As someone who likes to rock, I admit, I was excited that my streaming service, Spotify, has announced a new level of service for lossless audio stream. Of course it costs more than what I pay now, but throwing away an expected $ 20 a month for perfect sound sounds pretty good, does it? My future road trips have only gotten ten times better.
Can be.
Here’s the thing. I would not pay a penny more for ‘enhanced audio’ on any streaming service simply because the opportunity exists. At least, not without seeing if I can see the difference between the existing high quality services and the lossless offering of the streaming service. I’m going to argue that most people probably would not be able to see the difference in most cases – and I’m not the only one saying that.
As the next web’s Napier Lopes write:
“Spotify Premium (the existing ad-free level of $ 9.99) already streams at a maximum of 320 kbps (256 kbps on the Internet) if you enabled it in the app’s settings. While the differences between low-loss and low-loss audio can be very clear, I’m willing to bet that most people will not be able to distinguish a lossless file from a 256 kbps MP3 crib – let alone of a file compressed with the more modern Ogg codec that Spotify uses.
Our trial is subject to a lot of placebo. Simply believing that a certain upgrade or tone specification will make your speakers or headphones sound better is often more likely to ‘improve’ than any real change. Yet many old-fashioned sounds with gold ears will swear that they can hear a difference without evidence. ‘
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Since Spotify’s “HiFi” service will only appear later this year, you will not be able to test its lossless streaming directly. However, it’s pretty easy to see if you can now see the difference between audio files of different bitrates and compressions. Lopes recommends the ABX test for digital feed, which gives you two audio files – an ‘A’ and ‘B’ example – as well as a target sample. Your job is to say whether A or B matches the goal, and you can choose between a faster ‘I can choose’ lossy versus lossless’ test of five tracks, a ten shortcut or a mega-20 shortcut .
In other words, the test sees if you can see ‘ difference between a lossless and lossless version of a song. And if you think it’s going to be easy, well … here’s what the test setup looks like if you use it:
You click A, X or B to start playing a track and you can switch between the different versions by clicking A, X or B whatever you want. Even then, I found it quite difficult to see the difference between the files in most situations. Either my audience is struggling, or it’s really hard to separate Spotify’s 320 Kbps streaming – its highest quality – from a lossless file.
I will not even show my results because I just guessed most of the time. It’s plausible that my home audio setup – basically a pair of $ 150 headphones that are directly on the motherboard of my desk – is simply not good enough to make me hear the difference between a high quality file and lossless. But even on a more saturated setup, it’s a tough test, as one Reddit user describe:
I did this test with LS50W in a treated room. I got about 65-70% correct. Thing is, I had to focus REALLY hard and listen critically in a completely non-organic way. And I still had a high percentage wrong. The difference was so small that I switched from Tidal to Spotify after doing the test. I haven’t looked back since.
If you want a more quiz quiz, NPR also published a similar study in 2015 that you can use to test your ears. On this one I did an excellent job of selecting the 320Kbps file. But the lossless file? Not so much.
And if you happen to have a lossless and lossless file of the same song, you can try this old school trick to compare the differences between the two:
Either way, I would not mind a more expensive “hifi” audio service if you can not see the difference between the normal services of a streaming service on everything you have at home – your headphones, your speakers or your ears . You’re spending money for a ‘benefit’ that you will never appreciate, and that seems silly.