It seems incredible, but three years have passed since Spotify announced Hifi, its high definition music modality that so many users have been waiting for. Since then, all competitors in the music streaming market have changed significantly, except for Spotify itself.
Although there are already alternatives to Spotify in high definition, and even at cheaper prices, the company has dedicated these three years to other aspects of the application, such as podcasts, playlists or intelligence artificial. Spotify has come to collaborate with the spirits, in order to not fulfill the promise of high quality music that it made in its day.
In part, this is understandable. It’s obvious that Spotify’s original plan was to charge more for users who wanted high-quality audio; impossible projects when, shortly after, Apple Music and Amazon Music implemented high definition music at no additional cost. The delay may be because Spotify felt the need to add more things to the new subscription (possibly called Supremium) to compensate for the higher price.
Spotify Hifi is filtered
Regardless, everything indicates that It won’t be long before Spotify sounds better, whether you pay more or not. And some users already have access to a version of the Spotify desktop app compatible with high-definition audio, which can be activated subject to certain technical requirements.
Specifically, one of the screenshots reveals that Spotify will check if we have a device compatible with high definition sound; such as, for example, a sound card or an external DAC connected to the computer, capable of reproducing sound at a higher bit rate and a greater frequency range. The Internet connection will also be important, as files will take up more space and a slow connection could cause “skips” in playback.
Spotify Hifi
Free Android
In addition, Spotify has put a warning: if we use Bluetooth headphones, the quality could be affected. This is a known problem among smartphone users, because the Bluetooth standard does not offer enough bandwidth for these files. Although wireless high-definition music technologies are already under development, for most users It is best to use wired headphones..
If we meet these conditions, we should be able to listen to HiFi music on Spotify, with quality up to 1,411 kbps; For context, the highest quality Spotify is currently capable of is 320 kbps, the equivalent of a high-quality MP3. If we enable lossless audio, it will only be used if it is available.
Spotify Hifi welcome screens
Free Android
This suggests that Spotify hasn’t been able to obtain higher quality copies of its entire music library; furthermore, Spotify will offer 24-bit playback, in better quality, only in “limited songs”. The same thing happens in other services such as Amazon Music HD, as not all record labels have (or are willing to provide) high definition copies of their songs.
And all this, without losing the functions of the application. For example, downloads will also be available in higher quality, to listen to music offline. Spotify Hifi will also be compatible with Spotify Connect, which allows you to use smart speakers and other connected devices to listen to your music.
Screenshots shared on Reddit show a desktop application with a different design than the current one, so the launch of Hifi may be accompanied by a revival in Spotify design.
