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Tidal v Spotify

EndersShadowEndersShadow Posts: 16,926
in Going Digital
I have to admit some ignorance here on my part. I haven't been listening to much other than Pandora *gasp*, YouTube music videos *DEEP GASP*, and music I already own via Plex.

I'm thinking of asking for a subscription to either Spotify or Tidal for Christmas.

I tend to listen on a multitude of devices, Roku, Xbox One, iPhone 6 Plus, Laptop.

I know Tidal *should* be the best bet, but I'm wondering how "close" Spotify can get when your not "critically" listening often.

I'd love to hear from people that have and use both, or had one and went to another and why.

As dumb as it sounds, if Tidal cant be played from an Xbox One, thats pretty much a dealbreaker for me as I use my Xbox One downstairs as my source for MOST of my stuff, and use Roku's upstairs.
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • tonybtonyb Posts: 31,648
    I believe Dan, Tidal needs a third party app to run on xbox. Not really a big issue. Spotify is more main stream, and cheaper, so for casual listening I'd go for the cheaper option.

    Tidal does have video though, so if your into that, the extra coin may be worth it to you.
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  • gudnoyezgudnoyez Posts: 7,061
    Tidal has two tiers one at $10 and one at $20 so tidal can cost the same as Spotify.
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  • mrbironmrbiron Posts: 5,148
    I tried Tidal when it first came out. Thought the UI was a chore to navigate. Stuck with paid Spotify. Have been happy since.

    Have I tried Tidal again? No.
    Will I? Doubtful.
    Why? Because I'm content...and lazy.

    I don't "critical listen". I relax and space out. Usually with a beer. Spotify handles this admirably.

    Ymmv.
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  • jeremymarcinkojeremymarcinko Posts: 3,495
    Spotify...no contest. Unless you’re critical listening. Spotify sounds very good through a good DAC and unless you’re switching back and forth to lossless on some really good equipment your not going to know the difference. The UI is way better and is available on many more devices such as smart TVs and AVRs.
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  • rooftop59rooftop59 Posts: 6,007
    If the goals are ubiquity and casual listening, Spotify wins hands down. Great features, interface, easier to share playlists with more folks, etc. This from a satisfied tidal subscriber. For me, the extra 10 bucks a month for tidal is worth the few hours of critical listening I get to do. And I have access to it on all my devices. But I agree with @jeremymarcinko that I really have to sit down and pay attention to quality recordings to hear a difference, and with 4 young kids that doesn’t happen very often. On the other hand, it’s 10 bucks a MONTH. You could easily save than by taking a pb&j to work for lunch a couple days a month...
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  • EndersShadowEndersShadow Posts: 16,926
    edited December 2017
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    If the goals are ubiquity and casual listening, Spotify wins hands down. Great features, interface, easier to share playlists with more folks, etc. This from a satisfied tidal subscriber. For me, the extra 10 bucks a month for tidal is worth the few hours of critical listening I get to do. And I have access to it on all my devices. But I agree with @jeremymarcinko that I really have to sit down and pay attention to quality recordings to hear a difference, and with 4 young kids that doesn’t happen very often. On the other hand, it’s 10 bucks a MONTH. You could easily save than by taking a pb&j to work for lunch a couple days a month...

    Well, I was thinking more of Tidal Premium (20) v Spotify Premium (10) or Spotify Family (15). I didn't know about Family. That would save me from the Netflix problem we had before we setup accounts as I kept getting recommended shows like Bob the Builder followed by House of Cards because my daughter and I were watching on teh same account.

    That might be the ticket. Skye, Tasha and I could all have our own accounts so we could all have our own playlists...

    I like to skip around a lot, so not having ads or X number of skips would be worth 10 bucks.

    But I think the fact that Tidal isnt on the Xbox One may be the killer.

    There is so much out there that I DONT own, and can't afford to buy and buy and buy, that I used YouTube to create my playlists for my kids and some for myself. And while there is some music I'd let my daughters listen to LYRIC wise (that I dont already own), the music video's sometimes are a bit more than I want to expose them to.

    So with either, we can enjoy the music, without the video's, which they will like.

    And more importantly, the playlists I curate will be available on all our devices, which was also the other goal.
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • BlueFoxBlueFox Posts: 12,235
    edited December 2017
    Tidal also offers MQA with its $20 option. Of course, if music is just background noise then the $10 lossy files are okay.
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  • rooftop59rooftop59 Posts: 6,007
    Yes, I was thinking tidal hifi is 10 bucks more a month than Spotify premium, and it’s worth it to me. Like at work I use my laptop through a drangonfly black and some nice cans and I can get MQA and that’s the main time I can take a few minutes here and there and really enjoy highSQ.

    As for playlists, You can also create different playlists on tidal. I have a car ride playlist for riding with the kids, and a couple kids dance party playlists. But they would also be able to see your playlists if that is a concern.
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  • EndersShadowEndersShadow Posts: 16,926
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    But they would also be able to see your playlists if that is a concern.

    Yeah that was my thought. They may not INTEND to click on it, but they could lol...

    I'm also wondering if Spotify Family has the ability to set parental controls on music so they cant listen to music if its rated more than X.

    Regardless I just saw that Spotify Premium is .99 cents for 3 months, so I'm going to sign up for it, try it for a couple months, and if I like it, convert to a family plan.
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • mrbironmrbiron Posts: 5,148
    EndersShadow wrote: »
    I'm also wondering if Spotify Family has the ability to set parental controls on music so they cant listen to music if its rated more than X.

    What the fuzzy is X-rated music?! Is that like pron without the video feed...i guess i could make that work... ;)

    I don't see anything about parental controls in the settings area.
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  • EndersShadowEndersShadow Posts: 16,926
    mrbiron wrote: »
    EndersShadow wrote: »
    I'm also wondering if Spotify Family has the ability to set parental controls on music so they cant listen to music if its rated more than X.

    What the fuzzy is X-rated music?! Is that like pron without the video feed...i guess i could make that work... ;)

    I don't see anything about parental controls in the settings area.

    LOL... in that sentence X is meant to be a variable as I forget the ratings on music :p
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • TNTsTunesTNTsTunes Posts: 756
    Tidal has a 30 day free trail right now, regular or hifi choices. I'm trying both since they can be canceled after the trial ends if needed.

    What I need to find is a good cheap source of flacs or other lossless files to add to my collection. Then internet streaming wouldn't be necessary.
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  • rooftop59rooftop59 Posts: 6,007
    edited December 2017
    TNTsTunes wrote: »
    What I need to find is a good cheap source of flacs or other lossless files to add to my collection. Then internet streaming wouldn't be necessary.

    So you just want someone to give you a bunch of cd quality files for free?!?
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  • BlueFoxBlueFox Posts: 12,235
    Hey, what is wrong with high-def, or DSD, files for free. :)
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  • TNTsTunesTNTsTunes Posts: 756
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    TNTsTunes wrote: »
    What I need to find is a good cheap source of flacs or other lossless files to add to my collection. Then internet streaming wouldn't be necessary.

    So you just want someone to give you a bunch of cd quality files for free?!?

    Well that would work I guess... o:) HD tracks is a bit expensive, finding places that are cheaper would be great.

    I had most of my CD's stolen a few years ago. They got hundreds of them. Lately I buy CD's from Salvation Army, check out ones from libraries, use Craigslist and hit rummage sales. I still have tons of holes to fill though.
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  • rooftop59rooftop59 Posts: 6,007
    Well that sucks man, and I think you have a good approach. Lots of cheap used options out there. Don’t forget eBay and Amazon. You can easily get older used cds for 4-6 bucks shipped.
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  • ConradiclesConradicles Posts: 5,890
    Now that I got my office rig up and running, I am trying both Tidal and Spotify for a few months to see which one I like better. Initial thoughts are both sound decent.

    This is coming from an old school guy who said he would never listen to music on the internets LOL.
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  • jonicontjonicont Posts: 224
    I had Spotify for years. Used it for previewing records (vinyl) I want to buy. Squeezebox stopped supporting it. Now I have Tidal. Sounds much better. Don't know anything about playlists. I listen to albums (old school, retired)
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  • MartinlingMartinling Posts: 4
    Tidal vs Spotify, which one to choose? I have Tidal premium account for a few months while using Spotify free account for years.
    There is no doubt that Tidal offers more professional audio quality with Tidal HiFi than Spotify. But Spotify offers free users to access to its music library. There is no soup for Tidal free users.
    So Which one to choose? It depends on your needs. Besides, As for my suggestion, you can use a free Spotify account and get a Spotify Song Converter to download Spotify music for offline listening and subscribe to a Tidal account. All things are perfect now.
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  • BlueFoxBlueFox Posts: 12,235
    Spammer.
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  • BellaGordenBellaGorden Posts: 1
    As a big fan of Spotify, I often listen to music on Spotify. Once I was a premium user on Spotify for downloading Spotify music, but I found those downloaded cannot be played out of Spotify. Then I google how to control music downloaded from Spotify and how to play them out of Spotify. Later, I installed a Spotify Music Converter on my pc. Now, I could convert Spotify to mp3 through that Spotify Music Downloader and play them on any device and player anytime.
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  • WillowWillow Posts: 9,740
    ^^^^
    You must be related to Martinling
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  • TimFloydTimFloyd Posts: 4
    This new update is great as i was getting some hanging problem after update it is recover. If you are a music lover and facing any music transfer related problem then visit my friend website MusConv.com tool with the help of you can easily handle your problems.
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  • Viking64Viking64 Posts: 4,464
    You started off a bit shaky and fell to pieces near the end.

    LOL @ "your friend's tool", though.
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  • NightfallNightfall Posts: 8,614
    TimFloyd wrote: »
    This new update is great as i was getting some hanging problem after update it is recover.

    After update it is recover?
    TimFloyd wrote: »
    If you are a music lover and facing any music transfer related problem then visit my friend website

    Is the website literally your friend or did you mean my friend's website?
    TimFloyd wrote: »
    with the help of you can easily handle your problems.

    With the help of what? With the help of which you can...?
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

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  • Viking64Viking64 Posts: 4,464
    I think he is trying to say that if you have a problem with your tool, he would be glad to handle it for you.
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  • NightfallNightfall Posts: 8,614
    Viking64 wrote: »
    I think he is trying to say that if you have a problem with your tool, he would be glad to handle it for you.

    PM sent!
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
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  • Viking64Viking64 Posts: 4,464
    Nightfall wrote: »
    Viking64 wrote: »
    I think he is trying to say that if you have a problem with your tool, he would be glad to handle it for you.

    PM sent!

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :p
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