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How to Download MQA Streams from Tidal

Where to download MQA songs? Tidal should be your first option on the list. One of its subscription tiers, Tidal HiFi Plus offers Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), available to enjoy offline on Android or iOS mobile. That means, you could get the best possible sound quality from Tidal MQA and stream them anywhere without losing any cellular data. New to Tidal MQA? Follow our leads to learn about what's Tidal MQA, how to download Tidal MQA files, and what're the best Tidal MQA streamers.

download tidal mqa offline

What is Tidal MQA? How Does it Work?

Tidal MQA, also called Tidal Masters, is a technology that allows for the streaming high-quality audio. This audio quality is hi-res which is better than CD quality sound. A standard CD-quality audio file is 16 bit/44.1kHz, while Tidal MQA is typically 24 bit/96kHz (up to 9216 kbps or 24 Bit / 192 kHz).

Tidal MQA isn't an audio format, it's more like fold technology to reduce audio size and deliver audio straight from the studio to the listener without quality loss. It works by taking the original studio Master Recordings and compressing them into a file that is small enough to be streamed, and then using an algorithm to "unfold" the compressed file. After all these, it could still restore the original quality of the recording. Tidal Master brings you one step closer to the sound of the original Master Recording.

To listen to Tidal Masters, you will need a Tidal HiFi Plus subscription that costs $19.99/month after a 30-day free trial ends. During subscription, you're limited to listening to MQA streams within the Tidal streaming service only. If you want to extract MQA files from Tidal, you'd better use an extra Tidal MQA downloader shown below.

Best Way to Download Tidal MQA Files to Computer

Though Tidal HiFi Plus features an offline mode on the mobile app, the downloaded Tidal MQA tunes are not saved as offline audio files locally. Just like Spotify Ogg Vorbis, Tidal also encrypted its content to prevent piracy. It's a reasonable action, but it also caused certain inconvenience in personal use.

Fortunately, NoteBurner noticed that and timely provided a professional Tidal MQA Downloader, also named NoteBurner Tidal Music Converter. It's dedicated to decoding and converting both Tidal MQA and Tidal HiFi tracks to MP3/AAC/FLAC/WAV/AIFF/ALAC common audio format. What makes it standout is that NoteBurner Tidal Music Downloader could retain 100% original sound quality even for Tidal Master titles.

Features of NoteBurner Tidal Music Converter:
  • Convert Tidal music to MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC.
  • Record Tidal songs at up to 10X faster conversion speed.
  • Keep Tidal HiFi / Master Quality after conversion.
  • Keep ID3 tags after conversion.
  • Free technical support & software updates.
NoteBurner Tidal Music Converter

In the next part, we will show you how to use NoteBurner Tidal MQA Music Converter to download Master files from Tidal to Windows or Mac computer.

Step 1 Add Tidal Music MQA Songs

Launch NoteBurner Tidal Music Converter and choose to download songs from Tidal Music app. Then click the icon "+". Then simply drag and drop the MQA playlists from Tidal app to NoteBurner. Tick on the MQA songs you want to download and "Add".

add Tidal MQA Music

Step 2 Choose Output Format

Go to the "Settings" by clicking the gear icon, where you could choose Conversion Mode, Output Format, Bit Rate, Sample Rate, and so on. Choose "AUTO" output format so you could get the best original quality for Tidal MQA streams.

Settings for Tidal MQA Downloader

Step 3 Convert Tidal Music MQA Tracks

After choosing the desired output setting, directly click "Convert" to start the conversion progress. During conversion, please make sure your internet is great and stable.

download tidal music offline

Step 4 Find the Offline Tidal Music MQA Files

Once converted, the output folder will be opened automatically by default. Or you could also go to the tab "Converted" to locate the offline Tidal Music MQA files, they're all saved on your computer locally.

find downloaded tidal music files

Best Tidal MQA Streamer for Audiophile

To get the best listening experience, you'll really need a suitable streamer to present Tidal MQA content. Here we've collected the top 5 Tidal MQA streamers in the market: Cambridge Audio CXN (V2), Audiolab 6000N Play, Cambridge Audio Edge NQ, Naim Uniti Atom, Cambridge Audio Evo 75. Pick one of them and start to taste the amazingness from Tidal Master!

Tips: With the help of NoteBurner Tidal Music Recorder, you could enjoy Tidal MQA songs on all streamers you want, even if some of them haven't been integrated with Tidal service.

tidal mqa streamer

Final Word

Apply for the partnership with MQA, Tidal HiFi Plus is now providing millions of Master-Quality songs through mobile phone and desktop apps. Only at $19.99 per month, you could start to listen to the Master recording at up to 9216 kbps or 24 Bit / 192 kHz (typically 96 kHz / 24 bit).

While downloading MQA from Tidal Music, you could either use the Tidal app on iOS or Android phones, or use NoteBurner Tidal MQA Downloader to export Tidal music files to computer. If you prefer to have the actual Tidal audio files at the finger, it's suggested to choose the latter method. NoteBurner offer helps to truly download Tidal MQA files to desktop, while converting Tidal HiFi or Master streams to MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, or ALAC open-source audio format. The most important is that it won't lose audio quality after conversion. With its help, you can now transfer Tidal MQA songs to USB drive, burn Tidal music to CD, add Tidal to DJ app, and so on.

Note: The trial version of NoteBurner Tidal Music Converter supports to convert the first 1 minute of each audio file for sample testing. If the program meets your need, please buy a license to unlock the time limit.




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