Spotify streaming from pc

tidal sq >> spotify

its sirloin vs chuck...

Spotify is a notch or two below Tidal (and Qobuz) in sq, it will never sound as good.

Thanks guys I kind of knew that going in, however, do I have it set up properly?

Spotify had an audio quality setting. By default it's on 'Auto', it's unclear what that means. Put it on the highest possible quality, from what I read that's a 320 kbps stream.

Spotify  For PC Premium for Windows 7/8/10 now is available for free. Listen to the right music, wherever you are and now that we have the premium version of Spotify for PC.

Update:

Okay I am figuring this out as I go (complicated) along and I needed time to give it an adequate listen before posting.

From the Spotify website I downloaded the Spotify Desktop app to my pc. The app settings actually give you some level fidelity control for streaming.

My pc is connected to an Eero Wifi mesh system with 3 pods throughout the house. The main pod closest to the pc is connected directly by a Cat 6 ethernet cable from the Modem. The most distant pod, which is in my listening room, is connected directly to the first pod via a Cat6 ethernet cable. Oppo Sonica DAC is connected to the listening room Eero pod via ethernet cable.

I use an iPad for the controller with Spotify app and Oppo Sonica app downloaded to it.

Equipment consists of: Torus Power RM Series conditioner, Oppo BDP-105D used as CD transport, Oppo Sonica DAC, I use the balanced outputs to feed a Rogue Audio Pharaoh integrated hybrid tube amp, which drive Totem Forest Signature speakers. I am using Transparent Ultra interconnects and Speaker cable.

Spotify Premium Family may not sound quite as good as Tidal, however, it is not bad at all and I am pleasantly surprised by just how good it does sound!  Hope this helps others.

Good IMO that you downloaded the Spotify app and now have the ability to make some adjustments for streaming. Also, IMO, the biggest and easiest thing you can do to instantly maximize sound quality with the app is to engage "loudness normalization" or whatever it might be called within Spotify. 

That is my experience with Amazon HD in any event for what it's worth. I believe that most of the streaming services are simply "loud" if left unadjusted in this sense. Yes, you can probably tweak away with volume controls within Windows or your DAC driver, but it will be endlessly more complicated and probably take forever to figure it out and dial it in. 

Think of "loudness normalization" as being akin to setting a new TV on Cinema Mode once it arrives home; it will probably get you 80-90% there (maybe more) instantly vs. endlessly tweaking individual settings. 

I probably screwed around with various settings in my PC for 6-8 months before someone suggesting loudness normalization on another forum. It was very worthwhile, even though it might be counterintuitive from the typical audiophile point of view. 

Thanks hdm and henry00.

I gave up using the horridly frustrating and unsupported Sonica streaming app and bought a Bluesound Node. Holy crap I didn't realize streaming was supposed to be this easy LOL.  I still use the DAC in the Sonica because it sounds better (to me) than the Node DAC. 

320kbps is the highest streaming quality you can get from Spotify. You may want to try adjusting the bitrate, sample rate, audio channels etc. of Spotify songs with the assistance of AudFree Spotify Music Converter. Apart from this, you will also download high quality Spotify music for free.