Sound is horrible on Roku for Premium Users

[ChuckHeston]

For the past several months I've avoided listening to Spotify on the Roku because the sound is so horrible. It sounds ultra compressed, definitely not the 320 kbps that is promised for premium users. I would say it's even below the 96 kbps that is for mobile users.

Unfortunately you can't select a bitrate on the Spotify Roku "Channel" like you can with other paid subscription services. So, there's no way for me to make adjustments myself.

https://support.spotify.com/us/using_spotify/search_play/what-bitrate-does-spotify-use-for-streaming...

I know that this has been a problem, but there doesn't seem to be a recent post, so I've posted one up.

BTW, it's that way for both my Roku Ultra (current version) and Roku 3 (2nd gen I believe). We are Premium subscribers. My streaming connection is fine, I can stream HD video via the usual apps (NetFlix, Hulu, SlingTv, Amazon Prime). I'm having to resort to Pandora for music.

[htfancub]

I am having this same problem and with no other app than Spotify.  I would describe the sound as playing in a garbage can.  Please fix the audio issue and just update the app in general on Roku!!!

[Beartunes]

Force your Roku to look for updates.  Just YESTERDAY I discovered 7.6 is out and it improved that out-of-phase tinny sound that the premiere/premiere+/ultra devices were having with spotify. 

[Beartunes]

Force your Roku to look for updates, OS 7.6 was just released a few days ago and fixed the sound problem for me (ultra).  Premiere+ did it too so i upgraded my device and it too did it!  It doesnt sound as good now that it's fixed as my roku 3 did, but at least it's not tinny and out of phase anymore.

[ChuckHeston]

FYI, for anyone who hasn't checked the new Spotify Roku app, they finally did it right! It's well done and the experience is pretty seamless. And the sound quality is good (better than what I saw, still haven't checked to see if it's subscription quality)

[Adrian781]

Not sure what happened in the meantime since the last comment here, but ever since I got my Roku Express (only model that makes price:feature sense in the EU since many subscription services don't support 4k, etc in the EU yet). Whatever update they did if any since the last post on this matter they managed to make the sound HORRIBLE... again... I have updated it to the latest 9.3.0, have a good audio setup, solid internet connection, the sound is simply painful. Distortion with almost any sound coming out (instrument and voice), cracking, clipping, etc. I already troubleshooted with different Roku sound settings, TV settings, Receiver settings. Spotify apps in BOTH Roku and Chromecast keeps grinding my ears.
I just tested 8 songs of different genres in Roku and Chromecast, Spotify vs Youtube. Results: Youtube apps work flawlessly in BOTH devices with the exact same songs and audio/device settings, yet Spotify distorts all the way.
I hope Spotify can fix their apps' issues because I am about to cancel my subscription due to this up and mostly down quality issue. People pay for a quality music experience monthly, but so far for 6 months in a row it's not worth it.. Especially if a FREE service like Youtube is proving much better across devices. FYI Playlists are also possible to do in Youtube so I don't see any advantage of Spotify over Youtube for now in streaming. Too bad, I love the Idea of Spotify but its not proving worth the money..

[madeboda]

The issue we have is, despite getting full 5.1 channel sound for movies on apps like HBO Max, Disney etc., channels like Spotify and YouTube only play out of the front two channels. No change to the audio receiver will fix this--basically we get no bass nor center channel audio, even when we can usually force this by selecting "multi-stereo" on the receiver for other 2.0 audio. Receiver is connected via Optical Audio out of TCL Roku TV. Advice?

[Beartunes]

I'm not tech support for spotify. But. Those services aren't 5.1

Google Chromecast Audio (a now defunct product) had optical OUTS on it so
you could digital out and let your amplifiers built in DAC handle the
decoding and it sounded great. Word was,a future google nest mini was
gonna have TOslink out on it but its yet to happen.

Check places like Sweetwater Sound or Crutchfield for a hardware solution
is my suggestion.

[Steveindanville]

I use this audio extractor from Amazon.  It takes my Roku Ultra feed directly in, then splits out the audio and upgrades the HDCP protocol and goes into my Audio In via HDMI.  This way my old receiver can now output Dolby Digital+.  The video out then goes to my flat screen via HDMI at full resolution (4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision, whatever).  It ALWAYS works, and has saved me from having to get a new receiver with the latest HDCP and HDMI specs. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0755TB82Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1