Which one do you prefer?

I am seeing plenty of mixed opinions about both Spotify and Tidal. Some are saying Spotify is the best, others say it’s bloated, others think it’s annoying it’s also an app for podcasts. Some people really like Tidal, but I have mostly seen negative opinions about it - worse song recommendations, no difference in audio, too expensive.

As someone who doesn’t care very much for song recommendations I can’t decide which one is ideal for me personally. Tidal seems to pay artists better, but the criticism it receives makes me unsure. What do y’all think?

  • russjr08@outpost.zeuslink.net
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    1 year ago

    What is the bitrate for the “High” (Not HiFi/FLAC) quality version? I had heard it was 320, so the same as Spotify. Unfortunately when I tried Tidal a couple of weeks ago, most of the music I listen to only goes up to “High”.

    Though not that I have top of the line headphones to make a difference anyways, I’m sure.

    • hedgehog@ttrpg.network
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      1 year ago

      “High” is Lossless - 16-bit, 44.1 kHz (aka CD Quality). It used to be called “HiFi.”

      “Low” has two options (for me at least): 96 or 320 kbps (AAC).

      “Max” is HiRes and MQA.

      HiRes is anything better than High, up to 24-bit / 192 kHz. Some (many?) HiRes songs are 24-bit / 44.1 kHz.

      MQA is older and worse than HiRes and I don’t recall hearing good things about it.

    • TheWildTangler@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Tidal’s entire library should be lossless unless you’re on the free ad tier. But the high quality should be 320? I don’t have a subscription anymore