Here is a little-known fact about music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music: they all let you listen to audio at different resolutions. A lesser-known fact: the default playback setting on most of them isn’t the highest.
You might be thinking, ‘Why would anybody choose to listen to worse audio?’ Well, the short answer is that compressed audio files take up less space on your phone. And without a good set of headphones or speakers, it can be hard to tell a difference.
But it’s there.
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Apple Music (Per Month) Read More -
Spotify Premium (Per Month) Read More
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Amazon Music Unlimited (Per Month) Read More
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YouTube Music Premium (Per Month) Read More
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Tidal HiFi Read More
When high-res is turned on, the soundstage is bigger and you can more easily distinguish between the mids and highs; sometimes you can even hear where the musicians and vocalists are standing in relation to one another on the stage or in the recording studio.
Here’s how to make sure you’re getting the most out of Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, Tidal and YouTube Music.
Apple Music
- Default Audio Quality: 256 kbp/s
- Max Audio Quality: 24-bit/192 kHz, lossless
- Cost: $10.99 per month
- Free trial? Yes (1-month for new subscribers)
Apple Music streams at a bitrate of 256kbp/s by default, which seems lower than Spotify’s 320 kbp/s at face value, but it’s not exactly like-for-like because Apple Music uses its own AAC audio codec. Apple also defaults to audio of the highest quality, assuming your device is connected to Wi-Fi. When streaming over cellular, however, the audio quality goes down. (To change this, open the Settings app > Music > Mobile Data > Streaming > High-Quality Streaming.)
Of course, Apple Music now offers lossless audio to its subscribers at the same price of $10.99 per month. However, you have to enable lossless quality audio via the Settings app if you want to start listening to them.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and select Music.
- Select Audio Quality.
- Toggle on Lossless Audio.
Here, you can set default qualities for different connection types, including "Lossless," which will give you music ranging from 16-bit/44.1 kHz (CD quality) to 24-bit/48 kHz, or "Hi-Res Lossless," for quality up to 24-bit/192 kHz.
There are some caveats to listening to lossless audio on Apple Music, however. In order to listen to them you have to have a wired connection (for headphones or speakers) or be streaming over Wi-Fi. A standard Bluetooth connection doesn't support lossless quality listening. Also, if you want to listen to "Hi-Res Lossless" tracks, it requires an external DAC than can support 24-bit/192 kHz.
Spotify Premium
- Default Audio Quality: 96 kbit/s
- Max Audio Quality: 320 kbit/s
- Cost: $9.99 per month
- Free trial? Yes (1-month for new subscribers)
By default, Spotify streams 96 kbp/s audio tracks. Premium subscribers can upgrade to 320 kbp/s, which is a very high-quality stream, but still not on the same level of audio quality found on a CD.
To adjust the audio quality:
- Go to Settings.
- Select Music Quality.
- Select Very high.
In 2021, Spotify announced "Spotify HiFi," an upcoming hi-fi tier. However, almost two-years later and Spotify has still yet to launch this lossless tier of listening and details are still TBA.
Amazon Music Unlimited
- Default Audio Quality: 320 kbp/s
- Max Audio Quality: 24-bit/192 kHz, lossless
- Cost: $8.99 per month (Prime members) or $10.99 (non-Prime members)
- Free trial? Yes (1-month for new subscribers)
Amazon Music Unlimited is the company's music streaming service that offers lossless-quality audio. By default, it streams "standard" quality tracks at a maximum of 320 kbp/s. But you can increase the default audio settings to HD (850 kbp/s) or Ultra HD (3,730 kbp/s)
To adjust the audio quality:
- Open Amazon Music app.
- Click the vertical dots in the upper right corner of ‘Browse” page.
- Select Settings.
- Select Streaming Audio Quality under the Playback section.
- Select "HD/Ultra HD."
YouTube Music Premium
- Default Audio Quality: 128 kbp/s
- Max Audio Quality: 256 kbp/s
- Cost: $9.99 per month
- Free trial? Yes (1-month for new subscribers)
Google’s streaming service, YouTube Music, is popular amongst Android users as it delivers the best integration with other Google services, including Google Assistant. It streams in 128 kbp/s by default in “Normal” quality, but Premium subscribers can also select a “High quality” option to stream 256 kbp/s audio.
To adjust the audio quality:
- Open the YouTube Music app.
- Select your profile picture.
- Select Settings.
- Select Audio quality on Wi-Fi.
- Select High (or Always High).
Tidal HiFi
- Default Audio Quality: 1,411 kbp/s
- Max Audio Quality: 9,216 kbp/s (with HiFi Plus subscription)
- Cost: $9.99 per month
- Free trial? Yes (1-month for new subscribers)
Tidal is the "OG" lossless streaming service, but with more competition these days it has been forced to adapt and now offers multiple subscription tiers — it even offers a free tier, although it's an ad-supported service that doesn't get you lossless support (tracks max out at 160 kbps). The most popular tier that offers lossless-quality audio is Tidal HiFi, which delivers CD quality lossless sound (up to 1,411 kbp/s) and is priced competitively with the likes of Apple Music, Spotify and other lossless services.
(Note: Tidal also offers higher-tier of lossless streaming called Tidal HiFi Plus. It's twice as expensive ($20 per month) but lets you listen to Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) certified tracks (up to 24bit/96kHz) as well as audio tracks like 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos Music.)
- Open the Tidal app.
- Select Settings.
- Select Music Playback.
- Under the Streaming section select "HiFi."
