Tidal HiFi vs Master: How to Choose
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Part 1. Tidal Master vs HiFi: All-in-depth Comparison
Tidal offers free listening plans as well as two paid tiers, Tidal HiFi and HiFi Plus. Tidal Master quality is included in HiFi Plus. Now, let’s see the differences between HiFi vs Master Tidal in all aspects.
1. Overview
Tidal HiFi
Tidal HiFi is an entry-level subscription that lets you listen to music in lossless high-fidelity audio. Tidal HiFi streams sound quality in lossless FLAC format at 1411kbps or 16-bit/44.1 kHz resolution. This is the same quality you get on most basic streaming options.
With Tidal HiFi, you can stream over 100 million lossless and compressed tracks and listen to your music in its purest form. You can also get access to Tidal’s collection of over 650,000 videos.
Tidal Master
Tidal has partnered with MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) to deliver master-quality audio (typically 96 kHz/24 bits) at the highest possible resolution. With your Tidal HiFi Plus membership, you can listen to and access Master quality tracks on your desktop app, iOS or Android device.
Currently, Tidal has millions of tracks that are available in Tidal Master quality, from major labels, Tidal artist owners, and key independent labels. Also many users tend to download Tidal MQA music to enhance their listening experience.
2. Price
In fact, if you are a new user and want to enjoy Tidal Master or HiFi, you can get Tidal for free through a 30-day trial. After a one-month free trial, you can decide to continue with Tidal HiFi or Master if you want. Below is the comparison table of Tidal HiFi vs HiFi Plus price.
Individual
Student
Family
Military
First Responders
Tidal HiFi
$9.99/month
$4.99/month
$14.99/month
$5.99/month
$5.99/month
Tidal Master (HiFi Plus)
$19.99/month
$9.99/month
$29.99/month
$11.99/month
$11.99/month
Tidal HiFi
Tidal HiFi is $9.99/£9.99/AU$ 11.99 per month with a 50% discount for students. For the U.S. military and first responders, they are also eligible for discounts upon confirmation of eligibility. The Tidal HiFi Family Plan costs $14.99 per month for a total of 6 accounts and gives you the right to play Tidal on multiple devices.
Master
If you want to listen to Tidal Master, subscribe to the Tidal HiFi Plus plan for $19.99/£19.99/AU$ 23.99 per month. Students, US military personnel, or first responders also receive discounts upon certification. The family plan costs $29.99 per month and includes a total of 6 accounts. On the Tidal HiFi Plus service, not only do you get free access to Tidal Master, but you also get access to thousands of master-level videos.
3. Library
Because the Tidal HiFi and HiFi Plus libraries are virtually identical, once you subscribe to either of these two levels, you have access to Tidal’s complete library of over 100 million Tidal HiFi and Master music. When you have no other requirements other than the Tidal library, you’ll get a better deal by choosing Tidal HiFi.
However, all songs on Tidal can be listened to in HiFi quality, while MQA is not. There are no exact numbers on how many songs are MQA, but Tidal claims: TIDAL’s artist owners and labels have millions of tracks in all genres and will continue to add more master-quality content every week.
4. Audio Quality
The Tidal HiFi delivers uncompressed lossless high-fidelity audio streaming at 44.1 kHz/16 bit or 1411kbps in exceptional lossless CD quality. Since it is a lossless FLAC file with no data loss, Tidal HiFi is suitable for the audiophile or audiophile.
Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) has a much better quality than HiFi sound. It delivers audio at 96 kHz/24 bit and up to 9216 kbps via FLAC or WAV files at the highest possible resolution. So, users will enjoy the exact music the artist intended to convey.
5. Performance
Inspecting Tidal HiFi vs Master in terms of performance, Tidal HiFi audio consumes an average of 5.5MB of data per minute and Master consumes up to 7.5MB of data per minute (varies depending on the specific sample rate). For a better streaming experience on HiFi and Master, it is recommended a steady Internet connection of 1.5 to 2 Mbps or more.
Generally speaking, high-quality lossless files will be larger. On Tidal MQA vs HiFi perception, Master is basically hi-res streaming as compared to Tidal HiFi. And the MQA partnership has brought an absolutely ultimate audio experience.
6. Compatibility
Tidal provides support on a wide range of devices, including audio devices, Smart TVs & Streamers, DJ software, mobiles & tablet, desktop & laptop and more.
However, not all Tidal-compatible devices accept Tidal HiFi and Master. In iOS devices, only iPhones and iPads with iOS 13 or higher support Tidal HiFi and Master. For Androids, devices with Android version 6 or higher (Blackberry is not included) and Kindle Fire with Android version 4.4.4 or later are compatible with Tidal Master and HiFi.
On Windows, Windows 7 or later with a CPU of 2.33GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 or faster processor and a RAM of 512MB and 1GB offers support to Tidal HiFi and Master. While on Mac, Tidal HiFi and Master are only available on Mac OS X 10.10 or higher with a processor of Intel® Core™ Duo or quicker and a RAM of 512MB or 1GB.
For web browsers on Mac or Windows computer, only the lastest version of Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi get support from Tidal HiFi and Master. Among Smart TVs and Streamers, Master and Tidal HiFi can be available on Roku TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV and Chromecast.
With regard to home audio devices, Master and Tidal HiFi integrate with Sonos, Roon, Naim, Heos by Denon, BluOS by Bluesound, Google Cast or Chromecast, and audio devices that can be connected to desktop app via USB.
