It will be “CD-quality,” and will be available “later this year.”
But will anyone notice?
Spotify Hi-Fi will stream lossless audio to devices, and directly to speakers.
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It should make streamed audio every bit as good as CDs, or other high-quality sources.
“Im certain most people will not notice the difference between 320kbps or 160kbps and lossless.
Lossless, Hi-Fi: Whats the Difference?
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Digital music is measured in bits, just like any other digital media.
We consider bit-depth and bitrate.
Bit-depth is mostly irrelevant unless youre recording and producing.
Bitrate is what concerns us here.
As West says above, Spotify already goes as high as 320kbps (kilobits per second).
“It’s just been a slow march back ever since.”
CDs have a bitrate of 1,411 kbps.
Lossless just means that the music is compressed without losing any information.
MP3s are “lossy,” like JPGs.
With Spotifys lossless offering, were finally back towhere we were in 1980.
The performance of a music system is not only about the source.
Nor is it, as we seemed to believe back in the 1970s, only about the speakers.
“Most important of which are your speakers or headphones.”
Ideally, youd have a good source, great speakers, and good equipment in between.
Theres no point feeding the headphone jack of a cheap phone into a $20,000 amp and speakers.
The jump from 24kbps to lossless would be noticeable to everyone except users on their phone speakers.
How Can You Improve Your Audio Today?
If youre already using Spotify, then you should check your current quality controls.Spotify has instructions for this.
The lowest rate, used on poor internet connections, is 24kbps.
For Spotify Premium (paid) plans, users can specify up to 320kbps.
You should consider your listening situation, and pick a setting to suit.
Or choose “automatic,” and let the computer take care of it.
