[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!

[walp]

What? Is it 2035 already??

Come on Spotify, we want it now!

[Samppa3]

@supergeek
I read that reddit talk and it seems the person who posted the original pics and video has indeed jailbroken iPhone.

[decooney]

“Stupidfy” - new name, they don’t get it and don’t want to.

[DanielHage]

Really excited about HiFi!!! Can't wait! Hopefully they can add it and Dolby Atmos soon!!!

[PaulMac]

@Danielhage

Good to hear you're excited for HiFi but if it’s important to you drop Spotify and sign up to a different service.
Spotify have absolutely no intention of implementing it in the near future, if ever.

[themonarc]

@supergeek the HiFi onboarding stuff has been buried in the Spotify apps since mid 2021. The reddit user in that post sideloaded Spotify (based on their post history) and probably enabled some hidden flag to trigger that code.

Worth reminding everyone, just for fun, that much of the HiFi groundwork/UI is sitting there hidden in the current app versions ready to go; Spotify is just sitting doing effectively nothing, delaying the server-side release because they're big mad that they got beat to market. 

Apple/Amazon/Tidal/Qobuz/Deezer are either a free upgrade or only charge little extra for HiFi, and Spotify probably wanted to charge double, so I suppose if they can't do that then they'll just be petty and sit on the feature. Much more fun for them to just change the entire UI every three weeks and make the presence of podcasts/audiobooks increasingly insufferable; who needs feature parity with the competition? (I mean, remember the lyrics rollout? Lol.)

So here we are, almost 2 years after they made a big splash with Billie Eilish to announce the feature. Coming by the end of 2021! Great job team!

[Blueshound24]

themonarc

Exactly right!

"they'll just be petty and sit on the feature"

"sitting doing effectively nothing"

"delaying the server-side release because they're big mad that they got beat to market"

I could see the founder and CEO Daniel Ek acting like a petulant child in this matter by sulking, having a tantrum and not fulfilling Spotify's promise of HiFi because they got beat to the punch!

[Happyaudio77]

Spotify is the WB  of DCEU, whoever is the execs on this are just dense. They don't know to cater to the customer base. 

[curt2k1]

Just want to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed Spotify up until Apple and Amazon took the leap to add HIFI and spatial audio options to their catalog. I've held onto Spotify on the promise that we'd have it by 2021, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on to this subscription.
I've spent a decent amount of money on audio gear throughout my house as I enjoy listening to music a lot, and have a Dolby Atmos room set up. I really wish we'd hear an update rather than there is no update. They must know this is an in demand feature. I know several people who have migrated away from Spotify that will happily return once they add in the Hifi and hopefully spatial audio experience.

[Dismiss]

It should be obvious by now that this is not enough. People who care about sound quality need to stop paying for them to take notice. And even then it’s not a sure thing, as their priorities lie elsewhere, I’m afraid.