[62ohm]

Is Spotify Premium 'good enough' for mid-fi? It has 320kbps, and I know it is remotely close to the quality of a flac, but I like the convenience of it, the way it makes my life much easier.
 
And I listen directly from CDs for my favourite artists, but how good are CDs actually is? Sorry for what possibly could be a stupid question, I'm new to this 

 

[swisshead225]

most of, not all, are very good quality. so IMO it's good enough for mid-fi.

 

[pookeyhead]

I wouldn't worry.  I've done blind tests with many self-proclaimed audiophiles who couldn't tell a 160kb/s MP3 from a CD.
 
Only my classical collection are FLAC, WAV or APE files.  Everything else is MP3 and ranged from 128 constant bit rate, to 320 variable bit rate, and depending on the music, it doesn't really matter.   A great deal of dance, house, techno and D&B is actually fine with a lower bitrate.
 
Listen to it.  If you can't find fault with it, then be happy

 

[62ohm]

Okay then, I just don't want to 'wrong' these cans in a stupid way obliviously.
 
 
Cheers guys!

 

[toolio]

Try Qobuz. Once you do you'll probably never want to listen to Spotify again.

 

[djvkool]

Definitely good enough, paired with a good DAC/Amp combo (Fiio E10 for example) or seperate (Schiit Magni/Modi for example), any song from Spotify premium will put a smile on your face...

 

[n0str3ss]

  Definitely good enough, paired with a good DAC/Amp combo (Fiio E10 for example) or seperate (Schiit Magni/Modi for example), any song from Spotify premium will put a smile on your face...

My only problem with spotify is the EQ, do you guys have any tips?

 

[Ryukun]

There's this program equalify that you can use. It's a basic EQ, but it should help. If anyone has a better EQ I would love to know

 

[n0str3ss]

I  am gonna give it a try then.

 

[djvkool]

  My only problem with spotify is the EQ, do you guys have any tips?

 
I don't use EQ unfortunately

 

[n0str3ss]

Any special reason or just preference?

 

[Click]

Spotify Premium free for 60 days:
 
https://www.spotify.com/us/gilt/
 
Promotion ends in 11 days as of this post. Enjoy

 

[browncow]

Just be careful in that you only get HQ streaming when using the desktop or mobile client. The browser based version streams at 160 and I can definitely hear a difference when using the browser plugin vs the client.

 

[62ohm]

I guess when I started this thread I was in a lossless-denial phase due to the convenience of Spotify Premium. But after a while, I have to say that now I must concede to the fact that 'good enough' is never actually 'good enough'.
 
I'm not gonna say I can clearly tell the difference of lossless files (I'm using WAV) to 320kbps MP3s, but over time I noticed when I listen to WAV files I drift away into the music much faster than MP3. It takes longer for me to 'drift away and enter' the music with MP3 or Spotify, sometimes I may not 'enter' the music at all. I'm not claiming that I can hear apparent audible difference, but simply put I feel like Spotify is very mechanical and not as smooth compared to WAV / FLAC.
 
Perhaps this is what new audiophiles experience when upgrading their file source? At least, this is what I encountered. I guess again, thank you Head-Fi for the ruthlessly impeccable support of emptying my wallet 

 

 

[browncow]

I think you have to "take what you can get" depending on where and when you are consuming music. For me when i am on the go or exploring new music Spotify is good enough. When I am doing critical listening such as at home or in the office I will use only FLAC. You just can't beat the convenience of having hundreds of thousand's of songs at your disposal, curated playlists, and recommendation engine to discover new bands and albums. It's a means to an end for me.