync Library Now'

Go to Roon's Settings > Services and tap the Edit icon next to Tidal. Later, click the 'Sync Library Now' option to force Roon to update the library instantly.

Fix 2. Clear Cache

In Roon's Settings, go to the "Setup" tab and click on "Clear Image Cache" and "Clear Roon Cache".

Issue 3: Can't See Tidal Max in Roon's Signal Path

First, make sure that you have changed the streaming quality to Max for Tidal in Roon by following the steps in Part 2. If it is ok, try the solutions below:

Fix 1: Check Your Roon Build Number

Ensure your Roon Core is updated to at least Roon 2.0 (Build 1365), which officially added Tidal Max support. Please go to Roon's Settings > About to check if your Core is updated or not.

Fix 2: Log out and Log Back in to Tidal

Go to Roon's Settings > Services > Tidal > Edit > Logout to sign out of your Tidal account. Later, log in again to see if the issue is fixed.

Fix 3. Check Your Device Setup

If you see 'Max' in settings but your Signal Path still shows 'MQA' or 'High Quality' (Green light) instead of 'Lossless' (Purple light), you can try below:

Go to Roon's Settings > Audio, then tap the gear icon next to your DAC and click Device Setup. Later, set MQA Capabilities to 'No MQA Support'. In this case, Roon will stream Tidal HiRes FLAC music primarily instead of the outdated MQA music.

Part 4. How to Stream Tidal on Roon Offline

Roon ARC requires a strong and stable connection to your Core for music listening. If you want to play Tidal music on Roon offline, you need to get local Tidal music files offline and add them to Roon for playback. To do that, you can use a third-party tool like AudFree Tidal Music Converter. This AudFree streaming music converter allows Tidal subscribers to download and convert Tidal tracks to formats compatible with Roon. It also can batch convert playlists, albums and other content with high quality and original ID3 tags kept.

Tidal Music Format	Encrypted FLAC/AAC
Roon Supports	WAV, WAV64, MP3, AAC, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, DFF, DSF, OGG
AudFree Tidable Can Convert To	MP3, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, M4B, M4A, Lossless

With AudFree Tidal Converter, you are able to customize other audio parameters, such as bit rate, sample rate, etc., according to your special needs. After conversion, you can save the Tidal music as local audio files on your computer and transfer them to Roon. Then Roon will index them and analyze them for ReplayGain. Finally, you can access Tidal through Roon without Core, even without logging in to your Tidal account.

How to Convert Tidal Music for Roon

Before trying AudFree Tidal Converter, please install it on your PC first. You can download and install it by clicking the 'Download' button above. After that, you can follow the steps below to start converting Tidal audio for Roon.

Step 1Add Tidal music tracks to AudFree program

Please locate the AudFree Tidal Music Converter on your computer desktop and open it. Then log in to your Tidal account and discover your favorite audio tracks within the built-in Tidal web player. Once you find a track, please open it, click on the '+' icon and tap the 'Add to list' button to import files.

Step 2Define Tidal audio output format for Roon

In this step, you can set the output audio format for Tidal music tracks. If you are using a Mac computer, please find and click on AudFree Tidal Music Converter in your Mac system menu. Next, select 'Preferences...' > 'Conversion' to open the settings window. Here, you are allowed to define the audio format for Tidal to FLAC, MP3, AIFF or others you want. In addition, you can also personalize the bit rate, sample rate and channel for Tidal on Roon.

Step 3Convert Tidal music for Roon

After the settings, it is time to convert Tidal music. Please click on the 'Convert' button at the bottom-right corner of the 'Converting' window. Then the program will start to convert Tidal audio files. When the conversion is finished, the converted Tidal music files will be stored on your computer. You can click on the 'Converted' tab to check them on your computer and listen to Tidal offline on all devices.

Video GuideDownload Music from Tidal for Roon

Watch the video below to learn how to download music from Tidal for Roon on computers step by step.

How to Add Tidal Music to Roon Library

Now, you have easily downloaded and converted Tidal music offline as local files on your computer. Next, you can transfer them to Roon for offline listening. Below we are going to show 2 methods on how to import and use Roon with Tidal offline.

Method 1. Copy Tidal Music to Roon

Open the Roon app on your computer. Then, drag and drop the converted Tidal audio files from your computer to Roon's main window. Next, press 'Yes, Copy!' to finish.

Method 2. Import Tidal Audio to Roon from Local Folder

Step 1. Open the Roon app on your PC.

Step 2. Go to the 'Settings' on the left side of Roon and choose the 'Storage' option.

Step 3. Hit on the 'Add Folder' button in the 'Folders' section.

Step 4. Choose the 'Music' folder in the 'Choose Music Storage Folder' dialog. And then hit on the 'Select This Folder' button.

Step 5. At the 'Add Storage Location' dialog, you can browse the music folder that you keep Tidal music. Then, click on the 'Add' button to confirm it.

Step 6. After the steps above, you can listen to music from Tidal on Roon offline without any limitation.

Part 5. FAQs about Tidal on Roon

Is Tidal FLAC 'Max' Better than MQA on Roon?

Yes. Tidal Max uses a bit-perfect and 100% lossless HiRes FLAC format, which gives Roon users a true lossless signal path without requiring dedicated hardware. MQA was technically 'lossy', as it used a complex compression method to 'fold' the file. And it required a specific 'MQA-certified' DAC to get full quality.

View also: How to Download Tidal HiRes FLAC Music

Tidal Connect vs Roon, Which Sounds Better?

Technically, they offer identical quality, but Tidal Connect often sounds "punchier" simply because it plays louder by default. Roon is generally preferred for critical listening on high-end systems, as its specialized transport technology (RAAT) prioritizes a cleaner, smoother background over raw loudness.

Is Qobuz Better than Tidal for Roon Users?

It depends on your needs. Now, Tidal uses FLAC, which closed the sound quality gap. So, the audio quality from Tidal and Qobuz are virtually identical on Roon. If you prefer music discovery, Tidal is your best choice. If you are a classical music addict, choose Qobuz.

View also: Tidal vs Qobuz

Part 6. In Conclusion

With seamless Roon Tidal integration and Tidal Max, you can stream Tidal on Roon online with HiRes quality. However, if you want to play Tidal music on Roon offline, we suggest you export tracks from Tidal and then upload them to Roon. In this way, AudFree Tidal Music Downloader is a necessary software. Try to download and use it to make your listening experience easier.