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Upgraded to Premium-not hearing sound quality difference

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Upgraded to Premium-not hearing sound quality difference

Hi,

 I upgraded to the Spotify Premium Account in large part for the improved audio quality. When I go to the preferences panel and toggle the "High quality streaming" button on and off, I can't hear any difference at all in the sound quality.

 Should there be an immediate change in the streaming quality, or do I have to wait for a minute or restart the program to effect the change?

 I am listening on a custom built PC, less than one year old, with a nice soundcard, running Windows 7, and listening thru some Sennheiser HD 202 headphones.

Thanks in advance!

Dave

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60 Replies

Make sure you bought Premium and it went though. I bought it and it was a bit better. It is more clear... and I have $11 speakers!

If it is still not good, restart the program, disable High Quality Streaming, close and restart Spotify, then go back and enable High Quality Streaming, then close and re-open.


@asgilbert wrote:

I gotta concur with the OP. I am taking advantage of the 1 month free trial of premium access, but so far I'm not at all impressed with the quality. It doesn't sound anywhere close to 320kbps. I've tried comparing some tracks to local files I have encoded at 320kps, the local ones sound a lot better. Like, significantly better, which isn't good at all because I often have a hard time hearing the difference between even 192kbps and lossless.

 

I've definitely got the high quality option on in the preferences menu and they aren't cached because I haven't listened to them before through spotify.

 

So I've concluded that either:

I don't really have access to 320kbps streams.

The files offered aren't really 320kbps

Or, there is something wrong with the way Spotify encodes.

 

Not trying to cause trouble here, I just want to know where I stand before I pay for a subscription.


I'm experiencing THE SAME EXACT ISSUE as described above.  In my case at least, this has nothing to do with cache, as I just signed up for Spotify yesterday and have no cache built up.

 

I'm on the 30-day Premium trial plan, where you provide credit card information, but you aren't charged anything.  Yes, I set my preferences to High Quality Streaming, so please don't bother telling me to toggle that on.

 

Spotify located all of my local music from iTunes, some of which is ripped at 320kbps CBR mp3 from a CD and some of which I purchased from iTunes directly.  If I try playing ANY of those local files in the Spotify desktop player and then compare that to THE SAME SONG streaming from Spotify, the difference is HUGE.  I'm not trying to be difficult here, and I'm not being super picky.  The difference is  night and day, unmistakably worse in Spotify.  The volume is lower, but more importantly the range and richness of the recording is noticeably decreased in the Spotify streamed version.

 

I am not using any high end equipment.  I plan on buying a DAC and a new set of speakers, but I'm noticing all of this on my current setup, which is on-board audio connected to a pair of Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 powered speakers.  I don't have a DAC, I don't have a sound card.  I'm using the audio from the motherboard.

 

I encourage all of you to try the same test:  using Spotify, play a local track, then compare it to that same track streaming off Spotify.  MAKE SURE THE SPOTIFY STREAM VERSION IS NOT LINKED TO YOUR LOCAL TRACK.  If it's linked, it'll simply play your local track and there will be no difference.  You have to find an unlinked version so that you know it's truly streaming off of Spotify's servers.  For example, maybe your local track is from a greatest hits compilation.  If so, make sure the streaming version is the same song but from the original album, that way Spotify won't stream your local copy.

 

If any of you bother to try this comparison, please post back.  I'm very curious to hear your results.  It can't be just me and asgilbert experience this difference.

 

Thanks.

same here. I think many songs have just been converted from lower bitrates to 320kbps. I cancelled my premium subscription because of that. There's an alternative in this regard (also from scandinavia) which I won't name here but they nearly completed rebuilding their library from scratch starting with CD Quality.

 

 


@Choiglia wrote:

 The difference is  night and day, unmistakably worse in Spotify.  The volume is lower, but more importantly the range and richness of the recording is noticeably decreased in the Spotify streamed version.


 

You cannot compare soundquality without having the same volume in both cases.

the louder one always sounds better.

 


@thegass wrote:

@Choiglia wrote:

 The difference is  night and day, unmistakably worse in Spotify.  The volume is lower, but more importantly the range and richness of the recording is noticeably decreased in the Spotify streamed version.


 

You cannot compare soundquality without having the same volume in both cases.

the louder one always sounds better.

 


Hey everyone, you heard it here first: "louder is always better!"

 

 

Should be common knowledge that level-matching is very important for audio-comparison.

 

quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_equipment_testing

 

It is difficult, but very important, to match sound levels before comparing systems, as minute increases in loudness—more than 0.15 dB[12] or 0.1 dB[13]—have been demonstrated to cause perceived improvements in sound quality.

 

Simple explaination: 

 

Mostly because of the fact that details are easier heard when louder. Bass and highs are perceived as more boosted than midrange when you turn up the volume, so the overall frequency ballance actually changes.
In short: more bass, more highs & more details. A lot of people prefer that.


@thegass wrote:

Should be common knowledge that level-matching is very important for audio-comparison.

 


Adjusting the volume is the first thing I did.  Like I said initially, it's not just a volume issue.

Make sure "Set the same volume level for all tracks" is disabled. That seems to "decrease" sound quality/play everything at a lower volume. It may do some other form of compressing the sound as well.

Exact same issue here. All of my collection is lossless, but I compared Spotify to Google Music, and SQ is noticeably worse than GM's 320Kbps MP3. And no, it has nothing to do with volume. It's the details and separation that is lacking, quite noticeable.

I haven't really noticed a difference in the audio quality from the "normal level" to the "extreme level".

 

Do basic smartphone headphones have a high enough quality to play the 320 kpbs audio quality? I also have a pair of bose headphones. I think something was mentioned before about editing preferences?

 

I'm just curious if I should even bother to get the better sound quality and risk the storage space.

 

Thanks guys

How do I delete the files in the cache?  I highlight them and right-click but there's no delete option.

I bought a Peachtree Audio Deep Blue 2 days ago.Since then I have been listening and comparing internet radio stations. I liked the concept of Pandora,and Spotify,but in the free version Spotify came across more dynamic ,as Pandora seemed more compressed and colored on the bottom end. I just tried Spotify premium,and it filled in all the gaps causing me to doubt my new speaker,a match made in heaven. If you can`t hear the difference it is your equipment ,or you have the volume up too high on the device you are feeding in to your speaker. Turn off your eq ,and beats coloring toys,and listen to it flat bass and treble in the middle ,then compare.

Dear All,

 

I'm experiencing the same frustrations.

As a professional sound engineer and head of sound in a large London venue, I am very aware of the differences in sound quality.  Spotify is not delivering me what I would consider to be:

a) an audio frequency range that is of 'high quality'

b) a dynamic range that is of 'high quality' - music seems to have all be compressed (in the audio sense rather than data) too heavily.

 

It seems on a number of tracks that I have not played on Spotify before, therefore cannot be in the cache, that the audio is dropping off sharply from around 16kHz upwards.  This is why cymbals sound dull, and strings have no life to them.  I am extremely dubious that I am listening to audio ripped from a CD, and reduced to 320kbps.   I should add that I am listening to the audio through professional audio interfaces and loudspeakers.

 

As there is no way to see the bandwidth Spotify is streaming to you, and there is no percievable difference between selecting the High Quality streaming option, it seems pointless paying for a Premium subscription!

 

I am just coming to the end of my Premium 'taster' period, and quite frankly, it seems a waste of money and I doubt I'll carry on.

 

If anyone from Spotify cares to respond to this, I'd be grateful to hear from you.

Just curious if you had the "play all songs at same volume" checked. That could be affecting the perception of playback quality. I'm guessing you accounted for this, but it seemed worth mentioning


@Choiglia wrote:

@thegass wrote:

Should be common knowledge that level-matching is very important for audio-comparison.

 


Adjusting the volume is the first thing I did.  Like I said initially, it's not just a volume issue.


All tests are inherently flawed if you are aware of which version of the song is which.
Placebo is one hell of a drug ... and a most excelent sound enhancer.

Are you serius?...  128 kbps is not CD quality at all, even 320 kbps in any format avalible, AAC, MP3, OGG or whatever is no match for a 16 bits 44.1 khz .wav (CD Quality)...

I did some tests where I recorded several Spotify streams with HQ switched on and off to Audacity, synced them down to the sample and played it back, switching back and forth between the 'LQ' and HQ versions. I simply do not hear any difference. Not in the quality of the sound, not in the transients reproduction and not in the spatial imaging. Now my hearing at age 50 is impaired to only 12kHz, but I am pretty much convinced that is not the cause of my perceptions.

I also did a real time A/B blind comparison of a track ripped from a 30 year old CD and the same track on Spotify, streamed in normal streaming mode (i.a. HQ=off), and do not hear a difference either.

 

Mind you: Asus DX/XD sound card, everything configured at 24bits/192kHz, Denon PMA-720A amp (Class A at low volumes!), B&W DM-220 speakers, Sennheiser HD465 headphones. A setup good enough to make small differences audible.

I dare say that most people are talking sh*t when they claim they can hear the difference between properly encoded LQ and HQ streams, and even CD-quality. Willing to take them up anytime in a blind A/B comparison test.

I cleared my cache and the only under the "Other" section, and the cache cleared. Before I cleared it I put the quality up to high and it reset back to normal after the cleared cache. I put it up to high immediatly and there was no sound difference? Any way I can fix this? If so please list how I would be able to fix this because I`ve had this problem many times with premium and have been looking all over the internet for a solution. Thanks, 

 

Spotify user Freznolite

Agreed with wokkiedokkie 

I had he same issue so I set about changing different parts of my system.

 

I had been using Spotify mainly from my iPhone 7 to good Klisch earphones. It sounded ok and acceptable. I tried listening from my mac via Dragonfly dac to Ruark MR1 desktop speakers. It sounded OK. I tried it from my MacBook Pro attached to wifi wirelessly, through the Dragonfly dac to my Naim system. To those who don't know, Naim is seriously good. If the input from either cd or vinyl is up to a high standards, the sound can be amazing. From Spotify premium it only sounded Ok. I still didn't believe it was a Spotify issue as it is in their interest to provide a high quality source. Eventually, after more research I bought a Chord Mojo. Initially I tried this from my iPhone and couldn't really hear much difference through headphones. A bit better but nothing dramatic. I tried it from my MacBook Pro, connected to wifi by cable in my home office using both Klipsch and Sennheiser headphones. It sounded amazing. I tried again with the Naim through the Mojo and it still didn't sound more than OK. I was disappointed and nearly took the Mojo back. Then one Sunday morning I had another go with my MacBook Pro, this time connected to the wifi with a cable. it sounds amazing. Better even than my 12 year old Naim CD player. My speakers are very demanding Proac Tablettes. The sound quality and delivery from the Naim has to be spot on or it shows up any faults. Now it just sounds great. More separation, more bass, smoother, more clarity and the whole music listening experience is far better. I used to get tired listening. Now it is a pleasure.

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