If you haven’t heard of Tidal and Spotify HiFi yet, you aren’t alone. They’re two major music streaming services that have been waiting a long time to bring their HiFi tiers to market. However, with a little patience, you can find them and start enjoying their high-quality music right now.
Amazon Music HD
Amazon Music HD is the newest addition to the retail giant’s streaming music service. It is designed to compete with services like Spotify and Apple Music. As such, it comes with a free 90-day trial. However, the quality of the music you can stream through this service is likely to be better than what you’ll find from most on-demand services. The service is available through the Amazon Music app and website, and it will also work with Echo speakers, Sonos speakers, and Fire Tablets.
Amazon Music HD has a slew of high-resolution audio capabilities. This includes lossless CD quality streams for over 50 million tracks, Dolby Atmos enhancements, and a library-wide audio upgrade. If you’re looking for a more aesthetically pleasing experience, Amazon Music HD is a great choice. But, if you’re not in the market for lossless audio, the service may not be for you.
In order to enjoy the best experience possible, you’ll want to have a good data connection. While you can stream high-res music on your phone, it will quickly eat up your monthly allowance. For a quality experience, you’ll need at least an 81Mbps connection. You’ll also need a mobile device that supports 16-bit/44.1 kHz, and a dynamic range of at least 20 kHz.
To get the most out of the service, you’ll want to subscribe to an Amazon Music Unlimited plan. With a Premium subscription, you’ll get access to a host of personalized radio stations, as well as a larger library of songs.
If you’re a Prime member, you can subscribe to Amazon Music HD for $13. This is a bit of a premium for most people, but the service’s value is high. Amazon offers a 30-day trial, and you can always sign up for a longer one. Alternatively, you can pay a monthly fee of $15. There’s also a Single Device Plan that lets you play all of your music on a single Echo speaker.
Although it has been available in some countries for several years, Amazon Music HD has only recently entered the United States. It’s now also available in Germany and Japan. Users can stream high-res audio on Amazon Fire TVs, Sonos speakers, and Android phones. Those looking to try the service out for free can do so through the site’s dedicated app.
If you’re not a Prime member, however, you’ll have to pay the full price. You’ll also have to give Amazon permission to access your music library. Once you’re signed in, you can browse through the site’s curated playlists or use its search bar in the top right-hand corner to see what’s new. During the trial period, you’ll be given a sample of 7 million songs in Ultra HD quality.
Amazon Music HD is a big step for the retail giant in terms of offering high-quality streaming music. The company previously only offered a $5 upgrade for users who wanted to get the highest quality, but it’s now included with the Unlimited subscription plan.
Tidal HiFi
If you’re looking for the best sound quality when listening to music on your smartphone, Tidal HiFi may be for you. This streaming service offers a higher quality audio experience thanks to its lossless encoding. The audio quality depends on your device, though. You can only enjoy the quality of the HiFi tier if your device supports it.
Tidal offers more than 90 million tracks in its library. However, you can choose from a variety of genres to customize your playlist. In addition to this, Tidal has an extensive collection of videos and live concerts. It also offers a wide range of subscription plans.
For example, you can purchase a Premium plan that includes access to all of the music available on Spotify. Alternatively, you can purchase the HiFi Plus tier which provides higher audio quality. Or, you can opt for the Family plan, which costs just one dollar less than the standard subscription. All three of these tiers can be used with a mobile or desktop app.
Tidal is a global streaming service that provides music to users around the world. It was first introduced in the United States in 2014. Later, the service was expanded to 61 countries, including Canada, the UK, and Germany. As of June 2016, it has more than 80 million tracks and 450K+ videos in its library.
When you subscribe, you will be given a 30-day trial. You can also access a variety of free features, which are available for up to six months. These include exclusive content, special events, and the ability to listen to music offline. Also, you can share your favorite songs and tracks with friends.
Tidal has been created by artists for music fans. The music selection is vast and the app provides a great deal of commentary on the music. There are a variety of genres to choose from, including pop, jazz, and hip hop. With its many genres and high-quality audio, Tidal is a great option for audiophiles.
Tidal has also introduced a new tier, HiFi Plus, which provides better audio quality. This tier comes with MQA 24-bit/96 kHz, Dolby Atmos Music, and Sony 360 Reality Audio. During this time, you can also check out My Activity, a feature that shows how artists are earning royalties from your subscription. By analyzing your habits, Tidal calculates how much royalties you should receive based on your subscription level and whether or not you have a HiFi Plus account.
Although Tidal has a number of exclusives, it is not necessarily a good choice for people who enjoy comedy podcasts or true crime shows. The user interface and the payment system are also very similar to other mainstream music services, making it difficult for it to stand out. Despite these shortcomings, however, it is still a great option for those who want a high-quality streaming experience.
Spotify’s delay in launching its HiFi tier
As of now, there is no concrete date for Spotify’s hi-fi tier to hit the shelves. This new feature was first teased in February of last year, and was scheduled to hit select markets by the end of the year. However, Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek has revealed that licensing issues have kept the company from delivering on this feature. While he hasn’t confirmed what exactly has caused this delay, it is safe to assume that it is not related to the company’s current business model.
Spotify’s HiFi tier is supposed to deliver CD quality audio, and to do that, it has to be delivered via a higher fidelity streaming format. For example, Apple Music’s lossless tier goes up to 24-bit at 48 kHz. It also comes with some fancy features like Dolby Atmos support. If you’re a music fan, this is a great upgrade. But it’s also a big deal because it’s an indicator of how much music streaming companies are willing to pay for high-quality sound.
Originally, the high fidelity audio tier was going to cost a monthly fee. This would be an added cost to premium subscribers. The hi-fi tier would have been available to a limited number of users, as a special experiment. The HiFi tier was meant to make high-fidelity audio more accessible to a wider audience, and it would have worked on Spotify Connect-equipped speakers.
During the recent earnings release, Spotify executives talked to investors about their plans for the future. The company said that the best thing they had to offer was a new feature called “Spotify HiFi.” According to Ek, the best thing was the fact that the feature was coming. He said that the feature would be available in “limited locations.”
One of the more notable things that was mentioned during the earnings release was the company’s new hi-res streaming feature. The company is hoping to compete with Apple Music, which offers Lossless streaming. In fact, the company introduced lossless streaming as a new feature in May of this year.
Another interesting feature that was recently introduced is the newest version of the AirPods. The AirPods Pro 2 is expected to be released later this year, and it’s rumored to support wireless lossless playback. There are other lossless streaming features on the market, such as Amazon Music.
It’s unlikely that Spotify will be able to compete with the likes of Apple Music and Amazon Music on the hi-fi front. In fact, the competition could be pretty stiff. Tidal and Deezer have both announced they’re launching HiFi tiers. Of course, it’s still a bit early to be sure.
With Spotify’s hi-fi tier delayed, it’s likely that it won’t be available until the early 2020s. That’s a long time, and the competition will get stronger with the introduction of other high-quality audio streaming services, like Amazon Music HD and Qobuz. So, in the meantime, fans may have to settle for an inferior product that isn’t quite as good as its competitors.
