Spotify Spotify audio quality setting

[pinknoise]

Greetings,
Does anyone know what is the audio quality setting for Spotify on the WiiM Mini?
I mean is the setting in Auto (Variable)? I think it does not follow the mobile phone's setting e.g "Very High", that remote controls it.

Best Regards,

 

[Brantome]

You'll see in the WiiM Home app Now Playing screen what bitrate it's playing at - there's no separate setting. What do you see there?

 

[pinknoise]

You'll see in the WiiM Home app Now Playing screen what bitrate it's playing at - there's no separate setting. What do you see there?

The expected 320/16/44. Just wandering though if it's accurate and how does it handle any bandwidth fluctuation. If besides what is the display there, it uses variable bitrate. Since there is no "hardcoded" setting, "Auto", "Low", "High" etc...

Thank you for your reply

 

[Wiimer]

Greetings,
Does anyone know what is the audio quality setting for Spotify on the WiiM Mini?
I mean is the setting in Auto (Variable)? I think it does not follow the mobile phone's setting e.g "Very High", that remote controls it.

Best Regards,

I don't think that the settings that are grayed out during playback on Spotify connect will affect playback on WiiM.

 

[Brantome]

I’d imagine Connect by default uses Auto if not High. Plus 320Kbps isn’t very demanding in terms of bandwidth.

I’d trust what the display shows

 

[pinknoise]

I’d imagine Connect by default uses Auto if not High. Plus 320Kbps isn’t very demanding in terms of bandwidth.

I’d trust what the display shows

Yeap, same here, although there are times that my ears tell me otherwise, but it might be just my ears

 

[pinknoise]

I don't think that the settings that are grayed out during playback on Spotify connect will affect playback on WiiM.

Yeap, true and tested!

 

[C0mbat]

Just bumping this thread. In the Media Quality setting in Spotify the streaming quality options are all greyed out when playing back through the WiiM. You can only adjust them when you switch playback back to your phone. The question is whether the playback quality persists based on what is currently set or whether it defaults to something like Auto?

I want to always listen at the Very High quality setting.

I also don't see where in the WiiM app I can see the current bitrate of the song that is being played, as per one of the above comments.

 

[Burnside]

Just bumping this thread. In the Media Quality setting in Spotify the streaming quality options are all greyed out when playing back through the WiiM. You can only adjust them when you switch playback back to your phone. The question is whether the playback quality persists based on what is currently set or whether it defaults to something like Auto?

I’d expect auto - see this Spotify page where it states “You can’t change audio settings when using Spotify Connect to play on another device.”

I want to always listen at the Very High quality setting.

I also don't see where in the WiiM app I can see the current bitrate of the song that is being played, as per one of the above comments.

It’s already been mentioned in the forum that WiiM don’t show the bitrate from Spotify as that seemingly goes against Spotify Connect’s UI guidelines for some weird reason…

 

[QuarryHunslet]

It’s already been mentioned in the forum that WiiM don’t show the bitrate from Spotify as that seemingly goes against Spotify Connect’s UI guidelines for some weird reason…

It's probably because it is so poor, and certainly Not High Quality.

 

[C0mbat]

I’d expect auto - see this Spotify page where it states “You can’t change audio settings when using Spotify Connect to play on another device.”

It’s already been mentioned in the forum that WiiM don’t show the bitrate from Spotify as that seemingly goes against Spotify Connect’s UI guidelines for some weird reason…

Thanks for your response. But I don't interpret that as that they default to a particular setting. If they did I would expect them to say it defaults. What is also possible is that you can only adjust quality when not on Spotify Connect. That kind of makes more sense because even though it's greyed out it maintains the previously chosen setting. But I'd love confirmation.

I think I might also try our Tidal to see if there's a noticeable difference. The only issue is that I always preferred Spotify for its suggestions.

 

[hgo58]

Spotify Connect uses the highest quality available when streaming to WiiM.

If you select normal quality on your phone and then use the app to control Spotify on your WiiM, the WiiM will still play at the highest quality which is 320 kbps.

This is because the WiiM is streaming Spotify directly from the servers, and not from your phone.

You are only using your phone as the remote to control it.

Compared to that Tidal may stream with more than 5000 kbps for some tracks.



This article tries to compare the streaming services:

Which Music Streaming Service Has the Best Audio Quality

Curious about which music streaming service offers the best audioquality? We compare the top platforms to help you choose the best one for your needs.

blog.discmakers.com

 

[C0mbat]

Spotify Connect uses the highest quality available when streaming to WiiM.

If you select normal quality on your phone and then use the app to control Spotify on your WiiM, the WiiM will still play at the highest quality which is 320 kbps.

This is because the WiiM is streaming Spotify directly from the servers, and not from your phone.

You are only using your phone as the remote to control it.

Compared to that Tidal may stream with more than 5000 kbps for some tracks.

View attachment 16823

This article tries to compare the streaming services:

Which Music Streaming Service Has the Best Audio Quality

Curious about which music streaming service offers the best audioquality? We compare the top platforms to help you choose the best one for your needs.

blog.discmakers.com

Thanks for your response. My WiiM app isn't showing the bit rate and codec. I see that you've taken a screenshot of the WiiM playing Tidal and not Spotify so do you also see it when playing Spotify?

I did see that What HiFi article that suggests that Sportify Connect always plays at the highest quality but I couldn't find anywhere else that says that. I.e. on the Spotify website. So I'm not entirely convinced.

The article that you linked to focuses on codecs and bitrates, which blind testing seems to have shown doesn't make a huge difference. There seems to be other things going on that compresses the files that sometimes results in certain streaming services sounding better with some songs but not all. But some of this is also possibly heresy.

 

[Burnside]

Thanks for your response. My WiiM app isn't showing the bit rate and codec. I see that you've taken a screenshot of the WiiM playing Tidal and not Spotify so do you also see it when playing Spotify?

As I pointed out above, the WiiM app doesn’t show that info for Spotify as that doesn’t meet the guidelines for the Spotify Connect UI.

 

[Wiimer]

Thanks for your response. My WiiM app isn't showing the bit rate and codec. I see that you've taken a screenshot of the WiiM playing Tidal and not Spotify so do you also see it when playing Spotify?

I did see that What HiFi article that suggests that Sportify Connect always plays at the highest quality but I couldn't find anywhere else that says that. I.e. on the Spotify website. So I'm not entirely convinced.

The article that you linked to focuses on codecs and bitrates, which blind testing seems to have shown doesn't make a huge difference. There seems to be other things going on that compresses the files that sometimes results in certain streaming services sounding better with some songs but not all. But some of this is also possibly heresy.

This thread may be helpful.

G

Post in thread 'When casting via Spotify Connect, the Google Cast speaker should reflect the playing state.'

Jun 28, 2024

I don't think I've seen spec sheets for developers shared externally. However there are some resources below that show a difference in bitrate between the streams:

Spotify Connect streams at 320Kbit/s
Chromecast at 256Kbit/s

https://www.reddit.com/r/spotify/comments/bcxz5a/spotify_via_chromecast_vs_spotifyconnect

Chromecast Bitrate

What bitrate does the Chromecast Audio stream at? There have been other threads addressing this problem, but they all seem to give contradictory answers. This thread says that the Chromecast automatically streams at 320 kbps: Bitrate on Chromecast? This thread says that the audio quality is...

community.spotify.com

I am unable to confirm this because the Wiim app only shows the bitrate for Spotify Connect streams, not Chromecast. They also use different codecs. I could be wrong, but it does sound different...

• gurmukh

 

[hgo58]

Thanks for your response. My WiiM app isn't showing the bit rate and codec. I see that you've taken a screenshot of the WiiM playing Tidal and not Spotify so do you also see it when playing Spotify?

I did see that What HiFi article that suggests that Sportify Connect always plays at the highest quality but I couldn't find anywhere else that says that. I.e. on the Spotify website. So I'm not entirely convinced.

The article that you linked to focuses on codecs and bitrates, which blind testing seems to have shown doesn't make a huge difference. There seems to be other things going on that compresses the files that sometimes results in certain streaming services sounding better with some songs but not all. But some of this is also possibly heresy.

The Spotify playing on the WiiM does not show bitrate, as noted by others.

I can however hear a clear difference between Tidal and Spotify. Just listen to the keyboard in beginning. It sounds much more clear and "real" on Tidal.

 

[Burnside]

This thread may be helpful.

G

Post in thread 'When casting via Spotify Connect, the Google Cast speaker should reflect the playing state.'

Jun 28, 2024

I don't think I've seen spec sheets for developers shared externally. However there are some resources below that show a difference in bitrate between the streams:

Spotify Connect streams at 320Kbit/s
Chromecast at 256Kbit/s

https://www.reddit.com/r/spotify/comments/bcxz5a/spotify_via_chromecast_vs_spotifyconnect

Chromecast Bitrate

What bitrate does the Chromecast Audio stream at? There have been other threads addressing this problem, but they all seem to give contradictory answers. This thread says that the Chromecast automatically streams at 320 kbps: Bitrate on Chromecast? This thread says that the audio quality is...

community.spotify.com

I am unable to confirm this because the Wiim app only shows the bitrate for Spotify Connect streams, not Chromecast. They also use different codecs. I could be wrong, but it does sound different...

• gurmukh

Following on from a comment there by some abscondee , here’s another link that may be of use

https://www.avforums.com/threads/us...ce-with-spotify-connect.2268713/post-27712372

 

[Wiimer]

Following on from a comment there by some abscondee , here’s another link that may be of use

https://www.avforums.com/threads/us...ce-with-spotify-connect.2268713/post-27712372

It is the link that Mr Brantome mentioned back in the good old days?

 

[Burnside]

It is the link that Mr Brantome mentioned back in the good old days?

It’s a related link tbh. I wonder where he disappeared to?

 

[sNc]

Soo many years later, and Spotify and Youtube Music - such a huge music services, cannot go beyond 320 / 16b ...