Spotify HiFi solution PC

[rightrich]

It seems that HiFi quality (lossless or nearly lossless) is able to be streamed from the web player on Chrome.  The only problem is that you won't have the ability to navigate to your desired music easily.  The solution is to do this:  1. Start up Spotify in the web player on chrome.  2.  Start up the Spotify desktop app.  3. Select the "Connect to device" icon at the bottom right (select twice until you see a green bar at the bottom which says "Listening on Spotify web player").  3.  Enjoy your high quality streaming and cancel your Tidal subscription.  (You're welcome.)

[wilflare]

any changes to the settings menu? so there's no need to do the tricks mentioned?

[rightrich]

You still need to sign into the Chrome version first.

[Ludde77]

This won't get you hifi, but it will stream at 320kb/sek even if you are a Spotify Free subscriber. 

[user-removed]

yes it's definately Spotify Hifi testing. Next to the audible difference I have measured the overall transfer rate with wifinetwork counter through multiple tracks. Hereby I can confirm that each track is around 20 mb file size. 

Spotify fans: try this out for some serious hifi losless music on spotify!

Btw you do need a premium account to activate this beta test.

[wilflare]

It definitely sounds louder... but do we need to receive any special email to be included in this beta-testing for Spotify HiFi?

or just a premium account?

[TGI1]

There is no beed for confirmation. Just put in a decent pair of cans and enjoy 

the difference.

[GTAXL]

Stop spreading FALSE information! The Spotify web interface streams encrypted 256kbps AAC. It is segmeted using DASH to save bandwith if a person doesn't listen through the entire song. The reason they use AAC on the web interface, is because the support for AAC in web browsers is global compared to Vorbis they use on their desktop app. All this seems to confirm is that people much prefer the quality of the AAC codec compared to Vorbis. AAC 256kbps is the same as an iTunes download. I've nulled those against my FLAC version, and yes there is a difference. So the Spotify web player is NOT lossless. I honestly wish I could report this forum post for mis-information!

[andreaskaestel · Accepted solution]

are you sure it's not just becasue it's louder i.e. they can't implement volume normalisation on the web player?

[Potku]

I have a Premium account, and I just tested this. There was no difference. Web player and Spotify PC app are exactly the same. I would, however, be very interested to hear if there is a way to receive better sound quality by any means. 

Has aynone heard any news about Spotify HiFi lately? 

[stevenneirynck]

Well, thank you very much for this great tip. I just compared the sound quality on Spotify desktop app with Spotify Web Player and Tidal. I tried it on myhifi system with different speakersets and on my studio headphones, which give a +/- realistic sound. I noticed definitely a better sound from the Webplayer compared with the desktop app, the soundquality is quite the same as on Tidal. As an amateur music producer I developed sensible ears who find it difficult to support listening to music in bad quality, so I was considering swapping Spotify for Tidal. But is was with pain in the heart, as I just love Spotify's features as Discover Weekly, Radar Release, Daily mix and Concerts. Tidal doesn't have these features which makes Spotify's algorithms phenomenal for discovering new music.
So, thanks mate, you saved me 20 Euro per month, and I can keep on enjoying Spotify!

[fritolay7]

I need some high quality music. I'm thinking about swithcing to tidal or deezer but this would be awesome if it worked.

[santiago_nada]

There is no difference between mp3 320kbps and Tidal or Cd quality audio, no one can tell (95% of people) ., at least without the placebo effect. 

so cut the **bleep**

[kshatch]

With all due respect - that's complete nonsense.

[L4DPro]

Tidal is so much better than spotify in terms of sound quality anyone that claims it isn't either don't listen to music they're just 'hearing it'. Of course you need to listen through reasonable equipment, listening on a mobile phone with some poor DAC and tiny little ear buds isn't going to work.

[L4DPro]

Plus on Tidal you've got some amount of music streaming at 'Master' quality, sounds so good !! (24bit / 96 Khz)

I've signed up for 3 unlimited data (in the UK) streaming Tidal to my mobile and bluetooth to my car stereo works perfectly. Ok you've got a sound quality problem streaming over bluetooth but still sound fantastic to me.

I wonder whether Spotify have stored their music in mp3 format, I mean if they have they're got a load of work to convert to CD quality lossless format.

[mirek_smok]

When the spotifi will be in the hifi ?

[NoNoise]

I will be trying out Tidal starting next week when my new headphones arrive. I love the Spotify UI and features. However, since I'm investing in a good pair of headphones and amp+DAC, I will also be seeking out Hi-Fi audio. So, as others have said, I'm just adding my voice to also say that I would stay with Spotify, if there was a Hi-Fi option, but if there is not, I may have to go elsewhere. (Also, I am commenting to subscribe to this thread in case there is any news about a new Beta or something.)

[Linas]

Deezer has Hi-Fi and their servers are closer to so faster streaming especially useful if you like jumping between songs

[user-removed]

I have moved to tidal

[L4DPro]

Since I moved to Tidal I've not even started up Spotify once apart from the initial transfer of my play lists, that's how good Tidal is, I've yet to get bored or unsatisfied of listening to music via Tidal and I listen every day for at least 2 or more hours while driving and gaming. Yes their full subscription is twice as much as Spotify although they do offer a same price option with the same (or better ?) quality as Spotify. To me where I'd easily purchase a couple of CD's every month which equates to the price of Tidal full subscription it's a no brainer not to subscribe. Although subscribing to any streaming service where you've got millions of tracks at your finger tips for such a resonable amount of cash is also a no brainer. If you care about music quality then Tidal is the only option, although if you listen on a small cheapo bluetooth speaker while doing the washing up then I'm not sure you'd get the benefit 😉

The other streaming service that I looked at was  'Qobuz' these ppl offer high quality audio as good or perhaps a litter better than Tidal  ? (some music at 192KHz sampling) but their top subscription is a one time payment which isn't cheap, I have no idea why they have no monthly subscription for this - insane, end result will mean they'll lose potential customers like me. Tidal provides a shed load of CD and sudio quality music so as I've said I'm well happy with Tidal, I don't see myself penny pinching and compromising on music quality for something I spend so much time enjoying...