[All Platforms][Music] HiFi Quality - Lossless Streaming 16bit 44.1khz

[timiambeing]

I've just started a trial of Qobuz - they offer the standard 320kbps as well as lossless FLAC streaming (and high res downloads if you purchase them) the sound quality is noticeably better and on classical it's just wonderful to get all that resolution through your hi-fi or headphones! The catalogue has a way to go to get to Spotify's level, but they are getting there. The iPad app isn't' too bad (the desktop app is in need of an upgrade but I hear they are putting all their efforts into mobile apps right now).

So - lossless streaming - if Qobuz can do it then so can Spotify, they must have the same source - and obviously if you are asking £20 a month then those record labels and distributors take enough notice to make the high res tracks available for streaming. What this all means is soon, very soon, we will get lossless streaming and closely followed by high res downloads - but if Spotify aren't careful it will be Apple who get there first with an audiophile premium offering, and when they do it will be a much harder market place to make money in!

** please don't lump this suggestion with the main one on lossless downloads, that's a different idea entirely guys!

[timiambeing]

I've just started a trial of Qobuz - they offer the standard 320kbps as well as lossless FLAC streaming (and high res downloads if you purchase them) the sound quality is noticeably better and on classical it's just wonderful to get all that resolution through your hi-fi or headphones! The catalogue has a way to go to get to Spotify's level, but they are getting there. The iPad app isn't' too bad (the desktop app is in need of an upgrade but I hear they are putting all their efforts into mobile apps right now).

[timiambeing]

So - lossless streaming - if Qobuz can do it then so can Spotify, they must have the same source - and obviously if you are asking £20 a month then those record labels and distributors take enough notice to make the high res tracks available for streaming. What this all means is soon, very soon, we will get lossless streaming and closely followed by high res downloads - but if Spotify aren't careful it will be Apple who get there first with an audiophile premium offering, and when they do it will be a much harder market place to make money in!

[LawLee]

Hey all,

Vote with your pocketbook. Staying on with the service and paying is not going to move them to implement Hifi. It's clear that they have no loyalty to their customers, or to the music contributors, or even to their own promises. If you keep paying them for non delivery you're enabling it, You're part of the problem.

So I stopped paying for their service. If and only if they deliver that they promised will I give them another dime of long term subscription dollars...

We need to stop being the Charlie Brown to their Lucy...

[mrhank3y]

@habu77

i hear you. You’re right, the % actually wanting hifi is low. Not as low as you say because it’s 0.013% based on your likes vs subscribers equation. But let’s assume for every 1 like there’s 100 customers who would leave or come back. Still only 1%. 

HOWEVER, it’s a reason not to be on Spotify nonetheless. Plus, trends matter more… 

Spotify has claimed a user base in excess of half-a-billion users, with 210 million premium subscribers and 317 million on the ad-supported plan. However, it represents a ratio of 40% paid-to-free listeners, a ratio that seems to be in free-fall. 

Im on the free plan, initially due to the lack of hifi. But I can’t see ever going back to premium now as others up their game and I have come to realise that the Spotify algorithms were driving me to music they wanted me to listen to. Once I got to grips with other methods of music discovery (there are many great options out there) I realised that the streaming services discovery options were all pretty bad. 

[Qbovv]

Too late. I'm very happy with TIDAL HIFI now. I bought an Ieast Oliostream for 100€ and the quality is at least as good as an mid range CD player. See you never again!

[bart1981]

Hi Spotify. Question for you.

WHERE IS HIFI?????!!!?!!??!?

[stevec5375]

I just signed up for Amazon Unlimited and got the reduced rate for being a Prime member.  I'm paying $89 per year for Amazon Music Unlimited which has hi res music available.  I'm paying Spotify  $120 per year for lower quality music.  What's wrong with this picture?  I'm going to give Spotify another month or two to FINALLY RELEASE their lossless offering and then I'm cancelling my subscription with them.  This has gone on long enough!

[Kokii]

🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> HIFI <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> When ? <<<<<<<<<<<<
🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐

[lawrie124]

To everyone on this chat, I appreciate your frustrations and I feel them too but Spotify Hifi has been anticipated for approaching possibly a decade now, so don't waste your time waiting endlessly for something that doesn't seem likely to ever happen.

Check out this great little High-Resolution Music Streamer for just £149 now available on Amazon which I got, then get yourself a Qobuz, Tidal, or similar lossless music service and don't look back anymore.

Link to HR Music Streamer below:

Overview - WiiM Pro - WiiM (wiimhome.com)<>

For those of us who value / want 'High Resolution' music streaming it's best to imagine that Spotify no longer exists, and the best and only real protest you can make is by not subscribing or using their service at all.

[LawLee]

lawrie124

What streamer are you talking about Wiim Pro? I agree with you. I've been with Qobuz since December 2021, when they failed to deliver. Haven't looked back.

On top of their Music centered interface. Check out the vibe at their dedicated forum space Qobuz Club.

Home | Qobuz Club

[user-removed]

😂Thank you Spotify it has been a pleasure but you have been taking my money for so long and not delivering what's most important that enough is enough.  I don't mind you driving around in fancy cars and living the high life off my money, but I expect that if I'm going to bottom (it's pride month) I expect lube.  I'm not waiting any longer.  I had apple music and was using it but hoping you would come out with Hi-Fi and as usual, you still driving around, eating the best foods, and doing me without lube.  And now that AM is finally getting crossfade (which was my holdout for embracing AM), it's a damn wrap for you Spotify.  now I know my $9.99 don't matter, you will still live the high life, eat right, drive around in fancy cars but you won't be getting this a$$ any more.  Now maybe one day, you will come out with it and you can get the a$$ again, but I quit NOW.  In this day and age raw hurts.  DUECES!

[LawLee]

The author said:

"...The question I posed in the title and at the beginning of the video is whether or not you guys should jump ship and explore other offerings or stay the course in hopes that Spotify will someday get its affairs in order. Spotify has been hinting at a high-end service since 2017, only to have publicly announced it last year, promising a 2021 release.

I don't do business with liars. I am personally taking my money elsewhere. I can easily listen to my favorite podcast via pretty much any other streaming service and enjoy my music at a much higher quality via Qobuz, the French based streaming service I chose to jump ship to. The boosting quality is absolutely staggering. It has more dynamic range and clarity. Spotify is just dated and has a substandard Ogg format. MP3 quality is dead, and honestly for me, so Spotify.

I encourage all of you to find the right service for you that has a functional user interface, excellent quality sound and a reasonable price. I can't stand behind a service that doesn't respect the artists, dangles a carrot it in front of their subscribers, and can't keep up with the quality offered by everyone else..."