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I tried to identify high-quality audio samples and failed miserably
High-resolution audio is getting a lot buzz as of late thanks to the efforts of Tidal, Neil Young and others. While Tidal had a test of its own, NPR set up another quiz to see if you can tell the difference between MP3s and uncompressed WAVs. I couldn't, and I listened to the samples through a pair of B&O H6s routed through an Apogee Groove DAC/headphone amp. In fact, the only track out of the six in which I was able to accurately identify the uncompressed audio was Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" (oddly enough, I'm a big KP fan). For reference, 320kbps MP3s, which are the mid-grade option here, are what streaming services like Spotify, Rdio and others use for their catalogs.
Spotify adds support for 320 kbps music streaming
Spotify brought its music streaming service to the US last year, and both the desktop and mobile apps have been well received. On the desktop, the service delivers a high-quality 320 kbps audio stream, but the mobile app cuts that in half with its 160 kbps stream. Thanks to a recent update, iOS users with an ear for music can now select an "Extreme" setting that'll match the output of the desktop app. Most users with stock headphones won't notice the difference, but those with a pair of high-end ear buds will enjoy the new 320 kbps stream. Spotify's new Extreme feature isn't stream only, it also applies to sync which is useful if you like to have your music on your device. Of course, you will need a rock-solid data connection and robust allotment of data to take advantage of this new mobile feature. Right now this 320 kbps setting is an iOS exclusive and is not yet available for Android or Windows Phone.
Spotify iOS app update brings 320kbps music to mobiles
Enjoying your Spotify tracks on the go just got a little better, at least on iOS, where an app update to v0.4.23 gifts users "very high quality" 320kbps music streaming (for Premium subscribers) and syncing, up from the previous max of 160kbps. Enabling the higher quality streams -- though heavy listeners may want to mind those bandwidth quotas -- is as simple as ticking the "Extreme" box in the settings, as shown above by The Next Web to join in a quality that was previously only available via the desktop app or in the living room. If you're just signing up or setting up the app again the one-tap Facebook log-in should also be a convenient addition (or not, if you don't use Facebook and insist on telling everyone you don't at every opportunity -- we heard you the first ten times). There's no word on updates for the other mobile platforms yet, but we'll keep an eye out.[Thanks, Pete]
