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nikotown

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 30, 2019
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San Francisco
Just received my Airpods Max and I’ve been going back and forth between Apple Music and Spotify to see if there’s a difference in the quality of music between the two. I am mainly a Spotifty user, but I‘m hearing better quality come from Apple Music than Spotify. Has anyone else noticed a difference between the two?
 
Both are garbage to me.

But if you strictly use the Airpods Max, you would expect that Apple Music works better with the Airpods Max as it has been designed for that usage.
 
According to the Cult of Mac podcast there is a dramatic difference in sound quality when using AirPod Max with Apple Music and Spotify in favour of Apple Music. Something to do with the codex Apple uses apparently.
 
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According to the Cult of Mac podcast there is a dramatic difference in sound quality when using AirPod Max with Apple Music and Spotify in favour of Apple Music. Something to do with the codex Apple uses apparently.
it’s interesting because i’ve only noticed it with the airpods max and not with my aipords pro!
 
Just received my Airpods Max and I’ve been going back and forth between Apple Music and Spotify to see if there’s a difference in the quality of music between the two. I am mainly a Spotifty user, but I‘m hearing better quality come from Apple Music than Spotify. Has anyone else noticed a difference between the two?

Sound quality is usually better than Spotify’s, thanks to Apple Music using a 256kbps AAC bitrate, compared to the max 320kbps Ogg Vorbis bitrate used by Spotify. Source: The Verge

 
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Spotify is the worst sounding streaming service out there, Apple Music is better, then Amazon HD but none of them are anywhere near as good as Tidal HiFi or Qobuz Studio, with Qobuz having a slight edge for me

Jason
 
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Spotify is the worst sounding streaming service out there, Apple Music is better, then Amazon HD but none of them are anywhere near as good as Tidal HiFi or Qobuz Studio, with Qobuz having a slight edge for me

Jason
have you tried Tidal with the aipods max?
 
Just doing a bit of research before I eventually buy the APM’s.

So I’m reading that because Apple (& therefore Apple Music) use AAC, the sound quality will be better using AM than Spotify as there will be some form of encoding done.

I guess I’m just wanting to know HOW much better will it be? Like in real world usage, will there really be that much difference that it is noticeable?
 
Just doing a bit of research before I eventually buy the APM’s.

So I’m reading that because Apple (& therefore Apple Music) use AAC, the sound quality will be better using AM than Spotify as there will be some form of encoding done.

I guess I’m just wanting to know HOW much better will it be? Like in real world usage, will there really be that much difference that it is noticeable?

Here is a video that tests it

 
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Just doing a bit of research before I eventually buy the APM’s.

So I’m reading that because Apple (& therefore Apple Music) use AAC, the sound quality will be better using AM than Spotify as there will be some form of encoding done.

I guess I’m just wanting to know HOW much better will it be? Like in real world usage, will there really be that much difference that it is noticeable?
I think there is a lot of "psychological effect" in that , I've just tried with Spotify Web (with streams AAC 256) , and Spotify Desktop (OGG 320) , same songs (with Spotify connect you can switch from one to the other instantly) , and there is absolutely no difference.
I'm pretty sure in a blind test , without knowing which one is Apple Music with one is Spotify , nobody would know.
 
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All of the codecs we're talking about here are audibly transparent. You won't be able to hear a difference with human ears. If you hear a difference, it's likely a difference in mastering, not the audio codec.
 
fwiw i just got back on Apple Music and tried the Spatial Audio album section for the first time and the jazz is blowing my mind. i’ve watched those performative youtubes and laughed at people crying listening to airpod max for the first time (that guy from the video above lays it on kinda think imo) but this almost got me there with a Dexter Gordon record.
 
I’ve only got standard AirPod pros, ok for books and a generic listen.
if you want quality get a good dac like the Audioquest colbalt and use some good quality wired speakers.
 
fwiw i just got back on Apple Music and tried the Spatial Audio album section for the first time and the jazz is blowing my mind.
Toggle spatial audio on and off while it's playing and you can hear the difference. The spatial audio track is completely remixed. It doesn't resemble the stereo mix at all. The Blue Note tracks are more radically different than any of the other ones in the spatial audio category.
 
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