2021 is the year of lossless streaming - it's more affordable to get lossless streaming. Before that, to stream lossless music, you need to subscribe to TIDAL's HiFi subscription, which costs $19.99/month. However, Apple and Amazon threw down the gauntlet this May when they began offering lossless and high-resolution music streaming at the same price as their former lossy-only tiers. Six months later, Tidal is finally responding by launching a free tier and a new, 9.99/month hi-fi subscription.
The term "lossless" is a big one in music streaming right now, no doubt because Apple Music and Spotify have announced they're bringing lossless quality audio into the mainstream. Apple is bringing lossless tracks to Apple Music sometime this June, and Spotify launching a lossless tier of its streaming service, called Spotify Hifi, "later this year."
It's true that lossless quality music streaming has been around for years, thanks to dedicated lossless streaming services like Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz and, more recently, Amazon Music HD — but it's always been expensive (like twice as expensive as most "Premium" subscriptions). Now that Apple and Spotify are getting into the mix, lossless audio is about to get way more affordable and accessible.
Apple has developed its own lossless audio compression technology called Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). In addition to AAC, the entire Apple Music catalog is now also encoded using ALAC in resolutions ranging from 16-bit/44.1 kHz (CD Quality) up to 24-bit/192 kHz.
In Apple Music, “Lossless” refers to lossless audio up to 48kHz, and “Hi-Res Lossless” refers to lossless audio from 48kHz to 192kHz.
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Extra Tips
TIDAL is the first global music streaming service with high fidelity sound. Before Apple and Amazon began offering lossless and high-resolution music streaming at the same price as their former lossy-only tiers, TIDAL's HiFi subscription costs $19.99 per month. On Nov. 17, 2021, TIDAL responded to this competition by launching a free tier and splitting HiFi into two plans: HiFi($9.99/month) and HiFi Plus($19.99/month). In Tidal, HiFi refers to 1411kbps or 16bit / 44.1kHz, and “Hi-Res" refers to up to 9216 Kbps or 24 bit / 192 kHz.
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Amazon Music Unlimited offers 100 million songs in lossless HD quality, millions of tracks in Ultra HD. Amazon Music Unlimited also offers a growing catalog of spatial audio content mastered in Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio.
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| Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music Unlimited | |
| Subscription plans |
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| Free tier | No | US only | Yes |
| Free trial period | 1 month | 30 days | 30 days |
| Music library size | 100 million | 110 million | 100 million |
| Audio Quality |
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| Offline listening | Mobile and desktop | Mobile only | Mobile only |
| Podcasts | No | Yes | Yes |
| Music videos | Yes | Yes | No |
| Apple Music |
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| TIDAL |
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| Amazon Music Unlimited |
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Dolby Atmos is an audio technology that creates an immersive listening experience in which sound comes from all around you.
Not all content is available in Dolby Atmos. Accessing Dolby Atmos features requires Dolby Atmos-capable devices. Playback quality will depend on hardware, audio accessories, and internet connection. Apple Music subscribers can listen to thousands of Dolby Atmos music tracks using any headphones with the latest version of Apple Music on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV 4K. When you listen with compatible Apple or Beats headphones or most Bluetooth headphones, Dolby Atmos music plays back automatically when available for a song. For other headphones, go to Settings > Music > Audio and set Dolby Atmos to Always On. You can also hear Dolby Atmos music using the built‑in speakers on a compatible iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or iMac, or by connecting your Apple TV 4K to one of the following: HomePod speakers set up as the default speakers, a Dolby Atmos–compatible sound bar, a Dolby Atmos–enabled AV receiver, or a television that supports Dolby Atmos audio. For the full list of compatible devices, please see support.apple.com/en-us/HT212182 . Dolby Atmos is not available with the Apple Music Voice Plan.
Besides Dolby Atmos, Tidal and Amazon Music Unlimited also offer songs available in 360 Reality Audio. Sony 360 Spatial Sound technology lets you build and experience immersive audio, on a range of platforms, content, and devices with 360 Reality Audio. Enjoy listening on headphones or 360 Reality Audio Certified speakers, Smartphones and home theater systems.
MQA is the breakthrough audio technology that enables music fans to stream the original master recording whether you’re at home or on the move. With your TIDAL HiFi Plus membership, listen to millions of master-quality songs on your iOS or Android device, and through your TIDAL desktop app. While TIDAL on iOS and Android can unfold part of the audio source natively, allowing for an enhanced listening experience by default, using a DAC will unlock its full potential and give you optimal performance. Tidal has millions of tracks available in Tidal Masters, both from TIDAL's artist owners and the music labels.
Dolby Atmos, 360 Reality Audio and Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) are all High-Res. If you don't have a headphone over 200 bucks or a system over a few thousands, just set Tidal to Hifi to save money.
Dolby, 360 Reality Audio are audio effects not audio formats like MQA, Flac, etc. When there's a Dolby effect applied with the original recording it still plays in Hifi if not in Master quality.
(Tidal)
(Amazon Music Unlimited)
Download Tidal songs/albums/playlists to M4A etc.