Tidal: FLAC for hi-res streaming is coming
Hi-Res music will soon be available in FLAC format from the streaming service Tidal. The upgrade will be rolled out in August.
Until recently, Tidal used the MQA format (Master Quality Authenticated) to play music in high audio quality - i.e. 24 bit at 192 kHz. However, the company MQA Ltd recently filed for bankruptcy. Tidal therefore had to find a new audio format for its HIFI Plus subscription. It ended up with the FLAC format (Free Lossless Audio Codec).
Six million tracks are already available in FLAC high-resolution quality in the Tidal beta app. In future, Tidal will use FLAC as its main format - FLAC is already available in CD quality. On Reddit Tidal CEO Jesse Dorogusker writes that the existing MQA streams will be retained. "Dolby Atmos" and "Sony 360 Reality Audio" will also remain.
In contrast to MQA, FLAC is more open and has fewer restrictions. FLAC therefore only requires a D/A converter (DAC) to achieve full resolution.
Cover image: Shutterstock / David Esser
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