Streaming Quality is Ignored

[Zoomguy]

Plan

Premium (Family)

Country

Canada

Operating System

Windows 10 20H2

Spotify Version

1.1.53.608.g7ed9c03a (Microsoft Store version)

My Question or Issue

I've noticed that Spotify Desktop will ignore the Streaming Quality setting and will use Auto anyways.

I've tested and confirmed this by first clearing the cache by deleting the folder "{Wherever Spotify AppData is Located}\LocalCache\Spotify\Data". Then on my router I set a bandwidth limit for my computer to 0.1Mbps. (Very High requires ~0.32Mbps).

While having it set to Very High, it will struggle to load at first, but eventually it will start playing consistently at what sounds obviously like a very low quality.

I've tried completely reinstalling the app but it didn't help.

I tried the same test on my Android phone and it will stay locked at Very High quality, having to buffer very couple seconds.

Please fix this issue! I'm not sure if this is already fixed in the new Desktop version but I have no way of seeing if it is.

[The_Humaniac]

This problem also affects me as well
Whats also weird is that my phone is okay as well

[Alex]

Hi there folks,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

This is largely dependent on the WiFi capabilities of your devices. Some phones and computers might load up content faster than others. 

The Desktop app will try to stream at the quality you've selected, however it might preload the song so it is played in lower quality, much like videos would load and play with visible lower quality even when the settings are set to HD, if the network bandwidth is currently limited.

Sound quality is also highly subjective as it depends on the soundcards on your devices, your speakers, as well as the default quality of the particular track. 

In general we'd recommend not limiting your network bandwidth if you want to stream music in higher quality.

Hope this helps.

[The_Humaniac]

Didn't they used to just buffer though?

Like when the streaming quality is set to high, if your internet is slow, it'd stop the music so it would take its time to load?
Whats the point of setting the streaming quality to high if it just ignores it and sets it to auto anyways?

My phone plays the spotify app just fine, i have no idea why it does this with my laptop

My laptop's audio drivers are up to date and i don't see how they would fiddle around with spotify's settings

Also this is not an exclusive problem to just the desktop app, it also happens on web player, for me at least

[Novy]

Hey @The_Humaniac, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Keep in mind that the app might take longer to load depending on your connection. 

In this case, could you let us know if the same thing happens when you're connected to a network with no limitations or using your laptop through LAN? 

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

[The_Humaniac]

There is no limitations with the networks i have been using

[The_Humaniac]

I have come to notice that my phone's spotify app was out-of-date, i noticed this when searching through the spotify app's settings and there were more things there that were (Unavailable now) unless i updated it, the quality of the music there was a great, so i updated it and now................ It has the same problem that my laptop is facing now

My only questions now is
How can i download the old version
Why was this change necessary

[Jeremy]

Hey @The_Humaniac,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

Can you let us know if it's switching from High to Auto automatically from the settings page or just the quality of the sound?

Keep us posted.

Take care!

[The_Humaniac]

The setting is set to high, but when a different song comes up from a playlist, the music quality is noticeably changed, i checked back at the settings tab and its still set at "High"

[CarlosE]

Hey @The_Humaniac,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

Does it happen no matter which song is played next? We'd also like to know if you notice the change while listening through the laptop/phone speakers, headphones, or another external device like a Bluetooth speaker.

Also, could you try using a different account, like a friend's or relative's, and let us know if you notice the same behavior?

We'll be on the lookout.

[The_Humaniac]

Its more so a 50/50, it would either play the song in high quality, or just auto down to poor
It also doesn't matter if its a song that has been played before

Tried that with laptop and phone, with or without speakers, still the same

I'm not entirely sure if account switching has to do anything with it and more to do with spotify updates or versions, Mine is (1.1.53.608.g7ed9c03a)

I have noticed however, after seeing the reply, i went ahead and tried to use the web player again
And i noticed straight away that the interface looked different than normal, like it received an update
I listened to a few songs there, and they played normally in web player

So the web player seems to be fine, but the desktop app still has the problem
So i tried to reinstall the desktop app and it still has the same problem

[CarlosE]

Hi again @The_Humaniac,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

We're constantly running tests and improvements for the app and the web player, that's why it may look different than the last time you used it.

To further investigate this, could you send us some videos with audio when using the mobile or desktop app and changing the first song, and another when using the web player?

Lastly, this might not be account-related, but we'd like to fully rule out this possibility, so it'd be helpful if you could try with a different account.

Keep us in the loop.

[The_Humaniac]

Came back with something interesting

Turns out that you giving me the extra kick to try a different account worked
Wasn't able to share with family or friends so i just created a new spotify account (Hughmungus)
And somehow, using the desktop app, the songs there play normally and fine!
Then when i log back into my account (this one), The problem remains there, playing songs in auto streaming!

The attachments below are 2 recordings of me listening to the desktop player, and me listening to the web player

You can hear that the desktop player changes streaming quality by itself despite streaming quality set to high
While the web player is just normal

Hopefully this is useful news for you!

[CarlosE]

Hey @The_Humaniac,

Thanks for getting back in touch and for the videos.

In this case, the issue seems to be isolated to your account. We recommend to keep using the new account for a couple of days to see if it keeps working properly. If it does, then we suggest to keep that account. You can check this article on how to transfer your content from one account to the other so you don't miss anything.

We hope this helps. If you have any questions, we're always a post away.

Cheers!

[The_Humaniac]

If that would be the case, is my account going to stay cursed?
Cause i honestly wanna get back to it eventually

[The_Humaniac]

I wonder what the topic writer thinks about all this

[Jeremy]

Hey @The_Humaniac,

Thank you for your reply.

We suggest that you start over with a new account since we can't say when or if it will change.

If you have any questions we're always one reply away.

Cheers!

[Zoomguy · Accepted solution]

I decided to run my bandwidth test again and it seems to be using the selected quality setting as intended now.

I'm not sure if I did something or if newer versions fixed this (I'm currently on 1.158.820.0) but it's nice to know it's working correctly now and ready for Spotify HiFi, which I can't wait for!

[Ivan]

Hey @Zoomguy, 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. 

We're glad to hear that things are now working properly for you. Give us a shout if you experience this again - we're always a post away.  

Еnjoy your music!