Use Tidal for the best Sound Quality on your AirPods Pro!

[Dharma-P]

I've been using Spotify for a few years now and I never really looked at any alternatives. Yesterday, a friend of mine recommended Tidal and I signed up for the one month free trial. Guys, Tidal works way better than Spotify with your AirPods Pro! Spotify's max audio quality is 320 kbps while Tidal can go up to 1411 kbps. At first I didn't really hear the difference, but after listening to some songs that I know very well I noticed a lot more detail! Spotify compresses the music so much that the tiny details will disappear. If you got brand new AirPods Pro I encourage you to try it yourself! It's free - make sure to set the audio quality to Master.


Btw: You can make a new account each month to get a free trial with the same credit card. I know it's not what it's meant for but oh well...

 

[Ralfi]

I’ve been curious to hear their higher quality audio. Now with better Airpods with NC, the difference should be more noticeable eh.

 

[Johnny Steps]

I recently switched from Spotify to Tidal and the audio difference is very noticeable!

 

[Dharma-P]

I’ve been curious to hear their higher quality audio. Now with better Airpods with NC, the difference should be more noticeable eh.

Exactly, I was very impressed!

 

[Ralfi]

Just doing some further reading, it looks as though the Masters tracks are only available on the desktop apps & not on your phone???

Oop no I read that wrong. iOS & Android devices are supported.

Ok, a bit more reading...

The inconvenient truth about MQA on iOS | Darko.Audio

iPhones don't *do* hi-res audio.

darko.audio

Apparently the only way to make the most of MQA on iPhones is to use a cable & an external DAC.

Two things stop me from going to Tidal - I’m not sure much of the music I listen to is going to be in MQA, & I’m not sure I’ll get the absolute best audio quality with an iPhone + Bluetooth earbuds combo.

Not that I don’t believe the OP, I’d just want a lot of my music to sound noticeably better if I were to sign up.

 

[zhenya]

You must have one incredible set of golden ears if you can tell the difference on a set of AirPods considering Tidal‘s higher bitrate is converted to AAC - same as Apple music uses - for Bluetooth transmission.

 

[MCKLMT]

If I hear the same song on Apple Music and on Tidal (HiFi) I can observe a difference even if I know the iPhone can’t play hires audio. Strange. The music seems to contain more detailed mediums and bass.
I listen with a Bose QC35 over Bluetooth.

 

[AVBeatMan]

I've just started a 2 month Tidal trial. Not listed to much yet but interested to see how it compares to Apple Music.

 

[Ralfi]

If I hear the same song on Apple Music and on Tidal (HiFi) I can observe a difference even if I know the iPhone can’t play hires audio. Strange. The music seems to contain more detailed mediums and bass.
I listen with a Bose QC35 over Bluetooth.

Appreciate that. Would you happen to have Airpods that you could also compare?

I've just started a 2 month Tidal trial. Not listed to much yet but interested to see how it compares to Apple Music.

I’m interested in your findings, Dave!

 

[acorntoy]

Never thought i‘d see Jay-Z on macrumors.


Also just to be fair: Amazon has also just released a HD music service comparable to tidal, I believe prime members get a discount .

 

[Steve686]

Never thought i‘d see Jay-Z on macrumors.


Also just to be fair: Amazon has also just released a HD music service comparable to tidal, I believe prime members get a discount .

I’m trying the Amazon UHD music. I go back and forth between Apple Music and Amazon and there is an audio difference between the two.

Apple Music seems to be output at higher dB than Amazon. But once you reach the same volume level with Amazon the music seems to have a more balanced tone. Apple Music sounds a little “blown out” in the highs and mids at higher levels.

This is heard with the APPs. I have QC35 which I haven’t used much since I bought the APPs.

Sitting in an airport right now and am going to listen to some more music with the QC35.

 

[Jack Neill]

Tidal is lame. I still use the OG Napster.

 

[augustya]

I've been using Spotify for a few years now and I never really looked at any alternatives. Yesterday, a friend of mine recommended Tidal and I signed up for the one month free trial. Guys, Tidal works way better than Spotify with your AirPods Pro! Spotify's max audio quality is 320 kbps while Tidal can go up to 1411 kbps. At first I didn't really hear the difference, but after listening to some songs that I know very well I noticed a lot more detail! Spotify compresses the music so much that the tiny details will disappear. If you got brand new AirPods Pro I encourage you to try it yourself! It's free - make sure to set the audio quality to Master.


Btw: You can make a new account each month to get a free trial with the same credit card. I know it's not what it's meant for but oh well...

Though I do not consider myself Pro I have tried all Music Streaming websites and especially very closely evaluated Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal. So here is my Take on it. Though Tidal May have Hi-Res Music the problem with Tidal is their Music Library, It is like lacking Zillions of years behind what Apple Music and Spotify offer. So even if they offer a very superior quality if they do not have as much content what is the Point ?? For e.g. I am a Spotfy User with Spotify I can almost find, almost about 98% songs that exist in this world ! I dont know what Spotify does but their Music Quality which is 320KBPS OGG Vorbis it is simply outstanding, I am totally blown anway with its music quality and this is I am saying after, I have tried all the three above, Plus Spotify Algorithm is so freaking good, infacct it is awesome the Tracks and PLaylist that it keeps suggesting to you, is Bang on Target ! I love Spotify ! Of course you have to have nice pair of Headphones, or Speakers listening to it on a cheapo speaker will also make the Music sound Cheap.

 

[Ralfi]

Trialling Tidal for a month. Listening with AirPods Pro, I’m not sure I notice enough of a difference to justify the price hike.

May need to do further testing, but so far, there’s little if any difference.

Can people list specific MQA tracks they’ve found to be much better sounding on Tidal than either Apple Music/Spotify?

 

[furbzv1]

Just got the 5 months for $5 promo they were doing. Only thing i dont like is that i cant press the stem of the airpod to pause or go to next/previous track.

edit: and just like that it started working.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I've been using Spotify for a few years now and I never really looked at any alternatives. Yesterday, a friend of mine recommended Tidal and I signed up for the one month free trial. Guys, Tidal works way better than Spotify with your AirPods Pro! Spotify's max audio quality is 320 kbps while Tidal can go up to 1411 kbps. At first I didn't really hear the difference, but after listening to some songs that I know very well I noticed a lot more detail! Spotify compresses the music so much that the tiny details will disappear. If you got brand new AirPods Pro I encourage you to try it yourself! It's free - make sure to set the audio quality to Master.


Btw: You can make a new account each month to get a free trial with the same credit card. I know it's not what it's meant for but oh well...

I think that your ears 'hearing the difference' is anecdotal.

AirPod Pro's does NOT support Hi-Res Audio of any kind.


Although the Sony WF-1000XM3's (I just sold a second time Arrrgh) has shown up on AptX-HD as a supported device. So currently not supported on the Sony's but a firmware update may get this happening. I find this move odd as it does support Hi-Res for Android devices ... yet still pales in comparison to audio quality of Sony's Hi-Res with their android and walkman products.

LDAC supports the transfer of 24-bit, 96 kHz (Hi-Res) audio files over the air via Bluetooth.
Qualcomm’s aptX HD, which supports 24-bit, 48 kHz.

What’s interesting about LDAC is that it comes with three different types of connection mode – quality priority, normal, and connection priority. Each of these offers a different bitrate, weighing in at 990, 660, and 330 kbps respectively. So, depending on the type of connection available or the option you pick, there are varying levels of quality. It’s clear that the slower bitrates aren’t going to give the full 24-bit, 96 kHz quality that LDAC boasts though, so keep that in mind.

Sony's LDAC supports the highest 990kbps bit-rate ... shaving off only frequencies higher than 16-bit which is ok as it's barely perceptible or impossible to human hearing. We hear rates higher than that as noise. Still I want the higher quality and I hope Apple Brings it in 2020.

 

[vine-boating]

I recently switched from Spotify to Tidal and the audio difference is very noticeable!

Late bump but which subscription do you use?
The most expensive one because I know there are like 3 different plans

 

[vanhalen26]

You need something better than airpods to appreciate the benefits of tidal masters. From the reading I’ve done, Bluetooth from an iPhone is pretty compressed. I use some higher quality wired headphones and love it. I use both an android phone and iPhone and the android is superior - it has a DAC built in.

 

[Minarets]

I'm sure more detailed headphones showcase even more than AIRPODS PROS, but i can definitely hear a difference in the masters vs something like Apple Music. There is definitely more detail.

 

[dszakal]

Now waiting for the reactions with Airpods Max + Tidal

 

[clerkpalmer]

Now waiting for the reactions with Airpods Max + Tidal

It won't make a shred of difference over bluetooth. Apple is still limited by it's AAC codec which is 256. You might as well save your money and stick with Apple Music. If you want to use Tidal over bluetooth for hi res music, you need something with AptxHD or LDAC - technologies that Apple has stubbornly refused to license.

 

[clerkpalmer]

I'm sure more detailed headphones showcase even more than AIRPODS PROS, but i can definitely hear a difference in the masters vs something like Apple Music. There is definitely more detail.

If you are using bluetooth, this is highly unlikely and more than likely confirmation bias or perhaps differences in output volume. Apple's AAC codec is limited to 256 so Tidal HiFi, Quobuz etc. will not improve the sound quality.

 

[iBug2]

If you claim that you can hear a difference, there are some A/B Blind test apps available out there, also online. Do a blind test. If you can only guess the high res track 50% of the time, it's random.

 

[Resident Guru]

I switched from Tidal to Qobuz a little over a year ago and prefer it to Tidal. Looking forward to trying Qobuz with AirPods Max with the lightning to 3.5mm adapter.

 

[Lumpy05]

I switched from Spotify to Apple Music and notice a bump in audio quality. It’s also track dependent some stuff just sounds bad must be the source encodings.