For most people, CD or playing MP3 format on the best digital music player, is literally perfect. To my mind, the absolute majority of people are really used to their music apps, with their own playlists, feed, and recommended songs.
As I did earlier, people don’t really think they can listen to their favorite tunes in high-resolution format. However, as in every situation, there are people who can be called “connoisseurs”.
Those who are ready to pay a lot of money to listen to hi-res music. For this reason, I wouldn’t stop on ordinary music streaming services, but also figure out what exact hi-res music platforms exist, how much do they cost and what can they even offer for this money. I sincerely hope that my streaming music service reviews will be helpful for every reader, and everyone could find the most suitable platform for himself.
Amazon Music Unlimited
Not so long ago, Amazon Music Unlimited was an ordinary service, not quite remarkable and not quite floating along with the rest of the services. Fortunately, the situation changed dramatically in the fall of 2019 when the company announced Hi-Res Audio as a listening option. Thus, the company was able to attract true connoisseurs of high-quality music and that is why Amazon Music Unlimited was included in this review. In my honest opinion, from the future perspective, such an innovative company as Amazon will lead the whole world of high-quality music, despite the fact that the service was announced relatively recently, it is still gaining momentum.
Thanks to this innovation, users can freely listen to millions of songs in incredibly good quality, incredibly different from the usual MP3 format. For a small amount of $ 14.99 a month, Amazon offers Ultra HD quality streamed in 24-bit / 192kHz. When some songs do not fall into the category of such high quality, listeners are still offered the 16-bit / 44.1kHz version, which is not ideal, but clearly much better than the standard to which everyone is so used to.
Qobuz
In basic comparison, Qobuz as Amazon Music Unlimited also offers hi-res audio for the same price of 14.99$. So you may ask, what is the difference, what should I choose? Well, unlike Amazon, Qobuz offers lossless audio streaming. The whole system works very easily and harmoniously. This service is incredibly convenient from the point of view of the average user. From the point of view of a person who is willing to pay for good music, there are also some advantages.
Qobuz offers 2 options while you want to subscribe to The Studio Premier plan. Either you pay $14.99 every month, or you can simplify the task for yourself and buy a subscription for a year for $149.99, respectively. For this money, the service offers up to 192kHz 24-bit FLAC streaming for available titles, which is considerably higher-resolution than standard CD-quality FLAC (44.kHz at 16 bits). Although I am not a fan of annual subscriptions due to the fact that circumstances change often and I sometimes regret such purchases, in general terms, it looks convenient for some users who value stability. Moreover, there is another subscription option: The Sublime+. It costs $249 per whole year and usually delivers worthy discounts on music download purchases.
Qobuz is available to download as an app for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and also possible to be used as the web version.
Tidal
It is known not only as a hi-res audio streaming service but also as an incredibly multifunctional platform. Among others, hi-res audio streaming services, Tidal is often in the lead. Let’s take a picture of why. First, it’s a music platform that contains millions of exclusive albums and videos. It provides early access to concert and sports tickets and excellent, lossless sound. By subscribing to Tidal, I can say with confidence that you absolutely won’t regret it.
by the way at the expense of subscriptions. The tidal has one significant drawback: it does not have a free version with a bunch of ads and restrictions. That is, you will not have the opportunity to first try and then decide for yourself whether the subscription is worth your money or not. Therefore, you must clearly understand what you are subscribing to.
Despite this, the service offers several subscription options. (Tidal Premium) offers $ 9.99 per month for 320Kbps AAC + music, or $ 19.99 per month for non-compressed 1411Kbps FLAC audio called Tidal HiFi. It is also possible to get a Premium Family Plan at a price of $ 14.99 per month and a HiFi Family Plan $ 29.99 per month that covers up to five people. Students also did not remain without bonuses, they are offered 50 percent off.
Spotify
Despite the whole huge list of available services that are constantly changing, competing with each other, adding functions, and fighting for copyrights, among them there is an irreplaceable leader called Spotify. On the one hand, there is some misunderstanding of how he earned his title, but on the other hand, looking at the platform as a whole, you begin to understand why. So let’s figure it out.
Spotify offers a wide catalog of music perfectly sorted by genre and style, collaborative playlists, podcasts, and an incredible number of other attractive features. To a large extent, Spotify has gained popularity due to its versatility. It is easy to use in the web version, on any OS from Windows to iOS. Allows you to easily switch between connected devices and thus control the music being played from a distance.
Spotify offers several subscription options: Spotify Premium for $9.99 per month, and offers music in quality up to 320Kbps. Spotify’s Family Plan grants six people individual premium accounts for $14.99 per month. Spotify Duo subscriptions are also available for $12.99-per-month.
In terms of sound quality, things aren’t as cool as they seemed. Spotify’s free 128Kbps and Premium 320Kbps streams sound good, but this service does not support hi-res audio files.
Primephonic
Unlike the previous participants in this review, Primephonic is more focused on classical music. At first, I thought that it was very foolish to create a huge service that is mostly focused on the classics that few people listen to and appreciate. Fortunately, I was incredibly wrong. On the contrary, with the advent of Primephonic, people have become much more interested in the classics and I think this is great. Classical music connoisseurs choose compositions not just based on the song name and performer, but also on the composer, ensemble, period, and other factors. Therefore, this resource offers very good search opportunities.
There are only two subscription options for Primephonic: Premium for $ 7.99 per month and Platinum for $ 14.99. The first option gives you the classic version: 320kbps in MP3 format. But fortunately Platinum is more pleasing because it offers Lossless 24-bit FLAC streaming and personally I find it just wonderful.
Deezer
So coming to the end, the list is closed by the famous Deezer. In fact, it cannot be said that the creators have come up with something incredibly new, revolutionary, but Deezer is a stable mix of high-quality content, live radio, lyrics, podcasts, and more. I think it is from these reasons that the Deezer sturdily holds its place and does not burn out.
Let’s talk about what they are offering us in subscriptions and usage. Deezer Free is an ad-supported plan designed for mobile devices. While using it on your smartphone, you will easily feel the ease of use, conciseness, and notice a cool design. But unfortunately, when you switch from a mobile device to any other, you are given the opportunity to listen to only 30-second song previews. Finally, Deezer Free has 128kbps, compressed MP3 streams.
Paid versions include several options. For example, ad-free Deezer Premium, which costs $ 9.99 per month or a discounted $ 119 per year. offers unlimited listening, word access, and downloads. Deezer also offers a $ 14.99-per-month family plan that covers up to six people with Deezer Premium access. As always, there is a $ 4.99 student plan for college students available.
In the area of audio quality, Deezer Premium offers 320kbps, compressed MP3 streams. As for the quality of music, it should be noted right away that unfortunately, Deezer does not provide an opportunity to listen to high-resolution audio. The service provides basic CD-quality 16-bit, 1,411kbps. Nevertheless, it is possible to listen to lossless FLAC streams with its $ 19.99 HiFi plan. See also Some HiFi tracks support 360 Reality Audio.
