In a forum thread on Spotify’s Community page, a moderator revealed that the company is still working on HiFi audio but couldn’t give an exact date when it will launch.
The forum thread is filled with Spotify users airing their frustrations that the service still hasn’t delivered HiFi audio, which was announced in February 2021 during the company’s Stream On event. According to the original announcement, HiFi audio was supposed to launch by the end of 2021 as a cost add-on for Spotify Premium subscribers.
Currently, Spotify is lagging behind other music streaming services with their high-quality audio features, and unless something is done soon, that gap will continue to widen.
Apple Music, for example, gave its users Spatial Audio and Lossless support in 2021. Spatial Audio enables an immersive 3D sound through AirPods and other compatible headphones, while Lossless offers high-quality audio with low compression for an even better listening experience.
Apple Music subscribers also aren’t charged extra for those features.
Spotify’s streaming quality currently maxes out at 320Kbps. The HiFi feature promises to deliver “CD-quality, lossless audio,” which is an audio resolution of 16-bit/44.1 kHz.
However, this format is low resolution when compared to other music streaming services, like Apple, which delivers high-resolution audio at 24-bit/192 kHz, far exceeding Spotify’s promised (and as yet, undelivered) format.
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