This means that even if we can’t discern which one is the AAC and which is the PCM file type, we may be able to experience it on an emotional level. One study conducted by the Audio Engineering Library found that “MP3s have distinct effects on timbral and emotional characteristics - tending to strengthen negative emotional qualities and weaken positive ones.” Were you able to guess these right? Let us know in the comment section below - we’d be interested to see if you could figure out which was which.Īlso, it’s important to keep in mind that even if you couldn’t consciously perceive a difference, that doesn't mean it didn’t have an effect.Įven if we couldn't consciously tell a difference, it could still elicit an emotional response. Track 4: 160kbps Does Spotify or Tidal Sound Better for Rap Music Track 4: 320kbps Does Spotify or Tidal Sound Better for Rock Music Does Spotify or Tidal Sound Better for Pop Music We’ll master it for you and send you a free mastered sample to review. If you have a track that you’d like to hear mastered, send it to us here: One important thing to note is that for the pop, rock, and rap tracks, it was just about impossible to find a Master Quality version on Tidal that is still public domain, so these have been recorded in as 96kHz 24-bit files via analog equipment using a Tidal Hi-fi quality 44.1kHz 16-bit file. We'd recommend that you use headphones for this test. Be sure to use some headphones and your best playback system when doing these tests to get the best results. To make things more interesting we’ll make this a blind test so that each file isn’t identified until we’ve listened to each one of them. Here are the tracks that we'll listen to from Spotify. The files played from Spotify will be 320kbps, 160kbps, and 24kbps. The files played from Tidal will be 44.1kHz 16-bit. We’ll listen to Pop, Rock, and Rap tracks to determine which streaming service offers better quality. To understand this, we’ll need to listen to various genres using the settings we just described. Spotify's quality ranges from 24kbps to 320kbps.īut understanding these settings from a technical standpoint doesn’t help us understand which service sounds better. The quality of these AAC files ranges from a very low 24kbps to 320kbps. On the other hand, Spotify now uses an AAC lossy format (replacing the Ogg Vorbis format previously used). Tidal's streaming offers lossless file types than can support up to 384kHz, 24-bit. It should be noted that their master quality can go up to a 384kHz sampling rate, which is pretty impressive. Their hi-fi setting is a lossless 44.1, 16-bit file, whereas their Master setting is typically 96kHz, 24-bit. Tidal provides both lossy formats at lower quality settings and lossless formats at higher settings. Since Tidal was released, people have wondered if it truly sounds better than Spotify. Spotify or Tidal: Which Streaming Service Sounds the Best?Īlthough we can’t say one objectively sounds better, one service provides files with less aliasing, encoding distortion, and with a fuller frequency spectrum. If you intend to use lower quality formats to reduce data usage then Spotify may be better the better option. Although which service sounds better may be subjective to some, Tidal provides higher quality masters using lossless files, whereas Spotify streams music using an AAC lossy format.
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