One of the last to arrive in this niche market, Spotify is finally announcing a hi-fi version of its on-demand music service. Audiophiles will be happy with the arrival of an uncompressed option for their albums, allowing consumption in lossless quality. The announcement was made by the platform during Stream On, a digital event that brought news to the application. The company revealed that this was one of the most desired implementations by users. Deezer, Tidal, and other Spotify competitors already have HiFi solutions, and charge more for them.

One of the reasons for the different prices is the greater weight of FLAC files, the most widely used format for files without loss of quality. Spotify's new alternative, however, has not yet had its price announced.

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Additionally, Spotify HiFi will only be launched in select markets, according to the company. There is no release date for the launch either, but the company promises to announce more news soon. Tests involving this more premium consumption method, however, have been going on since at least 2017, but for some reason the company chose to only make it official now. The new feature will be compatible not only with smartphones, but also smart speakers and other audio gadgets.

What is hi-fi

The idea of ​​high fidelity sound, with files without compression, suppression or channel joining, would be the purest audio conceived in the original recording, allowing for more crystal clear and immersive music, with spatial localization of instruments, for example.

This, of course, charges a much higher data consumption, and also requires the user to have high-end audio devices. A simple headset or a regular Bluetooth speaker is not designed to handle the dynamism of this type of file. In other words, the user will need to prepare themselves from start to finish, with a Spotify HiFi plan and also compatible sound devices.

It's not necessarily the holy grail for every audiophile. The quality is equivalent to the release, and that may be a more recent CD remaster. During the 1990s and 2000s, record labels released a slew of remasters, changing the characteristics of the original, in the so-called Loudness Wars. It's one reason why audiophiles may prefer to skip the CD and stick with vinyl.

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