Best Buy is offering a 12-month Tidal HiFi Music Subscription for $89.99 as a digital download. Today’s deal save you $30 from its regular going rate and marks one of the best prices that we’ve tracked in recent memory. Tidal offers something that most other streaming services just can’t match up with: high fidelity music. That’s right, you’ll find both HiFi and master quality audio here, with four different options to choose from with most music: normal, High (320Kbps AAC), HiFi (1411Kbps or 16-bit 44.1kHz), or Master (Studio quality authenticated files from the mastering process.) Learn more about Tidal here. Rated 4.4/5 stars.
Now, to take full advantage of HiFi or Master quality, you’ll need some high-end audio gear. My personal recommendation is Philips’ Fidelio X3. Right now they’re $199, which is down $150 from their list price. While they’ve been this low for a while, they’re still an absolutely killer pair of headphones. Want to learn more? Our hands-on review dives deep into why these would pair perfectly with a Tidal HiFi subscription.
When it comes to speakers, you should really check into the Edifier R1280T Powered Bookshelf Speakers. These are available for under $100 at Amazon and offer some killer value. First off, they’re internally powered, so you won’t need an external amp or DAC to make them work. Plus, there are multiple inputs on the back to make them super easy to use.
More about Tidal:
TIDAL HiFi relies on FLAC (16bit / 44.1kHz), a more robust and crisp streaming format. The majority of streaming services simply offer Standard Definition through the use of MP3s or other compressed formats – where aspects of the original recording are removed to compress the file, compromising on quality. With a TIDAL HiFi subscription, you have the ability to stream over 60+ million losslessly compressed tracks. TIDAL Lossless content is 4.4 times the bitrate of the highest Standard Definition streams offered by other services, allowing you to hear the music in its purest form.
While HiFi audio is a superior sound, it is still limited in its resolution —44.1 kHz /16 bit. TIDAL has partnered with MQA to deliver audio in an authenticated and unbroken version (typically 96 kHz / 24 bit) with the highest possible resolution—as flawless as it sounded in the mastering suite and precisely as the artist intended. TIDAL is one of the only services to render 24-bit master files streamable on portable devices as it uses a state-of-the-art MQA compression process.
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