By: Liam Godin
Audio streaming and downloads are absolutely the most popular method that people around the world employ to listen to music and other audio products. Streaming platforms such as Spotify and Pandora have increased in popularity massively, as streaming becomes the norm. The capability to stream high quality music files appeals to the masses in a huge way. Though the common consumer can often hear no difference between audio file types, these streaming and downloading platforms continue to utilize and accept a variety of audio formats. Even then, several groups of people wish for higher quality music to be streamable and downloadable through these services.
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| Sennheiser HD800s headphones with unknown amplifier |
Currently, the streaming service Spotify compresses its audio files down to 160 kbps on their desktop application, and 96 kbps on their mobile application. This compression is considered "normal" quality for their service. Paid users are then allowed access to "high quality" compression of 320 kbps. The file compression system Spotify utilizes is not lossless. Lossless file types can run up to 1,411 kbps. The reasoning for this compression is to limit file size. Compression is a process that removes frequencies that are believed that the human ear cannot hear. This causes a much lower file size, and is almost un-noticeable for most people. Lossless audio is not often used in Spotify, but there is rumors of a quiet beta program testing lossless file types on the servers.
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| Example of lossless audio vs compressed audio displayed in hertz |
Other audio streaming options such as tidal utilize lossless file types such as FLAC and WAV, running at about 44.1 kHZ/ 16 bit. Both of these file types are of the same quality as CD audio. Though this is a large improvement on file types such as AAC and MP3 files used on Spotify, it does not truly reach true high-res audio files. Tidal is currently supporting master recording for its Hi-Fi subscribers. This means that true high-res audio will be delivered to the masses through streaming. The company that Tidal is employing to do this is MQA, a company that can deliver high-res audio through containers such as FLAC or WAV, at 96 kHZ/ 24 bit. This means that master recordings can be delivered to mobile devices without extreme strain on data usage. This development will hopefully influence other audio streaming and downloading services to utilize truly high-res audio files, delivering a higher quality product and experience to listeners.
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| Audeze LCD-2 Planar Magnetic headphones with Violectric HPA V200 amplifier |
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