Spotify has a free plan with ads, or a Premium plan at $9.99 a month with no ads, some downloading of music (to keep on your device) and slightly higher quality, but it is still compressed. Tidal: Tidal streams FLAC files, very high quality audio that is lossless (no compression). We played the same songs in random order for each other, and our consensus for sound quality (to our ears) is: Best 1. Amazon Music HD or Tidal through bluetooth (uses up to 50MB of data per song streamed, glad I have grandfathered unlimited data) 2. Spotify streaming natively in Tesla player 3. Spotify (320 kbps highest setting) through. Starting soon, artists will have the option to keep new releases out of Spotify's free tier for up to two weeks, meaning the service's users will need Spotify Premium ($9.99 per month) to hear them. Windows' audio settings are a common culprit: The audio enhancements: 1. Go to Taskbar, find and click on the speaker icon. Click the speaker/device icon again on the volume slider popup. Go to Sound Enhancement tab and disable them. If there are additional tabs like Dolby or similar, try disabling these too. The Communications setting: 1. With using Spotify desktop client, free Spotify users will be able to enjoy 160 kbps standard quality on PC and Mac, while premium subscribers can listen to 320 kbps high quality on desktop client. With using Spotify Web Player, you can enjoy AAC 128 kbps or 256 kbps audio quality for free or paid users.
Is lossless audio really worth it?
In March, Spotify briefly A/B tested a new lossless audio version of its streaming service. Spotted by Reddit users and confirmed to The Verge by a source inside Spotify, the new tier, currently dubbed Spotify Hi-Fi, will cost an additional $5 to $10 a month on top of the service’s $10 monthly price for its premium ad-free streaming service. Though a Spotify spokesperson declined to confirm the existence of the new tier, the move would not be unexpected; streaming service competitor Tidal already offers high-fidelity streaming for $19.99 a month.
Up until now, Spotify has compressed audio down to a bitrate of 160 kbps on desktop or 96 kbps on mobile devices — Spotify calls this rate “normal.” Paid subscribers also have a “high quality” option of 320 kbps audio on desktop. High-fidelity or lossless audio has a significantly higher bitrate of 1,411 kbps.
When a song is compressed, an algorithm removes bits from the track that it believes the human ear can’t pick up, which reduces the overall file size. So objectively speaking, there’s less audio there for your ear to interpret. Lossless audio cuts less bits.
But in actuality, the difference is very difficult to discern. Couple that with a range in the quality of soundcards and speakers, and it’s almost impossible for the average listener to pick which is which. Can you tell the difference?
Below are three songs, each presented in three different versions: a lossless version at 1,411 kbps, a “premium” version at 320 kbps, and standard version at 160 kbps. Try and see if you can pick the lossless audio out of the three.
This quiz works best on Chrome browsers.
Quick Answer
Although which service sounds better may be subjective to some, Tidal provides higher quality masters using lossless files, whereas Spotify streams music using an AAC lossy format.If you intend to use lower quality formats to reduce data usage then Spotify may be better the better option.
Spotify or Tidal: Which Streaming Service Sounds the Best?
Difference between free spotify and paid. Although we can’t say one objectively sounds better, one service provides files with less aliasing, encoding distortion, and with a fuller frequency spectrum.
Tidal provides both lossy formats at lower quality settings and lossless formats at higher settings.Their hi-fi setting is a lossless 44.1, 16-bit file, whereas their Master setting is typically 96kHz, 24-bit.
It should be noted that their master quality can go up to a 384kHz sampling rate, which is pretty impressive.
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On the other hand, Spotify now uses an AAC lossy format (replacing the Ogg Vorbis format previously used).The quality of these AAC files ranges from a very low 24kbps to 320kbps.
But understanding these settings from a technical standpoint doesn’t help us understand which service sounds better.
To understand this, we’ll need to listen to various genres using the settings we just described.
We’ll listen to Pop, Rock, and Rap tracks to determine which streaming service offers better quality.
The files played from Tidal will be 44.1kHz 16-bit.
The files played from Spotify will be 320kbps, 160kbps, and 24kbps.
To make things more interesting we’ll make this a blind test so that each file isn’t identified until we’ve listened to each one of them.Be sure to use some headphones and your best playback system when doing these tests to get the best results.
One important thing to note is that for the pop, rock, and rap tracks, it was just about impossible to find a Master Quality version on Tidal that is still public domain, so these have been recorded in as 96kHz 24-bit files via analog equipment using a Tidal Hi-fi quality 44.1kHz 16-bit file.
If you have a track that you’d like to hear mastered, send it to us here:
We’ll master it for you and send you a free mastered sample to review.
Does Spotify or Tidal Sound Better for Pop Music
Ganja by Ooyy
How can i get a google mini free with spotify. Track 1: 44.1kHz, 16-bit
Track 2: 160kbps
Track 3: 24kbps
Track 4: 320kbps
Does Spotify or Tidal Sound Better for Rock Music
Power of Balance by Dissidence
Track 1: 24kbps
Track 2: 44.1kHz, 16-bit
Track 3: 320kbps
Track 4: 160kbps
Does Spotify or Tidal Sound Better for Rap Music
Freeze by Nbhd Nick
Track 1: 320kbps
Track 2: 24kbps
Track 3: 160kbps
Track 4: 44.1kHz, 16-bit
Were you able to guess these right? Let us know in the comment section below – we’d be interested to see if you could figure out which was which.
Also, it’s important to keep in mind that even if you couldn’t consciously perceive a difference, that doesn’t mean it didn’t have an effect.
One study conducted by the Audio Engineering Library found that “MP3s have distinct effects on timbral and emotional characteristics – tending to strengthen negative emotional qualities and weaken positive ones.”
This means that even if we can’t discern which one is the AAC and which is the PCM file type, we may be able to experience it on an emotional level.
If you’d like more videos like this one, check out our other blog post on a very similar topic:
In it, we test an MP3, a Wav, and an AAC file using a blind test to figure out which one is the best.
Why Do Lossless Files Sound Better than Lossy Files?Does Spotify Free Have Best Sound Quality Music
Lossless files compile data that is redundant, making for a smaller file size but one that is unpack-able with all of its original information.Lossy files delete data in areas of the frequency response that are difficult to hear – the file size is smaller but the quality is reduced.
There is also a big difference between lossless and lossy when it comes to the bit-depth.Lossless files have a set bit depth, meaning it stays the same throughout the song.
Lossy files on the other hand use a variable bit-depth to reduce the file size.
The bit-depth plays a huge part in accurately storing information at specific amplitudes.When the bit-depth is reduced, so is the accuracy with which bits of information are stored or quantized.
When bits can’t be accurately placed, they often cause clipping distortion which generates harmonics and other unpleasant artifacts.
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Although lossy formats often use a sampling rate of 44.1kHz, just like a CD and some PCM files, the amount of information present at each sample or its bit-rate will vary.
This results in more unwanted artifacts like aliasing, which causes almost a whooshing or planning effect, especially in the high-frequency range.
All this to say that these technical aspects do play a big role in determining whether Tidal or Spotify sounds better.The lower the quality of the streaming, the less information is being given to listeners, as more unwanted artifacts are making their way into the signal.
With that said, if this matters to you, I’d definitely recommend trying Tidal and using the Hi-Fi and Master settings.It isn’t great to use if you’re using your phone due to how much data it can take up, but it is great when connected to wifi.
Despite this, Tidal will, at least in my opinion, always sound better than Spotify.
For more information on file formats and the technical side behind streaming music, check out our video and blog post on the topic:
In it we count down our picks for the best audio file formats, considering factors like quality, file size, and how easy it is to share the file.
Does Spotify Have VideosConclusion![]()
Spotify lowers the quality of the music it streams by compressing the audio.It can also cause distortion to the sound by decreasing the bit-depth during the encoding process.
Due to these issues, Spotify will often deliver degraded audio.
Because Tidal uses a lossless format, one as high as 96kHz, 24 – bit, the issues Spotify has aren’t cause for alarm when using tidal.
Although you may prefer the sound of Spotify, odds are, the best possible sound will come from Tidal.
If you have a track that you’d like to hear mastered, send it to us here:
We’ll master it for you and send you a free mastered sample to review.
Which do you prefer, Spotify or Tidal?
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Get a Free Mastered Sample of Your Song → SageAudio.com/register.php
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