Watching Tidal and thinking something looks different? You’re right! Following its latest app update, Tidal now offers six million songs in high-resolution FLAC format.
This isn’t the first time we’ve sniffed this; Tidal CEO Jesse Dorogusker originally announced in April during an AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit that Tidal would soon be “introducing high resolution FLAC for our HiFi Plus subscribers”, then confirmed in June that six million high-res FLAC tracks were available in the iOS app for members of the Tidal early access program, but would come to all HiFi Plus subscribers in August. And now they are here.
The thing is, it’s refreshing to see a streaming service deliver on its promises. Spotify, you may recall, originally promised a HiFi level within the year in February 2021, but despite several promising signs (screenshots of the Spotify HiFi logo in the app as well as an onboarding video Spotify HiFi leaked by a Redditor), we are still waiting…
Back to Tidal, and for those worried that their MQA playlists will vanish overnight from the rollout (along with the news that MQA officially named its admins on April 3), fret not: Tidal has confirmed that its “existing MQA catalog will continue to be available on the platform” earlier this year and now its hi-res FLAC streams sit alongside the service’s current hi-res MQA streams.
Opinion: focusing on audio quality is never a bad thing, especially when it comes with a price hike
Anyone familiar with MQA will know that these hi-res files are a bit finicky, requiring both a HiFi Plus subscription And a device or software capable of decoding the technology to take advantage of it, such as mobile applications or an MQA-compatible high-resolution audio player.
Because FLAC is more ubiquitous (FLAC, the file friendly!), the introduction of hi-res FLAC to Tidal’s library makes the service’s hi-res offering much more accessible to the beginning audiophile.
The highly anticipated rollout apparently took effect last week, for users on all platforms. Not spotted? Update your app. You’ll see there are visual – or rather verbal – differences on the web player and Tidal apps as a result of the change.
Essentially, the service has renamed its audio quality levels – including dropping the word “Masters” (MQA stands for Master Quality Authenticated) in its top quality to “Max” in the iOS app, or just “HiRes” if you search for higher than CD quality files.
To break it down, Tidal now apparently lists its songs and albums as follows:
- Max – High fidelity lossless audio up to 24-bit/192kHz with HiRes FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and Master Quality Authenticated audio (MQA)
- High – Lossless audio with FLAC (16-bit/44.1kHz)
- Low (up to 320 kbps) – the music you love using less data with compressed AAC files. This is where Spotify audio files are maxed out.
I’ve long touted Tidal’s credentials as one of the best music streaming services, alongside Qobuz if it’s the best hi-res audio quality you’re looking for. That said, for track sharing fringe benefits like Spotify’s AI DJ and Spotify Wrapped – see also, Apple Music Replay and Apple Music Sing – the admittedly pricey service lags a bit, despite its streaming functionality. live social music streaming launched in April that lets you DJ in the void.
For me, focusing on audio quality is never a bad thing – and although Tidal recently increased its prices for its standard and family plans, the HiFi Plus subscription fee actually remains at the same price for the time being. And since Apple Music increased its prices in November 2022, Amazon Music HD increased its prices in February 2023, Deezer increased its prices in the United States in October 2022 and Spotify recently increased the cost of its Premium price plan, Tidal’s free rollout is to be commended.
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