It ’s been more than two year since Spotify first declare plans to launch a Spotify HiFi tier up back in February 2021 , which begs the query : where is it ?
The company recently offered an update on the whereabouts of the elusive gamy timber Spotify grade , confirming that it definitely has n’t been cancelled .
Keep read to find out everything there is to acknowledge about Spotify HiFi , include what it is , how much it might cost and when you could expect it to arrive …
What is Spotify HiFi?
Spotify HiFi is Spotify ’s long - look lossless audio tier .
What audio quality is Spotify HiFi streaming at?
It ’s important to note that Spotify will be offer audio at CD , lossless quality , not to be fuddle withhigh - resolution audio , which is considered to be audio quality higher than 16 - bit/44.1 kHz ( which is what Spotify HiFi will stream at ) .
Lossless audio ensures that there should be no loss of quality in the digital medicine Indian file , but it does also mean it eats up more datum to stream and if it ’s stream over Bluetooth , there ’s likely be some densification happening anyway .
For a identification number of music cyclosis armed service , digital medicine files are compressed for keep the file size down . For a 3.5 - second song , a standard compressed audio file is around 2 mb . The same file cabinet size of it for a hi - res track can be around 20Mb . For example , Spotify use Ogg Vorbis , which is said to pitch high-pitched timbre sound proportional to the bandwidth take to stream it .
Which audio codec will Spotify HiFi use?
There are various formats providing higher quality sound , and Spotify has n’t made clean which format it will use as yet . Tidal HiFiuses the FLAC data format at 16 - bit / 44.1kHz and MQA ( Master Quality Authenticated ) for higher - resolution data file ( branded as Tidal Masters ) such as 24 - number / 352kHz . We would n’t ask Spotify HiFi to go that far .
Right now , the most Spotify Premium can pop the question is 320kbps MP3 on desktop , Mobile River and tablet , so whether the service use FLAC or something else , the audio quality the HiFi tier will ( eventually ) be better than what is currently available .
Will I need new speakers or headphones?
Spotify enjoin that it is working with “ some of the existence ’s biggest speaker manufacturers ” to secure that Spotify HiFi can be access through the Spotify Connect .
It is yet to reveal the technological requirements for Spotify HiFi , but given the ubiquitousness of Spotify on devices around the world , we ’d ideate it ’ll be made widely available . Spotify Connect streams direct from the euphony service over Wi - Fi , so high - tone auditory sensation should be potential with devices that support that feature .
Over Bluetooththere ’s a potential question mark over whether you ’d truly be get Spotify HiFi caliber . AptX , aptX - HD andaptX - LosslessBluetooth should alleviate in high spirits level of streaming quality but not necessarily lossless audio frequency .
Sony’sLDACand Savitech ’s LHDC codec , which are used by a number of audio brands in Asia , open up the Bluetooth bandwidth to underpin higher lineament streams , but again these are n’t truly lossless in terms of information .
For pumped up headphone , it ’s deserving think aDigital to Analogue Converter ( DAC)to give audio files a bigger rise . After all , wired listening is still better and more consistent than take heed over Wi - Fi or Bluetooth .
What tracks will be in Spotify HiFi?
Spotify is said to have a medicine catalogue in the realm of 80 million tracks , which apparently is n’t as much as Apple Music ’s 90 million+ catalogue , so the question is how many tracks will be available in HiFi lineament .
This will obviously depend on the understanding it can reach with music labels , though apparently these are all in place . Amazon Music HD says it has 90 million tracks in High Definition ( which translate to CD quality ) and 9 million in Ultra HD ( High Resolution ) . Apple says all of its catalog is usable in lossless or more .
Those are massive figures to hit unless Spotify can unlock its entire depository library at launching . It would still be behind Apple and Amazon but more or less in front of Tidal , found on current catalog figures .
When is Spotify HiFi available?
During its original annunciation at the commencement of 2021 , Spotify order that Spotify HiFi would launch toward the ending of 2021 . Obviously , that did n’t happen .
What we did see around that prison term was avideo on Redditoffering an other look at the supposed onboarding process for Spotify HiFi within the mobile app . We cognise now the service has already been built in the backend of the app and is being used by people working at Spotify .
In former 2022 , Spotify take to its meeting place to reassure users that Spotify HiFi was still on its way and that , while the company had no timing details to apportion then and there , it would update lover when the time came .
So what ’s the hold up ?
The initial problem appeared to be way out in licensing content for Spotify HiFi but from what we ’ve find out that come out to have been resolved .
2023 rolled around and , with no mention of Spotify HiFi at the company’sMarch Stream On event , lover began to wonder whether the service had been desert after all .
This was when Spotify co - chairperson and chief production and applied science officeholder Gustav Söderström swooped in to assure fans once again thatSpotify HiFiisstill in the works .
“ We announce it , but then the industriousness change for a bunch of reasons ” , Söderström toldThe Verge . “ We are run to do it , but we ’re going to do it in a way where it make signified for us and for our attender ” .
It look as if pricing is the latest hurdle , as well as trying to offer a service that does something unlike from other lossless streaming tier in the market .
How much will Spotify HiFi cost?
Tidal goes as far as $ 19.99 / £ 19.99 per month for its higher quality Masters tier , but we ’re not sure we see Spotify going that far given it’sonlyoffering lossless audio . Somewhere in between is another possibility , but Spotify will confront accusal of being more expensive than its rivals .
