[All Platforms][Other] Sony's 360 Reality Audio

[tommy536]

Hello Friends,

i am using Spotify Premium since years. At the Moment i am missing some features like HD Streaming or Sony's new 360 Reality Audio.

Especially Reality Audio is truly a real gain and even more useful than HD Streaming. The 3D sound is literally phenomenal good and also Sportify should gradually deal with newer technologies.

Is this topic already planned? If it does not come, please tell it so your users can make a decision.

[Reaperisonline]

Bought the XM4s as well, come on spotify, time to wake up 🙂

I guess it's time to try deezer for a change. 

[Paraponera2]

you are forcing us to change for deezer... come on do it..

[edwardn]

almost 2 years - no any progress

[Rithik07]

Add 360 reality audio it's really an awesome experience

[MarkDC]

Please add 360RA support like Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, and Nugs!

[MrSpacePenguin]

I cand blieve Im about to change to deezer FeelsBadMan

[diggumsmax]

I would be happy with just supporting LDAC, which I don't believe Spotify supports. Even using Spotify's "very high" setting, you're only streaming at about 320 Kbps. Compare that to the the 900kbps capability of LDAC and you are not getting that output. 

On the flip side, having tried Amazon's 360 audio, there is simply not of artists with 360 audio tracks. There is however quite a few that are labeled "Ultra HD" and "HD" they do sound better as it is LDAC at 24-bit/28KHz for ULTRA HD, and 16-bit/44.1KHz for HD. 360 Audio is doesn't show the rate in the Amazon App but when looking at Developer Tools it is showing LDAC as the Bluetooth Audio Codec, 32-bit/96.0KHz. For Bluetooth Audio LDAC Codec: Playback Quality set to Optimized for Audio Quality (990Kbps/909Kbps).

Just supporting LDAC at higher bitrates would be huge as the selection of actual 360 audio tracks is pretty abysmal, at least for the music I listen to. Just higher bitrate songs using the LDAC codec would be huge. Listening to Amazon for now as I got 4 free months with the Sony M4's. The same artist/songs are noticeably better on Amazon right now even if it's just "HD" audio.

[Ryrynz]

LDAC isn't a file format, it's a transfer format, even if you streamed a FLAC file chances are you wouldn't hear a difference. If you can't tell the difference on your computer speakers between 320kbps MP3 and FLAC (there are A/B tests available online to do this) then you won't be able to hear them on these headphones.

https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/how-well-can-you-hear-audio-quality

Should've looked into it before posting.

[Marge515]

Please update Spotify to include 360, I don’t want to go to Deezer and start all over again 😕

[diggumsmax]

You re right, and I was wrong. LDAC is not a codec and it is FLAC. Still doesn't change the fact that Spotify's bitrates are terrible when compared to other services and YES, I CAN tell a difference, it's extremely noticeable, even for what Amazon calls 'HD" and "ULTRA HD". Even if you pay for Spotify, the top bitrate is still only equivalent to approximately 320kbit/s while the free service is, at it's highest, is 160Kbps.

Amazon Music offers lossless audio in two quality ranges: HD and Ultra HD.

HD tracks are 16-bit audio, with a minimum sample rate of 44.1 kHz (16/44.1 is also referred to as CD-quality), and an average bitrate of 850 kbps. Ultra HD tracks have a bit depth of 24 bits, with sample rates ranging from 44.1 kHz up to 192 kHz, and an average bitrate of 3730 kbps, 10 times what you get for the paid version of Spotify, and YES, I can hear the difference on the new Sony's, it's night and day. I never knew Spotify had such low quality music. Yes, over 3Mbps bitrate with up to 192kHz does make a huge difference. Just like 360 audio, but that will never be a think because it has to be remastered and I already went through that with SACD and DVD Audio. It had to be remastered for 5.1 or 7.1 and the competing formats made it doomed before it even started. You do need a dedicated DAC to get the most out of Ultra HD but they top out what my Sony's can do while HD is just under what they can do. Have you even ever tried the M4's? Honestly, they are just as good as over the ear headphones (reviews back me up on this one)

Blind tests from link you posted are noticably better and I got every one right because I could tell the difference when listening on the Sony M4's but if you are trying to say that 360Kbps audio is on par with audio at 10 times the bitrate, YOU 

should  of done some research before posting. If there is no difference, why is Spotify launching a HiFi service? I mean, it's the same thing, right? Even though the Sony's can do 24-bit, 48mHz. I can tell the difference in Spotify just by turning on DSEE Extreme, which is just Sony upscaling low bitrate music but it does make a difference. 

Another good test is to download the DTS app from the MS Store, it's free for 15 days and works with any headphones but the Sony's truly do spatial sound better. It's freaky how accurate it is when you drag the icon around and above your head. This is typically the type of spatial sound you get with atmos, with a good surround setup but in wireless earbuds. 

https://newsroom.spotify.com/2021-02-22/five-things-to-know-about-spotify-hifi/

Which headphones/speakers support Amazon Music HD?

Headphones and speakers with a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz are recommended to best appreciate HD playback. Headphones certified with a Hi-Res Audio logo have an even higher frequency response (greater than 40 kHz), and are best for Ultra HD playback. Most wireless headphones compress audio during transmission and are unable to support HD and higher quality playback. Some wireless headphones and Android devices that use advanced Bluetooth with either the Qualcomm aptX/aptX HD or Sony LDAC wireless standards, can support HD/Ultra HD playback (up to 24-bit, 48kHz).