Spotify vs Tidal - An Honest Comparison

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I'm going to talk about Spotify vs Tidal. Both Spotify and Tidal have a lot of great features that are good for passionate music listeners and people who want to find new music. I'll go over these power house music streaming services to help you decide if Spotify or Tidal is better for you.
Do you prefer Spotify or Tidal? Let us know in a comment!
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More music on Spotify: spoti.fi/33Tf21u
More music on KZbin: • Charles Cleyn - King o...
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Website: www.charlescleyn.com
#spotify #tidal #spotifyvstidal

[@duane7571]

I've used Spotify for the last 10 years. Was looking for better audio quality and switched to Tidal. It was then that I realised Tidal has better algorithms, I found lots of new music in all genres that Spotify just wouldn't recommend.

[@miguel.ehm.]

nice i bouth tidal today. i hope its nice

[@Aesop101]

Why don’t I see a house genre in tidal. Or am I wrong. SMH

[@atomatopia1]

I believe Spotify is, for the most part, run by labels and as such tends to promote music from those labels.

[@LLl-kt7dp]

I made the same experience!

[@antistraightmen]

lie

[@jeremykeys2091]

I went with Tidal because they give military/first responders a $5.99 price tag.

[@chasingstacksent4486]

Where or when ?

[@notorious408sj5]

6? They charging me 12

[@BlueOvals24]

They charge students even less which makes no sense

[@kxrannn.g]

@@notorious408sj5 i got spotofy apk lol

[@kp.l4795]

oh , i went for spotify premium cuz its not available in India.

[@casiosean2]

Please forgive me for the lengthy post. I think Tidal has better new music discovery. However i must state that just like when Spotify started, the algorithm was really bad. But i find the link between the track radio on Tidal is tighter than Spotify. I've come across many times on Spotify that at times, just because a band, for example Bring Me The Horizon, was doing a particular genre for an album ( their first album was more death-core as compared to the latest album, would include them in the Mix. I personally think if you were planning on listening to the band catalogue, why use the track radio feature? just click the band and shuffle. I feel the Track Radio feature is to find similar genre songs. And Tidal does this better than Spotify. However, in terms of catalogue wise, Tidal can be frustrating. For certain bands only some albums are shown. Probably due to them not securing the rights to that album from another label. Another point to note on their catalogue is the diversity. I live in Singapore, and at least 70% of the population are bi-lingual or more. The english catalogue although not perfect is pretty solid, but their Asian language libraries are still pretty thin. I use both Spotify premium and Tidal Hi-Fi. Spotify for work and Tidal for my house system. Many times when I've friends over i'd ask them to humour me with a little comparison testing. 9 out of 10 would point out the difference and say that Tidal does sound better. Then the basic questions get asked, what about my playlist? I spent so much time building multiple playlist, I don't want to do it again. For those that are wondering, tidal has a guide on their FAQ page on the syncing. And in my case, i had 37 playlists. Totalling around 1500 songs. The sync took a little less than 20 minutes. To be clear, from my professional opinion as a Sound Engineer, audiophile AND melophile, I stand more gain by using Tidal. It's pretty simple. You pay similar prices, but one has clearly a greater auditory experience. If you say you don't care about the quality, then might i ask why are you listening in the first place. I'm not saying Spotify is trash. The highest quality on Spotify is good, and before Tidal or Qobuz entered, the layman had nothing to compare. So why waste time on changing if they can't tell the difference and Spotify was good enough. The thing is, you can tell the difference. To make it simple, when compared, Spotify sounded muddier and the vocals were not as clear compared to Tidal. I suspect Spotify has boosted the bass internally in the app. The issue with a universal boost is, if you listen to dance music you think it would be better to have stronger bass. But it's not actual bass. It's just made to sound louder. However it sacrifices clarity in vocals. Of course there are prerequisites to most things. A conventional speaker system (Proper speakers. Not those mini bluetooth speakers and what not). A few songs from different genres, and an open mind. You can honestly choose any genre. But try to keep the songs from the same album releases on both platforms. From experience, songs that use musical instruments like drum sets and guitars and what not, sound "better" on Tidal and were the easiest for my friends(layman) to distinguish differences. I listen to a pretty wide range of genres. From Rap to Metal to Classical. And for some songs i have the CDs or vinyl to compare to. The audio from Tidal sounded much more similar to the physical copies compared to Spotify. When i switched between them, It was clear as day that the Spotify copies were just off. I won't go into technical terms here, simply because if you knew the terms you would already have been using Tidal. I'm just trying to help the people who don't know the science behind it and honestly won't feel the need to crossover. I'm betting that if you do try and download both the apps and compare, you will know the difference. And i can guarantee, if you just spend that 30 minutes to sync the playlist you would enjoy your better. Tidal Limitations compared to Spotify. - Offline songs only work on mobile platforms. You can't download on Desktop. - Don't expect just because the artist is famous that their songs are. ( E.g. Metallica isn't available. ) - Does not support control from another device. ( Spotify allows you to use your phone to control music even though it's playing from your Com. ) - Can add local files into Spotify and use that as a player. Tidal Functions i use That I wished Spotify had. - Exclusive Mode - Ability to sort playlist in Alphabetical or Created order. - Recommendations that are smart and sensible. Besides them choosing your recently played, They have staff picks and Mixes based on genres. - Official Music videos from the Artist can be viewed in-app, at HIGH audio quality. (Seems to be for more recent uploads though) - A more refined and smarter interface - List INFLUENCERS as well as Similar bands. - Info/Write-up on the Bands from actual critics. So you usually can get an actual, more honest review. - The credits of the song. ( I use it to find out what other bands did the engineer mix, or who that mystery female voice is in the remix that they didn't state in the title. ) I had been using Spotify from the first year it came out, and will always be annoyed that they didn't bother to offer Hi-Fi quality. And till now refuse to catch up, although there was a cry for that feature more than 2 years ago. Thank for reading all the way. :)

[@andrewbingham5360]

fantastic post friend! summed up everything that was important to me, have a great day👍

[@jamesdenbrough4767]

You have the same problems with me. I got Tidal because of Singtel but when I moved my library, a lot of my cantopop and jpop songs are gone. Their english library is amazing with a few caveats such as metallica which has been spotify exclusive for a few years now. However, popular mandopop singer JayChou is still missing and cantopop singer JW is still missing. Both I like very much. Your comment is so in depth and reflects my suffering with Tidal ever since I got it. In terms of sound quality, Tidal I agree sounds way better than Spotify. I listen to a lot of opera songs and in Spotify, the high notes seems a bit off and the low seems noisy with a lot of other things. (Don’t know the proper terms but I can tell the difference) Tidal also has a much better interface than Spotify. I noticed you use both Spotify and Tidal. As for me, I prefer Apple Music because their AAC, although at 256kbit is still better than Spotify’s OGG Vorbis 320kbit. This is just my opinion, maybe if you have an iphone and a mac you can use Apple Music instead of Spotify due to better recommendations (human curated) and a better sound quality.

[@casiosean2]

@@jamesdenbrough4767 i do use a mac for work as a live sound engineer. to be honest, i got into spotify way earlier on when i had a chance to work for a talk they had in singapore during the first 2 years of their start. i was impressed and honestly relieved at what they were doing. they saved me hours and probably lawsuits when i had to download songs and put them into the mp3 players. and quality was not the main priority, quantity was. I admired their whole business plan and the concept they had. I remember there was a time when if you were an unsigned artiste, you could use spotify as a platform. Over the years I supposed they had to make certain compromises, which lawsuits tend to make unavoidable. But in retrospect, i feel they still kept the essence of their start. As for apple music, i must say right off the bat i'm against. I understand the importance of closed source software and products. I'm still using a mid 2012 macbook pro which honestly still performs better than a lot of newer equipment. But saying that, I must point out the fundamental thing that irks me. I feel that apple, in almost all areas, has taken 2 steps back in being the innovator and standard of the tech world. It seems that every product that they offer isn't even the best version of itself. They have indirectly shown to me that it's not the legacy and future of their products that fuels them but rather the gross sale of it. Maybe i'm being petty, i'm just disappointed. The base standard for technology to me should be 5 years forward if apple had not bought lounge chairs to watch their stock price rise. Just to emphasise my point, why is apple not allowing the option of at least ALAC? Granted AAC "should" sound "better" than OGG, but if they have the capability why not offer? This is where i disagree with much of today's tech i guess. I'd rather pay donationware or shareware then a subscription to a service that decides whats good enough. What makes matters more infuriating is the fact that apple music has been in the shadows for the longest time, Itunes in general. If spotify offered lossless streaming with comparatively similar quality with Tidal or Qobuzz, i won't hesitate to cancel my Tidal membership. Another thing is the interface for apple music. omg, seriously? i get that it's in the style of not having a back button, but the flow is so one-track. Reminded me of the old ipod classics, how tiresome it was to be fluent in the "simplicity" of things. I do apologise for going a little off tangent there.

[@casiosean2]

@@andrewbingham5360 You're welcome! Don't hesitate to hit me back if you need other disparities. :)

[@skuyzy198]

Metallica is available .

[@rossparry3168]

Tidal wins for sound quality, Spotify wins for ease of use and song suggestions.

[@bgimusic]

Tidal Hifi sound quality is noticeable to me & I love it!

[@CharlesCleyn]

I've heard the same thing more professional mixers as well, that it's a must in their studios.

[@bgimusic]

Charles Cleyn it’s amazing

[@chrisbahlmann4263]

I agree completely! Worth the $10 extra a month.

[@Dontaskmeth]

You should listen to MASTER audio that Is the real best

[@bgimusic]

@@Dontaskmeth Yess, but I think the plan is called Tidal Hifi, but yes M labelled Master songs are awesome! Tidal is lit!! 🔥

[@ashleyneptune3239]

There's no comparison: Tidal pays double royalty rates to artists and offer better sound quality : ) thanks for promoting the better formats that help support people like me (Mastering Engineer)

[@joost6994]

But their app is horrible

[@Smilingcupcakez]

Forcing credit card info for the free trial to see whether I like it or not? No, thanks.

[@yyygyy1]

The curation on Spotify is unmatched

[@foreverfuturebound]

@@Smilingcupcakez Tidal has a completely free tier now

[@Smilingcupcakez]

@@foreverfuturebound How or where? Because when I open the app, I still have to fill in my credit card/paypal info for the free trial.

[@yfs9035]

I feel like Tidle's recommendation algorithm has gotten much better than Spotify for me

[@skinsguy34]

I decided to sign up for the free trial for Tidal this week. Sound quality is outstanding on the master tracks. I listen to a lot of classic rock, hard rock, metal, as well as modern day pop. The masters are mind blowing - great quality. The Hi-Fi quality is very good too, especially on modern recordings. On classic stuff, like 80's stuff, I've found the Hi-Fi to sound no different from other sources. If Tidal had everything as a Master Quality, it would definitely be worth the $20/month for me, but they don't have everything at Master level, and that's a bit disappointing.

[@tollph3314]

flac cd 16bit 44khz 1400kbit is still great which they have almost every track on Tidal, if u compare to poor mp3 on Spotify

[@hoteholic]

Hi Gregory! Do you listen to TIDAL on your headphones or what sound system do you use to differentiate the sound quality? Thank you!

[@thomasmead4642]

@@tollph3314 Tidal is the clear winner for me.

[@ConstantineIsslamow]

I just subscribed last night to Tidal. The sound quality is awesome so far. Every song I wanted to listen to was available. We will see if the subscription continues. Thanks for your review.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Thanks for your thoughts, I agree the quality is far better

[@LeopardGeckoTree]

What’s your subscription plan?

[@alexotey7035]

Been following your bass covers for years. Cool to see you here.

[@Odyseuss08]

@@CharlesCleyn You took the HiFi Plan?

[@ravenwda007]

High or HiFI?

[@ericqhochuli6004]

Kanye is on Spotify...and Jay Z and T swift... Am I missing something?

[@edavidmartinez]

Eric "Q" Hochuli just looked it up myself too. They’re all on there 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@CharlesCleyn]

thank you

[@dane9598]

@@CharlesCleyn what?

[@mack2771]

I d k why anyone lissons to tharlt trashy music

[@Uncreative-Name]

@@mack2771 ThArLt

[@rodrigoborges3166]

The price paid to artists per stream should be a REALLY GOOD reason to support Tidal. Independent artists and new artists deserves so much better than what Spotify is paying....

[@WillICode]

Dawg it's .006$ more chill

[@aleeyh69]

Son is on Spotify n I just tested tidal HD n his Spotify on my new speakers. Tidal quality was distinctly better

[@CharlesCleyn]

thanks for sharing Andy!

[@jerryhill8281]

what kind of speakers? im using $300 studio reference headphones, and its not near the difference A/B

[@matthewwhitaker4849]

Great video. Looks like Spotify is going to be coming out with a even more higher quality option soon. Not sure when, but I remember reading about it somewhere. I use that app. It's great.

[@lucylongmarret5735]

I love your comparison videos! Very clear and fair! Well done ♥️！

[@brinksohs6392]

This was an awesome review of Spotify vs Tidal, and the comments below were all helpful so thank you everyone. I'm a mobile DJ and I would really like to know if I should go with the HiFi or HiFi plus in Tidal? how much more of a difference in quality do you think will be present? I like Tidal because I can stream directly to my DJ app whereas Spotify does not give you that option. Your comments would be appreciated.

[@BrentLangdon]

I am not sure about Tidal, but I love how Spotify supports just about any device. In addition to a Chromecast stick and my PS4, I still use Spotify on a 10 year old iPod out in the garage and a slightly older PS3 in the basement.

[@sezjames2472]

Tidal is failing because it actually doesn't deliver to underground artists at all. Payouts through distributers are not regular, it seems to be non existent for unsigned, theres no options for artist to look at stats or update bios etc. I like tidal, i like the fact it has the HD options and the fact is claims to pay most to artist - but it needs work and honestly comes across as an elitists-only beneficial platform for actual payouts

[@jonathanwright6174]

Correct 7 months so far and still only got paid for 1 stream. They don't pay underground artist even with the fact its our music people are playing for free is that fair ? Boycott Tidal all underground artist that has music via a distribution company into Tidal should write to your distribution company and take your music out of there

[@sezjames2472]

@@jonathanwright6174 I got a mate on a major saying covid put tidal 10 months behind or something stupid. But we will see. I get a feeling its the one that tells the most bullshit

[@Aesop101]

No house music genre on tidal?

[@sezjames2472]

OK it's been 1 year. No payouts from tidal. No one I know signed or unsigned has ever been paid by tidal. I got paid from friggin napster for god sake and I haven't used that going 14 years. Tidal is Bull.

[@jonathanvl1160]

I am a techno finatic and electronic is pretty much what I listen to 24/7 unless its the odd rock and instrument based tracks. I wonder if Tidal can compete with the availability of artists as spotify was always great with descovery. With Beatport and Bandcamp coming in after for niche artists (to which I am referring to) with the accessability of Tidal, the playing field is looking grim for spotify as the focus on user experience over audio experience is something to consider in terms of actual bang or boom in this case for your buck.

[@mahatmadahmer1633]

For people with good equipment Tidal Hifi is great. I use it since two days (round about 6-8hours of listening) with an Naim uniti Star as an Streaming amp and focal aria 948 as speakers and I love it. Compared to Spotify premium it is like you would pull away a layer of fabric from the music it’s not muffled anymore. The amount of music available is also more then decent and at last equal with Spotify, The only downside is the searching logarithm, but if you search after artist and song you find almost everything. From not so known indie bands like the memories to classic albums like Nina Simones Wild is the wind you find what you want. For me Tidal Hi-Fi is a no brainer 👍🏻

[@CharlesCleyn]

Ya, I understand your pain. Tidal has great quality but poor search. What do you think of the quality on KZbin music?

[@andrewyoung5126]

That’s my issue. I have the Naim Nova and while Spotify sounds great on it, TIDAL hi-fi would sound better. I wish they had a library that matched Spotify or wish Spotify did hi res streaming.

[@kuugoriver]

and we will never know his opinion about music quality on KZbin Music

[@antoineduchamp4931]

Thank you Charles for this fine comparison. Very grateful. It is sad for me because I only like Classical music 100%. I feel very left out in today's world of music, and all over KZbin! But I must confirm to you that the streaming I get from Tidal of the music of the great masters of Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach etc., is of the highest possible quality, and this only seems to get better. It is astounding, and I love Tidal very much. I cannot recommend it enough.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Thanks for letting me know Antoine, it’s great to hear the opinion from a true classical music lover!

[@Robbingbankz24]

Well seems to me that I will be making the switch very soon

[@Dontaskmeth]

I have Tidal Hifi subscription and the sound on MASTER ( a even higher fidelity sound level) is demolishing the Spotify premium music. But of course you must have the money to efford such a service, so basically Tidal has way better sound than Spotify but the downside Is that Is quite expensive, and when It comes to choose one you have to make a decision based on the money that you are willing to spend. A good sounding music at a fair price or even free (Spotify). Against a stunning sound but at high price (Tidal). I think it's like using a BMW and then switch to a Ford they are both good but you know that BMW feels better. Also to enjoy Tidal you must have a good pair of headphones or earphones.

[@justinboudreaux7347]

Woah I just got it, I’m no engineer but I can hear the difference when I play master quality tracks

[@CharlesCleyn]

you have a great ear!

[@simoncallender]

@@CharlesCleyn He has great Ears*

[@Fillipok]

@@simoncallender hope

[@hermanjackson6429]

Yeah..but that the Master tracks. Which there is NOT many of those at all. Tidal interface is way too clunky and with the regular HIFI...if you are not a professional sound engineer...you will NOT notice the difference except in your bill. Tidal is way too expensive. 20.00 per month...NO thank you!

[@hermanjackson6429]

@Geoffrey Conn if you want the truth...Qobuz is the BEST and it's not even close. And they cost 5.00 less than Tidal for HIGH RES music. Their(Qobuz) interface and website is a LOT Classier than Tidal. I have Qobuz and have had them for almost a year and I have tried Tidal, Amazon Music HD, and Spotify as well as Deezer and none of them(to me) compares to Qobuz. Plus Qobuz(for me) have a LOT more music in HIGH RES Than Tidal. Tidal call their Master...but it's the same. Tidal charge a lot of money for messy hip/hop Rap mess

[@islesofmets]

I have Tidal with my Legacy Sprint Plan (with a Generous Hotspot Amount) so it’s practically free, and I definitely feel lucky to have it! Definitely sometime I use when I am making decisions on whether or not I want to buy a Vinyl!

[@Etienne.6329]

Spotify recommendations can also suck big time when you don’t listen to "broad genres". It’s been recommending the same genres I never listen to… because they are the "closest" things to what I listen according to the algorithm. I’ve blacklisted dozens of bands just to force the algorithm to other territories… but now I got suggestions from my own favourite bands, and some more of these genres I’ve never listened to (including bands I listen to a lot). I guess it’s great if you have well defined tastes… I guess that’s the case for most people… but my experience seems to indicate it’s really not a smart algorithm

[@tuesdayschild8994]

Tidal has great video content, high quality with documentaries, interviews and live performances. I find the link to songs on there better too, I feel like they aren't trying to push certain music to me but sticks to what I like.

[@thomas6201]

00:50 You're actually incorrect here. TIDAL is Norwegian. It is owned by Aspiro AB, and its headquaters are in Norway. Aspiro AB is however owned by the British-American holding company "Project Panther Bidco Ltd" (Which Jay-Z owns) EDIT: 10:58 Spotify and TIDAL both allow for 6 members on one family account. It's just the way they word it. With TIDAL, if you expand the info on the family plan you are told that you can add up to 5 family members (which including yourself totals 6)

[@ctuhulhudat]

The Master feature on Tidal is honestly an amazing feat. You're listening to a song exactly as the artist intended. But the downside is you gotta have the right equipment (earphones that has a built in DAC chip or a standalone DAC unit). And only then can you truly hear every bit the track delivers. However, Tidal still has a one up against Spotify as the green giant only offers audio at a lossy 320kbps mp3 format. Tidal on the other hand has another tier above in the form of a lossless FLAC format that can go up to 1411 kbps (basically what you get if you listen to a cd) which is a HUGE difference in my opinion. Well worth the few extra bucks. But in the end it all falls down to your personal preferences. Because higher quality audio = higher storage & data use.

[@Nettacki]

I'm sure Spotify actually offers their audio in OGG format, not MP3, which allows it to output higher quality audio than comparable lossy formats. Enough so that there's very little discernable difference between OGG and lossless.

[@Gurkenpower]

As far as I know it’s MQA and not FLAC on tidal. That’s why I recommend Qobuz. If you like MQA - Amazing! But MQA isn’t lossless and I don’t like tidal for only declaring it as master, though it’s not real 24bit, I don’t like the communication of MQA, it’s so intransparent. I also don’t like the sound compared to dsd/flac, it feels like it’s filtered and I have to turn the volume up/down regularly. And without a DAC it’s useless anyway, but with my equipment spotify sounds more natural but not as clearly as tidal and Qobuz doesn’t “change” the feeling, it’s just natural. You don’t have to like it, there is no good or bad in taste but I just don’t like the feeling of lossless they implicate with the masters. There are many people, who like MQA better than flac/dsd, but a 24bit/96khz or higher needs about 35MB per minute, my 24bit/192khz albums need more than 2GB, streaming qobuz takes about 200 to 300 GB of my monthly mobile internet, even if I’d stream 24/7 on tidal I’d never have that much data usage and I’m asking myself - how? If I want to stream lossless I know it takes many TB to store my songs, I just hate their marketing, but I tried it and didn’t like it and I’m afraid of the music industry changing to MQA “mastering” (Tidal takes down the original versions when they add the MQA mastered version) and if that happens it’d be like a second loudness war for me and I couldn’t enjoy music the way I use to. The exclusive content shows the first step of it, you can’t get a non-mqa version. Seems just like the napster-time thanks to the encoding MQA needs, but I hope artists will boycott the monopole and fight for different formats, the labels won’t do it, they just want the money. but like I said - the difference between tidals MQA and dsd/flac’s only recognisable with proper equipment (DAC and good headphones (never BT, data rate’s note enough for cd quality)) I’m still waiting for the spotify hi-fi, at the moment I think apple music’s the best streaming service as long as you use apple devices, Qobuz’s probably too expensive for most of the people, but still better than 40$ per album for dsd files. but tidal doesn’t clarify the songs as lossless, they just call it mastered because they’re not allowed to use the “lossless” anymore. That’s just awful. I hate the marketing/communication of tidal and MQA, the sound’s only my opinion and I’m glad if you like MQA, that shows, it’s useful and there should be as many formats as people want. As long as they don’t tell/implicate it’s something it’s not. Hope you’re still enjoying tidal!

[@antant7777]

I believe Tidal is more for mainstream music I have discovered more local artists on Spotify but KZbin music does not get the love that they should get you can look up anything on KZbin and with that being said KZbin music has a amazing amount of music local artists, mainstream artists, underground artists.

[@CharlesCleyn]

This is true about KZbin Music. I don't think they get enough love either and I think they'll start making waves in the industry soon enough, I'd be interested in your opinion on my review here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIWqqWitjpmFaKM&lc=Ugy9ZbeRShkvToE3HjR4AaABAg let me know what you think in a comment

[@mv8716]

Lol I literally had the opposite results

[@CharlesCleyn]

@@mv8716 what kind of results?

[@mv8716]

@@CharlesCleyn I just rarely ever get the mainstream artists. I'm not sure if I just stay away from those playlists, but Tidal has put me on to a lot of artists old and new that I've never heard of or hear anyone speaking about.

[@CharlesCleyn]

@@mv8716 Good to know, thanks for sharing Michael

[@gah6864]

Great comparison. Thanks. Have been using Spotify for years and now looking for a higher quality audio streaming service. (Recently one of the Spotify directors commented that hi-fi wasn't where it was at and that discover and ease of use was their thing.) Unlikely to go Tidal as it's genre content isn't to my liking. I'm considering Qobuz. Anyone have any thoughts about Qobuz v Spotify? Charles - will check out your music on Spotify.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Thanks very much, really appreciate that

[@Chuukwudi]

Please, for someone who listens to music via bluetooth connection, is tidal subscription worth it ? I mostly would connect to my JBL bluetooth speakers or to Sennheiser Momentum 4 bluetooth headphones.

[@stayfunsteven2207]

The issue I have with Spotify when I go for instance to don't cry (guns n roses) radio I would not be surprised if some heavy song that I also like from Metallica would be played. I mean yes I both like them but when I'm chilling with myself I don't like the difference that I just shoots between. I just got my first few hours on tidal and I don't have that problem anymore. EDIT: I started listening to telegraph road from dire straits on tidal and after that it gave me songs I have never heard before but I added them all to my collection because I loved them all

[@markibrahim3185]

Great video man, i'm a Spotify subscriber who switched from Anghami. I would love to see a comparison of both streaming services.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Thanks Mark, I don't know Anghami too well, I'll have to check that one out.

[@markibrahim3185]

You won't regret👍

[@disco.jellyfish]

2:12 Sadly there is no lossless Streaming service although this is technically easily doable. To save some bandwidth you could save it in .flac instead of .wav for example. Both are at whateverTheInputInitiallyWasKBit/s but the difference is as follows. Think of it like this: .wav does not compress so "4+4+4+4+4" remains "4+4+4+4+4". In .flac this "4+4+4+4+4" will end up as "5*4" Which is the same thing but takes way less space. This is calles lossless compression. In .mp3, .aac, .ogg, etc. it gets compressed lossy so stuff gets rounded. You dont have spots somewhere in the coordinate system exactly where they are intended to be. You dont have any info about curves, etc. Everything gets set into a grid which is defined in Samplerate and Bitdephts. Bitdephts sadly gets missed way to often. Samplerate defines how many points there are within a specific time, so how dense the Secants are. Your X-axis. Bitdephts defines in how many different spots (heights in this case) a single dot can be in. So your Y-axis if you will. Bitrate defines how much storage you need for a specific amount of time for the music at this quality. This means that 96kHz @ 32bits has the exact same bitrate as 192kHz @ 16Bits. Usually output devices are limited to 192kHz @ 24Bits which results in 4,608MBit/s, which should be easily doable for the most users bandwidthwise. Keep in mind that this is not nearly compressed completely yet. We just compressed down to match our output devices. Also there are a lot of other factors influencing sound such as your sound card and where its located. If its onboard its technically in the worst positin possible because electrons shoot through your mainboard-traces all the time which disrupt your sound. A dedicated PCIe soundcard is further away from this which gives it an advantage. Moving the device out ouf your case brings it away even further. Also keep in mind to NEVER place a sound cable so it crosses a power cable. It theoretically could disrupt your sound. Also your soundcard also has to reproduce the sound as close to real as possible of course. So once you have this super high end sound equipment an inferior sample rate will become more prominent. And if you own such expensive equipment, which you feel a need for, chances are: You are a really, really, REALLY trained listener who, easily spots anomalies due to lack of sample rate (maybe even artifacts due to the codec). Tidal in theory should have superior sound quality but this really is just placebo. Dont get me wrong. The difference is spottable if you focus on the correct things. In a blind test its still difficult to spot wether you are currently listening on Spotify or Tidal. This also heavily depends on the song you are listening to in this exact moment. Both have lossy compression, which doesnt make them perfect in the first palace. I am really shifting between Spotify and Tidal. Currently I am using Spotify and my Tidal test is over. But I am most likely gonna stick with Spotify. The loss in quality basically doesnt exist and the features are amazing. RC your PC from your Phone ore the other way around. By far the fastest downloading, HUD feels snappy and is well arranged. You get it. The only thing I miss in Spotify is giving only specific users to edit specific playlists. Currently (21.07.2020) you can only set your playlist to either be editable by only you or everyone with access (the URL or URI) to it. There is no make this one user able to edit it but only me and this one user while the playlist is set to be visible to the public. I might contact support with this one day (as a suggestion) so they will just ignore what I have to say and not add it anyway. :) Keep in mind that a lack of sample rate is more prominent in higher pitched sounds because higher pitched sounds which are sine formed become a lot more squary due to compression than lower pitched ones.

[@CharlesCleyn]

thanks for all of this extra context

[@dikito3619]

i listend to my fav song on tidal and spotify, and spotify dosent grab the sound as much a tidal i feel, but spotify has abit more of the other songs i like. i have both...

[@hallamalla98]

What do you have to play the music in for it to be a night and day difference? I have pretty good over ear studio headphones, they go from 7Hz to 43 000Hz, I play through my phone and I compare the exact same track on Tidal and on Spotify and I can't hear any significant difference. There was like maybe a slight echoe in one song that wasn't on the spotify version but other than that, I do not hear this "night and day, ground breaking" difference that many people claim. If anything, spotifys volume was louder and that is a point to them imo.

[@CharlesCleyn]

there's definitely no night and day difference, all platforms nowadays have really great quality. If you're a sound engineering wizard then you'll find that Tidal HIFI has the noticeable best quality.

[@dnd6379]

What does pretty good mean? 7hz to 43khz doesn't mean anything if it's not actually audible from 20hz to 20khz, also most gear you plug headphones into doesn't do more than 20hz to 20khz. And you especially can't compare audio quality with a damn phone, a phone is lofi compared to dedicated amp/dac setup. Just because it's louder doesn't mean it's better. However yes, between mp3, aac and flac you won't notice a difference, maybe in a high end system costing a coupling thousand bucks at least, maybe. But the point of flac is that you don't lose any information, even if you don't hear a damn difference, it's more like, you get the best possible sound that tech has to offer. I did try tidal and noticed that the "master" quality over "hi-fi" quality doesn't sound better just louder in which case many people who don't know a damn thing about audio will say sounds better but it doesn't, tidal probably does it on purpose to make it seem like it sounds better, even with eq in their settings turned on the master quality is noticeably louder (around 3db louder). But you can't expect you will notice a difference between lossy and lossless with cheap audio gear like phones and cheapo studio headphones. Anything under 500 bucks for a headphone setup, you can't expect to hear a damn difference (an exception being HD58X from drop and a nice amp).

[@tollph3314]

@@dnd6379 excuse me this is fault i hear difference without using amp on tidal flac 1400+ vs mp3 320kbps on my m40x and also hyperx cloud core so idk what is wrong with ur 👂 🤷 ,iam using tidal right now on my phone and using ath-m40x and there is definitely difference if i switch between quality mods specially from high to flac or.master .ok between flac and master I can't really hear difference on my gear probably but but mp3 and flac there is pretty big difference to me

[@GrimYak]

It is funny that you brag about the headphones but use a phone. People seems to miss the fact that the speakers or headphones is only a part of the chain. To hear higher quality audio you would also need a good dac and amp which is why a Fiio or Sony walkman will sound so much better than a phone. Even if you stream flac it will sound no different than a 320kbs mps on a phone with a crappy DAC and amp even if you have a $500 headphone.

[@tollph3314]

@@GrimYak not true, i have one dac/amp fiio k3 and my m40x or hm5 doesn't sound that much better on it than on my 8yrs old motherboard, it's difference but flac file still sounds better woth more dynamics and clarity than streamed mp3 or aac on my mobile phone or motherboard

[@ritzy-plays9063]

Ye I use tidal and I use the master quality and it sounds really good and I tried comparing it to Spotify and tidal really makes a difference

[@littlejohnuk]

Is Tidal better for Classical with a high end Bose portable 360 degree bluetooth speaker?

[@Zeverinsen]

I want a platform built exactly like Spotify, but with all the features that have been highly requested in the Spotify Community Forum added and removed from the Spotify company. As a user I feel terribly neglected, but like I can't switch to another service because none of them fulfill the features I want.

[@lazmandjik9368]

Is it safe to assume that Tidal will use more data during streaming ? Not an issue for me as I have unlimited data on my mobile but it could matter to some.

[@JRBowling1997]

Thinking about getting tidal for dolby atmos. I have s10 plus. Will I be able to use my galaxy buds plus headphones? Or do i need the dolby atmos headphones. Thank you.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Cool, you should be able to use both headphones no problem.

[@JRBowling1997]

@@CharlesCleyn got it and listning to music in dolby is awesome!!! Im hearing more stuff like solo instruments and voices better. Then stereo which is amazing.

[@witchofgluttony15]

I use Spotify free version and the ads are like every four songs and they even give you a chance to watch an ad that allows you to have 30mins of no ad interruption and be able to skip songs.

[@tollph3314]

yeah but quality is crap on free version

[@Underhills]

@@tollph3314 Depends what speakers your using. If your listening on mobile or desktop with small speakers then the sound quality isn't that detectable or crucial. Many people talk about the importance of hifi while listening on crappy plastic speakers.

[@tollph3314]

@@Underhills Headphones audio technica m40x,hm5 monitor from brainwavz and also from time to time i switch to hyperx cloud alpha

[@tollph3314]

@@Underhills good speaker cost a bit more than good pair of headphones so yeah if u are listening through some 100dollar jbl bluetooth speaker than difference would be hard to spot

[@ZekeMagnum]

Is tidal worth it with DT770 80ohm Headset - E10K DAC/AMP setup?

[@rkn700]

I use Spotify because of the catalog. I listen to a lot of obscure Industrial and Psychedelic music. Spotify has it and their algorithm feeds similar music leading to a lot of new finds. Tidal either does not have a lot of the artists I want or in very limited song choice. The Tidal algorithm also includes lots of rap or hip hop bands with similar names, this problem exists with Apple and to a much worse degree with Amazon. Spotify sound quality is not as good though not as bad if you stream on a computer set at highest quality and feed it through a DAC. Spotify is introducing a lossless version later in 2021.

[@juzeefruit9281]

Charles, nice delivery. Will be helpful making a choice to eliminate one of my music platforms. Question; My experience with "anything" that is free or one month, free this or that, for the most part, I am always asked to put in my Credit card, again, even if it's a trial, hence after the trial is up they start to withdraw dues from your bank. Am I doing something wrong?? To recap; your awesome and nothings free in my world !

[@1augh0utL0UD]

Kayne, swift, ect are all on Spotify in Australia.

[@andrewyoung5126]

TIDAL would be my choice on quality alone but I’ve tried several times to replicate my Spotify playlists on TIDAL but I never seem to get better than 70% of the tracks. I’m stunned to hear they both have similar track numbers. Maybe it’s because I don’t do mainstream urban, rap or R n B. The truth is TIDAL just doesn’t have an acceptable library for me. Shame because I have good Hi-Fi. I wish Spotify would offer hi res streaming. I’ll stick with Spotify but will keep checking on TIDAL libraries.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@christianbergeron1407]

Hi, when you compare sound quality, are you talking about "Tidal premium vs Spotify premium" OR "Tidal HI-FI vs Spotify Premium" ? Important to clarify, as of course Tidal Hi-Fi is better, but it is almost twice the price. I find that many article compare HI-FI to Premium. What I like to know is if there is a sound difference between both Premium plans, which are same price.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Hey Christian, there's no real difference in quality when you're comparing the same premium plans. The real difference is when you start using HI FI with Tidal, that's where the better quality is

[@hermanjackson6429]

Correct

[@FaithisKey792]

Can i use the spotify catalog with serato dj pro to stream music.

[@loveharmony1]

Can you do a comparison between Tidal and Deezer?

[@juvenalpineda3606]

As a gym enthusiast, Spotify is faster in the capacity of time. Loading saved songs is quick. The music stored on tidal takes forever to play. Spotify, I don’t even have to think about it. I had subscribed to streaming and after two weeks; I went to Spotify.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Thanks for the extra context!

[@letstalktech8894]

Um Spotify does have all Jay z albums. I have them popped up right now :) Im enjoying Tidal so far as well.

[@NessLow]

Depending on when the video was made his music wasn’t till late last year.

[@samc2450]

They didn't originally

[@twilightwild1083]

I just got a trail to tidal and I have to say the look of the app is similar to Spotify with a mix of Apple Music. I have to say Spotify to me is way better. It’s just more clean and easier to navigate.

[@CharlesCleyn]

I also agree, what kind of music do you like?

[@twilightwild1083]

Charles Cleyn I can really listen to anything except for rap. Right now I’m really into 80s alternative. What about you? What do you like to listen to?

[@minionslayer]

Did you mention things like smart speaker integration, apps for operating systems, Spotify’s equalizer, and the fact that you can even still adjust playback quality in Spotify?

[@CharlesCleyn]

It's been awhile since I made the video, did you watch the video? If so, then you can see if I mentioned things like that. The only other alternative is for me to watch it and then tell you.

[@minionslayer]

Charles Cleyn Wow! A content creator that replies to comments. Now this is hard to come by. From what I could tell, you didn’t mention those features. I’m just saying it would be better to know, as I’m not aware of other services offering similar features, along with the fact that you can now find a decent collection of audio books, and listening to local files.

[@sayssays4366]

It's pretty simple... Spotify is for average music consumers and artists. Tidal is for professional music consumers, audiophiles and artists who cares about the best quality, pure mixes and recordings.

[@sayssays4366]

Important! If you love listening to music while on weed...definitely tidal. Trust me, you will know the difference.

[@CharlesCleyn]

true points!

[@mikeneilson3722]

Actually, Qobuz beats all these as they don't mess with the bit rate like Tidal do with the MQA format. Go research it

[@sayssays4366]

@@mikeneilson3722 I will, thanks for your intel.

[@lipsofadon]

What I’m curious about. Is it just one user for the premium account? Their website is vague. I’m having a hard time deciding.

[@CharlesCleyn]

for spotify? you can try going for the family or student plan too since they're a bit cheaper

[@g6t848]

I have both tidal with room for my hifi and Spotify with my airpods for the train

[@CharlesCleyn]

good combo!

[@squirtmph]

Tidal, is on Android Auto as well?... I have XM satellite. It comes with app install, sounds not so good & allot repetitive music as FM

[@atomatopia1]

Looks like your captions aren't actually captioning the audio, btw.

[@jmartinianovlogging1482]

tha ks for doing this man 🙏

[@danydepp8487]

The good: Tidal = Quality sound, Lyrics Spotify = Playlists, Algorithm, speed Apple = None The bad: Tidal = Bad playlist Spotify = Worst quality sound, no lyrics Apple = Even free is a shame. Slowww af, worst playlist, no library, if Steve were alive will already fired all the Apple Music team.

[@Josh-ye6vd]

I use Tidal and I can easily make a day long playlist with their recommendations. I have the HiFi plan but I used the student discount so I only pay $10 a month. Highly recommend Tidal

[@olici7644]

Does anyone know if with Spotify you can search a song and then continue playing similar songs off that like Tidal or does it only repeat or play different versions of that song?

[@CharlesCleyn]

yes, there is a featyure that it will continue playing similar songs, you can turn this on or iff

[@Dragoninja]

I'm using Spotify. I like Rock, Classic Rock, Metal, Progressive Rock.

[@rube3k969]

Can you use Tidal on Rekordbox DJ software?

[@CharlesCleyn]

not sure not familiar with that software

[@lokalkakan]

I can get jayz, Kanye and swift on Spotify? Might be because I'm streaming in Europe

[@wrongmark]

I’ve been using Spotify for years. Just started trying Tidal. At first there were barely any recommendations, now it’s a bit better. The sound quality is obviously very good but for everything else, Spotify is better IMO. I’ve not quite given up on Tidal yet, but I’m not far from cancelling.

[@ishmone21]

What did you decide to go with now?

[@skraaaaz]

Xzibit - Concentrate. One of my favourite songs and spotify will never have it. I guess i know where to find it now. But damn i got so many playlists on spotify it's going to hurt to switch to tidal.

[@guanyu210379]

I am sticking with the free version of Spotify and go for physical copies for songs, which I really like.

[@dusantomic9983]

If you opt not to pay for Tidal HiFi, is the sound quality the same as Spotify?

[@johnkatsaros2692]

I have a question for tidal. Do i have to buy the subscription to stream music?

[@djbackspin911]

yes?

[@polishdude001]

I’ve had all the services, tidal is by far the best, Spotify has the best features but has the worst quality.. apples lossless AAC FORMAT sound really good and warm . But get tidal if you truly like the finer things in life. Best explanation you’ll get

[@BlackSeaStorm]

I’ve been using Spotify since 2011. Today I signed up for Tidal. I found the compression on Spotify horrible. Tidal sounds much better! I am going to be using both platforms for a while. I will then choose one over the other.

[@ishmone21]

Which one did you decide to go with?

[@BlackSeaStorm]

@@ishmone21 It's going to sound crazy, but I am still using both. I prefer the sound of Tidal, but the Spotify app works better. They create different musical experiences, which is not bad at all.

[@nicolasbaesa9307]

wait if i use a wireless heaphones will tidal be worth it? can I hear the difference??

[@CharlesCleyn]

you should be fine

[@Frekithegreat]

I tried tidal from my S10 plus on my alpine R series component speakers and they started crackling, but with spotify on same song it was not. So idk if I'm doing something wrong or what, also have both premiums

[@CharlesCleyn]

Nice!

[@Frekithegreat]

Not really, seems like tidal is garbage and is lying about their quality

[@evilized2016gaming]

Curious do either of them have like korean music such as augst D or IU???

[@CharlesCleyn]

Good question, I'm not completely sure. Have you searched for them? You can do so on the free trial of each.

[@tajunicholasjr587]

Lookin at this comparison is like deciding PlayStation or XBox

[@cszulu2000]

I haven't tried tidal, but all the others. After 6 months of Apple, I went back to Spotify. I never had issues finding or getting recommendations in Spotify. I will try tidal... To test. Does tidal work on xbox and With Alexa? Can you play music on alexa and control the songs on volume on your phone for Tidal? That was a huge pet peeve with apple.

[@dondeanda]

Thank you Sean Penn !

[@dahbishop2951]

Which of the platforms do you advice music artiste to upload their jobs (music) on spotify of tidal?

[@thejoreviews6559]

Im not an artist but i Think on tidal you will earn more money for one stream. However spotify is bigger...so if its possible on both plattforms ✌

[@CharlesCleyn]

I recommend uploading them to all streaming platforms as a way to increase your chance on discovery

[@strangewood1999]

Very hard to play song on tidal but sound clarity magnificent

[@jake-kent5159]

This was filmed a year ago and all the artist mentioned here are now on Spotify

[@mitchhifi9192]

The compression is lossless at Hifi and above, Hifi is CD quality and sometimes 24 bit not 16bit depending on the album. MQA goes up to 352.8/24bit if you have something that fully unfolds it. Edited to amend bitrate maximum. It can play at DXD quality verified through roon using a ifi micro black label song was from Helene Bøksle & Hoff ensemble

[@theofficialonlyone_1864]

so when i listen to my music on tidal dont matter what i listen to its just going to request hiphop?

[@CharlesCleyn]

Not necessarily. It has lots of music!

[@mjvolpe1295]

for me TIDAL is the clear winner .. that’s because of the sound quality difference! -you don’t need a super sound system to hear the difference in clarity/transparency and depth of sound .. of course a better system w/a DAC, good speakers .. would provide a better sound quality in TIDAL or SPOTIFY the difference between the two services is evident: better sound quality w/TIDAL is obvious -tinkling Highs, deeper,more articulate Lows clarity of Voicing .. this is what makes a difference for me, all that crap about the presentation, the searching options etc., their so similar, it’s just the approaches differ, big deal? .

[@TigixPK]

With Google Music ending, this video is helpful, thank you.

[@CharlesCleyn]

glad it was helpful!

[@jesusdaniel40]

Tidal and Spotify are both great it depends on the features you want in the service

[@__-kb9no]

Am I missing something Or does Tidal not support lyrics ??? I know apple and spotify does.

[@danielestebanyepes9390]

Not an audiophile but wanted to give Tidal a try and see what the fuss was all about and I also got a brand new phone which has a dedicated hi res dac, and hi res earphones 1more triple driver and I gotta say and I could not tell any difference between the two when it comes to sound quality. Besides streaming masters in Tidal is a total pain it takes forever to buffer I can tell it doesn't have to do with my data plan or coverage because it's good and I've downloaded netflix movies on my phone over my data plan and it just downloads faster that a 25MB mqa master on Tidal.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Thanks for your thoughts!

[@haula251]

I’m using Spotify for street and tidal for home. Except sound quality( obviously Tidal sounds better because it has hi-res compared to Spotify’s lossy ) Spotify has better features and recommendations than any streaming service.

[@JoaoPedro-rv5rw]

Hi I live in Brazil and I just opened spotify premium now and I found Taylor Swift, Jay Z and Kanye West's music available...

[@CharlesCleyn]

Really? Very interesting, maybe they only made it not available in US.

[@ConanHughes]

No. Search Jay Z. All albums are there.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Conan Hughes in what country Conan?

[@ConanHughes]

Charles Cleyn sorry, I’m in the US

[@joriscoolen2041]

I have a Dutch subscription and I too have the 3 artist’s available

[@Art-ez4wd]

How can I create separate albums like "Rock albums", "Chillout albums", "Hip Hop albums" etc.... ? I have 100+ albums all in one huge mess folder called "Albums"

[@CharlesCleyn]

Hey art, you could create playlists for those if you’d like

[@DjFico238]

Tyler swift is on spotify l have some of her songs on spotify

[@CharlesCleyn]

Thanks Humberto

[@raypalomarez]

So is Jay Z

[@CharlesCleyn]

@@raypalomarez thank you

[@StoneyVGodet]

How do I add the option for Tidal for Djay Pro? It still shows Spotify and iTunes. Truly Frustrating!!!

[@CharlesCleyn]

Not sure what you mean, can anyone else help?

[@danydepp8487]

You forgot to mention that Tidal has lyrics LYRICS! with musixmatch and its awesome! Spotify does not have this feature. I agree with the sound quality part because Spotify sounds horrible more noticiable in car stereo or big speakers or even decent headphones and Tidal has an awesome sound quality.

[@Underhills]

There's very little ad interruption on Spotify free. I just listened to 3 hours of music and received 6 short ads in that period. That's the same on desktop and mobile app. When I use my keyboard to skip tracks on desktop version it seems to minimize the ad interruptions. Also I can play freely and skip trough any track on the desktop app, only on the mobile version are you forced to play in shuffle mode unless you pay. Compared to listening to a radio channel playing totally random music with a ton of ad interruptions having Spotify free is WAY better. The audio quality on Spotify free versus payed plan is not very noticeable. That's where this service fails cause if you want people to pay there's got to be a more significant motivation than slightly better audio quality. When listening on desktop speakers or on mobile I could hardly hear any difference when I compared to a friend with his payed plan. In their marketing Spotify says you get "extreme audio quality" on their payed plan but that's just silly talk. What's "extreme audio quality"? All audio on Spotify is lossy so it's not even on pair with conventional CD Wav 44100 Hz, 16-bit stereo quality. The UX is very good on Spotify, you can clearly see they have put alot of effort into that. I also agree that the recommendation engine is accurate.

[@Underhills]

@goodforce I can play my songs in the order I want even on Spotify Free.

[@uchster9]

@goodforce if youre listening on desktop, you never have to worry about shuffle or ads if you manually select the next song you want to listen to.

[@GWAFEM]

Tidal is not only about Hip Hop and rap. There's a huge high quality metal selection. Even some really rare bands.

[@CharlesCleyn]

Cool! Thanks for sharing this.

[@NightElveee]

I was surprised by that to, I searched up bands like Johnny Truant, Remembering Never and they were there

[@crossingchill4486]

Do Tidal's songs have lyrics like on Apple Music?

[@wintrywind]

No, i used apple music daily too.

[@gitendrachitty]

Charles - I'm very curious as to why you didn't include Amazon Ultra HD and Qobuz in your comparison. To my ears, both are superior to Tidal and have far better discovery.

[@UnworthySubject]

What are you using to stream and what quality?

[@sithlord1782]

Yeah I like Tidal better, they have concert streams and sporting events as well

[@CharlesCleyn]

I didn't know about sporting, thanks for adding that in!

[@mapi100]

Sports events?! Can u mention some of them please, if it's true I'm in

[@sithlord1782]

@@mapi100 the one I'm remembering was fighting either a boxing match or ufc

[@sithlord1782]

@@mapi100 dont remember any recently but I also dont really watch sports often and mostly I use it offline

[@setorliguddah]

just to let you know it is pronoused 'kiloBITS per second' (kbps)

[@CharlesCleyn]

thanks