Spotify is a reference point for anyone who wants to listen to some streaming music for free: it is now ubiquitous on all mobile devices (it is downloaded almost automatically together with the social apps) and can also be used on PC via web player or dedicated app (available from the Microsoft Store).
Even if the default settings of Spotify are good for listening to music, you can modify some voices to increase the sound quality and thus obtain songs with a volume and quality comparable to old audio CDs or recording studios without changing devices.
In the following chapters, we will show you how to increase the sound quality of Spotify using some settings present within the various service apps. To access most of the settings, you need to subscribe to Spotify Premium, but some changes can also be made to the free version.
READ ALSO -> 6 Differences between Spotify and Apple Music
Normalize the volume level
Some songs have a higher volume than others, just as it is possible to obtain different levels of volume within the same song. Just normalize the volume by activating the specific item to correct this problem.
To proceed, open the Spotify app, press our profile’s icon and the Settings menu, and activate the Normalize volume item. After activation, you can change the normalized volume level by acting on the drop-down menu next to the Volume level item: you can choose between Loud, Normal, and Low to adapt it to your listening environment.
Change audio quality
Spotify automatically chooses the best quality of streaming audio based on network conditions: on a Wi-Fi network, the quality will be very high, while with a connection via a cellular data network, the quality will be lower (to occupy less bandwidth and avoid using too much internet data).
If you are a sound purist and always want the highest quality, you can change it by opening the app, clicking on your profile, Settings, and the drop-down menu next to the Listening quality item. From the menu, you can choose between the various settings:
- Automatic
- Low
- Normal
- High
- Very high
To get the best audio rendering, select the “Very loud” item and restart the app to make the changes effective. The maximum audio quality is accessible only to Spotify Premium users: if you use the free version, you can select only “High” as the maximum quality; however, it is already an excellent compromise compared to the automatic mode or other settings.
If you want to find out the bitrates per second of each quality option available on Spotify, just check the following list:
- Low -> 24 kbit/s
- Normal -> 96 kbit/s
- High -> 160 kbit/s
- Very high -> 320 kbit/s
This explains the different audio performance between the various voices, since we can only go from 128 kbit/s up, can we talk about quality music.
Adjust the equalizer
On the Spotify apps for Android and iPhone, you can also find the equalizer, which is great for increasing the sound quality of Spotify by playing with the sound frequencies. To access the Spotify equalizer, open the app, go to the Settings -> Playback -> Equalizer path and turn on the function.
After turning it on, you use the suggested profiles to change the sound performance of the songs played; you use one of the voices available below to increase the volume or bass performance, or you play with the frequency indicators so as to be able to choose the best audio quality for your device.
On some Android phones, the equalizer is integrated into the operating system. In this case, it is convenient to act on it because it can manage the sound emitted directly by the phone’s audio chip (while the Spotify equalizer applies changes to the level software). To use this equalizer, open the Settings app, press the search bar at the top, type “Equalizer,” and open the screen suggested by the phone.
Once on the screen, activate any sound effects supported by the phone (for example, Dolby Atmos ), tap on the Graphic Equalizer option, and choose one of the profiles present to improve the performance of the songs played on Spotify.
You can download a third-party app if your phone does not have a built-in equalizer. You can check our guide on the best Equalizer app to improve the sound on your Android. If, on the other hand, you want to apply an equalizer on a Windows PC, we invite you to read our guide on how to change Windows audio settings and use an equalizer.
Use quality headphones or earphones
The sound performance of Spotify songs is often not up to our Hi-Fi system because we use Chinese headphones or earphones that cost a few dollars. To increase the sound quality of Spotify, it is advisable to use only quality headphones and earphones, such as the Apple AirPods Pro ($157.99).
These earphones work very well on iPhones (but you can also use them on Android). They allow you to obtain a superior audio performance compared to any other model of headphones or earphones. As an alternative to AirPods, you can use (on Android devices) the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro or the OnePlus Buds Pro.
Our guides to the best Bluetooth headphones for smartphones can be viewed as other headphone and earphone models.
Conclusions
By reading this guide, you will immediately have all the tricks and tips available to increase the sound quality of Spotify, using the streaming app’s settings on both smartphones and PCs. The best possible configuration to obtain an unparalleled audio performance involves activating the Very Loud voice on Spotify and using the AirPods Pro on the iPhone; alternatively, you can use one of the earphone kits recommended in the previous paragraphs.
