Instead of vinyl, cassettes, CDs or stored MP3s, music is listened to via streaming platforms today. They also have many useful functions such as offline listening and can be used on a computer or mobile phone. Which one is the best quality, has the most features and the most polished environment?
The most unexpected finding of the benchmark test is the similarity of all music streaming platforms. They have very similar functions, have similar songs on them, and mobile applications seem to fall out of each other’s eyes. YouTube Music is significantly different, which can be understood more as an additional service after listening to music on mobile when you use paid YouTube on your computer.
Just click the switch and YouTube Music will become regular YouTube. Ratings and comments, which are separated for video and separate audio, will also change
Other differences were subtle features that only some platforms had. It’s often little things like an exclusive mode for Windows PCs that most listeners don’t really care about, but a small percentage wouldn’t want the service without. Some services are not honored and differ, for example, in the availability of podcasts or video clips. Each platform will offer a different combination of features and functions, and in this test we will help you choose the service that is most suitable for you.
Alphabetical list of tested services
- Amazon Music Unlimited
- Apple Music
- Deezer
- Spotify Premium
- Tidal HiFi
- YouTube Music Premium
Music quality
I tested the differences between the services in a blind test setting the highest transmission quality in the desktop application and using the Topping DX5 D/A converter and Hifiman Edition XS headphones, i.e. a set for 25,000 CZK. I was able to tell the difference between the lowest quality YouTube Music and the service with an audio bitrate above 1411 kbps, although not one hundred percent of the time (it depended on the quality of the recording and its parts).
Not all services show the parameters of each song, Amazon Music shows not only this, but also the maximum capabilities of the computer or mobile
Testing Spotify, the second and last low-bitrate platform tested, brought other unexpected problems. I could clearly identify Spotify, but this was due to the different nature of the music compared to other services. A trained ear and good headphones can tell the difference between a bitrate below 320 kbps and above 1411 kbps in most cases.
A good music service will cover listening to music on your computer and mobile, and will also offer podcasts
But if you don’t use the maximum potential of each platform, you will listen on mobile and with wireless headphones, the advantage of higher quality music will be erased. It is always necessary to manually set the highest quality of music for streaming and downloading, an exclusive mode that bypasses intervention by Windows, a volume normalization mode that can interfere with the dynamic range of a song, and setting the appropriate sound quality in Windows will help. And then it depends on the hardware like the D/A converter, the headphone amplifier and the headphones themselves.
You get the best output from the mobile phone typically via a USB dongle and from it wired to the headphones. When using wireless headphones, you need to monitor the codec used (sometimes it is necessary to enable the use of a higher quality codec in the Bluetooth settings). But even the highest-quality LDAC still has an additional setting in the phone’s developer menu, where the bitrate of the transmission can be changed. If you just connect wireless headphones for 2,000 CZK to your mobile and use the default settings, you will not recognize the qualitative differences between the services.
If you like to use an equalizer, the easiest way is to use the built-in one. But you will only see it in some applications
Good selection of music
The music offer was a very nice surprise, all platforms offer not only old songs, but also new ones, and especially local Czechoslovak content. I was also looking for almost unknown Czech artists, underground foreign artists or a movie soundtrack, and each of the items I was looking for could be found on all platforms.
Most services claim to have over 100 million songs. This number will increase every day. You’d have to listen to music well outside the mainstream to not find it on some of the services. Therefore, there is no significant difference between the platforms in this regard.
However, you can focus on podcasts or video clips, as these are not commonplace. Music streaming services aren’t optimal for podcast playback as they lack the functionality of podcast apps, but for very occasional listening it can be nice to have one instead of two apps.
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2024-01-29 11:45:05
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