I’m wondering if I should really be subscribing to both Spotify and Tidal. There’s no doubting that Tidal provides the higher quality streaming but often find I can find stuff on Spotify that I can’t on Tidal and rarely vice versa. Therefore, I suspect Spotify has a much bigger library. Does it? Quick dip check. Who subscribes to both services and who subscribes to one or the other? Is Qobuz any good?
A practical Scotman’s answer: I subscribe to Tidal, but will use the free version of Spotify (or even YouTube) for the occasional title that Tidal doesn’t have.
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I use Tidal and have always found the songs I’m looking for.
I won’t use a compressed streaming service such as Spotify because of the lower sound quality.
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I liked Qobuz but stopped after a month as hi rez files would not play on my Mac
I have Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify. There are holes in all services I have found. Spotify is generally for on the move listening and some rarities not on the other two, my daughter uses it as well so have a family sub. Tidal and Qobuz are for home listening and I need both as there is still a big gap in Qobuz compare to Tidal although it’s getting closer.
I use both Spotify and Tidal.
Spotify probably has a larger selection of music. I find it good for mobile use and acceptable for casual/background listening. Spotify also enables music discoveries and playlists to be shared easily with friends who only need simple streaming and have no particular demands on higher quality.
For more critical listening, Tidal seems to offer better quality than Spotify and I am pleased with it on an NDX via BubbleUPNP.
I use both streaming services and Internet radio stations to discover new music and check unknown album tracks. I then often buy LPs or CDs of what I like and rip the CDs to my NAS for regular listening.
David
Hi - I’ve just taken delivery of my new naim system and have a quick question re Tidal (apologies of hijacking the thread). I’ve downloaded the Naim App and when I connect via Tidal (to my streamer) i’m only getting 16 bit flac? I thought I would’ve got more, possibly 24 bit?
I find if I connect directly, via chromecast that it shows ‘Hifi’ - is this better than via the App?
Sorry if this is a daft question, I’m new to all of this!
If you use Tidal in the Naim app, you will get regular lossless 16/44. If you select MQA files from Tidal, then the Tidal app can decode them, and Chromecast can stream them to your Naim streamer. Having tried both, I’m not convinced that the MQAs sound any better, but your experience may be different?
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The Naim app grabs the CD quality version from Tidal, it doesn’t use the MQA (24 bit) version. MQA decoding is not supported by any Naim streamer at this time.
I have found the search engine on tidal to be poor rather than the content, sometimes i have to put a track and artist in as a search as literally one line of text and more often than not it finds it.
I have used both Tidal and Qobuz via Roon for some time now, I’m more impressed with Qobuz and find most albums I want to listen to are available, will cancel Tidal soon.
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Of course it depends on your own personal requirement. I have used Qobuz, Deezer, Tidal, Qobuz (again), Spotify and now Tidal (again). Spotify is best for its catalogue and interface. Tidal is good because of its SQ and Naim interface. Qobuz is good because of its SQ and classical/jazz catalogue (as well as all the normal stuff, but a little more limited there). Also they have a subscription tier that allows you quite heavily discounted HiRes downloads. Deezer was an early adopter of HiRes streaming, but only through Sonos.
If you want all recordings available to you (and there are still quite a few holes) you need Spotify. For decent sound quality for normal pop/rock fare (although they do have loads of classical/jazz too) I’d probably go for Tidal. Currently I have both Spotify and Tidal but only while my Spotify subscription ends. Of course, unless you take out an annual subscription, you can chop and change as often as you like.
I don’t subscribe to any, but I use free Spotify to check out new things, for which it is perfectly adequate, though the free service woukdn’t do for serious listening due to the adverts, and somewhat limited sound quality (though sometimes surprisingly good sounding for the format it is). Spotify does seem to have a pretty wide range though not evarything I have sought, and with many classical pieces it does offer a number of different recordings.
Anybody use Apple Music subscription on any naim streamer?
I use Spotify in the car and on travel - tidal at home. I transfer the great playlist and radio selections from Spotify into Tidal when inspiration runs dry in Tidal.
Try to find the Mark Knopfler “Sailing to Philadelphia” album on Tidal
That answers it. I couldn’t tell any difference on MQA. So no need to get the £20/mth subscription then?
I can find this on both the Tidal and Naim apps. Perhaps you are in a location where there is a licensing restriction?
There are two subscription levels with Tidal.
Tidal ‘Premium’ (at around £10) offers sound quality on a par with Spotify - that is ‘highish’ quality (but lossy) AAC files
Tidal ‘Hi-Fi’ (at around £20) offers lossless CD quality streaming files. MQA is a bit of a ‘Red Herring’ in some respects. MQA Masters are available (if you want them) at no extra cost with Tidal ‘Hi-Fi’ subscription. You can decide if they are of interest to you, but you don’t pay extra for them.
So for most people - if you want to stream lossless CD quality music from Tidal in the UK then you have to pay the full £20 monthly subscription, or go with lower cost ‘lossy’ options from Tidal or Spotiy at around £10.
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