Tidal Master vs HiFi - Get the Best One

Part 1. Tidal Master vs HiFi: All-in-depth Comparison

Tidal HiFi and Tidal Master quality music are both in a paid plan (TIDAL). You can enjoy music with a suitable audio quality cause they have different bitrates, formats, audio libraries and so on. Now, let's see the key summary between HiFi vs Master Tidal in different aspects.

Tidal HiFi vs Master: Overview

Tidal HiFi

Tidal HiFi (High-Fidelity) lets you listen to music in lossless high-fidelity audio. It streams sound quality in lossless FLAC format at 1411kbps or 16-bit/44.1 kHz resolution. This is the same quality you get on most basic streaming options.

With Tidal HiFi, you can stream over 110 million lossless and compressed tracks and listen to your music in its purest form. It works with a broad range of devices, including most phones, computers, and standard audio equipment. Besides, it provides a rich, detailed listening experience with clear vocals, distinct instrument separation and accurate sound reproduction.

See also: Top 20 Best HiFi Songs on Tidal

Tidal Master

Master on Tidal delivers studio-quality sound, often referred to as 'Hi-Res' or high-resolution audio. Tidal has partnered with MQA (Master Quality Authenticated). So, it can master-quality audio (typically 96 kHz/24 bits) at the highest possible resolution. You can listen to and access Master quality tracks on your desktop app, iOS or Android device.

Currently, Tidal has millions of tracks that are available in Tidal Master quality. To fully experience Tidal MQA, you need compatible hardware, such as MQA-enabled DACs (Digital-to-Analog Converters), high-end headphones, or certain speakers.

See also: Best Tidal Streamers for MQA/HiFi

✨ Tidal HiFi vs Master Quality

The Tidal HiFi delivers uncompressed lossless high-fidelity audio streaming at 44.1 kHz/16 bit or 1411kbps in exceptional lossless CD quality. It is suitable for the audiophile or audiophile.

Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) has a much better quality than HiFi sound. It delivers audio at 96 kHz/24 bit and up to 9216 kbps via FLAC or WAV files at the highest possible resolution. So, users will enjoy the exact music the artist intended to convey.

🏆 So, in the Tidal Master vs HiFi audio quality battle, you can see the winner is Tidal MQA.

✨ Tidal Master vs HiFi Price

In fact, if you are a new user and want to enjoy Tidal Master or HiFi, you can get Tidal for free through a 30-day trial. After a one-month free trial, you can decide to continue with the plan if you want. The price of Tidal plans are as follows.

See also: Get Tidal 6 Months Free Trial

Plan	Price
Individual	$10.99/month
Individual + DJ Extension	$19.99/month
Family	$16.99/month
Student	$4.99/month

If you want to DJ with Tidal MQA or HiFi audio, you can consider the second plan (with a DJ extension). To share high-quality music with your families, you can pay for the family plan, which supports up to 6 devices to use Tidal simultaneously. A student can enjoy a discount to access Tidal exclusive content.

With a plan, you can download the excellent music and play it offline. But please note that the downloads are cache files on Tidal. Once you cancel your Tidal subscription, they will be inaccessible.

🔊 To play Tidal music without a Tidal plan even without the Tidal app or web player, a remarkable Tidal music converter (AudFree Tidal Music Converter) is recommended for you.

✨ HiFi vs Master Tidal Library

Once you subscribe to the TIDAL plan, you have access to Tidal's over 110 million Tidal songs including HiFi and Master quality. All songs on Tidal can be listened to in HiFi quality, while MQA is not. There are no exact numbers on how many songs are MQA, but Tidal claims: TIDAL's artist owners and labels have millions of tracks in all genres and will continue to add more master-quality content every week.

🏆 It is clear that Tidal High-Fidelity music is the winner in the Tidal Master vs HiFi music library comparison.

✨ Master vs HiFi Tidal Performance

Inspecting Tidal HiFi vs Master performance, Tidal HiFi audio consumes an average of 5.5MB of data per minute. Master consumes up to 7.5MB of data per minute (varies depending on the specific sample rate). For a better streaming experience on HiFi and Master, it is recommended a steady Internet connection of 1.5 to 2 Mbps or more.

See also: How to Fix Tidal Not Playing on Mobile/Desktop

Generally speaking, high-quality lossless files will be larger. On Tidal MQA vs HiFi perception, Master is basically Hi-Res streaming as compared to Tidal HiFi. And the MQA partnership has brought an absolutely ultimate audio experience.

✨ Tidal HiFi vs Master Compatibility

Tidal supports a wide range of devices, including audio devices, Smart TVs & Streamers, DJ software, mobiles & tablets, desktops & laptops and more.

However, not all Tidal-compatible devices accept Tidal HiFi and Master. In iOS devices, only iPhones and iPads with iOS 13 or higher support Tidal HiFi and Master. For Androids, devices with version 6 or higher (Blackberry is not included) and Kindle Fire with version 4.4.4 or later are compatible.

See also: How to Download Tidal Music on Android Phones

On Windows, Windows 7 or later with a CPU of 2.33GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 or faster processor and a RAM of 512MB and 1GB offers support to Tidal HiFi and Master. While on Mac, Tidal HiFi and Master are only available on Mac OS X 10.10 or higher with a processor of Intel® Core™ Duo or quicker and a RAM of 512MB or 1GB.

See also: How to Download Tidal Music on Mac for Offline Listening

For web browsers on Mac or Windows, only the latest version of Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi get support from Tidal HiFi and Master. Among Smart TVs and Streamers, Master and Tidal HiFi can be available on Roku TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV and Chromecast.

See also: Tidal Web Player Hot Review & Usage

About home audio devices, they both integrate with Sonos, Roon, Naim, Google Cast or Chromecast, and more.

See also: How to Connect Tidal to Sonos with/without Tidal App

🏆 Winner: Tidal HiFi

Part 2. Tidal HiFi vs Master - Comparison Table

	Tidal HiFi	Tidal Master
Price	$10.99/month	$10.99/month
Library	110M+ songs	millions of tracks
Sound Quality	up to 1411kbps	up to 9216kbps
Perfermance	5.5MB of data per minute	7.5MB of data per minute
Compatiblity	more devices	fewer devices
Listening Experience	clear, distinct, and accurate	detail, depth, and spatial
Specialized Hardware Required	❌	✔

The choice between Tidal HiFi or Master really depends on what factors you care. If you're an audiophile with a passion for Hi-Res music, Master will unleash your musical desires. It is worth mentioning that fewer devices with standard headphone output support Master quality. To enjoy MQA at its fullest potential, you may need an external Digital Analog Converter (DAC). Wisely choose the best DAC for Tidal to listen to your music in the best and most accurate way possible.

But if you just prefer to listen to Tidal music simply through a regular pair of headphones, Tidal HiFi should be sufficient for your needs. It saves you data and storage space and it gives you full access to Tidal's entire library and videos.

Part 3. How to Download Tidal Master or HiFi Audio Locally

As mentioned earlier, Tidal subscribers can download music from Tidal for offline listening. But notably, you can only do that on the mobile app since there is no download feature on the Tidal desktop app. Also, if you cancel Tidal subscriptions, the downloads on Tidal will disappear. In the meantime, please remark that these downloaded caches are solely playable offline within the Tidal app.

To break these limits, we are here to provide you with a tip to download Tidal HiFi and MQA music for forever listening anywhere. You just need AudFree Tidal Music Downloader. It allows you to explore Tidal HiFi and Master music on any device without restrictions. This AudFree music converter for Tidal is designed to convert Tidal tracks to MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, M4A, and M4B. There is no compromise of original audio quality and metadata. In other words, you can keep the original data even though you get Tidal music converted on your device.

How to Download Music from Tidal as Local Files

Follow the stepwise guide to download Tidal HiFi or Master music to your computer for offline use anywhere and anytime.

Step 1. Before you begin, please make sure that the Tidal app and AudFree Tidal Music Converter have been installed on your computer. Launch the music converter, and the Tidal app will soon open by itself.

Step 2. Find your favorite Tidal tracks or playlist. Next, copy the corresponding link and paste it into the converter's search box on the top. Don't forget to click the "+" icon to load Tidal tracks. Alternatively, you can drag and drop songs from Tidal to this converter.

Step 3. After that, switch to the "Menu" option that resembles an icon of three horizontal lines. From the drop-down list, choose "Preferences" and touch "Convert" to get the format window. Here, according to requirements, you are free to set the output format and parameters for Tidal audio.

Step 4. As a final step, press the "Convert" button on the bottom right and it will automatically start downloading music from Tidal. Wait until the process gets done, then you can listen to Tidal music with lossless audio quality offline on any player and device.

Part 4. FAQs about Tidal HiFi or Master

Q1: How Can I Listen to Tidal Masters?

A: Once you upgrade to a Tidal plan, you can enjoy Tidal Master quality music. To find Master songs, go to 'Home' or 'Explore' and find songs labeled with 'MASTER'. If you want to get the best quality, go to 'Settings' > 'Streaming' > 'Max'/'Master'.

Q2: How Do You Know What Streaming Quality You Are Listening to?

A: When you play a song, tap on it to go to the 'Now Playing' screen. Then you can see the audio quality under the 'Play/Pause' button.

Q3: What Is the Difference Between HiFi and Masters?

A: Tidal HiFi music quality doesn't need specialized hardware. And the sound quality they deliver is different. HiFi streams music in 44.1 kHz/16-bit while Master streams music in 96 kHz/24-bit. Besides, the library of Tidal HiFi is larger than Tidal Masters.

Q4: Tidal Master vs HiFi - What Is the Best Choice for Audiophiles?

A: From the comparison of Tidal HiFi vs Master quality, it is various that Tidal Master audio is the best choice. If your device doesn't support playing Tidal music, you can use AudFree Tidal Music Downloader to rip music from Tidal. Then save it in your local folder to transfer to your music streamer.

Q5: Is Tidal Master or HiFi Worth It?

A: As Tidal changes its subscription, you can play Tidal Master or HiFi audio at a lower price now. For about the same price as other platforms, you can enjoy a lot more high quality content on Tidal. It is worth purchasing and enjoying.

Q6: Tidal MQA vs FLAC, which is better?

A: Tidal MQA offers high-resolution, studio-quality sound with smaller file sizes. However, it requires special MQA-compatible hardware for full benefits. FLAC provides true lossless audio identical to the original recording. It is widely supported across devices without special hardware but with larger file sizes. As for audio quality, Tidal MQA is better.

Q7: Does Tidal Still Use MQA?

A: Yes, you can find the songs labeled with 'MASTER'. Although many people say MQA is not really lossless quality music, most people say it sounds good.

See also: How to Get Tidal MQA Downloads

Q8: Is MQA Better than CD Quality?

A: Of course. Tidal MQA audio outclasses CD-quality audio in bitrate, sample rate, and more aspects.

Q9: Is Spotify HiFi Better than Tidal Master?

A: Spotify HiFi offers CD-quality and lossless audio. It is a significant upgrade from its standard streaming quality. However, Tidal Master provides even higher-resolution, studio-quality sound with MQA technology. It delivers a more detailed and immersive listening experience. Only talk about the audio quality, we think Tidal is the winner.

See also: Tidal vs Spotify: Detailed Comparison

Part 5. In Conclusion

Which one is the winner in the Tidal HiFi vs Master comparison? For many audiophiles, the answer is Tidal Master Quality Audio. But if you just like listening to music, and playing it through a regular pair of headphones, the HiFi audio is not a bad choice cause its full library.

By the way, the AudFree Tidal Music Converter is the best helper when you want to play Tidal offline on some non-supported devices. It allows you to enjoy music even without the Tidal app or web player.