Tidal Hi-Fi or Hi-Fi Plus? It's an EASY choice
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- Опубліковано 25 січ 2024
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🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss
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NAD M66
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Podcast: 10 hi-fi myths, as busted by Peter Comeau
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Tidal forks MQA
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Tidal adopts FLAC, forks MQA (again)
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**CORRECTION** The Tidal Hifi and Hifi Plus pricing mentioned in this video isn't German 🇩🇪. It's Portuguese 🇵🇹.
In Austria Hifi is 47% more expensive. 🤔
Why does Tidal offer different prices for exactly the same services in different EU countries? I pay €19.99/month for HiFi+ in Ireland, which is the same as in Germany, France, etc. The level of tax applied is the same in Portugal as Ireland. There are no physical, i.e. people elements in the delivery of the services in the other regions, so why different. This breaks the EU rules.
So you take the Portuguese prices for HiFi+ as at €13.99/month you are getting it cheaper then nearly anywhere else.
Hifi plus is £19.99 in the UK no real reason for the twice as expensive as Portugal's price that I can see any ideas?
I still don't get why everyone is allergic to Amazon music HD. Why am I the dumb one?
In Spain is also HiFi: 10,99€ and HiFi Plus: 19,99€ 😳
I tried Tidal along with Qobuz, Spotify and Amazon music along with Apple Music. I Chose Qobuz. It had the best combination of sound quality, selection, price and ease of use IMO. Thanks for the video. Peace, love and music!
my easy choice is Qobuz ❤, great sound, great interface 🇳🇱
You hit the nail on the head. I find that it's the master they use that makes much more noticeable difference to the quality of reproduction. When there is the opportunity to stream the original 16bit or the hi-res "remaster," a lot of the time I find the 16bit version to be miuch more dynamic which is what I much prefer. I am glad I bought my CD's years ago before all this remastering, brick wall limiting and compression took place. This is where, in my opinion, streaming services fall down. You can in most cases, only stream the version that is currently allowed by the record label. Whilst they can claim to remaster in hi-res, there is nothing hi-res about a recording that has been butchered for the sake of making it as loud as can be.
Another thing that has been highlighted by "Wings Of Pegasus" channel on UA-cam, they are now taking it upon themselves to autotune the vocals when they remaster, which is a total tragedy. So you're not even hearing the singers natural voice anymore. When will this madness end?
For some people having surround systems at home, there's also Dolby Atmos, which you get in the Plus tier. Yes, I know. Lossy. But trust me, a lot of people new in the hobby who have Atmos systems at home whose stereo resolve isn't the most convincing, will get a thrill out of those Armos tracks. In my view, that counts for something.
Tidal has been the best for me at discovering new music.
Spotify feels like I'm paying to be bombarded with ads of whatever music has released and has paid Spotify.
ive never had a ad in 5 years
This video seems to be about selling Tidal, not about which streaming platform offers the best sound quality for your system. That SQ depends on many things (and everyone should mainly trust their own ears...).
I stopped using Tidal last year because Qobuz's sound quality is better IMO. Who wants to use Tidal Connect at home or outside when you have Roon and Roon ARC? Roon radio also does well with Qobuz and Qobuz offers 100 million songs in 100% CD quality. They even have 240,000 albums in high resolution. For some gaps in their catalog I use Spotify or my CD collection.
I’d like to point out, at least in UK the Tidal app on Fire TV, Android TV and the Samsung TV app are NOT restricted to videos only. All your audio and video stuff is there under My Collection and the audio only content is also available either by search or by scrolling further down the Home Screen.
As a long time Tidal user and Roon user I have to say I’m now using Tidal connect 90% of the time. It is just so convenient. Auto scrolling lyrics on your iOS device while Tidal connect plays via your hifi is a neat feature.
Finally I’ll add that Tidal does eventually learn your listening preferences and the resulting custom mixes and recommendations are now great.
I'm an audiophile, apart from DJ and music producer and I've been using Tidal HiFi Plus for almost 4 years, definitely recommend it
I been looking to swap fron youtube music to either Apple music or tidal I don't have any I phone accessories and heard both was good quality music. I don't pay for youtube music so hopefully tidal or apple is better quality if I buy the monthly rate
I compared Spotify, Tidal and Qobuz in my treated room with my all Benchmark Media system and Paradigm signature speakers. Qobuz was so much better, no matter what resolution. Tidal was just all over the place, horrible clipping and distortion. Spotify sounded the radio in my car. I couldn't care less about what apps they offer if a service sounds bad.
Same here. Ditched Tidal after finding out at a demo that Qobuz offers a more natural sounding quality. In my room Qobuz (and Roon) sometimes even matches the SQ of my cd’s (using Hegel amp+cd and Dynaudio Confidence setup).
Tidal sounds awesome. To top it off Tidal gives 50% discount to military active duty and veterans. Approx. $12US. Great deal!
Veterans discount will keep me at Tidal for HiFi Plus.
Totally agree with your thoughts and the lack of value of Hi-Fi Plus.
I tried a couple of times to switch back to Spotify, but my ears advised me to come back to Tidal. Believe it or not, it's like night and day. Obviously it depends on the quality of your gears also.
Really really good stuff , expertly presented ..What Darko a star you are 👍🥂
Thanks John, a very helpful video; I've decided to step down to HiFi after seeing this. A saving almost as large as my annual Roon subscription.
Great video thanks Darko!
For me Tidal Hi-Fi is all I need. I use it to try out new (to me) music, and if I like it I buy it on CD. Problem with any streaming service, is that they often only have the latest re-mastered albums on there. In a lot of cases Remastered = Louder and Harsher, so I prefer the original mastered versions on CD. Also, if some artist has a row with the record company or streaming service, my music collection isn't going to disappear overnight.
I'm not normally a fan of algorithms but those suggesting similar music to the one currently playing have introduced me to some wonderful new music. I don't know how the Roon algorithm compares but Tidal's New Arrivals, Daily Discovery and suggested new tracks (along with of course some great suggestions from one notable YT reviewer who introduced me to Alva Noto) have in the electronic music area introduced me to Craven Faults from Yorkshire, Föllakzoid from Chile and Svaneborg Kardyb from Denmark just in the last week.
I changed last month from spotify to Qobuz...AMAZING!!!
I was not sure, what to choose...Tidal/Qobuz.
After some reviews I choose Qobuz, because it gots all I need and it got a clear communication in a each song, if I hear "CD" or "HiRes" quality.
The main sell for Tidal HiFi Plus is Dolby Atmos Music, that’s how they got me. This may sound sacrilege but I’m fully embracing surround sound
Had Tidal for a while and when I started getting into hi-res audio I upgraded to the max package and have NOT regretted it one moment. I listen to it via a WiiM Mini hooked up via toslink to a Fosi DAC. Through my beyterdynamic DT770 Pro cans it sounds out of this world.
It’s even an easier choice now …. Come April 10, in the US at least, Tidal Hifi Plus will be $10.99 … tidal cd quality and hi res will be combined into one price / tier 😂 Spotify HIFI no more
Same for me in the UK too, result!
Got that email from Tidal today so looks like I will only be using Spotify for the algorithm👍
No way! Will this be for everyone? I just signed up for the 60 day trial for $2 for the Hi-Fi. Wooooo well that's great news, I am still keeping my YT music for those unofficial tracks!!!!!
Back when I was a young boy, we got lossless audio in boxes, cd boxes, and it lasted the lifetime of your listening attention. Some would even dare to say the music was better back then👀😲
Tidal hifi plus is great! It has most music in HI-RES.
I’ve been using Tidal almost since its very beginning. It uses full sized flac files now on connect but also retains the MQA
Which there are a lot of haters, I however am not . I like the MQA’s and in some cases even more than the HI-RES flac . Despite the uncalled for hate MQA is the only format that considers the time domain throughout the entire delivery.
I used to have Spotify as well but have long since cancelled it as there was no point paying for something I didn’t use anymore.
Im a hifi plus subscriber , works great with my mola mola tambaqui DAC and also my other devices ... I love it 😊
Thanks John, an interesting analysis and perspective.
Thanks so much John. I was on the Plus plan and I can't stream Hi Res material anyway! Just saved me a bundle! 👍
Excellent breakdown. I am looking forward to the playlist. Those alone are worth joining the Patreon. Thanks
Also consider how you are listening. If you mostly listen on wireless headphones without LDAC codec or similar, you dont really need anything better than mp3 320 kbit
Thanks for that good podcast with Peter👍🙏
Qobuz try you must. Better it is.
The podcast with Peter Comeau was shockingly educational and interesting 🎉 Enjoyed and learned a lot.
Thanks John.
Monsieur Darko you are the boss! Just what I needed to chose vs qobuz finally 👏🏾
Well articulated.
Once you've accounted for the negligible difference in sound quality and limited library, I'm happy to stay a Hifi subscribers.
One thing you didn’t address is whether or not paying for the hi res tier pays the artists more. I love that tidal is somewhat transparent with which artists are receiving the money from me each month. As you’ve noted before $20/month is dirt cheap when you think about what someone paid in the 90s. So if the artist is getting more and I’m getting maybe a few extra streams in high res I think it’s a win win.
If I have to choose between Tidal hifi or + I choose Qobuz
I used tidal for years. I now subscribe to qobus for the following reasons, no bill creap and most importantly it sounds better less compression and more natural sound. Tidal interference and algorithm is superior to qobus but for me the sound will always take priority.
Thanks, your video made them merge both tiers for the price of the cheaper one :D
Excellent video thank you Blue sound Node for sponsoring, I love mine! After watching the question I have is does HIFI allow you to access older versions of albums that have not been remastered or is the access equal between the subscriptions? I agree remasters often suck. I am always disappointed when all I see is remaster versions of my preferred musician on Tidal HIFI plus.. Lastly seeing those Zu Soul 6 in the background warms my heart.
Thanks for this content, saved me some cash! I was on the hifi plus family at $30 and now $17!
I’ve used Tidal Hi-Fi tier for over a year now after I switched from Spotify. And I went for the Hi-Fi tier for the reasons you mentioned in this video.
Thank you for saving me 14€ on my Tidal Family subscription! Great information as always!
I learned about Roon a couple of years ago from this channel. I was already a Tidal subscriber. I LOVE these two together. Roon Radio is the best for the reasons you describe.
Darko, you recommended Tidal years ago and I love it. I use hifi because my system isn’t resolving enough and it works well with Volumio.
Gave up Tidal for Qobuz. Pretty happy and transfer from Qobuz to Apple music for in car play. Roon at home…and vinyl 😊
Thanks John, it helps us to know what we're getting for our money when we're first approaching these platforms. I think they're great for discovery , and to give a little bit to the artist when we play their songs, but my curated collection of music will always be offline and local: I can't abide the arbitrary substitions and deletions that come with the cloud.
I stopped using Tidal for a while now. Back to playing cd's and personal rips. Done with all those terrible remasters which are brickwalled like crazy. Hunting down for OG or repressings of cd's is quite fun
I started with Tidal hi-fi because USB Audio Pro used it. Got a Wiim Pro with Tidal connect as well. It sounds great to me and never felt the need to upgrade. I buy the hi-res or sometimes CD if I find it super cheap used. Some albums I just want to own.
Here's the easiest way to get a Roon-like transition from your mobile phone to your home stereo system without using Roon. You will need a Wiim (Mini, Pro, or Plus) and MConnect on your mobile device. MConnect will play locally on the device, then when you wish to connect to your home system, choose "Play to" and make a UPNP connection to the Wiim and you're done. Very similar to what you're doing with the FiiO. All without the monthly cost for Roon and $1,000 for the FiiO. This only works with Tidal and Qobuz, but since the video was about Tidal, I figured it was worth passing along.
Thank you for this info - very much appreciated
try JPLAY, same concept just more streamlined
the music I listen to was made in the 80s and 90s, cd quality is the best I can get for this. the built in music player in my pixel 8 pro does a wonderful job playing this quality of music.
I suspected as much with HI-FI plus and I thank you for the analysis and answering an on going question I've had with my subscription. With my mid-fi equipment I think I'll downgrade and try the service with CD quality and see if I notice. Thanks!
Thanks. Very helpful. And another vote for a review of the Goldenear speakers.
Thoroughly enjoy the standard hi fi tier with a nice 40% military discount. Sounds wonderful on my vintage gear thru Topping e30 dac. None of the other services offers this discount.
While I struggle for a year and can’t decide for tidal, tidal plus or qobuz, WiiM mini through a descent DAC and Amazon HD do the job for me. This is tidal connect-ish. Somehow to me. Can’t afford roon in money and time, tried trial periods on all mentioned plus apple and Spotify. Didn’t like last both for the Interface, which is almost as important as the sound quality to me. Qobuz is my favorite for the app design or tidal non-plus. Yes, video helped me to exclude one more from my list. Thanks, John!
I'm currently using TIDAL and Qobuz. I like that TIDAL doubles the royalty that it pays the artists over everyone else. I also enjoy the music that TIDAL picks for me when I choose "go to track radio". Occasionally, I've noticed that Qobuz might have an old esoteric album that I want to hear. Occasionally, Qobuz might offer a better version of the recording. But, if I can only choose one, I choose TIDAL.
Yep, easy choice, it's Qobuz Sublime for me.
Great content and many considerations at play.
For me I'm loving Amazon Music's massive collection of native Dolby Atmos- Inxs Kick 30 = wow 👌
I see some GoldenEar speakers behind...can't wait to see them.
Firstly, thank you for the bloopers without ha ing to become a patreon member. Any plans to review the fiio r9? Thanks !
SPIRA by Daniela Pes is a terrific album. Finally some great music from my country, Italy. And not just Italy... Sardegna! (Sardinia) Wonderful and very special land
I use Tidal for classic and new Music. The HIFI only Tidal is my Choice, the reasons are exactly told in the vlog.
Looking forward to NAD m66 review!
I use Tidal for Sony 360 Audio tracks that you can have only on the hi-fi plus tier. I play them on Sony HT A9 and sound impressive.
What’s the tablet you are using? I couldn’t see it listed in the list of equipment used. Nice video by the way. Always enjoy your videos, they are well worth the tens of hours you undoubtedly put in!
Good analysis. I question how the high rez, for example 24/96 and 24/192 are created. Are they simply over sampled or somehow rezzed up from the cd base quality? What information exists to know this ? How much normalization is applied?
Ooh, Whipping Boy *AND* Secret Machines? Ah yes, a man of class...
Swerve-ball question @DarkoAudio, I'd love to know which Andy Weatherall w/ Daniel Avery Soundcloud mix that was? Artwork suggests from 'A Love From Outer Space' club night. Thanks in advance.
Pet Shop Boys 🤩. A man after my own heart.
I fully agree with you with your 3 points on tidal and also regarding the hifi plus I also think its not worth the money for just few hires flac files which is a very small percent. I also use Qobuz only under Roon. It has more hires files than tidal.
I don't suppose you have a source for the number of hi-res files on Qobuz? I think many of us would like to see that. 🙂
No unfortunately I don’t but I converted a tidal playlist to a Qobuz playlist and many songs after being converted into Qobuz were in hires. When I looked at the same playlist with hifi plus subscription that particular playlist had very few hires files In tidal. I don’t know may be it was due to a transition time from mqa to hires
I noticed an NAD M66 in the background. Is there a review of that coming soon?
After 40 years of re-purchasing my favorite music about every 10 years from (70 Vinyl), (80 tapes), (90 CD), (00 MP3) I am NOT going to buy my music (yet again) in Hi-Res format! Fool me (4) times...that's enough.
I love streaming music services, am perfectly happy with CD quality audio so I'll pay for that rate, but that collection of CDs will stay with me for at least it is actually mine!
What's on a streaming service can be taken off the service just like that and disappear, tough luck on you.
So hang on to your collection!
Great video and timely. I’m a Qobuz user, but recently relaunched Tidal plus, because I want to download songs and I heard Tidal can bypass the Android limitations. I use a Sony Xperia 1 V with a Cayin RU7.
When I launch Tidal and choose a Hi-res file. No matter what Hi-res file I choose The RU7 says the file is playing at 384khz. obviously, not all hi-res files play at 384khz.
Have you seen this before? Can I tell if Tidal USB driver is engaged? Perhaps Tidal driver is not compatible with Cayin RU7?
USB Audio pro shows the correct rate, but no offline. Thoughts?
I went for Qobuz. It's European, no MQA. cheaper than Tidal in the Netherlands. Qobuz is slowly getting better. Recently added song radio and recommendations are getting better. Qobuz will come with a connect function eventually. You didn't mention Amazon.
Good info. Especially on Tidal connect. I've used Apple Music a lot in the past but had tidal previously and really enjoyed it. I do wonder if it really matters cd vs master when using an iPhone or Bluetooth codes ? Also, Tidal plays nice with PLEX which is another reason I've thought about throwing my money back its way. I do wish Tidal offered an a yearly subscription vs monthly which apple does and saves you a few dollars per year.
Thanks for your observations very good to know! I have the WiiM pro using optical into Denafrips Ares12. I have to admit I now enjoy the music equally no matter the source, vinyl or CD, or Amazon music. The question is will the WiiM pro scale if I went to a Pontus12 or even a Terminator? Have you ever tried the WiiM pro with the Mola Mola DAC, I think you have one? Is it possible the WiiM scales with an uber high performance DAC? Could be a great episode, gather 3 or 4 cheap streamers you probably have available and try them with an Uber DAC. Thanks for sharing and what you do!
Looks like a Fiio R9 tease!
The main reason why i subscribed Tidal (instead of its competitors) is it is the streaming platform that pays artists the best/ most.
but tidal only has 11% of the digital market. In the end, the one that pays the most is Spotify, which is why it reaches close to 60% of the digital public. You earn more money because there are more people.
@@RitmoMusiquero i don't mean globally of course. of course if you have more customers, in the global scheme you pay more. (and earn much more also) i mean per stream. big artists earn more because they get a big part of the cake without even being listened to. of course that part of the cake comes at the cost of smaller artists that earn less and less. spotify is the worst in this context. of course the app itself, layout, algorythm etc. is a completely different story.
Noticed the Goldenear T66 in the B-roll. Is there a review in the works?
Whipping Boy's Heartworm ❤
rhythm & Sound!!! 🎧🎶🎧🎶😍
I mainly listen to streaming with headphones (and vinyl in my stereo system). I feel a significant improvement with high res audio. That being said I use Tidal Hi-Fi but for a completely different reason: Tidal doesn't work in high res trough Roon. For that reason I also subscribe to Qobuz (still use Tidal Hi-Fi for the missing gaps in Qobuz).
Hi I currently have Apple Music on my iPhone 15 pro would I get all the benefits from using tidal hifi plus to go along with my btr7 and dunu sa6 mk2
What about the audio quality of the videos? Are they the same as the music files (CD/HiRes)? Do you know that?
Secret Machines were great! First Wave Intact is one of the best opening songs to any debut album ever. RIP Benjamin Curtis
I sure wish we could hang out and pick each other’s brains concerning 90s electronica and ambient. I was fortunate enough to hang out with Namlook and record a bit of noise with him on Namlook X - Monolith.
Hi John, on a side note, what is the best way to pass on music recommendations to you? We have similar tastes on the electronica side of things and ive got some good stuff from you, be handy if there was a way to pay back.
On my smartphones and tablets I tend to download the songs I like best onto my device so I’m not streaming them over the internet when I listen just to remove that variable from the listening experience and to avoid cellular costs or poor wifi connections.
Hi - I have been a Qobus fan for a while fan but I hate the music within my one Qobus account isn’t the same as on my iPhone and MacBook - uploading and deleting to both is a pain! Why can’t offline music populate to both - it’s coming from Qobus’s library to my one account ?? Is this still the case or have they updated it? Is this the same for tidal - if not I may swap to tidal. 😮
today tidal give to all hires music... realy love it!
One thing to remember is if you have an Apple TV you can do the same thing and pass off the streaming service to your Apple TV from your phone instead of streaming through AirPlay. This is extremely beneficial if you have surroundsound, and would like to access your Atmos content over the HDMI.
I like Tidal, even on Hifi Rose that I use, doesn’t have Tidal Connect.
For me, Tidal was the only streaming app that works just fine on my main setup (android tv> reciver).
The key difference for me is the availability of Dolby Atmos on some albums.
One thing I would chance on Tidal is it's Tidal Connect, as it won't pass HiRess nor Atmos, only "HiFi", and that's why I mainly use it directly from the native app on the tv (or Google TV Chromecast)
Sure it does. I have a Wiim Plus pro and it plays all my Hi-Res from Tidal.
@@jamiejade1971 well, from my phone direct to the streaming box (o Chromecast w/GoogleTV) it only works on "HiFi" quality. But, if I open the native app on Google TV, it does play everything and every format.
An idea for a video is exploring the "better CD options" like Blu Spec CD2, UHQCD, SHM-CD, XRCD and SACD. I have no idea if we can hear the difference compared to a regular CD and if it's worth it at a higher price.
In germany tidal hifi goes for 10,99€ and hifi plus for 19,99
Thanks John ! Like many i was fed up waiting for Spotify to up its game so I went to Tidal. My only gripe is when using Tidal connect, the music stops when album has played its final track. You don't get that continuation of similar music playing after album is finished, like you do when just playing Tidal without connect. Surely they can sort this out ?
That is why I use a Playlist for each artist I am interested in. I usually populate the playlists with all albums and singles available for the respective artist. There is no stopping after an album as the device is playing an extensive playlist of all of the artists’ works. Works for me using a Bluesound Node, etc.
Ohhh... I can see the little Piegas wireless. You should give the Coax a try next.
Also, make sure your DAC has at least 16 bits of dynamic range (96db) to be able to convert a CD quality stream correctly...
Well done, finally some decent music...
HiRes is emperor's new clothes for me. I have been in this game for long now. CD any day for me 💪
You’ve got me thinking now. I pay for plus, which I enjoy. I wonder if there is a way switch back and forth between the 24 and 16 bit? IE; To test, is the difference I hear (on my gear) worth the extra money I’m paying….