How to Download and Convert Tidal to FLAC

Tidal is the leader in high-fidelity music streaming services. With a Tidal HiFi subscription, you get access to a huge collection of tracks in lossless FLAC quality (1411kbps). If you subscribe to Tidal HiFi Plus, you can enjoy Master Quality Audio, Dobly Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio in addition to HiFi Audio.

Besides online streaming, you also have the option to download Tidal FLAC music for offline playback. But downloaded tracks are just cache files and cannot be transferred to other devices. Therefore, many users want to know a good Tidal to FLAC converter in order to get Tidal download FLAC in real files. Read on and learn the best four methods.

See also: How to Download Music from Tidal

tidal flac download

Part 1. How to Let Tidal Download FLAC via AudFree Tidal Music Converter

AudFree Tidal Music Converter is our list of the top 1 best Tidal FLAC downloader. It is specially designed for Tidal Free and HiFi/HiFi Plus users to download FLAC from Tidal losslessly. All the downloaded tracks have no copyright restrictions, and you can use them freely.

As an all-in-one Tidal music solution, this smart software can do more than just a Tidal music downloader. It is also capable of converting Tidal to 5 other audio formats including MP3, WAV, WMA, M4A and M4B. It can also detect and preserve all ID3 tags of Tidal music, such as title, genre, year, album art, etc.

AudFree Tidal Music Converter runs at 5X faster speed to get Tidal FLAC download on Windows and Mac computers. With this tool, you can play Tidal files on any media player, game console, smartphone or Bluetooth speaker outside of the Tidal app.

AudFree Tidal Music Converter

audfree tidal downloader for flac
  • Download music from Tidal Free, Tidal HiFi, and Tidal HiFi Plus
  • Convert Tidal to FLAC, MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, etc.
  • Keep original ID3 tags and 100% lossless audio quality
  • Work at 5X fast speed, support to edit other audio parameters

How to Download FLAC from Tidal Losslessly

Please first download and install AudFree Tidal Music Converter on your computer to get ready. And then refer to the following detailed tutorial to locally get Tidal download FLAC for offline playing on all devices and players.

Step 1Load Tidal music to download
load tidal music to audfree tidable
AudFree Tidal Music Converter allows you to add your Tidal songs, playlists or albums from the Tidal desktop app. Simply find the albums or playlists you want to download from Tidal, and click on them to go for details. Then, copy the Tidal URL and paste it to the search bar of this smart Tidal FLAC downloader. Tap the '+' button to load the whole Tidal playlist. Alternatively, you can directly drag and drop music from Tidal to add.
Step 2Set Tidal output format as FLAC
set flac as tidal output format
As the default output format of AudFree Tidal Music Converter is MP3, you need to change it manually. Go to "Menu" from the upper-right corner and select the "Preferences" > "Convert" option. Here in this settings window, you can select FLAC as the Tidal output format and customize other parameters according to your needs.
Step 3Let Tidal Download FLAC Losslessly
tidal download flac via audfree tidable
The final step is to hit on the "Convert" button to launch the converting process. AudFree Tidal Music Converter will start to download Tidal to FLAC local files without touching the original sound quality. Once completed, you can hit the "Converted" icon to open the history list and locate all downloaded FLAC Tidal files in the destination folder.

Part 2. How to Get Tidal FLAC Download for Free via Tidal-Media-Downloader

Tidal-Media-Downloader is free Tidal to FLAC downloader software. It is an open-source and cross-platform tool that allows you to download tracks, albums and playlists from the built-in Tidal Web Player on Windows, Mac, Linux and even Android. What's more, it is also convenient for you to download Tidal videos to M4A.

When working as a Tidal music downloader, it is able to automatically add metadata information to Tidal songs. You can choose the output Tidal quality from Normal to Master. However, note that you must rely on a Tidal HiFi or HiFi Plus subscription to use it. In addition, some newly released Tidal songs cannot be downloaded.

To download FLAC from Tidal HiFi with Tidal-Media-Downloader, download and install the tool. It has two versions, Tidal-gui for Windows and Tidal-dl for all supported platforms. According to your situation, choose the appropriate version of Tidal-Media-Downloader. After installation, do the following.

2.1 How to Download Tidal FLAC via Tidal-gui

Step 1. Open Tidal-gui and it will bring you to the Tidal Web Player. Please sign in to your Tidal account. And then it will require you to link your device to your Tidal account by entering the device code.

link device to tidal account

Step 2. After that, please go back to Tidal-gui and it will show a new window below. You can copy & paste the link of Tidal music to the search box of Tidal-gui or search for a certain song to download.

search tidal music to download

Step 3. Click the target Tidal music that you want to download to FLAC. And then the download window will pop up. Now, you can customize output Tidal FLAC download quality as Normal, High, HiFi, or Master. Once done, please hit on the 'Download' button to download Tidal music to local FLAC files.

tidal flac download via gui

2.2 How to Download Tidal Music to FLAC via Tidal-dl

For Tidal-dl: Run it and enter "1" to log into your account > type "2" and click "Enter" to configure FLAC as output format and HiFi as audio quality > copy Tidal music link to Tidal-dl to store Tidal FLAC files.

Part 3. How to Rip Tidal to FLAC via AudFree Audio Capture

Apart from using the above 2 Tidal downloaders for FLAC to get lossless Tidal FLAC files, you can also apply a traditional ripping and recording way. Here, such a Tidal FLAC ripper named AudFree Audio Capture bears the brunt.


As a full-featured streaming music recording tool, AudFree Audio Capture can not only grab any audio from applications on your computer (including Tidal) without losing the original quality, but also save recordings as FLAC, MP3, WAV, AAC, M4A and other formats. With the built-in audio editor, it can also split recorded Tidal FLAC tracks and customize ID3 tags of Tidal audio.

The flexible output setter is another attraction of this tool. It enables you to adjust the codec, channels, sample rate, bit depth, and even output presets of Tidal music according to your needs.

How to Rip FLAC from Tidal HiFi and MQA

Step 1. To begin with, please install AudFree Audio Capture and Tidal app on desktop. Then, open AudFree software and choose "+" icon to add the Tidal app to the main screen of AudFree Audio Capture.

add tidal to audio capture

Step 2. Next, head to the format window with the help of an 'audio' icon at the lower right corner. Here, select "FLAC" as the output format and customize other parameters like codec, sample rate, bit depth, etc.

customize tidal flac parameters

Step 3. Once set up, click "OK" to save your settings and leave for the main interface. Now, touch the Tidal icon to open the capture window and play your favorite Tidal song. Then AudFree Audio Capture will automatically start ripping Tidal to FLAC HiFi and MQA tracks without protection.

rip tidal to flac via audfree audio capture

Step 4. After recording, touch "Stop" to finish the process. If needed, touch the "Edit" button on Tidal recordings to trim unpleasant tracks and edit metadata info of Tidal FLAC music. Whereafter, you can save Tidal FLAC files to your local computer by use of the "Save" button.

save tidal flac files

Part 4. How to Download FLAC Tidal Files Losslessly

What should you do if you are using a free Tidal account and want to convert Tidal files to FLAC? AudKeep Tidal to FLAC Converter is a satisfactory answer. This amazing tool endows you with the ability to download and convert Tidal music, podcasts, playlists, albums to FLAC at a 5X conversion speed.

By adopting state-of-the-art technology, it also supports other plain audio formats to export Tidal files. If necessary, you can customize the bit rate, sample rate, etc. of Tidal FLAC downloads. With its easy-to-use and intuitive user interface, this tool asks for no tech skill to help you achieve your goal. Let's see how it works.

How to Convert Tidal to FLAC

Step 1. Install and launch the AudKeep Tidal Converter to FLAC on your computer. And then please log into your Tidal username and password. After that, you need to click the 'Preferences' > 'Convert' option to configue the output format as FLAC.

audkeep tidal to flac converter

Step 2. Search Tidal abums, playlists, songs and drag them to the user interface of AudKeep Software. Then hit on the 'Convert' tab to start the conversion process. Wait for a while, you can locate original Tidal FLAC downloads by clicking the 'Converted' button.

Part 5. Comparison Table of the Four Tidal FLAC Downloaders

AudFree Tidal Music Converter Tidal-Media-Downloader AudFree Audio Capture AudKeep Tidal Music Converter
Supported OS Windows, Mac Tidal-gui: Windows
Tidal-dl: Win/Mac/Linux/Android
Windows, Mac Windows, Mac
Input Formats Any Tidal music Tidal music and videos Any Tidal music Any Tidal music
Output Formats FLAC, MP3, M4A, AAC, M4B, WAV FLAC, M4A FLAC, MP3, M4A, AAC, M4B, WAV FLAC, MP3, M4A, AAC, M4B, WAV
Output Quality Lossless Lossless Medium Lossless
Conversion Speed 5X Real-time Real-time 5X
Tidal HiFi Subscription Needed
Batch Conversion
Retain ID3 Tags
Customize Output Parameters

It is obvious that the above four Tidal to FLAC converters are all powerful. They all have the feature of preserving ID3 tags and custom output parameters. But AudFree Tidal Music Converter is the most powerful and popular one.

While Tidal-Media-Downloader can be used on Android devices, it requires a Tidal HiFi subscription, which is a big downside. If you want to get Tidal FLAC on Android/iOS, we strongly recommend you to use AudFree Tidal Music Converter to download FLAC from Tidal on your computer. Then, you can transfer the downloaded Tidal FLAC to your Android/iOS device or other portable devices for playback.

Part 6. FAQs about Downloading FLAC from Tidal

Q1: Does Tidal Use FLAC?

A: Yes. Tidal HiFi comes with FLAC format at 1411kbps or 44.1 kHz/16-bit. Tidal FLAC streams are CD-quality lossless tracks, which are improved audio tracks over MP3 and AAC files.

Q2: What's the Difference between Tidal FLAC vs AAC vs MP3?

A: FLAC is short for Free Lossless Audio Codec, which is similar to MP3 but in a lossless format. AAC stands for Advanced Audio Coding, which is an audio coding standard for lossy digital audio compression. AAC is the successor of MP3 but with better sound quality when encoding the same bit rate. The 'high-quality' tracks offered by Tidal Free stream in 160 kbps AAC format.

Q3: What's the Difference between Tidal Master vs Tidal FLAC?

A: The audio quality of Tidal FLAC is 16bit / 44.1kHz, while Tidal MQA has the highest possible resolution at typically 96 kHz / 24 bit. It's also worth mentioning that MQA is not lossless.

Q4: How to Download FLAC from Tidal?

A: You can subscribe to Tidal HiFi to download Tidal music under protection via the Tidal for Android or iOS apps. Alternatively, you can use one of the Tidal FLAC downloaders we introduce above to download, convert, and rip Tidal songs to FLAC effortlessly.

Q4: Are There FLAC Converters for Tidal Music?

A: Yes. There are many Tidal music converters that allow you to convert Tidal music to FLAC. Above we've introduced you to four of the best on the market. You can choose your favorite and enjoy Tidal music without limitation. If you don't know which one to use, we recommend AudFree Tidal Music Converter.

Part 7. Final Words

From the above we know that Tidal only allows you to download Tidal FLAC music as cache files with Tidal HiFi or HiFi Plus subscription. Therefore, this post lists the best four third-party downloaders for you to download Tidal to FLAC local files. Choose one you like and start a wonderful music journey with Tidal!

Apr 25, 2023 6:30 PM

Updated by Miley Swift to Tidal Tips

tidal

AudFree Tidable

Download and convert Tidal HiFi and MQA songs to MP3, FLAC, WAV, M4A at 5X speed.