Poll Apple Music or Spotify, which one do you prefer for lossless playback? And why?

Apple Music or Spotify which one do you prefer for lossless playback?

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Brahman

Brahman

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Now that Spotify has introduced lossless format albeit 24bit/44.1 kHz rather than a 24 bit/192 kHz, would you consider it for your lossless needs? I tested it, but it's not perfect, on android it doesn't offer anything above 48Hz. I think it is still in wip. IOS and Apple Music combo is still way better when paired with a DAC ( Like a Fiio KA15) for a bit perfect lossless playback, with a hiccup here and there. What do you guys think?
 
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I've been using Spotify for about the last 8 years. On my home 5.1 system, it does sound a little better (lossless) considering I lost some of my hearing 5 years ago, so I'm not able to pick up on some of the subtle sounds. But still, I'm pleased with the upgrade.
 
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Jonny Quest said:
I've been using Spotify for about the last 8 years. On my home 5.1 system, it does sound a little better (lossless) considering I lost some of my hearing 5 years ago, so I'm not able to pick up on some of the subtle sounds. But still, I'm pleased with the upgrade.
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Are you getting it without any price increase? In India Spotify has increased their prices 40% and reduced the number of family members you can add to just 3 instead of 6.
 
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Brahman said:
Are you getting it without any price increase? In India Spotify has increased their prices 40% and reduced the number of family members you can add to just 3 instead of 6.
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I have an individual Premium plan for 11.99 plus taxes. It did not go up. I had to use my Spotify phone app to "upgrade" the Roku stick/TV Spotify app to lossless. And in listening to this song again, yep, I do like what I'm hearing :)

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Neither. It's snake oil because most systems re-process, compress or manipulate the original track anyway even the very platforms mess with the lossless data by throwing it into mixes or enabling normalization. Unless you have a dedicated DAC and everything is connected with wires. People walking around with Apple/Spotify lossless while using their airpods converting all signals back to 256 kbps AAC lol.

And also mixers and producers already mix songs for their quality level.
 
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I also use Qubuz lossless (who started out lossless) for some time as Spotify have been promising FLAC for years yet didn't do it, other options are Tidal & Deezer both do hi-res, I also have a fair bit + of ripped FLAC on an external drive - Whether lossless makes any difference does depend on your system, but I've enjoying HQ music since a child as my dad did hi-fi (reel to reel) since the 1950s so its in my blood - I use NAD Pro amp & at moment Q Acoustics Concept 30 speakers, I suppose I've had better systems but hearing not what it was but I can still tell distinct difference if things are not right.

Apple in the past were dodgy about their stream quality in the past so never bothered - If something wasn't recorded above the standard 20-20,000 hertz & db range, IMHO you cannot get back that wasn't there (as in hi-res) in the first place but some new recordings benefit from higher resolution but often its better mastering, however human hearing in adults is not 20-20,00 hz anyway so...I still have some recordings done in the 1950s that put some new over engineered recordings in the shade - Switching between local; FLAC & streaming is simple now & done from my phone or pad now, seamless.
 
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Sorrento said:
I also use Qubuz lossless (who started out lossless) for some time as Spotify have been promising FLAC for years yet didn't do it, other options are Tidal & Deezer both do hi-res, I also have a fair bit + of ripped FLAC on an external drive - Whether lossless makes any difference does depend on your system, but I've enjoying HQ music since a child as my dad did hi-fi (reel to reel) since the 1950s so its in my blood - I use NAD Pro amp & at moment Q Acoustics Concept 30 speakers, I suppose I've had better systems but hearing not what it was but I can still tell distinct difference if things are not right.

Apple in the past were dodgy about their stream quality in the past so never bothered - If something wasn't recorded above the standard 20-20,000 hertz & db range, IMHO you cannot get back that wasn't there (as in hi-res) in the first place but some new recordings benefit from higher resolution but often its better mastering, however human hearing in adults is not 20-20,00 hz anyway so...I still have some recordings done in the 1950s that put some new over engineered recordings in the shade - Switching between local; FLAC & streaming is simple now & done from my phone or pad now, seamless.
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We in India don't have any other decent option to get lossless other than apple and Spotify. I am really looking forward for Qobuz to launch in India. Anyways something is better than nothing.
 
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I've been accumulating my own FLAC library for years now. Storage is much cheaper than it used to be, thankfully. Streaming services would be way more convenient, and they've only gotten better with time. The idea of streaming lossless music on-demand used to be inconceivable.

In several cases, I was able to support the music artists more or less directly by buying the files on Bandcamp. I had to buy one artist's discography on the Qobuz store, which is definitely a nice service for audiophiles.
 
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I've used Tidal, the only real issue with Tidal in large playlists I have & I listen to often is for reasons unclear the higher resolution tracks are (were) much higher in perceived volume than no high-res, this does cause problems with unattended listening or later evening listening, with albums its OK though, my only gripe - The redeeming features of for me of Spotify is the search is often better for old stuff & often links with car systems easier using Apple Play than Qubuz/Tidal, but, the quality of Tidal, Qubuz, Deezer is I feel 'better' esp on a half decent system.
 
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