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My only complaint about Spotify is they don't have offer a lossless quality stream. I have a $10k speaker / amp set up that kicks ass, but I can't play tracks f

My only complaint about Spotify is they don't have offer a lossless quality stream. I have a $10k speaker / amp set up that kicks ass, but I can't play tracks from Spotify.

corytheboyd 4y ago
Yeah that's really what pushed me enough to switch as well. Not a $10k setup but it gets closer every day haha... Tidal exists but didn't have much of a catalog last I tried it. Apple Music will totally work fine once the desktop app is replaced, so I guess we just wait.
- likeabbas 4y ago
  I bought my equipment from a music store that was shutting down, so I got my $10k equipment for $4800! I currently use Amazon Music for my high quality streaming but the app is horrible.
  - corytheboyd 4y ago
    Damn that is the deal of a lifetime! I gotta look out more for deals like that
    - likeabbas 4y ago
      It really was the deal of a life time. Owner was retiring. They were only open for a few hours on Saturdays the last few months of operations. The closer you could hold out to buy, the better deal you got. I even talked them down a grand! I hope you get a chance one day
leonidasv 4y ago
I have a Chi-fi $160 setup and Spotify is noticeably worse. Almost no sound stage, noise floor on old recordings is absurd. "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac and "Listen to the Music" by The Doobie Brothers are two of the most noticeably songs for me. Hi-Fi setups are getting cheaper and cheaper thanks to China, I think most of the "audiophile" thing will soon be mainstream (for example, I've always mocked audiophiles online and now here I am; I always discover some friend that has bought VX earphones; I made my girlfriend listen to some songs on my setup, and now she's considering buying some entry-level equipment too - and she was the kind of person that just used any $5~10 earphones -, etc). Spotify is probably missing a big opportunity here.
- archagon 4y ago
  I urge you to ABX it. Spotify's highest bitrate (320kbit/s) is perceptually lossless. Probably the high bitrate as well, since they seem to use Ogg Vorbis.
  - elektronaut 4y ago
    It’s the source material, not the codec. Some albums sound vastly better on say Apple Music, regardless of lossless or lossy encoding. It’s almost like Spotify have older, inferior masters that they’ve never updated. You’re right that it’s not the technology. I’ve released a few albums, and they sound virtually indistinguishable across various services since they’re from the same master files.
  - leonidasv 4y ago
    I've done some, really there are subtle differences in a file from the same mix in a lossless vs lossy, but sure, you can't notice it if you're not really paying close attention. But Spotify problem is not the use of lossy 320kpbs compression, they're probably not using good source material or just upscaling 128/192 to 320. Their quality is worse than a pure lossless stream properly compressed to 320.
longitudinal93 4y ago
Yes that's what led me to switch to Deezer which has a large lossless library. Unfortunately while their recommendation engine beats Spotify's (at least for me) their app leaves something to be desired. Being able to use the app to control the desktop is one of Spotify's niceties that Deezer has yet to match.
RockRobotRock 4y ago
I'd bet money you couldn't tell the difference in a blind test

My only complaint about Spotify is they don't have offer a lossless quality stream. I have a $10k speaker / amp set up that kicks ass, but I can't play tracks from Spotify.

corytheboyd 4y ago

Yeah that's really what pushed me enough to switch as well. Not a $10k setup but it gets closer every day haha... Tidal exists but didn't have much of a catalog last I tried it. Apple Music will totally work fine once the desktop app is replaced, so I guess we just wait.

likeabbas 4y ago
I bought my equipment from a music store that was shutting down, so I got my $10k equipment for $4800! I currently use Amazon Music for my high quality streaming but the app is horrible.
- corytheboyd 4y ago
  Damn that is the deal of a lifetime! I gotta look out more for deals like that
  - likeabbas 4y ago
    It really was the deal of a life time. Owner was retiring. They were only open for a few hours on Saturdays the last few months of operations. The closer you could hold out to buy, the better deal you got. I even talked them down a grand! I hope you get a chance one day

leonidasv 4y ago

I have a Chi-fi $160 setup and Spotify is noticeably worse. Almost no sound stage, noise floor on old recordings is absurd. "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac and "Listen to the Music" by The Doobie Brothers are two of the most noticeably songs for me. Hi-Fi setups are getting cheaper and cheaper thanks to China, I think most of the "audiophile" thing will soon be mainstream (for example, I've always mocked audiophiles online and now here I am; I always discover some friend that has bought VX earphones; I made my girlfriend listen to some songs on my setup, and now she's considering buying some entry-level equipment too - and she was the kind of person that just used any $5~10 earphones -, etc). Spotify is probably missing a big opportunity here.

archagon 4y ago
I urge you to ABX it. Spotify's highest bitrate (320kbit/s) is perceptually lossless. Probably the high bitrate as well, since they seem to use Ogg Vorbis.
- elektronaut 4y ago
  It’s the source material, not the codec. Some albums sound vastly better on say Apple Music, regardless of lossless or lossy encoding. It’s almost like Spotify have older, inferior masters that they’ve never updated. You’re right that it’s not the technology. I’ve released a few albums, and they sound virtually indistinguishable across various services since they’re from the same master files.
- leonidasv 4y ago
  I've done some, really there are subtle differences in a file from the same mix in a lossless vs lossy, but sure, you can't notice it if you're not really paying close attention. But Spotify problem is not the use of lossy 320kpbs compression, they're probably not using good source material or just upscaling 128/192 to 320. Their quality is worse than a pure lossless stream properly compressed to 320.

longitudinal93 4y ago

Yes that's what led me to switch to Deezer which has a large lossless library. Unfortunately while their recommendation engine beats Spotify's (at least for me) their app leaves something to be desired. Being able to use the app to control the desktop is one of Spotify's niceties that Deezer has yet to match.

RockRobotRock 4y ago

I'd bet money you couldn't tell the difference in a blind test