What I'm missing in your article, Becky, is, that to enjoy the highest Tidal quality, you need to have a VERY performant internet plan. As you can read in the audio section in this review (
https://www.headphonesty.com/2021/07/spotify-vs-tidal/) the demand is enormous:
"Given Tidal’s high-quality audio, it’s no surprise that the app is a monster data consumer. Tidal’s HiFi plan can eat through 635 MB per hour, while Tidal HiFi Plus guzzles anywhere from 1.35 GB to 18.20 GB per hour. On good days, playback is generally smooth on Tidal. But on days when my connection is inconsistent, there’s noticeably more buffering than usual when skipping tracks.
Aside from a good internet connection, you’ll also need headphones that can support audio resolutions of up to 24 bit/352 kHz to get the most out of Tidal Masters. In addition, Tidal’s MQA format also requires additional hardware such as an MQA Renderer or MQA-enabled DAC that can decode the audio data properly, allowing you to hear your music exactly the way it was recorded."
This is very important information. Because why should you pay 30€/$ per month if your internet connection and head phones can't cope?
cheers,
Paul
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