Spotify Premium vs Tidal ... opinions?

Hey Ghosthouse:

Yep, "great minds" :)

I did a fair amount of research on streaming music prior to getting involved. Initially it was confusing. I had terrific help from fellow audiogoners who walked me through my beginner's frustration. After decades of sometimes being obsessive about "high fidelity", I find streaming music liberating- it's almost carefree.

I listen to more and different music now than ever. I'm much more interested in the content rather than "how it sounds" as long as it sounds good to me and my golden- eared wife. I still play records from my fairly large collection, but confess that the vinyl ritual is increasingly less and less appealing.

If someone finds Tidal superior to Spotify, and figures it's worth twice the price, it's their dime.

Hey back at you Ps - Comments are certainly not intended to argue about Tidal vs Spotify sonic quality, more to reflect different priorities and considerations that seem relevant when comparing the two.

"I listen to more and different music now....I''m much more interested in the content rather than 'how it sounds' as long as it sounds good to me....". Coming from a time when I thought the Beatles' latest hits on a Japanese transistor radio were fantastic, I very much agree with that.

One feature of Spotify I'm spending more and more time using is the Browse/Discover function. It's introducing me to a LOT of stuff I otherwise never would have heard.

If you are so inclined, please share any new discoveries you make (via Spotify or other) over at "What's in your CDP tonight (the Minority Report)." It's for digitally formatted music whatever the source.

"Choose music, listen, be happy" is a great mantra for this hobby.

Ciao

I love the Browser/Discover function on Spotify as well. Your comment says it all.

My latest "discovery" is some chamber music composed by Sibelius. I've got all seven symphonies, as well as a number of other of his works on vinyl and CD, by various orchestras and conductors, but no chamber music.
I'll check out "What's in your CDP tonight".... sounds like fun.

To the OP, I hope some of the responses folks have made to your inquiry have helped you.

Good listening to all.

I like listening to streaming music because it is easy and I love the variety. I can change my mind every two minutes and quickly find different music to listen to. Of course, listening to music stored on my hard drive offers the very best quality. However, the flexibility of Tidal is a big plus for me.

I agree with Arh above that Spotify gives you more music selections and that Tidal gives you much better sound quality. Tidal music selections are improving but additional albums need to be added. There is a very slight delay when starting music on Tidal and another slight delay from song to song. This is not a problem for me since the sound quality is very good.

Tidal also offers various play lists you can select or you select your own album. Another advantage with Tidal is that you can select an album and then page down to see additional albums by that artist.

You need to decide if the Tidal $20 per month charge is worth it. I feel the Tidal sound quality is well worth the $20. I suggest you give Tidal a try for one month and then decide.

I was using Spotify premium for a very long time but once I tried Tidal premium I immediately switched to Tidal because the sound quality is so good. For me, the quality difference has resulted in me listening to a lot more music - I look forward to settling into a listening session on my system so much more now - it's addictive.