[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!

[Nilxm]

I switched to Wync Music, because it allows me to stream at Hifi Dolby quality.

 

[mctesterson]

@Nilxm based on that screenshot you shared, Wync Music appears to be providing "lossy" streaming (comparable in quality to Spotify's lossy music streaming, albeit Wync Music appears to offer Dolby surround).

Based on my interpretation of that screenshot - unless I'm misunderstanding the capabilities of Wync Music - it is not lossless and therefore does not meet the criteria of this thread you've posted in - all of us here have been wishing for 10+ years for Spotify to stop giving us low-quality lossy music.  Dolby Atmos is just lossy music in more than 2 channels, sadly.

[mctesterson]

@lucaugusto I have some similar strategies (like the ones you described you use with Tidal) that I use with Qobuz (including the , which for me alleviates any appeal or need for "recommendations" to be pushed to me via algorithms.

Here are some of the ways (just the ones I'm aware of) that Qobuz offers for exploring and discovering new music:

1. Via most Artist pages (for all but the most obscure artists):

a. "Similar artists" (a list of links to other artists' pages that are similar / related in some way to the artist you're viewing)

b. "Panoramas," "Editor's Picks," etc. (links to Qobuz magazine articles written by their staff)

2. "Discover" tab in Qobuz apps

a. Explore by Genre

b. "New releases" (can filter by Genre, listed in order by most recent new releases in each genre, or across all genres)

c. "My Weekly Q" ("Every Friday, a selection of discoveries curated especially for you" -- it's a playlist typically a couple of hours long that you can listen to like a radio show and make note of or favorite the tracks that catch your attention to explore further)

d. "The Qobuz playlists" (dozens, even hundreds, of playlists under tabs such as "Hi-Res," "New Releases," "Focus," "Moods," "Artists," "Label Stories," etc.

e. "Qobuz Ideal Discography" (deeper dives into key artists)

f. "Qobuzissime" (thematically curated playlists that can put into context a sub-genre overview, an overlooked artist, a notable album, a geographic or city music scene, etc.)

3. "Magazine" tab (articles, interviews, reviews, etc.)

4. Qobuz Club - a whole separate website / app that is a discussion forums for Qobuz listeners to share and discuss with each other all kinds of topics.

5. "Credits" of any album or song I'm listening to (I copy the name and use it search within Qobuz to explore what else the Producers, Mixers, Engineers, and Musicians have worked on)

6. "See the label" of any album or song I'm listening to (then I'm shown a list of all releases by the same label, to go sample and explore)

And that's just what the Qobuz ecosystem has to offer. 

There are so many ways to discover music outside of app algorithms!  Just over the last weekend, I was introduced to at least 10 "new to me" artists and their body of work via: listening to music-related podcast interviews, talking to family and friends about music, getting curious about the music-related t-shirts my niece was wearing, hearing cool music inside quirky stores and using Shazam app to tell me who I'm listening to, being charmed by the soundtrack of a movie we watched in a theater, etc.

No music fan should be trapped by an algorithm feature into listening to poor sound quality music!

[tts42572]

Agree that there are other ways to discover music than with an app.

Frankly, I don't think I've ever discovered anything new with Spotify or any other app.  All of my discovery comes from social media or other music sites I follow.  I mean, there's all kinds of music fan groups on FB or various music forums out there.  Just find some stuff out there that matches your main musical tastes and check in once in awhile for updates.

All I want from my musical services is to have what I want to listen to, provide a good interface and good quality to listen.

Spotify only has 2 of those things at the moment.....They have the songs and interface.....But not the quality.

I've been using Tidal the past 6 weeks and have to say I'm loving it.  For me, they have exactly what I want and have all 3 of the above.  Their interface isn't as strong as Spotify but it's still okay.  The quality difference is really where it's at though. 

My tidal trial period ends in 2 more weeks and I plan to keep it at least for a little while.  I'm not sure what I'm doing with Spotify as my kids do use it as they don't care much about quality.  I'm not sure if I'll switch them to Tidal right away or not.  I may let it go for a couple months and see if Spotify gets their act together.  I don't want to keep paying for 2 services for very long though.

I guess we'll see what happens over the next month or two.  It really just blows my mind that other services have figured this quality stuff out but the supposed market leader in Spotify can't.  I suspect that's why people here are so frustrated.  They want to stay with spotify because that's what they've used for years but are almost being forced to look elsewhere when you can get a better quality listening experience for cheaper from other services.  

[stadi1]

@tts42572: I don't agree. I've also switched over to Tidal (also tried Qobuz) but have also kept Spotify, because my children are using it, and Tidal's offline / Android Auto implementation is horrible, I have to use locally saved music or Spotify for that.

But regarding discovering new music: I haven't discovered anything on Tidal yet, it still shows me rap music playlist after a long time of using it, and I despise rap music. While when using Spotify I have discovered a lot of new artist, without intending to do this. Their algorithms, and I don't mean the ones filling the home screen, but the ones managing autoplaying similar music work very well, at least for me. I would never want to look at forums or communities to look for music, I need that in my music app.

[SoundError90]

Tidal is a frank parasha according to the recommendations , he moved all the music there , and he let me spin 10 albums around , which I have already heard a thousand times . It 's the same in mixes , everything is the same and does not match the taste practically .

[iamstojak]

All other streaming services support HiFi audio. It's time for bringing high quality lossless audio in Spotify!

[tts42572]

@stadi1 You're probably correct.  I don't use Android Auto so can't comment on that.  I'm sure though that Spotify probably does have better integration with stuff like Android Auto, Car Play Etc.  I really don't care about that though.  I still just use bluetooth in the car and stream over Wifi at home.

As for recommendations, I don't care about that either.  I know what I want to listen to either by album or by playlists I create.  I can honestly say that in about 8 years of using spotify, I've never once discovered something new while using spotify.  I do listen to a lot of new music and bands but I discover it all in other places like facebook groups, online music forums, etc.  

That said, I'm sure Spotify probably does have better recommendations than Tidal if you're looking for that sort of thing.  That's just never been something I'm looking for so don't notice that feature in tidal.

I get it though.....That's why people in this thread have been so frustrated with Spotify not integrating HIFI.  They basically do everything better than the other services except the quality of the actual music.

[ljosb0xet0ebanix5wza]

Perfectly put @tts42572 !

Though I would say, now I have Roon with Tidal, that works as well as Spotify (aside from the recommendations) - it's just more expensive than I hoped ! 

[Fabiieno]

Hello everyone, does anyone have any ideas to improve the sound quality of Spotify to match competitors like Deezer?

Don't you want to listen to music in HQ or Hi-Fi? Add artificial intelligence (AI).

A spotify browser that is easier to manage your music when connected to your car via Bluetooth