On mid-fi do you hear much difference between Tidal and Spotify

Be sure to check the manner of your Tidal access. Tidal HiFi (the highest quality streaming service they provide) requires access via Google Chrome. The HiFi letters seen lower right when on-line with Tidal will NOT be highlighted if you are NOT accessing via Chrome. When I was using Safari on my MacBookAir to trial Tidal, I really wasn’t getting HiFi though I did not know this at the time - so it was tough to hear differences between Tidal and Spotify Premium. Now that I’m getting Tidal HiFi via an Aries Mini, I can hear a difference on the main system. Tidal is better...but to me, it’s not "game changing better" (some will disagree vehemently with that assessment). On the other hand, given the same album on Tidal or Spotify, I’ll choose to stream from Tidal. I do greatly enjoy Spotify however - find the sonics entirely satisfactory, love its ease of use, and the completeness of the Spotify library vs Tidal’s.  I’m uncertain how much of Tidal’s SQ advantage would be preserved in an automobile listening environment.

@glennewdick
"I do not think you need google chrome to get the full bandwidth for tidal ...."

I'm merely reporting what pops up on my MacBook when I use Safari to log into my Tidal subscription account and click on HiFi in the lower right.  HiFi is grayed out but a pop up window opens with 3 streaming choices:  Normal, Hi, & HiFi/Master.  HiFi/Master is grayed out with a message below it:  "HiFi playback is only available in Google Chrome."  Yeah, maybe this is something only encountered with an Apple product.  It was simple to work around by using Google Chrome to access Tidal.      

Thanks, Portland.  You reminded me and now that you mention it I do recall downloading Tidal back when I first trialled it.  At that time, I was streaming Spotify & Tidal and playing ALAC ripped CDs via USB out of the MacBook.   Got rid of Tidal when I cancelled the trial subscription because I couldn't hear a major diff. between it & Spotify (similar decision process as what Loomisjohnson reports).  More recently, got an Aries Mini that came with a Tidal subscription.  With this I can hear more of a difference between the two services but still think it's not huge; i.e.,  listening on the main system to Spotify doesn't leave me pining for Tidal.  I still use the MacBook as a source for headphone listening at night.  I wonder if having Tidal on the desktop would eliminate some of the buffering delays I encounter when playing from the Tidal site via Google Chrome.  Okay.  Thanks again for your reminder.  

Portland - I can't say whether a Dragonfly would change the outcome for you.  It did not for me.  Regardless, it's a nice "add on" for laptop/headphone listening and does improve the sound.  At $100 for the latest version of the black and 30 day return with Audio Advisor, worth checking out.