Spotify (finally) introduces Lossless audio

[Auralegends 8,918]

21 hours ago, elsamars said:

So that’s what they were busy with lately 

This and price increases

[Auralegends 8,918]

15 hours ago, alsemanche said:

"For the smoothest and best listening experience, we recommend streaming lossless music on Wi-Fi using wired headphones or speakers on a non-Bluetooth connection, like Spotify Connect. Currently, Bluetooth doesn’t provide enough bandwidth to transmit lossless audio, so the signal has to be compressed before being sent." 

Well that's useless for most of us then

Well this is not right.

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro and Buds3Pro together with a Samsung device support 24-bit audio

[Leblanc 2,494]

23 hours ago, hELXIG said:

Hmm.. just turned it on. Lets see if I notice a difference

I've been thinkign of cancelling Spotify lately. Sigh. It's such a hard decision to make. I want to go back to pirating and only supporting artists I love through merch, tours etc. Because F.UCK all the big streaming platforms. But it's just too convenient to have every song available at all times anywhere you are (and podcasts and audiobooks)

You have it already? It's not available for me

[Leblanc 2,494]

Honestly I download all my music in the best quality available on Spotify and I dread to think how much space it will take up to do that with lossless. My phone is like 8 years old and still going strong and I ain't upgrading til this thing kicks the bucket

[Murakami27 8,575]

And none for Canada 

[GAYHEMikey 8,237]

Spotify’s sound quality is really ass compared to lossless on AM. The only thing keeping me on Spotify is that I think the app is more handy(?). It’s easier to use for me but quality wise they can pack it

[Helxig 45,424]

42 minutes ago, Leblanc said:

You have it already? It's not available for me

Yeah I clicked my icon, went into settings, scrolled down to audio quality, selected lossless

[Leblanc 2,494]

13 hours ago, hELXIG said:

Yeah I clicked my icon, went into settings, scrolled down to audio quality, selected lossless

Still not available for me 

Edited September 12, 2025 by Leblanc

[Magneto 13,557]

I switched to Tidal because the sound apparently was so much better, plus they pay artists more. After a month I came running back, because the Spotify user experience is just so much better!

[Ladle Ghoulash 53,980]

On 9/10/2025 at 1:22 PM, alsemanche said:

"For the smoothest and best listening experience, we recommend streaming lossless music on Wi-Fi using wired headphones or speakers on a non-Bluetooth connection, like Spotify Connect. Currently, Bluetooth doesn’t provide enough bandwidth to transmit lossless audio, so the signal has to be compressed before being sent." 

Well that's useless for most of us then

What they’re saying is *technically* true of all lossless streamable media. AM’s “lossless” music is immediately downgraded to a lower bitrate when it’s transmitted to another device via Bluetooth because Bluetooth can’t support true lossless, so what Spotify is offering here, in terms of actually being able to play true lossless on a device with Spotify Connect (Sonos, for example, which can connect to Spotify directly through the internet, thus preserving more sound quality) is technically better than what Apple offers (a downgraded version of lossless solely via Bluetooth transmitted to wireless headphones or an external speaker). They’re also not saying that you *can’t* transmit the lossless source file via Bluetooth, they’re just including a disclaimer that’s letting you know that doing that always, technically, downgrades the quality due to Bluetooth’s limitations. 

Edited September 12, 2025 by Ladle Ghoulash

[Ladle Ghoulash 53,980]

16 hours ago, Auralegends said:

Well this is not right.

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro and Buds3Pro together with a Samsung device support 24-bit audio

Even if the Galaxy Buds support 24 bit audio, the Bluetooth codec still can’t technically transmit true lossless to the earbuds. 

[Helxig 45,424]

9 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

What they’re saying is *technically* true of all lossless streamable media. AM’s “lossless” music is immediately downgraded to a lower bitrate when it’s transmitted to another device via Bluetooth because Bluetooth can’t support true lossless, so what Spotify is offering here, in terms of actually being able to play true lossless on a device with Spotify Connect (Sonos, for example, which can connect to Spotify directly through the internet, thus preserving more sound quality) is technically better than what Apple offers (a downgraded version of lossless solely via Bluetooth transmitted to wireless headphones or an external speaker). They’re also not saying that you *can’t* transmit the lossless source file via Bluetooth, they’re just including a disclaimer that’s letting you know that doing that always, technically, downgrades the quality due to Bluetooth’s limitations. 

To be fair at that point can the human ear even tell a difference when just listening to the music as a whole and not hyper-focussing to see if you can detect how clear it is? And also speakers vary so much anyway. I feel like people really split hairs about all this stuff. I switched to lossless on Spotify the other night and can't say I can tell a difference in my car  

[Pink Eye 4,516]

1 hour ago, hELXIG said:

To be fair at that point can the human ear even tell a difference when just listening to the music as a whole and not hyper-focussing to see if you can detect how clear it is? And also speakers vary so much anyway. I feel like people really split hairs about all this stuff. I switched to lossless on Spotify the other night and can't say I can tell a difference in my car  

It's like $50 vs. $500 wine, both taste like alcoholic grape juice, both will get you drunk and you'll only notice a difference if someone tells you or if you're a sommelier.

Also, there are devices that will compress your music no matter what or alter the mix because of frequency response. If you keep going on technicalities and wanting the best audio through interpreting these concepts, you will end up wanting to listen to music on flat monitors in an acoustic treated room because even the different frequency responses of different devices will start to bother you  

I think lossless only really matters for loud music in stage P.As, for DJs and stuff. At home, the high quality config is enough.

I think this lossless thing is more of a marketing stamp because they saw people value it on Apple Music. But it's like when people compare phone cameras through megapixels when what defines the real quality of the photo is the size of the sensor. Or like, to develop a good photo you don't need a .TIFF file, a 300dpi JPG is enough if you're not a pro photographer or graphic designer.

Another thing I don't really care about and everyone asks for it on Spotify is spacial audio. Like, why do people want to listen to a different mix and feel like the song has a reverb and you're inside a room when that was not the artist intention? Ew 

Edited September 12, 2025 by Brazilwood

[Ladle Ghoulash 53,980]

5 hours ago, hELXIG said:

To be fair at that point can the human ear even tell a difference when just listening to the music as a whole and not hyper-focussing to see if you can detect how clear it is? And also speakers vary so much anyway. I feel like people really split hairs about all this stuff. I switched to lossless on Spotify the other night and can't say I can tell a difference in my car  

I’m not splitting hairs as much as clarifying that Spotify’s disclaimer is basically standard fare and doesn’t mean that their version of lossless will be worse than Apple Music. 

[Ladle Ghoulash 53,980]

13 hours ago, LadyEnigma said:

Spotify UI is just soooo much better than AM, if I left Spotify I would stop finding all the new music and smaller artists EXAMPLE Amelia Moore I discovered bc she got put in my discover as soon as she debuted p much.
I’ve done multiple free trials of Apple Music with the Apple products I’ve purchased and I just can’t. I like that you can change the album covers and that is the only thing that would even sway me to switching because I did not like Dolby when I used it.

Couldn’t agree more tbh. Spotify’s UI, playlists, and even the algorithm for the autoplay/radio is infinitely better than AM.