In my just over a year of experience at What Hi-Fi? I've learnt many things and come to appreciate video and audio in a whole new way. One of the first things I was introduced to back in April of last year was Tidal; a streaming service I had certainly heard of before, but not one I had ever sought out to use. Up until that point, I was a staunch Spotify user, with occasional flings with Apple Music when I was offered a deal, as well as to try out Dolby Atmos when it first launched on the platform. However, I always came crawling back to Spotify, and I fear it is that time once again...
I have been using Tidal for just under a year now and have come to terms with many of its quirks. I'll give Tidal its due, it certainly gives the impression that it cares about music specifically, as it doesn't mix in podcasts, news channels and more within its user interface. It's also worth putting out there now that Tidal is by far the best-sounding streaming service I've used, and it's one I will continue to use when testing products – especially thanks to the Masters and Atmos mixes. I even tried a quick side-by-side test with Spotify playing The 1975's song Happiness from their latest album, and could immediately deduce that Tidal sounded more detailed and energetic.
