Is there anything better than Spotify Premium?

[Sovereign]

I find myself listening to Spotify Premium which I enjoy very much. I'm sure I have read somewhere that Spotify offers a higher quality sound than the premium.....Is this true? Or is there a way I can make Spotify sound better than it already does?
Thanks

[synsei]

I use Unlimited James and I am constantly surprised at how good it can sound at the fairly low bitrate, which I think is 192kbps. Premium is yer top whack with Spotify I believe... ;)

[Sovereign]

I use Unlimited James and I am constantly surprised at how good it can sound at the fairly low bitrate, which I think is 192kbps. Premium is yer top whack with Spotify I believe... ;)

What do you mean by unlimmited?
Cheers

[synsei]

There are three levels on Spotify: Free (with ads), Unlimited 192kbps (£4.99pcm) and Premium 320kbps (£9.99pcm)

I'm not sure whether the bitrate figures are correct btw :eyebrows:

[purite audio]

There is a 'high quality audio' option in preferences. I don't honestly know what it does though.
Keith.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Dave, your figures are correct and the high quality option enables 320 if are eligible.

[daytona600]

try www.qobuz.com
hifi option/studio masters is All 16bit/44khz flac about 23quid a month , with no adverts
you can buy studiomasters up to 24/192 , not mytek dsd-pwm converted sacds like the con men at hdtracks ,
use qobuz on my astell kern portable & my desktop with a mytek & my big rig with a valve Nos Dac
mp3/192/320kps on spotify if correctly mastered can sound superb on a good Dac , my mytek 192 sounds great with spotify or even youtube

lots more www.dreamstreaming.info & free ones see downloads on my website

[synsei]

Dave, your figures are correct and the high quality option enables 320 if are eligible.

By being eligible I presume you mean if I stump up an extra fiver a month Chris :scratch:

[MartinT]

There is a 'high quality audio' option in preferences.

Strictly speaking, it's 'High quality streaming'. It's in the Premium edition and offers the higher bitrate when available. Unfortunately, there is no visual indication of what bitrate you are listening to.

[synsei]

Even at 192kbps I am often surprised by the quality of the output. I was listening to Janis Ian Live earlier and the recording and presentation were so very good that it was like being at the concert. The resolution is certainly high enough to tell a poorly produced and recorded album from a decent one :cool:

[MartinT]

It is good, as you say Dave. However, the streaming process does sometimes glitch on buffering and reveals itself as occasional tiny low level ticks. I can hear this quite clearly with my near-field PC setup and Caiman DAC with Spotify set to high quality. Playing the same music from a local file gives no ticks.

I can't wait for BT Infinity to arrive in June, then I can upgrade from this fairly pants 4.5Mbps ADSL connection I have to, apparently, 76Mbps.

[Tim]

Those drop-outs are annoying Martin, at my old place I used to get around 6Mbps and it was fine on 192, but every now and again it would stutter at 320 on Premium. My new gaff is nearer the exchange and I now get between 15 - 19Mbps and even on Premium is never misses a beat. I love Spotify and use it a lot - the downside is I buy far more music, but hey you only live once ;)

Premium sounds really good through my near-field system;
(Win7 PC > HRT Streamer II+ > Amptastic Mini-T > Celestion 5)

[MartinT]

Ah, good to have it confirmed, Tim. Sometimes I think I'm hearing things but this new setup is very revealing. I agree that Spotify Premium is excellent and I'm beginning to use it more and more while I'm working (at work, too, when I have the office to myself).

[synsei]

We get on average around 15mbps on Virgin and I've never had any buffering issues with Unlimited. When funds allow I will upgrade to Premium but I am very happy with what I have just now ;)

[MartinT]

Without Premium, Dave, you're unlikely to push the streaming buffers anyway. I only hear the occasional tick with 'High quality' selected.

[synsei]

What I really like about Spotify, especially when used in conjunction with AoS, is that I have been introduced to music and artists I would probably have passed by, more likely than not. It is also responsible for a substantial increase in my music buying habits :D

[MartinT]

Ditto!

[Tim]

It is also responsible for a substantial increase in my music buying habits :D
Me too, I love it.

Spotify and Amazon, what's not to like :)

[Gazjam]

try www.qobuz.com
hifi option/studio masters is All 16bit/44khz flac about 23quid a month , with no adverts
you can buy studiomasters up to 24/192 , not mytek dsd-pwm converted sacds like the con men at hdtracks ,
use qobuz on my astell kern portable & my desktop with a mytek & my big rig with a valve Nos Dac
mp3/192/320kps on spotify if correctly mastered can sound superb on a good Dac , my mytek 192 sounds great with spotify or even youtube

lots more www.dreamstreaming.info & free ones see downloads on my website

Uhm...
did no-one notice this? :scratch:

It streams like Spotify, but Flac!
Wee bit more expensive mind...

[Rothchild]

Bandcamp - FLACs for download (many free or 'honestypot' contribution) also people doing deals like 'buy the album, get an immediate download and we'll post you the cd / vinyl' so you don't have to rip it yourself and you can get the best of both worlds (put the FLAC on your streaming server for when you're out and about and the vinyl on your deck when you've a nice bottle of red open ;-))

Of course I'd be remiss not to mention that you can download material from my own band here too www.theponycollaboration.bandcamp.com ;-)

[Rambaud]

I find upsampling most MP3 type files - I use 192khz - improves SQ.

Spotify Premium can sound really quite good (Virgin Media at 20Mb).

[accuphaseman]

Up sampling mp3s makes no difference to sound quality.