Spotify Hifi

[q-bo]

Hi!

Heard about Spotify Hifi. That you are testing this. I would really like to try it out! Since I am a long time faithful customer. Please? 🙂

[meyersol]

My words! Qualitywise qobuz is probably the best, also for choice of classical music and jazz, but it isn't the best with regards to user friendliness. Tidal is best choice for those who fancy rap, hip-hop and the like. 320kbps is not sufficient on a high-end soundsystem. So if Spotify goes lossless, I'll be more than happy to follow them.

[danjamesmay]

Please make this happen ASAP so I can quit Tidal.

[b217546]

Actually blindtests show that basically noone can discern between cd quality and a good compressed 320kpbs mp3 (nomatter if you have a highendsystem)

And thousands of tests has been done.

If you hear a difference between lets say spotify and tidal its probably a different master being used.

That being said I too would buy the the new HIFI version.

[meyersol]

I hear a difference on Devialet Phantoms, like you also hear differences from one soundsystem to another

[TheHud1970]

We (the Mrs and I) couldn't tell a difference between tidal hifi (or whatever their cd quality one is called) and spotify (in fact when we blind tested I picked spotify as the better quality 80% of the time, and the Mrs 50%) but i could between spotify and qobuz,  but that's with jazz mostly...but you could be right - maybe it's a different master. 

[b217546]

Yes many people say they do until they actually perform a blindtest and they fail..

Try it yourself, download foobar, rip a cd to flac and 320kpbs and tick in blindtest option.

Alot of people has done these tests in very extreme highend systems and not been able to tell the difference reliably.

Yes usually the difference is because its another master thats why many still thinks vinyl is better than CD (even though vinyl is vastly inferior) because it came from a different master.

[danjamesmay]

On my Sonos Play:5 the difference is immediately obvious. Across the vast majority of tracks I've compared, the bass has a more fluid clearer sound on Tidal Hifi, whereas it sounds muddy and rattly on Spotify.

I also get slightly more tired when listeneing to Spotify than Tidal Hifi, as the brain has to reproduce the whole 'picture' of a track as some information is lost on the compressed track on Spotify, compared to Tidal Hifi.

Obviously these are just from my experience and not scientifically conclusive.

The different masters used between some music is also immediately obvious. This album in particularly sounds particularly dreadful on Spotify: 

https://open.spotify.com/album/56gsWKDrXkmwMrvNvrU6Ow

[b217546]

Yeah I havent compared Spotify and tidal so Iam not sure which encoders Spotify uses.

What I am saying though is if you rip a few songs from a cd you own to flac and a 320bitrate mp3 and then do a blindtest in foobar I am pretty sure you will not hear any difference.

I dont have an extreme system but its pretty decent my speakers and 2 amps costs around 8000$ and I have not been able to tell the difference yet conclusively.

I listen to lossless mostly for peace of mind though 🙂

And as previousy stated the biggest difference is definitely in the master originally used (thats why you need to do your own blindtest where you can make sure you are using the sameexact source and volume matched which is not no easy to do comparing between tidal and spotify)

[meyersol]

I agree that it would be hard to hear it on all kinds of tracks. Listening to David Guetta or Black Eyed Peas for instance in 320 or flac is quite close. however, I experience a real difference listening to classical piano: Eric Satie's Gnossienne or Gymnopédie interpretated by Anne Queffélec on Qobuz gives more presence, roundness and less perceived distortion in flac than in 320. Same goes for live Jazz recordings where you get more presence in flac. It is not night and day I agree, but I find it more agreeable and less tiresome for the ear. That's why I would always pay extra for lossless.

[Nevada93]

Definitively Hifi will be the premium Spoty service.

[Landofgaz]

Me too!!!!
Was seriously thinking of moving to Tidal. Prob not now

[Smoothspur71]

Sign up for the free 30 day Tidal trial.

[patrick281]

I NEED Spotify HIFI. Please!! I would immediately cancel my Tidal subscription. Spotify is by far the best music service, but I can't use it all the time because it doesn't have HIFI streaming. Constantly keeping my music playlists in sync on both services is EXTREMELY annoying.

[lukefozz]

Here's what's on my mind and other Spotify to Tidal converts:

I have been a subscriber to this wonderful service for a very long time and have loved seeing it grow and improve. I love the interface and all the promotions you have on the app. Howeverone day in January I listened to Tidal and instantly heard the hifi difference. I decided it was time to go to Tidal for its hifi capability. I was not happy to do so because Spotify is fun, simple and easy to use along with its benefits of amazing playlists. Tidal just haven't given such an amazing impression, even the customer service is awful! I have missed Spotify, however I have heard that you are trialling a hifi streaming system and I was instantly amazed. Therefore if you give me a chance to listen and use Spotify hifi I will be more than happy to delete my Tidal subscription straight away and come back to the streaming service I think is superior.

[Ludde77]

If hifi beta test comes to Sweden, sign me up Scotty. .199sek är givet..

[rightrich]

I must disagree with you as on my Beyerdynamic MMX 300 headset it is quite noticeable (granted it is a gaming headset).

[cencio33]

Me too!

Lorenzo

[lemaitreb]

Currently using the Spotify family plan and paying it for the whole family, being the only one really passionated and focused on audio, I'd love to see the option for uncompressed audio on some of the accounts ( or even only the main account ) appear ! I'm looking forward to hear more about Spotify Hifi. 

[fede_kida]

Me too!! Obviously!!

[marc42]

moi aussi j'attends que ca!!!!!