Spotify on Apple TV: terrible audio quality

[juliush]

I get really poor, fuzzy sound quality when I play music using the new Spotify app for Apple TV. I have a good broadband connection and it's not a problem if I use another device and airplay the same music to the Apple TV.

Is there a setting I've missed that I can use to force audio quality to be high?

Device

Apple TV 4

Operating System

tvOS 13.0

Plan

Premium

[Ver]

Hey @mremusic,

Thanks for keeping us posted:)

It's a good idea to check if there are any updates for the TV and for the app. Are there any changes?

Keep us in the loop. 

[bcjohnson44]

No change whatsoever.  Sound quality is still extremely sub-par and the lack of additional settings is extremely frustrating.  Why can't I change the crossfade settings on Apple TV either?  This is a major thing I enjoy about spotify on my phone, but when I'm at the office, I can use spotify on the TV to free up everything else and when none of the "additional" settings are available on the Apple TV app, it renders the app completely useless.  I had high hopes that since Spotify is typically the best, they would listen to their community of Apple users and implement a change, but as I've read, this post has been active since 2019 with no changes.

[Eni]

Hi there @bcjohnson44, 

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community.

Regarding the audio quality, could you let us know which troubleshooting steps you've already tried? That way we can avoid any repeating steps.

On another note, currently, the Crossfade feature is only available in the desktop and mobile apps. For more info, check this article.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us and will make sure to pass it onto the right team, as we always strive to improve your experience.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

[Kayashi]

Hi Eni,

Thanks for replying. I've tried pretty much every troubleshooting suggestion in all the forums and Reddit threads that address this issue, but with no improvement to the Spotify audio quality.

On Apple TV

• Checked updates for Apple TV and Spotify app
• Restarted Apple TV several times
• Reinstalled Spotify app a couple of times
• Checked TV audio settings
• Tested other streaming apps, all of which had perfect audio quality

I also had this same issue on my 2nd Gen Amazon Firestick and performed the same troubleshooting steps with no change. 

I also checked to see if the aux cable connecting my TV to my stereo was the issue. I connected it directly to my phone and played audio from the iOS Spotify app, and the audio came through perfectly clear. All these tests, along with everything I've read on forums, leads me to believe that it's an inherent issue with the audio settings in the Spotify app on TV streaming devices. 

Thanks for looking into this, and let me know if you have any other questions! Really hope the engineers can finally fix this several-years-old issue.

[MafeG]

Hi @Kayashi,

Thank you for your reply. 

To everybody experiencing this issue, in order to keep investigating this on our side please share with us the model of your Apple TV, as well as the Firmware version. 

Also, let us know if you notice any change with the sound quality if you play the music directly from the TV's app or if you stream it from another device using the Connect feature.

Keep us posted.

[Kayashi]

Hi @MafeG

I have the latest Apple TV 4K device, running tvOS 15.1.1.

I just tested the sound quality for the scenario you mentioned. When I play a song on the Spotify app on the Apple TV, the audio quality is very garbled, distorted, like it's trying to blow out the speaker. But when I play the exact same song on the Apple TV using Spotify over AirPlay, the audio quality completely fine, no distortion whatsoever. Hope that helps!

Thanks for checking in!

[CarlosE]

Hey @Kayashi,

Thanks for your reply and that info.

We've made sure to pass it on to the right teams so they can further look into this. We'll keep you posted with any news as soon as there are any.

Cheers! 

[CarlosE]

Hey folks,

Just wanted to let you know that the right teams are aware of this and currently working on it. We can't set a timeframe for a fix just yet, but we'll keep you posted about any updates on the matter.

Thanks again for sharing all the necessary info.

Cheers!

[Eni]

Hey there @mremusic, @Kayashi, @bcjohnson44!

Thanks for all the info you've sent so far. 

Could you please provide us with the following info? This will help us investigate further.

• What kind of devices have you been experiencing this issue with?  (e.g. TV, Apple TV, receiver box, speakers…)
• How are they connected to your speakers? (analog or digital audio)

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

[mremusic]

The Apple TV (4K) is directly connected over a HDMI cable (different cables have been tested) to the TV which has an analog audio out, which is connected to an amplifier. Like others wrote, streaming Spotify audio over AirPlay from an iOS device to the Apple TV does not suffer from the issue with the same setup, nor any other application.

[Kayashi]

Hi Eni,

I have experienced this issue when using the Spotify app on both the Apple TV 4K and an old 2nd gen Amazon Fire Stick. I have not tried the Spotify app on any other home media devices (i.e. a smart TV).

For my audio setup, my Apple TV (and formerly the Fire Stick) is connected to my TV via HDMI. I then have a digital optical audio cable out from my TV to an RCA converter, then to my stereo system.

I do not have this issue when I use my phone to play Spotify over Airplay to my Apple TV, only when I use the Spotify app natively on the Apple TV. I also don't have this issue when I play Spotify on my phone and connect it directly to the RCA input on my stereo.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[Mario]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for staying with us while we keep looking into this.

We heard back from the folks working on a solution and looks like a video capturing the distortion caused is what would help them progress. Would you mind taking and sharing one, if you have a chance?

Cheers!

[Novy]

Hey folks,

If you're still having issues on your Apple TV, make sure to send us the video that @Mario requested above so that the right folks can continue investigating this behavior. If possible, play the same song in the Spotify app and YouTube or another platform for comparison.

It would also be helpful to have more info on the set up that you're currently using, in case you haven't provided this already.

We'll be on the lookout.

[jmuffitt]

https://streamable.com/nj5uj3

Here’s an example of Spotify vs an average TV show. YouTube is very similar but Apple Music does not sound this loud at all. I don’t pay for it and can’t record that.

[jmuffitt]

@Novy @Mario

Attached video above.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @jmuffitt,

Thank you for your reply and for making a video.

Do you think it's possible that you upload the video for an example on YouTube as we're having a hard time opening the link?

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Take care!

[jmuffitt]

Sure! Here it is

https://youtu.be/ErOgQHCSGRA

[KrisSpoty]

I am currently using Spotify premium

Latest app and latest Apple TV 4K with all updates. 
airplay to a excellent bowers and Wilkins speaker system from Apple TV is clearly of poorer quality than when streaming from my latest iPhone. 

Spotify needs to investigate this issue as a priority when advertising their premium plan is 2x quality of free the plan for those such as myself who would primarily use the Apple TV Spotify app with a premium subscription and not receiving the benefits of my paid subscription. 

[Kayashi]

@navy @mario Has anyone at Spotify tried to replicate these issues? Is this really not something that's been noticed by more people? Or maybe just an issue that's noticed only when you have better than average sound systems?

[sharmin]

So what is the solution from Spotify to the terrible audio quality through the Apple TV app? Surely they need to update the app and address this especially for those paying for premium accounts. This issue has been posted about repeatedly since back in 2019.