Spotify HIFI (plus Roon)

This was announced with some fanfare earlier in the year, plenty of reports of it being trialled but so far no sign of it.

Has anybody seen anything? …any of our Swedish friends maybe?

I do wonder what it’ll mean for Roon - I love the software - but Spotify have never shown any enthusiasm to open up the API for them, so I suspect anybody wishing to use Spotify HiFi will actually be taking a step back in functionality and will need to re-enter a world of a mixed economy of steaming platforms. Spotify HiFi via Spotify Connect, and everything else via Roon.

Will be a shame - but the Spotify library is so much bigger to that of Tidal and Qobuz, I do think many of us will end up in that mixed world.

Mixed all ready , I am a Roon user and have Qobus and Spotify for family and on the go. Nothing will change for me regardless of lossless for Spotify I hate Spotifies UI it’s a mess, I am not a fan of their business ethics to musicians either but it’s a necessary evil for on the go as it’s caching is leagues ahead of any others and family use it’s easier.

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I use Spotify only for mobile, and for podcasts through the Google devices we have around the house.

Everything music listening at home goes via Roon - and the integration with Qobuz, Tidal (I use both for some reason I can’t even fully explain to myself) with my existing FLAC collection into a single virtual library is brilliant. Clearly that’s it’s USP.

Such a shame that seemingly the launch of Spotify HI-FI will break the elegance of that Integration.

Only if you let it. It doesn’t change how it currently works so I don’t see how this alters anything. I chose Roon as it did Tidal originally and because of the seamless way you have streaming and local as one. I then added Qobuz when Roon added support for it and late last year just switched to Qobuz as it’s caught up and does overall sound better and 4 subs if I include Roon was too much. I have had Spotify through out this journey Its for convenience nothing more really and being lossless won’t change that as I have no inclination to use it with my hifi. It’s there as a backup which is nice but it won’t ever suplant having Roon. If I just streamed then maybe but I don’t so it doesn’t fit the bill for home hifi use. Streaming apps are just too basic for organising and are not nice to use. Out of all of them I now find Tidals the best even though I don’t use the service I kept my account live in case I go back so dip into the app to check for new releases sometimes.

Surely everything will stay just the same? :thinking:

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What id LIKE to do is just use Spotify HI-FI for general playlists - I’ve so many great playlists on there and it remains in my view the best way to discover new music, partly because of its six and partly because of its algorithms.

I’d then ideally allow Roon to work its magic on higher res versions where available.

So I’m some ways yes - but I’m bemoaning the missed opportunity of being able to slot Spotify HI-FI into Roon and have that single interface.

If Spotify agreed to provide an API in the same way that Tidal and Qobuz do then they may be able to engage with Roon with a great outcome for Roon users, of which I am one.

I can’t see it happening though…

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It won’t, they want people to use their app for data tracking. Their API is much like apple’s for website link ins and companion apps that still use their code.

Not sure I find Spotify any better for discovery than any other service. It tends to repeat a lot in my experience and just throws loads of related stuff, and I can’t stand the podcasts being thrown at me on the home screen. It’s just a horrid barrage of listen to me without much though to the user for half of it . I have found way more new music via Roon radio and fellow users on the this and their forum than via Spotify and I am discovering new music all the time. Their is a lot of love for Spotifies playlists but I just don’t see what the fuss is about. Everybody else has caught up or are slightly better. Again I nod to Tidal it’s my mixes where way better for me and no I am not a hip-hop listener.

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I think what Spotify is great at is “If you liked that, then you’ll like this….”

So I like cover versions - a strange obsession I’ve had for years - now apart from the fact that when I’ve mapped my Spotify playlist track for track into Tidal at least 30% of the tracks don’t exist over there - the “if you listened to Nouvelle Vague you might like Daniela Andrade” function is how I’ve managed to get it up to 3500 tracks!

I agree on the API stuff - but everybody falls on that eventually don’t they - closed ecosystems are getting fewer and fewer. Most people want “if that then do this” type functionality - Sonos are opening up, Spotify will too in time.

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Agree - I find Spotify’s “If you liked that, then you’ll like this…” as well as “Similar artists” as a great way to discover new music. I also like to see the “top 10 songs by artist” and the number of streams by each song as this helps steer you towards the more well known songs as you discover a new artist or album. So, I really value how Spotify helps me discover new music. It’s also really easy to click between artists, albums and songs as you explore new music. The downsides are the new UI which isn’t very flexible and throws podcasts and other things in front of you. There is also a lot of modern pop music on there when you search by streams/charts, much of which is dross, but perhaps I’m just getting old.

Compare this to Qobuz which focuses more on albums and more mature music (ie less modern pop music and more classical, classics etc.). I quite like the UI - it feels more grown up and insightful than Spotify. The downsides of Qobuz are that new music discovery is less good than Spotify and the lack of number of stream plays makes it harder to identify popular tracks with new artists.

All in all, the CD and hi-res quality of Qobuz swings it for me and keeps me coming back. Once Spotify launch their CD quality streaming it’s going to be a close call as to whether I keep Qobuz. Would prefer to do all my streaming through one platform and pay one monthly fee. Spotify won’t be going anywhere as the rest of the family use this!

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Forgot to add that I like Spotify’s ability to cast from any device (computer, iPad, phone), so long as it’s supported by the streamer. I find it annoying to have to access Qobuz through my streamer software, rather than directly from the device.

I appreciate this is different to what many other users want, but all of my music is accessed through streaming. No downloads or rips.

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I read in February that it’s “due”, “imminent” “fourth quarter” etc. Anyone have any further news? Prices? At present I have to use Tidal as well as Spotify to cover all my needs and it would be nice to just use one streaming service!

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The YouTube video below claims to show the onboarding process for Spotify Hifi which suggest that Spotify are close to launch.

https://youtube.com/shorts/pWq5CFQ5gng?feature=share

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Super interesting - yes - looks very close.

Still pushing Spotify Connect - so no sign that they’ll open up for Roon anytime soon (or ever)

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Does anybody know if Spotify Hifi will be compatible with Spotify Connect on the SuperUniti?

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Some how I can’t see Naim implementing it in the old streamers. But I would love to be proved wrong. I’d be willing to go back to Spotify just for the ability to get Connect and Lossless support on my SuperUniti.

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