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Spotify Offering Lossless: Confirmed

Bhh

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Anyone know off-hand if ChromeCast Audio can handle lossless? Most of my music listening is currently Spotify -> CCA -> Toslink -> miniDSP NanoDigi -> digital coax -> Rotel A12
 

flaviowolff

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Anyone know off-hand if ChromeCast Audio can handle lossless? Most of my music listening is currently Spotify -> CCA -> Toslink -> miniDSP NanoDigi -> digital coax -> Rotel A12

Spotify doesn’t support lossless.
the cca can stream lossless via Tidal or Roon, afaik. Not sure about qobuz or other services.
 
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Sal1950

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Spotify doesn’t support lossless.
I really can't believe they haven't got off their butts to offer it.. They seem to be sitting back, comfortable in their huge market lead but that won't last forever. Specially since Amazon got in the game, they are making sure the public knows they can have better SQ for the same $. Whatever the truth, sooner or later folks, specially new users, will go for the best bang for the buck.
 

McFly

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I must admit I got excited when I saw the thread pop up too. I remember about 3 years ago maybe more, a notification inside the app just asking if I would be interested in trialing hi-fi, of course I said yes, but nothing came of it:( let’s hope everyone else’s marketing of hi-res is successful in forcing them into it.
I will be the first to admit I dont Mind the 320kbps, it’s very good for most general circumstances. But for critical listening some songs you do notice if you know the cds well enough.
 

soundwave76

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I used Tidal HiFi for about two years but now switched back to Spotify. Couple of reasons why, though there might be a slight loss in fidelity.

1) Much, much better algorithms for recommending new music, at least for me.

2) I can now bypass the Bluos app and stream music to my Bluesound devices straight from the Spotify app, where for example iPhone volume buttons work.

3) Better iOS app and integration to other Apple devices like the Apple Watch.
 

FrantzM

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I haven't done formal ABX testing but informally I can't claim to hear any difference between Spotify 320 kbps, Tidal lossless, Tidal MQA, or FLAC rips of the same track streaming on the same device (NAD C658).
You're not alone ...
Several audiophiles, especially those of the subjectivist persuasion may not be as sincere ....
 

direstraitsfan98

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One of the best things about Spotify, if not THE best, is the smartphone volume control with “connected” devices. Nothing else comes close.
Almost forgot about that... I’ve gotten so used to using the tidal app on my desktop to play tracks. As I type this on my phone lying down I could have easily open up the Spotify app to put on a track to help me get to sleep. Instead I’d have to turn on my PC display on my desktop to navigate to the app. I’m really thinking about switching back now.
 

Bhh

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One of the best things about Spotify, if not THE best, is the smartphone volume control with “connected” devices. Nothing else comes close.
I agree. Its one of the things that is very easy to take for granted until you no longer have it. Not having to fiddle with remotes is so nice.
 

somebodyelse

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One of the best things about Spotify, if not THE best, is the smartphone volume control with “connected” devices. Nothing else comes close.
Please explain to a non-Spotify-user what exactly it's doing that's so unique. I assume I'm misunderstanding what you mean as it seems like base level networked audio functionality to me.
 
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One of the best things about Spotify, if not THE best, is the smartphone volume control with “connected” devices. Nothing else comes close.

I have never understood why none of the other services have been able to implement this feature. Spotify did it years ago and it crops up as a requested feature all the time on the other services. Technically it is not that hard so I wonder why it has always been overlooked.


Please explain to a non-Spotify-user what exactly it's doing that's so unique. I assume I'm misunderstanding what you mean as it seems like base level networked audio functionality to me.

It is quite basic. It just allows you to control another device via the Spotify app, so for example you could control the Spotify app on your laptop, from the Spotify app on your phone, in the same way you can on Plex, if you’re familiar with that.
 

gvl

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Yup Spotify Connect is the killer feature. CCA is fine for lossless but I'm having issues with Qobuz hi-res, a quick search shows that I'm not alone.
 

somebodyelse

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It is quite basic. It just allows you to control another device via the Spotify app, so for example you could control the Spotify app on your laptop, from the Spotify app on your phone, in the same way you can on Plex, if you’re familiar with that.
Logitechmediaserver mostly, interoperating with MythTV and kodi now and again via UPnP/DLNA, and with full control via app or web browser, whichever's more convenient. MPD has similar capabilities, if implemented somewhat differently. Like I said, base level functionality - I'd consider a networked player that couldn't do that to be broken.
 

McFly

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Logitechmediaserver mostly, interoperating with MythTV and kodi now and again via UPnP/DLNA, and with full control via app or web browser, whichever's more convenient. MPD has similar capabilities, if implemented somewhat differently. Like I said, base level functionality - I'd consider a networked player that couldn't do that to be broken.

For a server/renderer(?)/controller solution I've tried them all. Well, enough to give up trying. Audirvana with remote control app, Upnp like bubble upnp, SBT, Bluesound BluOS, at one point iTunes, have yet to try lightningDS which I read is good. I thought I could trial these and rebuild my music collection (read on). Every time I find myself giving up and just using Spotify and its connect feature. If you're someone who lives on your phone instead of a desktop PC (which I suspect is most younger audiophiles) , it just cant be beat. The volume rocker on the phone works screen locked or not (optional too I believe), it controls volume and changes track of any supported connect device, and the music you are browsing is in the Spotify app. Its lightning fast. And boom - all my smart TVs, computers and phones are instantly sources. Rpi's are the sources to my HiFI systems (running ropieeeXL). Tidal implementations inside other Apps are all weak. Tidal has no 'connect' feature and its attempts to work with other devices is by channeling through 3rd party apps and this is usually pretty slow and dyslexic. The volume controls are even worse.

The closest I got was tidal + roon. I could live with that functionality. But the cost p/mo in the end made me go back to Spotify, especially since my local music collection was so small. My music source is 98% streaming with only a few CDs I buy and rip/play because they aren't on streaming services. Once upon a time I had a massive collection of CDs, which was FLAC'd at one point at great time expense, got rid of the CDs only to later get robbed and lose the whole lot (HDDs, NAS, laptops, all gone). This was just before cloud storage was popular. Spotify was gaining traction and it seemed like the best way to get music without the logistic problems, albeit at a quality trade-off. Whats more you can listen to it on the beat.

Dear Spotify, you've had my soul for almost 10 years, pls give me Hi-Res now thx.
 

Sal1950

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I don't even have a smart phone but still love Spotify for its Connect app. I can open Spotify on any internet connected device I have, setup a fav list or whatever, start it playing and then just shut that device down or do anything else I want with it. The list then streams directly into my AV with no other outside control needed.
 

johnweems

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Anybody has the Spotify Connect issue these days? It always gets termination when I ask google to play Spotify music. But when I play the local Spotify songs which are downloaded by the Audkit Spotify audio downloader, the problem goes away. I feel confused now.
 
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