Spotiy Premium audio quality - pretty disappointed

[Choiglia]

Just signed up for Spotify Premium after reading that the premium service streams high quality audio.  Did two quick quality comparisons, and so far I am pretty disappointed.

First I played a local audio file using Spotify.  I had ripped the file from a CD in iTunes... don't remember the settings, but they were high.  Sounded great.  Then I searched for the same song on Spotify and streamed it.... sounded significantly worse.

Then I played another local audio file using Spotify.  This file was not ripped from a CD.  It was downloaded from iTunes.  Sounded good.  Again searched for the same song on Spotify and streamed it.... again really disappointed by the Spotify streamed version.  Noticeably worse.

High Quality Streaming is checked on in my preferences.  Am I missing something?  Is the streaming quality just inferior?

Anyone else experience similar results?

[Peter__]

Spotiamp for Windows (which is made by Spotify) will display the bitrate of the current playing track from Spotify. 😉

[MarcusStrapp]

I've just compared Spotify standard, Spotify premium and iTunes (from ripped CD) and can confirm your findings, the standard is significantly worse and the premium does not improve the sound quality by that much. 

Spotify caches audio files, so we used two separate computers one logged in with a Spotify standard accout the other on SPotify premium.

Spotify is a terrific service and a teriffic idea, but there are just too many shor comings for me to use it a a paid for service. I run on an iMac MacBook Pro retina.

• No equaisation
• No ability to nominate the sound output device (which means using systemwide routing of all sound and then notification sounds get heard)
• No decent visuliser (I can live without this, but the iTunes one is rather wonderful when used with a digital projector)
• NO OPTION TO GET GENUINE HIGH QUALITY DIGITAL AUDIO (even with Premium)

[Peter__]

Depending on your platform Equalify is a pretty kick ass EQ for Spotify desktop.

I know it's not great but there is a visualizer in Spotify too:
http://labs.spotify.com/2013/11/14/announcing-spotify-visualization-api-beta/

[MarcusStrapp]

Thanks for the Equalify link. Though visulizer is the last on my lists of wants. Also when I last looked at a Spotify visulizer, not only were the grpahics a little primitive but it also seemed to lack responisiveness to the mucis (at leason my MacBook Pro Retina)

But Will check this out so thanks.

[GSpice]

Hi MarcusStrapp, saw this post of yours from April.  Any luck on enhancing the sound quality on Spotify?   I tried Premium a year or so ago and left because of this.  I just signed up again in hopes I might have better sound with a newer Mac, not so.  It sounds terrible, flat with no bass.  I get much better sound on Pandora or iTunes radio but they don't have the luxury of choosing any song to listen to when I choose. 😞

[MarcusStrapp]

Hi @GSpice,

I still find the sound quality of Spotify Premium to be less than iTunes. Overall, I find the sound quality and functionality of the Apple Spotify app to be lacking in sound quality and essential features to justify a premium price.

In summary my essential wish list is (for Mac OS-X platform)

Higher quality audio

Ability to nominate the sound output device

Graphic equaliser

An extra-would-be-nice wish would be a decen visuliser

[RV22]

Iam new to spotify and the whole bussiness model is awesome... Both free accounts and the Premium prices... The catalog is extremely huge with very high quality and hard to find artists... Awesome.... Unfortunatelly all the awesome music on Spotify is destroyed by 1 little detail... The audio quality is incomparable to CD or a really good CD rip into MP3 (LAME or FRAUNHOFER at 256 or 320 kbps). IAM TALKING ABOUT EXTREME AUDIO QUALITY VIA PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION. Sound is dynamically compressed, flat, lifeless, muffled... Iam currently just test-driving Premium Trial (7 days Premium Trial) but if this is what you get for your money with "EXTREME QUALITY" its pretty dissapointing and frankly does really bad justice to the whole catalog and all artists... Whats the purpose of having 20.000.000 songs when they sound like sh#t... I will be testing stuff further but right now i dont see any point in buying PREMIUM since the audio quality is average at best... Spotify is great effort and a step in the right direction but music is about the listening experience and digital media still puts quantity and compression above quality... I hope projects like Neil Young's PONO Player will turn the focus of the whole industry back to what matters QUALITY OVER QUANTITY.... Id rather listen over and over to a selection of few exceptional records with great quality of recording and exceptional musicmanship, than to go through 20.000.000 new albums which all sound like speaker playing under a duvet...

[MarcusStrapp]

Dear RV22

I have since making my original post here, decided to switch to using Qobuz. There are two critical reasons for the switch

1. They stream true CD quality lossless FLAC

2. The Apple Mac desktop player allows you to nominate the sound device (so I can avoid having notifications sounds come through mi HiFi)

I use a stream quobiz from mu MacBook retina to a CrystalAccoustics BluDAC feeding into a pair of BeoLab 8000's mk2. The sound quality is good enough for me. When QoBuz was played side by side with Spotify premium on my system, I felt there was sufficient difference to justify switching to QuBuz. Sadle neither obuz nor Spotify premium supplier an equaliser (for my system a very small amount equalisation dramatically improves the subjetcive sound quality to me - BeoLab 8000's are renowned for having a shouty, conjested upper mid range.

Qobuz does not have some of the neat social features that Spotify has, but for me, sould quality comes first.

With Qobuz, you get to come out from under the duvet!

[p_w_q]

Hi.. i´m using wimp hifi service (poland version 10 eur/mo). They have a larger catalogue (25+mil tracks) than qobuz,but its not so big as Spotify´s. Qobuz is for classic music lovers, wimp is more indie/mainstream, like Spotify.

UI is terrible, but sound in flac/alac is great.

With google translator anyone can sign up, and use standard credit card, wimp has no restrictions (so far). 

[MarcusStrapp]

Thanks p_w_q, I have justch checked out wimp (from the UK) and it claims not to be available here (not just a matter of translating).

It feels a bit unkind to be discussing alternatives to Spotify on Spotify's forum 😞 But where else do we do it) and perhaps if Spotify see this they will consider adding a lossless FLAC option - it has to be clear that some people will pay for this. 

Regarding Qobuz vs Spotify, I can also point out that the Spotify recommendation system is leagues ahead of Qobuz, So that is another point if favour of Spotify.

Still for me, and for now lossless and FLAC and the ability to nominate the sound output device )on OS-X Apple Mac) means I have to stay with Qobuz.

-- MarcusStrapp

[p_w_q]

Hi, Marcus!

Thanks for trying...  maybe is wimp (slowly) coming to UK and they blocked it,  don´t know 🙂

Talking about another product here.. i know, but maybe this and another threads on Spotify Community about lossless is pretty clear message, that we want to stay with Spotify and.. pay more for this option. More money for lossless product = more money for artists and for Spotify.

I am still premium user, but lossless is future (or back to lossless after years of mp3)

I will send you private message, maybe there is a way 🙂

Best regards,

Vaso Zidek

[MarcusStrapp]

As Vaso Zidek suggests:

Shouting loud and clear at Spotify: If you offer a lossles FLAC CD quality service and fix Spotify so I can select the sound output device all for a reasonable price, I'll pay!

[Uber-Duper]

I just cancelled my premium subscription for the same reasons.

Not only have I found that the streaming quality is poor, but even tracks that have been downloaded for offline playback are of low quality.

Had already gone into the settings and checked the HQ setting..

Would definitely come back to spotify if audio quality was comparable to a high quality VBR mp3, unfortunately, for whatever reason, HQ sounds worse than 128kbps.

[Peter__]

Sorry to see you go @Uber-Duper , it should definitely sound better than 128kbps though. What sort of system are you listening through?

[jamesnewton007]

I Also agree about the sound quality issues. I have a high end dennon home cinema , a couple of pioneer high end compact systems with airplay and a bmw with advanced bluetooth on a iphone 6 and they all suffer with spotify sound quality issues. I can air play the same song via itunes which is a 320kb mp3 rip and it eclipsed the spotify version. Which is very disapointing. Spotify you need to do better. Please read these comments and fix the problem. Your description of Extreme quality is a joke. Extreme would be flac or sacd. Also if the numbers dont stack up im sure people would be happy to pay for a special premium high quality service for high end systems. But right now youe just pissing people off with the marketing bs. Fix the problem not the marketing.

[user-removed]

Hey there.

Spotify is streaming service for ogg 160/320 kbps. Please don't compare it to Lossless quality, as there is nothing to do with this, when Lossless is much better. Of course! All tracks coming to Spotify for upload, are in lossless format. From this format Spotify convert stuff to 96/160/320 kbps. This should be great option... 160 kbps OGG is much better than 192 kbps MP3!!!

I have AMAZING Pioneer SMA1 speaker with Spotify Connect -- Great sound!!! Bass amazing, sound amazing... Please I really enjoy this stuff in 320 kbps. Who can say Spotify quality is bad??? Are you sure u not in YouTube listening stuff?

Dancecore, hands up, listen technomusic from Spotify and be luck!

[jamesnewton007]

@hpguru 

I don't want this to turn into a slaging match but i know the difference between youtube and spotify. suggesting i don't is just rude and patronising. it also seam like you really didn't read my post, let alone comprehend its contents.

I also would like to ask if you are directly or indirectly employed by Spotify or an associated company as your post is not objective or based on technical fact.

[user-removed]

Always headphone, this is how I'm happy!

I'm sorry if you have bad sound on Spotify. You can report bad tracks to Spotify with low quality using form. Of course you might have 10K sound systems... then it's really worth to get Lossless music service.

[MorpMusic]

Forget mp3 files all together, they all sound like crap. Spotify should be streaming .wav or other lossless files. Mp3 will ALWAYS be a big compromise. I listen to all my music as they come right out the mastering studio they were mastered in. If you're paying money for a music service... you deserve to hear the music exactly as it was intended. Otherwise you are throwing away your money on "high quality" bs.

[Peter__]

You do mention an interesting point, are there any big streaming companies (with comparable catalogue size to Spotify) that stream lossless?

Spotify do stream in ogg rather than mp3 but yeah, lossy so it's the same difference really!