Hight Quality Vs Free Spotify Seems Same

30.11.2020by

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CD-quality and high-resolution streams require much higher data rates than the compressed music on Spotify, Apple Music, or the standard tiers of Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon Music Unlimited. Apple Music and Spotify are the two biggest names in music streaming. But with similar catalogs and the same monthly subscription fee ($9.99, £9.99 or AU$11.99) it can be tough to work out which. Spotify’s free tier isn’t really free; it’s ad-supported. Companies are paying Spotify to make you listen to ads every few tracks. Spotify makes less money per-play from ads than they do from Premium subscribers, so to encourage people to upgrade, the free tier is limited in certain ways. All existing content is available at high bitrate (It seems like there were a few thousand tracks knocking about that hadn't been converted, but I don't know if these are even in available catalogue). All newly added content is transcoded (from CD quality originals) to all three bitrates and sent to the production servers at the same time.

Audiophiles have long prophesied a day when all music would stream in high resolution and the MP3 would be retired to a comfortable recliner from which it could swap war stories with 8-track tapes and laserdiscs. They considered the September announcement of Amazon’s launch of HD high-resolution music streaming to be as consequential as Apple’s introduction of the iPhone. Non-audiophiles, however, barely seemed to notice Amazon’s HD music launch.

But despite this, Spotify introducing a lossless, CD-quality option, let alone hi-res audio, would have been welcomed back then. It was (and still is) the most popular service of its kind. Lots of people will tell you “Oh yes, the difference is huge”. There are many answers right here using words like “massive” and “crisper” and “depth”. Tidal Premium plan offers 'high quality' at AAC 320 kbps. Spotify offers the 96kbps option as normal quality on mobile, but also offers a high-quality 160kbps with the free version. And after you pay $9.99 a month for Spotify you can stream at 320kbps 'Extreme quality' for better sounding experience.

Perhaps they should have. Since May, the field of companies offering high-res audio in the US has expanded from one to three major players: Tidal, Qobuz, and now Amazon. The fact that the world’s 13th-largest company by revenue has entered the high-res streaming business has to be significant for the music industry, but with high-resolution streaming costing up to two and a half times as much as a standard non-high-res service like Spotify, does it offer a benefit that average music listeners will embrace?

Answering that question demands a brief dive into the basics of sound-recording technology. In digital audio, resolution refers to the precision with which a digital representation of an audio signal matches the original signal. Resolution is expressed in two numbers: word depth in bits (which tells you the difference between the loudest and softest sounds that can be recorded) and sampling rate in kilohertz (which lets you calculate the highest frequencies of sound that can be recorded). In both cases, more is generally considered better. CD resolution is 16 bits and 44.1 kHz (written as “16-bit/44.1 kHz” or sometimes just “16/44.1”), and that has been considered the baseline for high-quality digital audio since the early 1980s.

About 15 years ago, distribution of music in high resolution—usually 20 to 24 bits and 96 or 192 kilohertz—became possible thanks to digital downloads. Companies like HDtracks and Acoustic Sounds offer high-resolution downloads of many current and past albums. More recently, music listeners’ switch from CDs and downloads to streaming services inspired the launch of Tidal Hi-Fi, a high-resolution service offered by Tidal, the streaming company famously purchased by Jay-Z in 2015. Tidal Hi-Fi uses Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) technology, which “folds” high-resolution audio data so that it can stream at lower data rates, but it doesn’t carry 100 percent of the added data.

In May of this year, the Qobuz (“ko-buzz”) service debuted in the US with high-resolution audio compressed with FLAC technology, which reproduces 100 percent of the original audio signal. The new Amazon Music HD service uses the same FLAC technology.

Tidal costs $20 per month for a mix of both CD- and high-resolution streaming and $10 per month for 320-kilobits-per-second AAC streaming (the same compression technology Apple Music uses). Qobuz originally charged $25 per month for high-res streaming, $20 per month for CD-quality streaming, and $10 per month for 320 kbps MP3 streaming, but in early November 2019 it began offering a limited-time deal that includes all of its content for a flat $15 per month, or $12.50 if you pay on a yearly basis. The plan will only be offered through January 31, 2020 to the first 100,000 subscribers. Amazon charges $13 per month for CD- and high-resolution streaming for Prime members and $15 per month for everyone else; for 256 kbps MP3 streaming, the prices are $8 per month for Prime members and $10 per month otherwise.

So you’re paying a premium of 63 to 150 percent for high-resolution streaming. Is it worth the cost? The answer, of course, depends on whether you can hear the difference, and whether that difference is important to you.

Studies have shown that the difference between high-resolution audio and CD-resolution audio is “very subtle and difficult to detect,” as a 2010 McGill University paper titled “Sampling Rate Discrimination: 44.1 kHz vs. 88.2 kHz” put it—and that test was conducted for a panel of 16 audio-engineering professionals and students using an audio system costing more than $20,000. Through the headphones and speakers that typical music listeners are likely to use, the difference would be even harder to hear. A difference that is at best barely and sporadically detectable would be unlikely to make your music listening substantially more enjoyable or give you deeper insight into the music.

However, most audio experts would agree that uncompressed music at CD resolution sounds noticeably better than music compressed with technologies such as MP3 and AAC. The difference isn’t always dramatic, but if you listen to my online Bluetooth blind test (which demonstrates the effects of various audio compression technologies) through a decent set of headphones or speakers, you’ll likely hear that uncompressed music tends to have more detail in the treble—so you’ll hear a little more ringing in the cymbals, more snap in the snare drum, and more twang in the acoustic guitar.

Is that improvement worth the added expense? For me, it hasn’t been. I’m fortunate enough to have a houseful of outstanding audio equipment that should reveal any flaws in a music stream, yet I find that Spotify’s highest level of quality—using the MP3-like Ogg Vorbis audio-compression technology and streaming at 320 kilobits per second—conveys the soul of Aretha Franklin, the power of Led Zeppelin, and the spirit of John Coltrane as well as higher-quality services do. The recordings that make me cry when I hear them on CD or vinyl still make me cry when I hear them on Spotify.

And then there are the bandwidth issues. CD-quality and high-resolution streams require much higher data rates than the compressed music on Spotify, Apple Music, or the standard tiers of Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon Music Unlimited. A CD-quality stream requires a data rate four to five times higher than even the highest compressed-audio data rate, and a 24-bit/96-kilohertz high-res FLAC stream requires a data rate seven to nine times higher. This isn’t a problem when you’re streaming music at home with an unlimited Internet plan, but streaming 24/96 FLAC on your phone for just a couple of hours will probably exceed your mobile plan’s monthly data limit. You could set all of these services at much lower data rates, but you’d be losing that extra quality you’re paying for.

All that said, I’m still contemplating a switch to Amazon Music HD or Qobuz. I’ll end up paying just $3 more per month than Spotify, and because evaluating audio equipment is my job, the extra quality may occasionally come in handy—even if it won’t make an audible difference with most of the devices I test.

For me at least, cost is the distinguishing factor among the three services. Neither of the other services seems to offer any significant advantage over Amazon Music HD to justify the higher price. After using Amazon Music, Qobuz, Spotify, and Tidal extensively, I don’t have a real preference for any one interface. All of those services have most of the albums I want to hear, and all suffer from a few omissions.

If high-res matters to you, Tidal has the weakest offerings as of this writing, with apparently only a few hundred albums in high-res MQA. Qobuz claims more than 2 million albums in high-res, although many of those are presented in 24 bits but with a CD-quality 44.1 kHz sampling rate. Amazon simply claims “millions” of albums in high-res, and more than 50 million songs in CD resolution.

Why is Spotify asking to upgrade to Premium when I tried to download music?Spotify offers two account types, i.e., Free and Premium. Spotify music for android tv premium mod apk. Features like offline listening, music, and album downloading are server-sided and directly linked to your Spotify account type.

I expect that most audiophiles, musicians, and others who have a strong personal or professional interest in music reproduction will make a calculation similar to mine and invest a little extra in getting the best sound. Average music fans, though, will be happy listening through Spotify or Apple Music—and waiting for the day when, like high-definition video, high-resolution audio becomes a standard offering available at no extra cost.

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Tidal and Spotify, as the subscription-based music streaming services, have their own strong points and receive much popularity from users. Different people have different impressions towards Tidal and Spotify and have their reasons to choose Tidal or Spotify as the fixed subscription service. This article will make simple comparisons between Tidal and Spotify in each side, and share the useful tips to use these 2 streaming services.


Firstly, let's look at the quick guide for the basic differences and similarities between Tidal and Spotify.

Hight Quality Vs Free Spotify Seems Same Computer


Founded October 2014, UK, US, and CanadaOctober 2008, Stolkholm
Monthly feeTidal Premium $9.99 / Tidal HiFi $19.99Spotify Premium $9.99
Family planPremium $14.99 / HiFi $29.99 for 5 family members$14.99 for 6 family members
Student planPremium $4.99 / HiFi $9.99 per month$4.99 per month
Military planPremium $5.99 / HiFi $11.99 per month/
Free trial period30 days30 days
Availblility52 countries58 + many territories
Number of usersover 3 million subscribersover 60 million subscribers
Music libraryover 50 millionover 40 million
Sound quality (Premium)320 kbit/s in AAC for Tidal Premium / variable in FLAC, ALAC, MQA for Tidal HiFI320 Kbps in Ogg for Premium / 192 Kbps in Ogg for Free
Offline listeningYes, with paid subscriptionYes, with paid subscription

Side by Side Comparisons between Tidal and Spotify


Spotify has a two-tier system: free and $9.99 per month, and it also provides nearly 50% discount for family members and students. Tidal also has two basic plans: the cheapest $9.99 per month for Tidal Premium essentially matches Spotify’s Premium offering. The more expensive $19.99 per month for Tidal HiFi is twice as Spotify's Premium. Tidal also offers nearly 50% discount for family members, students and militaries, but you still need to pay more if you want Tidal HiFi plans.


Verdict: Tidal has no advantage in pricing, which means that you need to pay much more for CD quality. The higher price may step some users back, but fortunately, $9.99 is the market price same as other streaming music services.


Tidal Premium plan offers 'high quality' at AAC 320 kbps. Spotify offers the 96kbps option as normal quality on mobile, but also offers a high-quality 160kbps with the free version. And after you pay $9.99 a month for Spotify you can stream at 320kbps 'Extreme quality' for better sounding experience.

If you pay for the high-end Tidal HiFi at $19.99 per month, you can access to lossless content which is not compressed and streams at CD quality. It streams music in the form of 16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC files with a bitrate of 1411kbps, so the serving for brilliant audio quality differs Tidal from other rivals.


Verdict: Tidal is winner over sound quality aspect and is the ultimate music resource for fans of hi-fidelity music. Especially when playing Tidal music via external speakers, the delicate difference of the audio quality can be distinguished. And if you are particular about audio quality, Tidal is the best choice.

How to Improve the Streaming and Download Audio Quality on Spotify?

If you want all your music from Spotify sound amazing, you can take multiple methods to improve sound quality. And here we list the best ways you can refer to change or improve the streaming or download audio quality on Spotify.

Learn More >

The feature of discovering new music is also an important factor you should take into consideration when choosing a music subscription service. It includes music library, recommendation, radio, podcast, etc.

Music Library: Spotify offers over 50 million songs and TIDAL 48.5 million, but this only matters if your favorite artists or bands are missing.


Recommendation: 'Discover Weekly' playlist on Spotify is really worth mentioning here. This is an awesome way to discover new music. But it seems that there is nothing similar in Tidal. Spotify remember the information each time you listen to a track, try a new artist, skip a song, repeat a song, or do anything else while using the service, in this way it quantifies the new music and a playlist with 30 new tracks that you might love will be refreshed every Monday morning. In addition, Release Radar, which works differently from Discover Weeklya and updates in each Friday, is a great place to discover new music. And another music discovery feature - Daily Mix is a good way to find more music.


But Tidal also has its own way to work out. It provides curated playlists, tracks, recommended hi-fi albums as well as top 20 charts and staff picks based on editorial slant. You can't search music by genre, but there is a Genres button you can press on in the sidebar which will take you to curated areas with playlists and recommended albums. In general, Tidal acts this feature simply and directly. And this all depends on what music you’re looking for and which way you really like.


Exclusive: Both Spotify and Tidal has its own exclusives, but Tidal may works most prominently. It has deals for exclusive content from major artists including Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj etc.


Music Videos: More than 75,000 music videos and music movies built-in Tidal is another factor that no rival can compare. Spotify now also offers some music videos in app and users can watch HD music videos on YouTube.

Best Add-ons or Third-Party Apps for Discovering New Music on Spotify

In addition to the built-in features that Spotify holds, there are plenty of third-party add-ons, or web-based tools which are using Spotify official API or not. Here we list the best 8 add-ons or web-based tools for Spotify, which are working with Spotify and bring your streaming music to a new level.

Learn More >

Good social features make music service special. You can connect Tidal to Facebook which will allows you to share music with your friends or extract a URL if you want to link someone to any album, playlist or track. But the social features are not as mature as the ones in Spotify. It'll take a lot of work to catch up with it, but it should be expected.

Hight Quality Vs Free Spotify Seems Same Password

5. Conclusion: Tidal or Spotify, Which One Should You Choose?


Tidal sounds marginally better if you have the equipment to show its true colors. They offer two totally different things: Spotify focuses on playlist for enjoying music on the go and share your favorite music to others, but Tidal is for audiophile who are high demanding for audio quality. On the other hand, If you have the budget, you can get Tidal.

To redeem your offer, you need to sign up for a Spotify Premium account and pay with PayPal. You can cancel your subscription at any time during 3-month Trial Period. If you do not cancel your subscription before the end of the 3-month trial, you will automatically become a recurring monthly subscriber to Spotify Premium and charged for the. Get 3 months of Spotify Premium for free Choose PayPal from the dropdown at checkout to sign up quickly and securely. Start free trial. Offer is for Premium Individual. $9.99/after trial. Only open to users who haven’t tried Premium before. Offer valid until until July 1, 2021. Terms and Conditions apply. Spotify premium free trial paypal. Offer not available if you’ve previously tried Spotify Premium. Offer valid thru 9/30/2020 and provides 6 months Spotify Premium free from redemption date. After trial ends, you will automatically remain a Spotify Premium subscriber and your credit card will be charged monthly at the then-current Spotify Premium price. To cancel anytime go here. To redeem your offer, you need to sign up for a Spotify Premium account and pay with PayPal by 15 July 2021. You can cancel your subscription at any time during 3-months Trial Period. If you do not cancel your subscription before the end of the 3-month trial, you will automatically become a recurring monthly subscriber to Spotify Premium. Get 3 months of Spotify Premium for free Choose PayPal from the dropdown at checkout to sign up quickly and securely. Start free trial. Offer is for Premium Individual. £9.99/after trial. Only open to users who haven’t tried Premium before. Offer valid until until July 1, 2021. Terms and Conditions apply.

Spotify High Quality Audio

Extra Tips: How to Move Spotify Playlists to Tidal?

Spotify Music Quality Very High

If you want to move Spotify music to Tial, especially the exclusives that you can't find on Tidal, you can use Sidify Music Converter to download music or playlist from Spotify to MP3 / AAC / FLAC / WAV for transferring to Tidal for playback.

Sidify Music Converter

  • Download Spotify song or playlist to MP3/AAC/WAV/FLAC.
  • Keep 100% original audio quality of Spotify after conversion.
  • Keep ID3 tags and metadata to well organize music library.
  • Burn Spotify music to CD.
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