Heads up to all TIDAL users! New audio formats are coming your way beginning on July 24, 2024. This is a huge change and a bold move for TIDAL, as they aim to provide its users with superior sound quality.
HiRes FLAC will replace MQA for stereo sound while Dolby Atmos will be the new format for immersive sound, removing 360 Reality Audio in the picture. That means, you can no longer access songs in the old formats when streaming music on the TIDAL app.
Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) is a stereo format offering a two-channel delivery of music, mixing sound both in the left and right speakers or headphones. With the FLAC sound format, users can experience a better sound quality, almost similar to how the artists recorded them. Due to its being an open source, no third party is involved, allowing artists to directly deliver their songs to TIDAL.
With TIDAL’s HiRes FLAC, music can be delivered in files as large as 24-bit, 192 kHz. It is far greater than the standard CD quality, which is bigger than 16-bit, 44.1 kHz. However, you can only experience the full superior quality sound if your device supports the lossless 24-bit, 192 kHz format.
When it comes to immersive sound, Dolby Atmos can give you a full audio experience. Immersive formats offer a multi-channel delivery of music with sound placements surrounding every side: left, right, above and below. Dolby Atmos are widely adopted by most artists in recording songs for immersive sounds.
However, not all content in TIDAL is available in Dolby Atmos. At the sametime, you need to have a listening device compatible with the format to experience the big changes. Otherwise, TIDAL will play the song in its stereo version.
