YouTube vs Spotify

[Jimbo]

I have noticed for sometime now that there is quite a difference in Sound quality between YouTube and Spotify so tonight I did some evaluation and compared the same track played on both and found in almost all cases YouTube sounded better. Much fuller sound and better soundstage, detail and depth. Spotify by comparison sounds thin and a bit weak.

Anyone else notice this?

[Sherwood]

I have noticed for sometime now that there is quite a difference in Sound quality between YouTube and Spotify so tonight I did some evaluation and compared the same track played on both and found in almost all cases YouTube sounded better. Much fuller sound and better soundstage, detail and depth. Spotify by comparison sounds thin and a bit weak.

Anyone else notice this?

You can't have set Spotify up correctly or you are using the free version. The bitrate for Youtube audio is pretty low. It generally sounds OK but is noticeably less detailed than the 320k Spotify feed.

Geoff

[Jimbo]

You can't have set Spotify up correctly or you are using the free version. The bitrate for Youtube audio is pretty low. It generally sounds OK but is noticeably less detailed than the 320k Spotify feed.

Geoff

I was only using the free version of Spotify. Is the bitrate for YouTube the same for all material on there?

[Sherwood]

I was only using the free version of Spotify. Is the bitrate for YouTube the same for all material on there?

It is usually around 126 kbps AAC.

Geoff

[Silent]

Spotify premium set to High Quality Streaming sounds a good bit better than youtube imho

[Jimbo]

Premium Spotify may sound good but I have heard some excellent Youtube sound quality. I don't buy the fact it is all low bit rate especially when you can view 4K material on the site. I am sure some of the music videos are far higher than 126 kbps.

[Silent]

Premium Spotify may sound good but I have heard some excellent Youtube sound quality. I don't buy the fact it is all low bit rate especially when you can view 4K material on the site. I am sure some of the music videos are far higher than 126 kbps.

YouTube has changed a lot in the last year or so but a while back I remember reading something about no matter what quality you record and render your audio at YouTube simply reduces the quality to a site standard.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[Jimbo]

Why would it render audio to a low site standard when you can view 4K video?

Is there a way of looking at the bit rate you are getting or is there somewhere that tells you what Youtube use?

[Silent]

Why would it render audio to a low site standard when you can view 4K video?

Is there a way of looking at the bit rate you are getting or is there somewhere that tells you what Youtube use?

I wouldn't begin to question YouTube's methods

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[Gazjam]

Have both YouTube Music and Spotify Premium.
Worth it for being ad free and access to squizillions of high quality music videos, docs all the usual stuff.
The music app sounds terrific to me, far better than Amazons effort.

As to what sounds best between it and Spotify, my take is “It depends”.
Agree with James that with 4k video it makes no sense the audio stream would be crap, and in fact it sounds really very good in my setup, no complaints.

A good indicator of YouTube sound quality, and it’s not even 4K: it’s1080p/50 stream, is this from Agnes Obel.

Bit of a test track for me actually as the new kit is running in.
You can’t really judge the sound quality if your watching it through a laptop speaker...

Nowadays use YouTube as much as a valid music source as any other, sounds terrific.