I'm on the HiFi Plus tier and I can't help but notice that even when I'm listening to music with my Bluetooth earbuds, the music still sounds better than Spotify whenever I do a side by side comparison.
I know many will say it's placebo but no, this is real. Spotify sounds very muddy in comparison to Tidal's HiFi and Master tracks.
Videos
Is Tidal actually better than Spotify?
Whether Tidal is “better” than Spotify depends on individual preferences. Tidal offers hi-fi and master-quality sound, which may appeal to audiophiles or those who prioritize sound quality. Spotify, on the other hand, has a vast music library and is well-known for its curated playlists and discovery features. So, if sound quality is a priority, Tidal might be viewed as better, but for playlist variety and discovery, Spotify has its strengths.
Is TIDAL louder than Spotify?
Both streaming services utilize loudness normalization, so music shouldn’t sound much louder on one versus the other.
Does Tidal sound better than Spotify Bluetooth?
Tidal’s hi-fi and master quality tracks offer better sound quality compared to Spotify’s standard streaming. However, when streaming over Bluetooth, there can be a limitation based on Bluetooth’s bandwidth. This means that the advantages of Tidal’s hi-fi and master quality might be somewhat diminished. But for devices or setups that support higher-quality Bluetooth codecs (like aptX HD or LDAC), the difference might be noticeable.
So today I found out that Tidal had an offer for the Tidal HiFi. 1,99€ for 4 months, that's preatty goooood I thought. So here I am trying to listen in an AB test with my (entrylevel??) setup. Topping E30-L30 stack and HiFiman HE400i 2002 ver.
I setted up everything on Tidal, Master quality streaming, Exclusive Mode on, Force Volume on, Passthrough MQA off.
After more then 1 hour of test I still couldn't hear a difference on different tracks
Everybody hurts - R.E.M.
A Rainy night in Soho - The Pogues
Time (2011 Remastered Version) - Pink Floyd
Some newer italian music and some HiFi (Chris Jones, Michael Jackson and others)
So I would like to hear your thoughts, what was your experience upon changing from Spotify (or others) to Tidal for the quality prospective? At what level you can hear a difference between the two?
Sorry for any typo or grammatical error, English is not my primary languange.
Thanks and ppppeace! ✌️
It's very rare for people to be able to hear the difference between 320kbps (the highest available bitrate for spotify) and lossless. Also the E30 and L30 are extremely competent devices. I'd say your experience is basically what almost everyone will experience with the two services. It really kind of ends up coming down to catalog selection and user interface more than anything I think. I'm afraid spotify's killer feature though is that all your friends use it so if you send them a spotify link they'll easily be able to use it. If you send them a tidal link they're gonna be like "TF is this, bro?"
I had a month of Tidal HiFi, literally could not tell the difference between spotify and it so I'm back to spotify since it's good than enough. I still do prefer to have an offline library though, mine consists of mostly around 800-1200kbps flac and 320kbps mp3.
Hi all,
I always used to listen to music on Spotify via Bluetooth. Now I subscribed to Tidal to stream natively via HEOS in the AVR looking for a (not substantial, but at least noticeable) improvement in sound quality, but I really can't tell the difference between the two.
I don't know if my equipment is not enough to get the most out of the lossless nature of Tidal, if my hearing is not helping or if in reality there shouldn't be much difference, if at all.
What are your thoughts? Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong?
Equipment:
Monitor Audio Bronze 2 RSL Speedwoofer 10S MKii Denon AVR X1600H Decently treated living room (not ultra dedicated home theater/listening room but not boomy room either)
TLDR: I can't tell the difference between Tidal on max streaming quality via the HEOS app and Spotify via Bluetooth.
Do you hear that Tidal (Hifi) has better music stream quality (higher bit rate) than Spotify (Premium) and can you give an example song?
I recently started using Tidal, and there's a real difference. It's subtle in some songs, but basically, I feel like I'm in the studio listening to the musicians. You can tell the sound is being reproduced in a different environment, not just generically reproduced. Spotify doesn't give me that feeling anymore; it seems like the sounds aren't well-isolated. It's almost like the instruments overflow and invade each other's space. But like I said, in some other songs I don't get that feeling at all, and you have to pay close attention.