billy170468 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Hey all Just looking at opening a Tidal account, and noticed there are 2 prices -- 1. Premium at 11.99 per month, or 2. Hifi at 23.99 per month. Is it worth getting the Hifi version? Cheers Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD19 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 HiF is CD quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What Me? Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Hifi is sound quality matters. It's cheaper if you have a student card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08Boss302 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 is it worth it? That would depend on where you use it most. If at home on your system or via HP on desktop setup then possibly. If you are on the move and using your phone or in the car then maybe not. As above, HiFi tier is CD quality and also MQA (I wont go into MQA as its a rather debated subject but if you google you'll see what it is all about) Their premium level is 320kbps, which is also the same as Spotify Premium and Deezer etc You could always give yourself a free trial of Tidal, Spotify, Deezer, Amazon and Apple Music if you are unsure which way to go. They all offer a free trial and its worth doing because they all function slightly differently. I have trialed them all except Apple Music and there were some things on each I liked and disliked. Deezer I enjoyed and it has a CD quality level but only on your desktop which didn't work for me. Amazon has a long way to go. Between Spotify and Tidal my preference is Spotify for its menu's and suggestions etc, I think its streets ahead of Tidal in that regard. Tidal SQ is a bit fuller than Spotify at its HiFi tier, but to my ears it is not a night/day difference between them. I have stuck with Tidal for now for the SQ but have had some stability issues with their service intermittently. I think if Spotify offer FLAC and or HiRes quality at any point in time in the future I would make the move. ....Amazon have also released a HD tier which is CD and HiRes quality that is not yet here but if it comes here they'll need to do a major overhaul of their interface and menu system for it to be of any interest IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulinap Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 So has anyone compared SQ between premium vs. hifi side by side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08Boss302 Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Not with Tidal I have compared Spotify 320 and Tidal HiFi. Ensuring I was selecting the same edition of an album and volume matching as best i could my experience was on some tracks there was no difference at all - none whatsoever. On other tracks HiFi was fuller and less fatiguing. I'd say some of that difference is down to the recording production etc too, once an average recording is compressed it gets worse? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gt1482 Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Just try both yourself on your own system. You can make the change every month so it is not like a life decision. I think you can also change it during the free trial. When you change from Premium to Hifi during a free trial, the remaining number of free days will be halved but still nothing to pay. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismwpcs Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 (edited) Just make sure if you use Tidal with your mobile phone ensure you configure the settings to play in normal quality over Hi-Fi quality as it will chew your data allowance rapidly. I have my phone set to play in Hi-Fi quality when home and I connect to my NBN connection and drops to normal when I am out. I also use my computer at home in Hi-Fi as the default setting. Cheers Chris. Edited October 7, 2019 by chrismwpcs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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