Home / Audio / How-To’s & Explainers

This Little-Known Trick Will Boost the Sound Quality of Music on Spotify and Apple Music

You’re already paying to listening to ad-free music. Now make sure you’re listening to the best possible audio that the service offers.

Streaming audio quality adjust settingPhoto by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

By Tucker Bowe

Published

·

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

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.

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

are you listening to the high res audio gear patrol apple musicApple

Apple Music (Per Month)

Specs

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.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Scroll down and select Music.
  3. Select Audio Quality.
  4. 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.

Spotify Premium

are you listening to the high res audio gear patrol spotifyCourtesy

Spotify Premium (Per Month)

Specs

Default Audio Quality 96 kbit/s
Max Audio Quality 320 kbit/s
Cost $11.99 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:

  1. Open the Spotify app.
  2. Select your profile (top-left corner).
  3. Go to Settings.
  4. Select Music Quality.
  5. Select Very high.

Spotify announced “Spotify HiFi,” an upcoming hi-fi streaming tier, back in 2021. As of July 2024, it has still yet to launch.

Amazon Music Unlimited

are you listening to the high res audio gear patrol amazonAmazon

Amazon Music Unlimited (Per Month)

Specs

Default Audio Quality 320 kbp/s
Max Audio Quality 24-bit/192 kHz, lossless
Cost $9.99 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:

  1. Open the Amazon Music app.
  2. Click the vertical dots in the upper right corner of ‘Browse” page.
  3. Select Settings.
  4. Select Streaming Audio Quality under the Playback section.
  5. Select “Best Available.”

YouTube Music Premium

Are-You-Listening-to-the-High-Res-Audio-Gear-Patrol-youtube-musicCourtesy

YouTube Music Premium (Per Month)

Specs

Default Audio Quality 128 kbp/s
Max Audio Quality 256 kbp/s
Cost $10.99 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:

  1. Open the YouTube Music app.
  2. Select your profile picture.
  3. Select Settings.
  4. Select Audio quality on Wi-Fi.
  5. Select High (or Always High).

Tidal

tidal hifiCourtesy

Tidal (Per Month)

Specs

Default Audio Quality 1,411 kbp/s
Max Audio Quality 9,216 kbp/s
Cost $10.99 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).

Today, Tidal offers a single lossless subscription service. It delivers CD-quality lossless sound (up to 1,411 kbp/s) by default, but can deliver even higher-resolution tracks — including Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) certified tracks (up to 24bit/96kHz) — if you switch to “Max” audio quality.

  1. Open the Tidal app.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Select Streaming.
  4. Select Audio Quality.
  5. Under the Streaming section select “Max.”

Read More

,