Spotify to offer lossless streaming service

[oldmonk]

Hej

another thought..

for many of us a Rs 200 per month updrage at the streaming source may be worth much more than a zillion rupee speaker cable...

an upgrade to the music streaming / stemming from the source saves the planet from folks experimenting with rhodium coated silver plated titanium garnished radium shining zombodium speaker cable !

)

 

[msagar]

https://www.reddit.com/r/truespotify/comments/1ntdhoo/lossless_not_actually_lossless

Cancelled Spotify Premium Platinum Subscription

I am a Spotify premium subscriber.
I cancelled premium platinum subscription for sound quality and streaming compatibility issues.

 

[suku_patel_22]

Apple again requires you to kinda have the larger ecosystem and as a stand alone is a bit pointless. Then there is Spotify connect. SO.....

- Apple Music - yes a lot of us have access to that - but then it is not Lossless unless you are using an iOS - so mobile devices only. So that point is kinda MOOT.

Yes, Apple requires you to be on their ecosystem. They use ALAC, which is supported by Apple devices only. At home, you need an Apple TV to play lossless, lossless hi-res and Atmos. One advantage they have over others is that they also offer Atmos.

Having said that, yes I agree, Spotify Connect is the game changer for me. This is what has kept me on Spotify.

 

[mbhangui]

Not to sound like a fan-boy - we should also keep in mind -

WHY DO YOU HAVE SPOTIFY - even though it didn't offer lossless till last week.

1 - Availability & ease of entry - It is easily available and accessible to all. The other easily available options are - youtube music, amazon music & apple music. All 3 offer some sort of lossless. But I wouldn't be caught dead using either YT or amazon music. Apple again requires you to kinda have the larger ecosystem and as a stand alone is a bit pointless. Then there is Spotify connect. SO.....

2 - Algorithm - I think most "audiophiles" are here for the "algorithm" ; but it is partially true. There is nothing in existence right now, not that I know of, that can do better than Spotify in this regard. It is getting a bit wonky, slowly, but it is still leaps and bounds ahead.

3 - Price - Look at what you pay for this. The only thing I believe that comes close to this is the Apple Music as you pay for it as a bundle - but then the cost of getting into the Apple eco system is very high. AND you need the apple eco-system for it to work best.

NOW TO THE MAIN POINT

4 - Getting LOSSLESS in India - Getting back to point 1 & THIS POINT IS RELEVANT FOR INDIA ONLY -
- Tidal and Qobuz, that we compare everything against is atleast 5X the price a month
- Tidal and Qobuz are impossible to get for 90% of the consumers of this Forum alone.
- YT music & Amazon Music - the less said the better.
- Apple Music - yes a lot of us have access to that - but then it is not Lossless unless you are using an iOS - so mobile devices only. So that point is kinda MOOT.

For those who can get Tidal and Qobuz going anyways aren't bothered by Spotify's quality.

Disclaimers -
1 - I have zero affiliation with this company.
2 - I have spotify, apple music, tidal & qobuz.
- I love Spotify - because it just works
- I listen to apple music - cause it is the easiest for me to get lossless everywhere - flights and travel and all that.
- I have little to no consumption of media on tidal and qobuz - I keep them only to get into analysis paralysis or to prove a point to myself cause no one else cares.

Exactly almost the same reason I use spotify more than AM. I have subscriptions for spotify, AM and YT Music. The reasons for using spotify are almost the same

1. Spotify doesn't require me to stream music limited to the device where I run the GUI. I can start spotify to play music on my main system on my mobile phone. Quit the GUI and again resume music from exactly the same min:sec I stopped the song. ALso move to another room and switch the music to play through another amp in the same room from exactly the min:sec at which I paused the song in my main room. I can even run the gui on another phone and I can see exactly the same playlist, same song and the same progress bar. Google also allows me to switch over to another amp in another room without loosing the play position and the song in the current playlist being streamed. This point is the main reason I can't move to AM. Morning I get up and move to my home-office which has the main amp. Around 11:30 I have m lunch and I pause the song and switch of everthing in the home-office room. After lunch I move to the bedroom for my siesta and start from exactly the same position to play music on my headphones. Absolutely no time wasted in again setting loading the playlist with the same songs and position.

2. The recommendations work for me better than AM. Lately I find google too catching up, but apple is far behind as far as my taste in music is concerned.

3. As far I'm concerned I will never go to Tidal. This is the same company that bamboozled users into believing that their lossy MQA algorithm is lossless.

4. You have to fiddle too much with your macbook, macbook pro and macmini to make lossless and bit-perfect work. The only non-fiddly approach is to use an IOS device like the iphone and Ipad to make lossless and bit-perfect work.

5. For me my existing spotify premium subscription (Rs 99/mo) is good enough. Spotify uses OGG vorbis and not mp3 as some folks are alluding. And mind you OGG Vorbis is the second most intelligent lossy encoder behind opus which is the more polished version of OGG Vorbis so Spotify is actually audibly transparent as is Apple Music. Changes in audibility across the two can be attributed to these:
Spotify normalises audio to -14LUFS, Apple Normalises to -16 LUFS, Qobuz normalizes to -18 LUFS. This changes when on Android because Apple Music doesn't normalise volume on Android so the volume level difference can make someone think AM service is better as psychoacoustically we perceive louder as better even if it's not so objectively. Since I don't use android, I'm not affected by this. Read
https://www.headphonesty.com/2025/10/audio-engineers-ignore-streaming-specs-mastering-louder/

 

[Amarendra]

I subscribed to platinum and started using Spotify connect on my Denon 3800. I immediately found the music to be fuller and better sounding than the lossy version. Then after 2 days while playing Spotify I got a notification in the app saying that I need to turn on “lossless” in settings……………

 

[morerajendra5678]

I subscribed to platinum and started using Spotify connect on my Denon 3800. I immediately found the music to be fuller and better sounding than the lossy version. Then after 2 days while playing Spotify I got a notification in the app saying that I need to turn on “lossless” in settings……………

There is a significant improvement with Spotify lossless. Those who are able to make out any difference may not be having a quality dac to show difference with Spotify Lossless. Higher the DAC one has in system, they will get better benefit with Lossless audio.

 

[Nagaraj S]

I signed up for Platinum lossless and streaming via Arcam AV41. I think there is an improvement in SQ. I let the bliss of confirmation take over the burden of critical evaluation.

I am keeping the lossless subscription.

 

[Amarendra]

There is a significant improvement with Spotify lossless. Those who are able to make out any difference may not be having a quality dac to show difference with Spotify Lossless. Higher the DAC one has in system, they will get better benefit with Lossless audio.

I tried with the Marantz Model M1 on KEF LS50 Meta with Dirac. The M1 doesnt have a DAC (so less complication in the chain). Again I had to use my imagination to perceive differences...But if I walk into a room and someone asks me if lossy is playing or lossless then again......................................

 

[morerajendra5678]

I tried with the Marantz Model M1 on KEF LS50 Meta with Dirac. The M1 doesnt have a DAC (so less complication in the chain). Again I had to use my imagination to perceive differences...But if I walk into a room and someone asks me if lossy is playing or lossless then again......................................

With anyone of my Denafrips Terminator 2, Holo Audio May, Laiv Harmony, Tube based AD1865 dacs running into Herberh 40.3 we have been able to identify whether Spotify Lossless was running. Also we have been able to identify whether Tidal or Qobuz is running.

 

[Amarendra]

With anyone of my Denafrips Terminator 2, Holo Audio May, Laiv Harmony, Tube based AD1865 dacs running into Herberh 40.3 we have been able to identify whether Spotify Lossless was running. Also we have been able to identify whether Tidal or Qobuz is running.

So it takes about 5-10 lakhs to spot the difference ?

 

[Analogous]

So it takes about 5-10 lakhs to spot the difference ?

It does take a good set up to notice the difference between compressed Mp 3 and lossless music - with good recordings.
A “good enough” set up as compared to a basic one is likely to cost more.
How much more to spend on “good enough” is a matter of choice, opinion and affordability according to each of us.
If a MP3 stream sounds good on the current set up, then many will stick with it.
For others the knowledge that they are consistently listening to lossless streams may be important.
The unpredictable inconsistency in the quality of available recordings makes it difficult to recommend “only lossless will satisfy” to everyone.
I am guessing very few of us spend much time comparing the same song/recording as MP3 and lossless streams as a regular practice.
There is plenty of space for all types of audio and music lovers in this world to coexist and explore.

 

[Analogous]

I found this article that tried to describe the context of formats, and streaming

Essential Guide to Streaming Hi-Res Audio for Audiophiles

Read Time: Approx. 20 min. How to Maximize Sound Quality on Popular Streaming Services Chances are most of your music collection these days is digital. You probably have vinyl, tapes and CD’s on your bookshelf at home, but you’re probably not packing them in your bag when you leave the house...

www.moon-audio.com

 

[Nikhil]

The amount of money spent may not be a good way to look at this.
A properly implemented digital setup is what is needed to appreciate the difference.

File format aside the original recording is far more important to good sound. At the end the files are just containers in which the digital signal is passed on to your digital to analog conversion chain. Starting with that what I have learned is that a system with a good clock on the DAC input makes the most noticeable difference. Mentioning this only because good digital is more than just having a good DAC.

But Spotify lossless is good. I've been listening to it for about a week now and it has a good balance. As mentioned before they are not playing the loudness gain game. Dynamic Range is also very good provided the recordings have the material. The quiet pauses between notes or phrases gives you a better appreciation of the instruments or vocals. I plan on continuing with the Platinum package. Together with all the benefits that Spotify offers I think it's a very fair price for a very decent product offering. Almost no other service offers the same value in India.


.

 

[morerajendra5678]

The USP of Spotify is very good regional content for India which is now in lossless. I am from Bihar and did during my engineering days from IIT Kharagpur I picked up some understanding of Bengali due to my batchmate and have a liking for Bengali songs from renowned singers like Hemanta Mukherjee.
Spotify has a great content for my local language and Bengali which I couldn't find in Apple Music. Now this content is available in lossless. There is a good difference in terms of SQ between the old content in Spotify and current content which is lossless.
A good DAC with a good Pre-amplifier is must to enjoy the lossless audio from streaming service. Any compromise here will affect audio quality.

Qobuz/Tidal for Hindi and English songs.
Spotify for regional content.