Suddenly have poor audio quality on Spotify Desktop

[HorseOnVenus]

Plan

Premium

Country

Netherlands

Device

HP Pavilion G6 (Purchased in 2012; HDD replaced with SSD a few years back)

Intel(R) Core(TM) **bleep** GHz

6.00 GB RAM

Operating System

Windows 10 Home

My Question or Issue

Spotify Desktop has suddenly started working really bad for me: the sound quality was appalling. When I play it from my phone, there are no problems so it's definitely not my speaker that is broken. When I play music from YouTube on my desktop with the same speaker, there is no problem either. I've tried selecting audio quality to be 'high' or 'very high' in the settings, uninstalling and reinstalling Spotify; opening and closing it; rebooting my computer. Nothing has worked so far. 

[Eni]

Hey there @HorseOnVenus, 

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community.

You mentioned that you've already reinstalled the app, but would you mind going through the steps of a clean reinstall, as it's more thorough than a normal one? Make sure to download the app again from the Microsoft Store. 

On another note, would you mind checking if the same happens on the web player? 

Also, could let us know if the same happens if you log in to your account on a different PC?

Keep us posted.

[Sja777]

I have exactly the same issue since this week 😞 

[HorseOnVenus]

Clean reinstall hasn't fixed it unfortunately. I will try a different PC tomorrow or Wednesday. On my phone and on Spotify webplayer, it works fine.

[Sja777]

Yeah, reinstall doesn't fixed the problem, tried two times and still the same. And you're right, it works fine on the webplayer and on a phone. Hopefully this will be fixed soon, cause is really annoying listen with such a bad quality .

[Alex]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the replies.

Can you try changing the Audio Quality settings in the Desktop app and check if that has any effect at all? Also, let us know if this low audio quality is noticeable when using both external speakers and integrated speakers (if using a laptop).

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[Sja777]

Already tried that, and the problem persist, even without headphones . I even tried on another account and it works fine there, but the problem remains on my account and still don't know why .

[Yordan]

Hey @Sja777,

Thanks for the update.

In that case you can try deleting the prefs file, found in the Spotify folder, which holds info about the accounts you've logged in to on the PC. Note that you'll have to readjust your settings in the app as they'll be reset to default. Here's how:

1. Fully close the Spotify app (make sure it's not running in the Task Manager) and go to C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Spotify\.
2. There you'll find a file called prefs, which holds info about the currently logged in account. Simply delete it.
3. While in the Spotify folder, you'll also find a folder Users. Open it and delete its contents as well.
4. Restart the Spotify app.

Let us know how it goes.

Cheers!

[Sja777]

I will try it, but i have another question regarding to that ¿does deleting the file prefs and the folder: user, will affect my account. For example: my saved songs and other things?

[OscarDC]

Hey @Sja777,

Thank you for keeping in contact.

Deleting the Prefs will just erase the stored preferred setting of the accounts that have logged in to that device.

Rest assured your saved songs, playlists, people you follow and followers will remain intact after the process, no need to worry about it.

If you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to ask. 

[HorseOnVenus]

I don't have Spotify in my AppData folder 😞 

[OscarDC]

Hey @HorseOnVenus,

Thank you for keeping in contact.

In that case, we need to investigate this issue further. Would you mind trying installing the Microsoft Store version of the Spotify app to see if it makes any difference? Since that version is specialized in Desktop, it could fix some common issues.

If the issue persists, check the Audio quality selected in your app and try with a different WiFi network or with a mobile data hotspot. This will help us to have a better look at the issue.

We'll be on the lookout. 

[Sja777]

Good evening, i tried deleting the file prefs, and the folder Users, and apparently the problem was fixed, because yesterday was working fine because i was using the audio quality on automatic and there were no problems, however today the problem appeared again after i switch between albums, and the only way i have find so far is to put the audio quality on very high, close the app and then open it again, but the problem remains if i let the settings on automatic, and before this problem appeared i didn´t need to change from automatic to very high, but now is the only way for the sound to work properly, so i don´t know what else to do .

[Novy]

Hi again @Sja777,

Thanks for coming back. 

In this case, could you tell us if there's any updates available for your sound card? If so, we suggest that you apply them and restart.

On another note, do you have any DJ apps/software for mixing, creating tunes or any third-party peripherals/audio device (e.g. DJ mixing controllers, USB headsets, digital-to-analog converters)? In case you have these, we suggest unplugging/close them for a while and tell us how it works.

Lastly, tell us if you installed the app from the website or the Microsoft store. 

We'll be looking for your reply.

[Sja777]

Good evening, i downloaded the app from the Microsoft Store, and i do not have any apps for mixing music, digital to-analog converters or something like that. Something that i did was to unplug my headphones since i only listen with them but nothing changed, the sound quality is the same (bad if i let it on automatic). So since my last reply i've been listening with the udio quality on very high. But if i change it back to automatic the problem will return again without any doubt .

[AndresM]

Hey @Sja777,

Thanks for your last reply. 

Just to confirm, are you having the same issue when setting the audio quality to "automatic" with a different account on your computer? 

Changing tunes, we suggest that you follow these steps: 

Open the Control panel and go to Hardware and Sound > Sound > click on your default speaker > Properties > Advanced. Once get there, change the default format to a new one (higher or lower) and click "Apply". 

Let us know if this helps.

[Sja777]

Good night, apparently the problem was fixed, because since like two days i decided to put the quality on automatic again, just to see if by chance the problem was fixed, and since then i have no problem. But now another one appear, here is a screenshot .

[Sja777]

[Sja777]

Those weird buttons on the right sight of the screen appeared suddenly since yesterday. Sometimes when i try to minimize the app those buttons pop up and doesn´t let me close or minimize the aplication, and just randomly disappear and reappear, so i don't know what is causing them to appear .

[ralfber]

I have the same problem, tries all recommended solution, nothing helps. Thinking about canceling subscription 😞