{"id":224019,"date":"2025-09-13T16:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T16:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/224019\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T16:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T16:46:11","slug":"spotify-lossless-is-an-inconvenient-improvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/224019\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotify Lossless is an inconvenient improvement"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you listen to music the way a lot of people do these days \u2014 with a pair of wireless earbuds, from a Bluetooth speaker, or just blaring directly out of your phone \u2014 you will never notice a difference between Spotify\u2019s high-quality 320Kbps streams and its lossless audio. But, if you usually listen with wired headphones while working at your desk, or have a quality speaker from the likes of Bose that supports Spotify Connect, there actually is something to be gained here.<\/p>\n

Comparing Spotify\u2019s normal quality streams (96Kbps) with the new 24-bit \/ 44.1kHz lossless FLAC files feels unfair. Even a relatively untrained ear should be able to hear the difference. While compression technology has improved a lot since the days of crunchy Napster MP3s, there is still a noticeable loss in quality at 96Kbps. High frequencies especially can seem muddy and distorted.<\/p>\n

Even just jumping from normal quality to high quality (320Kbps) results in a very noticeable difference. But going beyond that to lossless, or even hi-res lossless on a competing service like Tidal, yields diminishing returns. I\u2019d venture to guess that most people will be unable to tell the difference<\/a> between Spotify\u2019s high-quality streams and lossless under a lot of circumstances. If you\u2019re listening to a hip-hop song that samples crackly vinyl, a metal record with heavily distorted guitars, or a dance single with a kick drum that\u2019s been compressed into oblivion, it can be hard to pick out the differences. It\u2019s not that they\u2019re not there \u2014 Kendrick Lamar\u2019s vocals cut through the mix more on \u201csquabble up,\u201d and Sudan Archives\u2019 heavily processed violin on \u201cDEAD\u201d feels more lively \u2014 but they can be easily lost in the bombast.<\/p>\n

Where lossless can make a big difference compared to Spotify\u2019s standard high-quality setting is with gentler styles of music that feature a lot of acoustic instruments and vocals. My go-to throughout testing (because it was one of the only albums I could find that was available in lossless on Spotify and hi-res lossless on both Apple and Tidal) was Nina Simone\u2019s Pastel Blues.<\/p>\n

The differences between lossless and high quality are subtle, to be sure. Unless you\u2019re actively listening for it, you might not notice the slightly different texture to the background noise on \u201cStrange Fruit\u201d or the ever-so-slightly sharper sound of the high-hats on \u201cSinnerman.\u201d And when older recordings clip, the resulting distortion sounds less harsh in lossless.<\/p>\n

To see these relatively minor benefits requires some effort on your part, though. First thing to note is that you cannot stream Spotify Lossless<\/a> through the web player; you will need to download the desktop or mobile app. The other thing to remember is that Bluetooth generally does not support lossless audio because of its limited bandwidth. Even Spotify warns in its announcement post<\/a> that \u201cBluetooth doesn\u2019t provide enough bandwidth to transmit lossless audio, so the signal has to be compressed before being sent.\u201d (Let\u2019s not get distracted by discussion of codecs like LDAC and aptX HD that lack widespread support.)<\/p>\n

If you want to hear the difference, you\u2019ll need to put your AirPods down and go get a decent set of wired headphones. I do recommend headphones. While you can hear the difference on a good set of speakers, it\u2019s easier to pick out the nuances in headphones without minimal background noise. You\u2019ll need to enable lossless on each of your devices individually; it\u2019s not a setting that will sync.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration<\/a><\/p>\n

How to enable lossless audio. Image: Spotify<\/p>\n

Spotify has caught some flack, however, for capping its lossless support at 24-bit \/ 44.1kHz, when Tidal, Apple Music, and Qobuz all offer 24-bit \/ 192kHz hi-res FLAC support. But, at the risk of upsetting the audiophiles in the audience, you\u2019re not missing out. While I won\u2019t pretend there\u2019s no difference between lossless and hi-res lossless, the improvements are extremely subtle, and not worth the hassle. For one, playing back audio at 192kHz requires additional hardware in the form of an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC), or a select few Tidal Connect-enabled speakers. A DAC can run you anywhere from $50 for a cheap off-brand dongle for your phone<\/a> to upward of $15,000<\/a> for the absolute lunatics out there.<\/p>\n

I tested Spotify Lossless, as well as Apple Music and Tidal\u2019s lossless and hi-res lossless, using my MacBook Air connected to a fourth-gen Focusrite Scarlett 18i20. I listened to a variety of styles of music using my PreSonus Eris E5 studio monitors, a pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones, and TMA-2 Studio Wireless+ headphones from AIAIAI. I spent a lot of time making sure I could play back 192kHz audio, and volume matching the various services only to walk away wondering if I was imagining the differences.<\/p>\n

Doing a side-by-side, I felt like the hi-res lossless \u201cStrange Fruit\u201d on Apple Music was ever-so-slightly clearer than the standard lossless version on Spotify. But I also felt like the standard lossless Apple FLAC was slightly less noisy than the Spotify FLAC. So it\u2019s possible that Apple\u2019s encodings are just higher-quality in general. I\u2019m inclined to believe that because I honestly could not tell the difference between Apple\u2019s regular lossless and hi-res lossless versions when played back to back.<\/p>\n

Bandwidth also becomes a major issue when playing hi-res lossless files. Unless you\u2019re downloading them for playback offline, just don\u2019t bother. Apple Music frequently choked when trying to skip around a hi-res track and would often pause briefly after playing the first two seconds of a song.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing: Most of us tend to do a lot of our listening on Bluetooth headphones. And those don\u2019t support lossless audio. If you have good wired headphones or a decent pair of speakers, Spotify\u2019s lossless can make a subtle but noticeable improvement to your listening experience. Just don\u2019t be jealous of those other services with \u201chi-res\u201d audio.<\/p>\n

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