Spotify Lossless Audio

[Patman]

Spotify has recently released “lossless” quality audio for premium subscribers in select areas and I started using it this evening. I honestly can’t tell the difference in my Corvette’s audio system (and it’s a good system) Maybe if I listen on headphones it will sound better but in the car through Apple CarPlay it doesn’t seem like it’s worth the extra data (it uses about 1GB per hour!)

I will say this, I do hear a very significant difference in quality between listening to Spotify vs listening to songs that I have in my ITunes library. The bass is tighter and hits harder and the vocals are more crisp. You can basically hear all of the instruments better with iTunes

Has anyone here tried it out and what do you think?

 

[Pablo]

Any car will have a heck of a lot more distortion and noise than a good quiet home system

That said the Amazon UHD audio is pretty amazing on my new stereo. Surprising really. I’ve not tried Spotify simply because I had no need. Would love a side by side comparison

 

[BrendanC]

lossless makes quite the difference in my truck with ~2000w of audio in it. eight 3way 6.5’s and two 12” subs. i think it’s worth the extra data (unlimited anyhow).

 

[Patman]

Any car will have a heck of a lot more distortion and noise than a good quiet home system

True, and even on high quality headphones like I have. But the fact that I can hear a significant difference between iTunes and Spotify also shows that there is the potential for better audio in the car too.

 

[ka9mnx]

lossless makes quite the difference in my truck with ~2000w of audio in it. eight 3way 6.5’s and two 12” subs. i think it’s worth the extra data (unlimited anyhow).

Where do you put all that stuff in a truck?

 

[BrendanC]

Where do you put all that stuff in a truck?

amp, inverter and charger are on a rack behind the back seat, doors have speaker pods in them for the added 6.5 and subs are under rear seat

 

[BobsArmory]

The only music service that I could tell a difference in quality while in a vehicle was XM radio. They must use some type of severe compression. Everything else sounds the same to me but thanks to the US Army I do have ringing in the ears 24/7

 

[CarlB]

Independent of the discussion on if anyone can hear the difference, consider the playback device and connections. (I don't think anyone can, assuming same mastering)

Wireless/BT is generally a lower bitrate than lossless. So even if the source is lossless, it may not be full bitrate by the time it's played.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Independent of the discussion on if anyone can hear the difference, consider the playback device and connections. (I don't think anyone can, assuming same mastering)

Wireless/BT is generally a lower bitrate than lossless. So even if the source is lossless, it may not be full bitrate by the time it's played.

Now to just figure out a mounting solution for a nice turntable in the car….

 

[97prizm]

Spotify has recently released “lossless” quality audio for premium subscribers in select areas and I started using it this evening. I honestly can’t tell the difference in my Corvette’s audio system (and it’s a good system) Maybe if I listen on headphones it will sound better but in the car through Apple CarPlay it doesn’t seem like it’s worth the extra data (it uses about 1GB per hour!)

I will say this, I do hear a very significant difference in quality between listening to Spotify vs listening to songs that I have in my ITunes library. The bass is tighter and hits harder and the vocals are more crisp. You can basically hear all of the instruments better with iTunes

Has anyone here tried it out and what do you think?

Even with hearing aids certain rock songs that have significant cymbals should be more noticeable. Lossy audio cuts out supposed un needed information. On a home system I'm sure you'd know the difference.

 

[alarmguy]

Spotify has recently released “lossless” quality audio for premium subscribers in select areas and I started using it this evening. I honestly can’t tell the difference in my Corvette’s audio system (and it’s a good system) Maybe if I listen on headphones it will sound better but in the car through Apple CarPlay it doesn’t seem like it’s worth the extra data (it uses about 1GB per hour!)

I will say this, I do hear a very significant difference in quality between listening to Spotify vs listening to songs that I have in my ITunes library. The bass is tighter and hits harder and the vocals are more crisp. You can basically hear all of the instruments better with iTunes

Has anyone here tried it out and what do you think?

Bluetooth does not have the capability to reproduce lossless audio. So yeah, in your car it's not worth it. It might sound better if the other option is some crappy compressed format in the likes, lets say XM Radio uses. Bottom line is, "Bluetooth Connections are not Lossless"

BTW- Apple Music Subscription offers a full range of audio and different flavors of lossless too. All in one price if interested. So you could use data friendly on your portable devices and lossless audio on your home devices that connect to your WiFi,

Anyway, I think this is a good explanation instead of me rambling on.
https://umatechnology.org/does-lossless-audio-work-with-bluetooth/#google_vignette

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This is an example of Apple Music, every device you can set. There are more settings then this ... but as an example on my iPhone and some of my settings. You will see a setting for each category.

 

[CarlB]

Now to just figure out a mounting solution for a nice turntable in the car….

 

[Patman]

Bluetooth does not have the capability to reproduce lossless audio. SO yeah, in your car it's not worth it. It might sound better if the other option is some crappy compressed format in the likes, lets say XM Radio

Is it considered a “Bluetooth” connection if it is connected directly via the USB port though? I thought that way via Apple CarPlay offered better sound quality than a wireless Bluetooth connection

 

[CarlB]

Is it considered a “Bluetooth” connection if it is connected directly via the USB port though? I thought that way via Apple CarPlay offered better sound quality than a wireless Bluetooth connection

Don't forget the factory head unit, since it performing the DAC operation. The head unit supports FLAC, but that doesn't mean it comes out at the analog end of the equation.

Wired vs wireless carplay is 24bit vs 16bit. Nothing to lose sleep over, especially when the bose active noise canceling system in a C7 has a strange noise floor anyway.

EDIT:
My analogy; This would be similar to worrying about Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD when watching on a DLP.

 

[alarmguy]

Is it considered a “Bluetooth” connection if it is connected directly via the USB port though? I thought that way via Apple CarPlay offered better sound quality than a wireless Bluetooth connection

You know I am sitting here and thinking to myself after all that, I wonder that maybe he isnt using Bluetooth *LOL*
YOU are 100% correct a direct connection is a whole other ball game and you can ignore my post above except for when using bluetooth. I should have asked that first, instead of assuming.

Im over my head at this point and really do not know anything more. Except in many systems, like someone above mentioned, Lossless will be determined on how the equipment capabilities can present it is my feeling.

Here is the Apple read on all of it.
They claim in with their ACC you can not tell the difference however Im not sure that applies to you or not. Also the link I provided, is pages long on the different devices and how to use the formats with them. Toward the end in mention of USB.

"Most audio compression techniques lose some amount of data contained in the original source file. Lossless compression is a form of compression that preserves all of the original data.

Apple has developed its own lossless audio compression technology called Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). In addition to AAC, most of the Apple Music catalog is now also encoded using ALAC in resolutions ranging from 16-bit/44.1 kHz (CD Quality) up to 24-bit/192 kHz.

While the difference between AAC and lossless audio is virtually indistinguishable, we’re offering Apple Music subscribers the option to access most of the Music catalog in lossless audio compression."

https://support.apple.com/en-us/118295

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[jghall00]

Now to just figure out a mounting solution for a nice turntable in the car….

Everything old is new again.

 

[alarmguy]

The only music service that I could tell a difference in quality while in a vehicle was XM radio. They must use some type of severe compression. Everything else sounds the same to me but thanks to the US Army I do have ringing in the ears 24/7

XM is evil. Even though we have it because they hound us with cut rate pricing on our two vehicles all the time. My truck now has a 3 year subscription for $1.99 a month and we just dropped a free one on my wife's car.
We have had Sirus all the way back to 2002 and on and off since then. Mostly off, unless a great deal. The sound sucks. Most noticable to my ringing ears and my wife's good ears is the muddy, overwhelming undefined bass.

Honestly now, even though I have it at the above price most all times I just cant stand the quality and mostly use my iPhone with Apple Play. If I don't have Apple play on for some reason and I hear a song I really love on XM I turn it off and tell Siri to play that song through my iPhone. (true story, all the time)

 

[Pablo]

With Amazon reg (same as pretty lossy streaming), HD (good, but sometimes a little hissy), to UHD (very, very clean) I can hear the difference.

 

[Hall]

but in the car through Apple CarPlay

Wired or wireless CarPlay ?

Disregard - I see your later comment. Wired CarPlay is just that, wired, not Bluetooth.

 

[Patman]

Wired or wireless CarPlay ?

Disregard - I see your later comment. Wired CarPlay is just that, wired, not Bluetooth.

Wired directly via a USB port in the center console. I also have CarPlay in my Civic, connected directly via USB too