Tidal's hi-res MQA music library crosses the 1 million mark

Tidal hi-res MQA music library

Tidal has always had a fair amount of hi-resolution audio tracks but, starting today, the service’s library of studio-quality music now numbers in the millions, thanks to its growing library of MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) tracks.

If you’ve never heard of the format before, MQA is an audio codec developed by Meridian Audio that supports studio-quality audio (96 kHz/24 bit). That’s a little better than the service’s CD-quality tracks on the service, which were a bedrock for the service when it launched in 2015, but topped out at 44.1 kHz/16 bit. 

Tidal started adding MQA audio starting back in January 2017 and, since then, the number of tracks has grown from around 30,000 to more than 1 million.

That said, if you want to check out the massive catalog of music for yourself, you’ll need to be a Tidal HiFi subscriber and use Tidal’s desktop app ... which disqualifies folks who are used to using Tidal’s mobile app or those who like paying less than $20/£20 a month for their music streaming service.

If you can stomach the cost and don't mind sitting at your PC or laptop while streaming your music, however, Tidal's massive MQA library should offer a pretty compelling reason to finally commit to that costly HiFi plan.

Nick Pino

Nick Pino is Managing Editor, TV and AV for TechRadar's sister site, Tom's Guide. Previously, he was the Senior Editor of Home Entertainment at TechRadar, covering TVs, headphones, speakers, video games, VR and streaming devices. He's also written for GamesRadar+, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade, and he has a degree in computer science he's not using if anyone wants it.