Admittedly, I have a clear preference for Tidal over other streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. While all platforms offer extensive music libraries and seamless access to digital content, Tidal consistently stands out to me in terms of sound quality, user experience, and overall listening satisfaction. Whether it’s the superior audio formats, the more dynamic and engaging playback, or the way it integrates with my hi-fi setup, Tidal provides a listening experience that I find more immersive and enjoyable than its competitors.

And its true, that’s a sneaky but effective trick Tidal uses; playing tracks about 2dB louder than Apple Music which makes it sound Louder often feels fuller and more engaging, but this isn’t just placebo; it taps into how our brains perceive sound; the “louder is better” effect. Apple Music, on the other hand, strictly applies loudness normalization, for me that makes the sound more restrained or less dynamic in direct comparisons. I do prefer Tidal’s approach, thus it often hits harder, especially in the midrange and bass, where extra loudness enhances perceived clarity and impact.

Since my hi-fi upgrade, I distinctly notice the difference in sound quality, I feel that Tidal’s FLAC and HiRes delivers a richer, more detailed experience compared to lossy services like Spotify. But not only that I’ve experienced more than often that Tidal offers Better Mastering – Tidal often sources higher-quality masters, perhaps its also because my taste in music has shifted. Some music I used to like now sounds bad, poor mastering and compression artifacts that weren’t as noticeable before, but now it easily annoys the ear.

While Tidal wins me over with its superior sound quality, I have to admit that its app experience falls short compared to Spotify. As much as I appreciate high-fidelity streaming, using the Tidal app can sometimes feel like a compromise in usability and convenience. I think for that reason alone my where not taken by my suggestion to shift to a family plan on Tidal.

So for now, I’m on my own, surrounded by my music on my cozy Tidal island.