Lossless on Spotify Premium Available on WiiM

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Spotify Premium has officially started rolling out Lossless Audio, delivering studio-quality sound to music lovers across the globe. And for WiiM users, Spotify’s new high-fidelity streaming is fully compatible with WiiM devices through Spotify Connect. When Lossless Audio on Spotify rolls out to your Premium account, you'll be able to play it on your WiiM devices.

With support for up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC, Spotify Premium now offers richer, more detailed playback across nearly every track in its catalog. Whether you're rediscovering old favorites or diving into new releases, the listening experience is elevated to a whole new level.

WiiM users can enjoy seamless integration via Spotify Connect, just enable Lossless in your Spotify app settings and let your WiiM device do the rest.

Ready to hear the difference?

Read Spotify’s official announcement and start streaming in Lossless today. Check out this video courtesy of Spotify:
View attachment Spotify lossless_setup_4-5.mp4

 

[harkpabst]

Well, Tidal is cheaper for an individual.

Tidal Family used to be 1 € less than Spotify Family in Germany, too.

After the latest Spotify price increase the gap is 5 € per month.

 

[Trik-e]

Why has the app changed so you can't see the actual bitrate being streamed, it just says Lossless. Is this dictated by Spotify?? I like seeing the rates of what I'm playing. Don't we all???

Going to play with YTM and Spotify Lossless compare some tracks this evening.

 

[Burnside]

Why has the app changed so you can't see the actual bitrate being streamed, it just says Lossless. Is this dictated by Spotify??

Yes, as has been mentioned several times, plus bitrate is almost meaningless for a lossless track as it gives no indication of quality. WiiM may add the bit depth to the lossless badge at some point.

 

[Trik-e]

TBH I don't spend nearly as much time here as you do, so I can miss the odd post when there's 6+ pages. As you can see from our respective post counts and join date. Shame they can't include it on Spotify as they do for pretty much every other app they support. Or, at least the ones I use on the daily.

 

[pieterv1]

One week in, I'm just happy we finally got where we are

All sounding great on the WiiM Ultra & Sony WF-1000XM4's (which have cooked their internal batteries for the 2nd time, but that's a whole different story )

 

[jajs]

After trying all three services, and with Spotify having incorporated lossless, I would never go back to Tidal. The ecosystem integration in Spotify is simply the best of the three. The fact that in Tidal I can’t continue on my Mac the playback I started on my phone is simply a disaster. The best hi-fi sound: Qobuz. For lossless, simply Spotify.

 

[HighNRG]

It looks like future won't be boring .

https://mqalabs.com/spotify-lossless-delivering-exceptional-playback-with-qrono-d2a/

 

[Burnside]

It looks like future won't be boring .

https://mqalabs.com/spotify-lossless-delivering-exceptional-playback-with-qrono-d2a/

Not just time that’s smeared on that, is it?

 

[HighNRG]

I guess the sticker on the devices will come for customers with a small fee

 

[AnchormAndrew]

Hi there, thanks for the assistance. I reinstalled Spotify on Android, unplugged the WiiM Pro, restarted my phone, then plugged in the device. Prior to that, lossless was greyed out on Spotify. Once I restarted, the device icon changed to a projector instead of a speaker. Settings showed lossless available after that. Clearing the cache might have done the trick instead of uninstalling.

 

[Wiimer]

It seems that 24-bit sources are gradually increasing

 

[Multiway]

For a good while now we've been doing back to back comparisons of Qobuz and Spotify Lossless.
Pretty much across the board prefer Qobuz on our hifi!

There's something going on with Spotify Lossess in the upper frequencies. its not massive but it is there - Distortion / congestion, something not as clean and organised (interesting post above about smear, we've been hearing this trait long before reading that though).

It doesn't matter which Qobuz res is played 16/44, 24/48 etc they all sound less congested and better laid out.
It's not a bit or sampling numbers thing. Don't have ears of a bat, this is not supersonic

Next up is to do blind testing to count out confirmation bias between the two services, using tracks we don't know, so no memory of what we think it should sound like..

Will keep subbing to both...

 

[Multiway]

Update: (quite long)

We have now completed a blind test Qobuz Vs Spotify lossless
I chose a variety resolution tracks from Qobuz 16/44, 24/48 & 24/96, all ones my daughter has not listened to before, so no memory bias of how they could/should sound from the past.
Spotify are all at their 24/44, regardless of what they've procured from the record labels etc.

Then randomly and invisibly to her I played the tracks without her knowing if it was Spotify or Qobuz.
No pattern as to which service would be the first play for comparison.
We played 15 tracks.
I could jump back and forth between the services at her request, for analysis and comparison.

******************
She 100%, yes 100% picked the Qobuz tracks as preferable.
******************

When asked what was preferable, it was that "there's more headroom on the preferred track, feels like the artist can sing/play higher, no constraint).
Also "certain notes / tones clang out for longer, or are more tangible",
"This sound clearer / less congested.

Then it was my turn.
15 new tracks I'd never listened to before, range of res' chosen on Qobuz.

I found I preferred Qobuz on 12 of the 15 tracks.
Def more headroom with Qobuz on the majority. Lead and trailing edges of notes more defined.
Less congestion in the upper frequencies.
The tracks I picked Spotify for sounded bolder / had the more pleasing tonal balance and presence of sound experienced.

I do wonder what Spotify are doing with the 16/44 sources (of which there must be many) to make them 24/44.
Are they EQ'ing for their main customer base (many on headphones?).

My system btw is a 4 way active, Multi Entry Synergy Horn System, utilising zero order crossovers so as to be phase coherent from 80Hz to beyond 12kHz.
Below 55Hz two 2.4m tall Tapped Horns handle the sub bass.
A 4 in 8 out DSP XO DAC Preamplifier handles the channels with time/phase alignment, XO etc.

 

[MCG555]

Update: (quite long)

We have now completed a blind test Qobuz Vs Spotify lossless
I chose a variety resolution tracks from Qobuz 16/44, 24/48 & 24/96, all ones my daughter has not listened to before, so no memory bias of how they could/should sound from the past.
Spotify are all at their 24/44, regardless of what they've procured from the record labels etc.

Then randomly and invisibly to her I played the tracks without her knowing if it was Spotify or Qobuz.
No pattern as to which service would be the first play for comparison.
We played 15 tracks.
I could jump back and forth between the services at her request, for analysis and comparison.

******************
She 100%, yes 100% picked the Qobuz tracks as preferable.
******************

When asked what was preferable, it was that "there's more headroom on the preferred track, feels like the artist can sing/play higher, no constraint).
Also "certain notes / tones clang out for longer, or are more tangible",
"This sound clearer / less congested.

Then it was my turn.
15 new tracks I'd never listened to before, range of res' chosen on Qobuz.

I found I preferred Qobuz on 12 of the 15 tracks.
Def more headroom with Qobuz on the majority. Lead and trailing edges of notes more defined.
Less congestion in the upper frequencies.
The tracks I picked Spotify for sounded bolder / had the more pleasing tonal balance and presence of sound experienced.

I do wonder what Spotify are doing with the 16/44 sources (of which there must be many) to make them 24/44.
Are they EQ'ing for their main customer base (many on headphones?).

My system btw is a 4 way active, Multi Entry Synergy Horn System, utilising zero order crossovers so as to be phase coherent from 80Hz to beyond 12kHz.
Below 55Hz two 2.4m tall Tapped Horns handle the sub bass.
A 4 in 8 out DSP XO DAC Preamplifier handles the channels with time/phase alignment, XO etc.

Thanks very much for your analysis!
Interesting!
How big were differences?
What kind of music and styles were you listening to?

You have obviously a really high end system…
How big would be the differences with a more average hifi system?

I know, thisis difficult to answer…

Thanks again!

 

[Melomane]

Have a look on this:

 

[HighNRG]

Have a look on this:

Next crusade from good old Golden Sound . May be he is slowly warming up against the announced next Lenbrook/MQA attempt on the wallets of the users.

 

[Multiway]

Thanks very much for your analysis!
Interesting!
How big were differences?
What kind of music and styles were you listening to?

You have obviously a really high end system…
How big would be the differences with a more average hifi system?

I know, thisis difficult to answer…

Thanks again!

The differences are not huge but noticeable. Once heard and compared you'd kinda want to carry on with Qobuz on my hifi system.

I really like the Spotify lyrics feature, the info on artists, how many monthly listener stat and video clips they play in App.
We as a family really like and use it for its integration into Sonos / Alexa voice control in the rest of the house..
Qobuz doesn't have that.

So I'll be staying with Qobuz for hifi, Spotify for the rest.

I reckon you'd hear the difference using the phone apps and decent blue tooth Headphones. I have the Sony WH-1000XM4s.
Could clearly hear that lossless was better than 320 ogg on them. My daughters reported the same on their Bose phones.

When I get time I'll do a Qobuz Vs Spotify lossless headphones comparison test.

 

[R. Neal]

For a good while now we've been doing back to back comparisons of Qobuz and Spotify Lossless.
Pretty much across the board prefer Qobuz on our hifi!

There's something going on with Spotify Lossess in the upper frequencies. its not massive but it is there - Distortion / congestion, something not as clean and organised (interesting post above about smear, we've been hearing this trait long before reading that though).

It doesn't matter which Qobuz res is played 16/44, 24/48 etc they all sound less congested and better laid out.
It's not a bit or sampling numbers thing. Don't have ears of a bat, this is not supersonic

Next up is to do blind testing to count out confirmation bias between the two services, using tracks we don't know, so no memory of what we think it should sound like..

Will keep subbing to both...

Did similar comparison with tidal. Similar results, better sounding treble frequencies, less "muffled" sound. Will be sticking with tidal.

 

[harkpabst]

My system btw is a 4 way active, Multi Entry Synergy Horn System, utilising zero order crossovers so as to be phase coherent from 80Hz to beyond 12kHz.

What are zero order crossovers?

Next crusade from good old Golden Sound . May be he is slowly warming up against the announced next Lenbrook/MQA attempt on the wallets of the users.

If he has a certain point here or not solely depends on how Spotify was served to the playback device.

We have now completed a blind test Qobuz Vs Spotify lossless

How did you play Spotify and Qobuz to the WiiM Pro? Did you use the Connect feature from a phone in both cases?

 

[pjorgenunes]

The differences are not huge but noticeable. Once heard and compared you'd kinda want to carry on with Qobuz on my hifi system.

I really like the Spotify lyrics feature, the info on artists, how many monthly listener stat and video clips they play in App.
We as a family really like and use it for its integration into Sonos / Alexa voice control in the rest of the house..
Qobuz doesn't have that.

So I'll be staying with Qobuz for hifi, Spotify for the rest.

I reckon you'd hear the difference using the phone apps and decent blue tooth Headphones. I have the Sony WH-1000XM4s.
Could clearly hear that lossless was better than 320 ogg on them. My daughters reported the same on their Bose phones.

When I get time I'll do a Qobuz Vs Spotify lossless headphones comparison test.

Nice review. Would it be possible to share the playlist you used for testing?