Tidal has some rare gems like the Babacar (1998) album. They also have a Hifi subscription that lets you stream Master Quality Audio (MQA) files, which is not just another fancy name for same compressed crap, but is actually alternate Hifi masterings of some key albums. A bunch of early New Order albums are available in superior quality this way and also Nick Drake albums in alternate mastering to name a few.
One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain So hit me with music, hit me with music
The convoluted unpacking & processing of MQA (master quality authenticated) is more likely the reason for content sounding slightly different & , in any case, the rubbish, lossy streams other platforms offer will never deliver a full quality reproduction. But that's a different thing really. It's the streaming model that's desperately unfair for smaller, emerging acts that need to have somewhere to showcase their work & in these times, that is more important than anything in terms of revenue as nobody can tour right now which is a massive revenue stream just gone. Granted, Tidal is one of the better deals as far as the artist goes, but the rest of them, the ones that the vast majority of people use on their pooters, phones, tablets, & other gadgets, are ripping off the artists really badly (unless they're under the wings of the big 4 music labels, in which case they still get ripped off, but by nowhere near as much). ~0.3 million streams just to earn a minimum wage is so obviously wrong it beggars belief. But it's a double edged sword too. If everyone boycotted spotify, YT, amazon, etc. then that's the revenue stream (however pitiful) completely cut off. The best way to support artists is to actually buy their wares & so hand them the revenue they desperately need to continue to make music you enjoy.
There are many masterings that are exclusive to the streaming format from some key artists. I know this by just looking at the waveforms (yes, blame me for recording them to my hard disk). And I take benefit from the "3 months for 1 euros" discounts. I think the prices of subscription are too high, I rather buy 2 full price downloads from bandcamp (and I do) than see my money vanish into the air every month. Spotify free is great for previewing the albums I intend to buy elsewhere, the quality is enough for that.
Last Edit: Nov 14, 2020 10:11:45 GMT 1 by bluewater
One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain So hit me with music, hit me with music
On the whole the cases of sound quality benefits are still rare and certainly not worth the price of a continuous Hifi subscription, but worth looking into if you get a discount offer. To check what the world of Hifi streaming looks like. And I enjoy streaming for example on my Android TV. Lasting effect is that I now have a "Tidal rip" folder instead of a "vinyl rip" folder on some of my fav albums. If the artists aren't getting my money, neither are the big bosses behind streaming services.
One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain So hit me with music, hit me with music
People at stevehoffman forums are upset right now of the fact that many hi-def masters will now never see the light of day as regular downloads, since they are exclusively offered for streaming only in Tidal in MQA format. It seems WMG is especially doing this. Sony and Universal not so. MQA is technically a lossy format although it supports 24-bit, so many purists are alarmed. The amount of different versions of some albums is a bit over the top right now, for example there are 4 different MQA versions of Space Oddity on Tidal. And the regular versions on top of that.
One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain So hit me with music, hit me with music
I should add that MQA is also a file container format for downloading like FLAC, but who would want to buy those files and why? To have yet another piece of hardware/software in the audio system for tinkering...
One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain So hit me with music, hit me with music
Christmas came early. Got 4 months of tidal for 1.99eur as a black friday offer. When cancelling the subscription immediately so they won't charge me after 4 months, they took me through a long and frightening survey, asking everything about my streaming and listening habits. The whole thing is just an Orwellian nightmare, but as a pure listener without connections to bands and artists (other than my money) I can't complain. Will put my money on bandcamp instead.
One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain So hit me with music, hit me with music