Bad sound quality with premium

[satelite]

I have premium and some tracks are in offline. I discovered that sound quality at Spotify is low at the moment. I listened first a song (320kbps MP3) and after that same song in Spotify, high and mid range sounds are so low quality or allmost missing in Spotify.

I traced my sound quality problem to Spotify (high quality streaming is on, hardware acceleration is on and same volume for all tracks is off) and i tested this with 2 different computers and 2 different accounts and same problem. So it cant be hardware.

I have listened my songs so much so i know some songs listened much better before... now they play like played from broken speaker (tracks from Spotify... not from my local files!).

So the problem must be in Spotify... Is anyone else noticed big drop in sound quality?

[BBBrode]

Very Similar problem:

-It was absolutely then the the next day I had very 'tinny' high frequencies, and bass was vertually inaudible.

-I have tested with different speakers- same problem.

-However, when I put my iPhone on (also using spotify, same account) the audio was absolutely fine.

-Turning off the 'same vol level for all tracks' helped a tiny bit I guess but still the same problem.

Anyone have any more advice?

Using premium (free trial), tracks downloaded offline, High quality streaming didn't fix it either.

[Peter__]

It's worth making sure all audio effects and EQs are turned off on your system. My HP laptop has a stupid beats audio system and it destroys music from Spotify. 

Had to turn if of from the control panel in my system tray as well as in Windows Control Panel > Sound > Enhancements & SRS. Once it was all disabled, sounds good! 

[betamix317]

Thread may be pretty inactive now but in case anyone else checks I'm also an audiophile and spotify has been a big disappointment. I never use an EQ as I hate what in my mind is distorting the sound so that isn't the issue. I'm using audeze lcd-2 rev 3 lately also tested with senn hd650's, shure 535ltd and 425, and the highs and lows crackle and frankly sound like garbage. I thought it may be an amp/dac issue so swapped and tested modi/magni stack, sony pha-1, vamp verza, even tried two different soundcards layin around and it sounds awful. The tracks all sound far better on youtube, itunes, really any other program. I'm not sure what is going on as I have meticulously fiddled with settings. I don't expect spotify to match my lossless rips but it should be able to compete with youtube imo. Maybe they will figure out what went wrong but until then my 30day trial has ended 6 days in. The UI and music sharing in spotify is incredible and if they ever decide to make the music sound bearable I'll be a huge advocate.

*edit i said rev 3 as it's the lcd-2 with fazor, i know there isn't actually a rev 3*

**Second edit - I cancelled my premium sub and it sounds 10x better, the highs and lows are drastically improved. The only other setting changes are disabled hardware acceleration and set same volume. Not great but youtube equivalent like this.**

[user-removed]

Well I dont use any equlizers either on my pc just the standard 2.1 speaker output possible from my pc sound card, with the pc sound piped into a 7.1 Sony Surround sound stereo receiver, with a sound option of stereo turned on as spotify is only stereo right now using High Quality streaming and it wokrs great. It is possible to have corrupted caches for the spotify app and when switching between lower and higher quality settings these can get messed up? Also checking into making sure your ISP is not using throttling practices for P2P services which is what the desktop app uses unless one uses the webplayer instead. Checking that your ISP is not throttling your boardband speed is a good idea as well, a throttled boardband connection can produce bad sound if one is trying to get the higher stream through a slowed down port. Have you tried doing that, seeing if there is a sound difference on a permium account between the desktop app and webplayer using High quality streaming options set? Just an additional information, I don't have the same volumn option turned on for all tracks it tends to make releases that have variable volumns in the original recording sound a little flat in my view, but what a user can get to work is different for another.

[user-removed]

Hey there.

I have purchased Sennheiser M2IEG for techno music. First track on these earphones was Basslovers United Remix Edit. Really, what else??? Sound quality is amazing. I'm running on Premium my music. 320 kbps is so great, so 160 kbps is no more great at Web Player. 320 is  A LOT better.

I can't find any reason why some of you have so bad sound.

Maybe you should clear cache, check your sound settings and devices?

Greetz and ENJOY your music!!!

PS: I have really WASTED years on my Android with around 25 € earphones. These 99 € guys are so great, I even can't believe my favorite hands up and dancecore music could even sound this way... Completely new music... With subwooferbass in earphones!!!

So please try your account on another device, go to friend and listen music from there at home theatre? Maybe it will sound better! Just to be sure, where problem is.

[betamix317]

After speaking with a friend who ran into the same issue he informed me that spotify saves what version of the song you have listened to, he walked me through going into the right folders to find it although I don't recall off-hand. I do remember having to enable being able to see hidden folders and files to get to it. After deleting that the sound quality was much improved, only working theory is that there was some kind of conflict between the previously played files and the higher bitrate stream. 

The sound change would not take an audiophile or hifi setup to hear, I'm glad you didn't have an issue but I think you are confusing bitrate with software issue. 

[animegeek]

the sound quality on specific songs is crap and is missing portions of the songs. it sounds much the same as the songs on my ipod that got corrupt. this applies to any device i use: pc, android, iphone. it also downloads these specific songs with the same problem. i have premium and this problem is getting old. I've been dealing with it for months now.

[animegeek]

have any idea how to contact spotify to tell them that a few of there songs are going bad. due to that all the good music files will sound as they should but the bad ones will skip and crackle and have a slow and speed affect because they are bad files. changing settings on spotify or your pc/phone wont fix these problem.     https://open.spotify.com/track/5omWAB5iNMHvbAfBSzkdu8 this is one of the songs having problems from time to time and it did not have the problem before.       https://open.spotify.com/track/3F8sGKLjSfJOL9SmBpAWiM and here is another that did not have any problem before but it has the problem now. these songs have the problem in the same spot everytime and it sounds terrible. any help would be useful

[animegeek]

i get what you mean people are blaming spotify for there problems but on the other hand im not blaming the over all quality of spotify because the're quality is amazing with the exception of a few songs and that number of a few songs is growing steadily, but its not necisarily the quality thats the problem but the encoding its self. i have a few songs that will crack, skip, and fast forward/slow down really fast, also skips. its not the devices because i have the problem with my laptop, my android, and my iphone. also my friend has the same problem with the same songs. im not sure what tag this problem would be under tho.   https://open.spotify.com/track/3F8sGKLjSfJOL9SmBpAWiM     this song should not sound all messed up at the beginning like it does or in the middle of it, or through out most of it. it did not have this problem in the past.    im posting a similar post on multiple peoples comments hoping to find a solution to a problem that started 2 months ago and is getting worse. also device specs its been tested on hp g72 laptop with 2.1 ghz dual core, sony xperia z3v with a 2.5ghz quad core, apple iphone 4s, pentium 4 desktop pc with a 3.2ghz single core, android samsung gallexy stellar with 1.2ghz dual core, and android htc desire. all have the same problem. 

[user-removed]

@animegeek

Hello:

I just played both those tracks and they played fine for me no crackling, or any speeding up while playing the songs.

What machine specs is this happening on, what app version, and if you could provide which listening region are you currently in?

[animegeek]

I am in the U.S and in southern Utah the problem happens with my Android
with a 2.5ghz quad core my iphone with a 1ghz single core and my pc with
2.3ghz dual core hp g72. The problem happens with my little brother and my
cup as well my cup and I are using premium. Need any more info

[user-removed]

Is this idea good? https://community.spotify.com/t5/Idea-Submissions/All-Platforms-Use-Opus-codec-instead-of-OGG-Vorbis...

I think Opus can make Spotify better on sound quality.

[pattison22]

I can't be certain as I dont work for Spotify, but my educated guess is that the audio compression algorithim favors single cone speakers (headphones, laptops, desktop speakers, etc). It's hard to tell with new songs, but songs you're well acquainted played via Spotify over
3-channel speakers are always missing some portion in the midrange. The whole range sounds is muted for the most part. I do use an EQ and have spent plenty of time trying to adjust, but it seems to me that the data just isn't there.

[animegeek]

What devices are you using and do you have music of the same name as your
spotify music on one of the devices

[solaris1111]

Clean reinstallation didn't help. I listen to Progressive Metal Playlist and it doesnt sound 320 kbps at all on high quality setting. It really feel like Spotify don't receive the information from my account that ask high quality ON.

[animegeek]

If you have thoughs songs on your device aside from spotify's. Spotify will
play those files instead. This goes for if the other music files are on any
device connected to your account then all devices on your account are
affected.

[user-removed]

Remove song from hard drive if it is on Spotify, it will stream it.

[josue2300]

The sound quality is indeed lower in Spotify (premium), compared to Google Play. I could hear several issues on higher frequencies and the volume is not that great.

To draw your own conclusions, launch the Google Music Service and try listening to a track on your device/setup. Then listen to the same track on Spotify. The difference is abysmal.

[imperson161]

Same thing is happening to me

[ernestwong]

Same thing is happenning to me too. I have Windows Desktop, Android, iOS and Playstation versions with Premium account. The so called 320kbps from Spotify is much lower quality than 320kbps encoded AAC or MP3 in all platforms!