[PS4] poor audio quality

[PJ_humbug]

I'm trialling Spotify premium but I'm finding the audio quality on the ps4 app has a very tinny muffled sound. I have a fibre connection and other apps like YouTube \iPlayer\Amazon which also have video have significantly better audio. I'm not expecting CD quality but it is now where neat what I think is worth paying for.

Is this something that will be improved?

[PJ_humbug]

Hi spotify-user,

I`m a high-end-freak and will try to answer a few questions. I use Accuphase equipment with large B&W speakers and an special Digital/Analog converter from Accuphase.

The best way to enjoy music with ps4:

1. HDMI is no good way to hear music with ps4 - the best way is to connect your audio devices with an optical cable (please use good quality)

2. the best audio setting for ps4 and spotify is PCM and optical out (this has no effect and changes on your HDMI connect !!!) on the audio output settings. Either your amp has an "good" internal D/A-converter or you use an external one.

3. the ps4 is in the same home network like your phone - so use the spotify-phone/tab-app to navigate through your own music, playlists/albums etc. (some user crab about the ps4 navigation)

In this case the sound is almost like a CD. Not only pop-music, also jazz and classic sounds very well. No equalizer necessary. As well i play my games with this setting and is`s a awesome sound.

[SHADEYMAN-GB]

Music Unlimited and Spotify both sound good on my Marantz setup, regardless of what the PS4 was actually outputing(stereo or surround).

After contacting Spotify and a few internet searches I used THIS and set things up properly. I've had no quality issues since, although, unlike most here, my audio is stereo(2 channel) not surround(5.1 channel etc) and I use optical not HDMI.

[616jsb75]

Listening in 2 channel, spotify on the ps4 vs airplay to my receiver is a
night and day difference

[SHADEYMAN-GB]

I don't use Airplay because it downsamples everything to 16-bit/44,1kHz, which for most people is great but I like to play HD Audio 24-bit/192kHz. I agree, there is a difference, not night and day, could be hardware related.

[Fpb3rd]

I use PCM HDMI and use my pioneer elites EXT stereo to activate the LFE and rest of the speakers as well.
Annoying to have tp switch from autothe EXT but worth the added bass.
Also make sure to adjust your blueray settings so when you set your recievers on auto it will use the appropriate setting, DTS MasterHD, Dolby Plus to name a few

[Atomicric]

I really hope someone actually reads this and fixes this issue. I want to be able to play music while playing a game and don't want to have to choose between music and game sound quality. This should have been addressed in testing let alone after being out in the wild for as long as it has. Very disappointing.

[sleazybot]

Issue's still there...

[Atomicric]

I ended up cancelling Spotify because of issues such as this. Not worth all that money for junk service.

[Atomicric]

I ended up cancelling Spotify because of issues such as this. Not worth all that money for junk service.

[Hayche]

I have had this no bass problem for a long time. Finally figured it out. Basically DO NOT use the optical out on the PS4, instead use the optical out on the TV and let the digital signal of the PS4 pass down the HDMI. Output on PS4 set to optical and PCM audio sent straight to a stereo audio lab dac. Sounds great

[Mjmdarkness]

I have found this to be a issue with setup and not a Spotify issue. My system had a setting called AVC (Auto Volume Control) (my sound system) with that enabled the audio qaulity was poor only while playing Spotify from the PS4, streaming it from my Android box connected to the same setup was fine. It seems like that setting and the PS4 balancing were fighting with each other when playing music, I had the same issues streaming music from USB so I knew this was not Spotify specific. Definitely something to check on your side.

[butaca]

Low bitrate artifacts are audible independently of the setup. It's something easy to spot if you ears are somewhat trained. This is definitely an issue in the PS4.

[Atomicric]

It's Spotify.

[butaca]

But Spotify with the best quality is fine. It's not that bad. But the "normal" quality is the horror, the horror!

[Atomicric]

This issue has nothing to do with the compression that is selected and everything to do with how the app handles the audio output to the PS4.

[butaca]

I know. You can't even select the quality in the PS4 app (at least the last time I checked). My answer was in response to your "it's Spotify" message. I thought you were trying to say with that that Spotify has bad quality anyway. In other platforms, the difference between normal and best quality is enormous. Being the best the only one acceptable. I don't know the actual issue on the PS4 but you can clearly hear low bitrate compression artifacts. That's all.

[Payne_]

it sounds bad in general but i put DTS on and it's slightly better. i have Turtle Beach stealth 400s if that puts that in perspective

[Rockman85]

Hello, just wanted to add to the list of people who have noticed an issue. I used to stream from my PC to a high end DAC and Speakers setup. With premium the sound was acceptable, didnt notice TOO much of a difference from Tidal lossless. Rearranged my setup and now I run a ps4 to the same DAC and speakers, and I just cant get with it. I am constantly noticing how just... flat my music sounds coming out of the ps4. Its a constant disappointment. Are all these people imagining this spotify? Is this a collective hallucination or is there actually an issue, acknowledgment of the problem would be at the bare minimum an good faith gesture to the community.

[IH4N]

Tried Spotify (Premium) on the PS4 last night for the first time - I wanted to play Overwatch with music overlaid ("Overlisten", if you will... ), so I could hear the sound effects.

Wow. Look, I'm not expecting sound comparable to vinyl on my HD650s, but I am expecting something at least comparable to Spotify on mobile. Alas, the sound was just as others have described. Atrocious. I tried a few different setups, including running my Sennheiser Momentums into the DualShock headphone out. Hahahahaha "music"

Laughable. This is why I usually use Apple Music - it doesn't promise any of these features (see also the spotty last.fm scrobbling from Spotify), and delivers as is. 

[user-removed]

For some reason Spotify still refuses to acknoledge this problem. This is clearly an issue on Spotify's side because you can clearly hear artifacts in songs that are streamed through the spotify app. I even decided to hook up my studio monitors (KRK Rokits) to my PS4 and music just sounds awful compared to all other apps that allow you to stream music. What is taking so long for them to simply fix the audio quality through the PS4 app?

[Rafa_84]

Returned to spotify after a long time and what a surprise, spotify sounds terrible on the PS4. I don't know if that's related or not but when using spotify on the ps4 my subwoofer doesn't work at all.