Spotify's lossless streams cap out lower than Tidal's—but most listeners won't notice.
For years, Spotify has held a quiet debt to its most discerning listeners — a promise of sound rendered whole, uncompressed, faithful to the original recording. Leaked screenshots surfacing in early May 2024 suggest that debt may finally be coming due, as internal UI elements reveal a polished lossless audio tier called Enhanced Listening, complete with compatibility tools and quality scoring systems. The images, coaxed from Spotify's own code by a technically curious Reddit user, show a company that has moved well beyond planning and into the final architecture of delivery. Whether this marks a genuine leap forward or merely a careful catch-up to rivals like Tidal is a question the audiophile community will answer in time.
- A Reddit user reverse-engineered Spotify's client to surface hidden UI screens, giving the public its clearest look yet at a lossless audio feature the company has teased for years without delivering.
- The leaked tier — now apparently called Enhanced Listening rather than the previously rumored Supremium — would offer 24-bit lossless streaming via Spotify Connect, with a branded 'Spotify Lossless' label appearing on the now-playing screen.
- Sophisticated desktop tools including a frequency monitor, a compatibility checker, and a bandwidth scoring system from Low to Lossless suggest Spotify is trying to manage user expectations before frustration sets in.
- A hard ceiling of 1,411 kbps — lower than Tidal's 192kHz ceiling — and Bluetooth's inherent inability to carry true lossless audio may blunt the feature's appeal for serious audiophiles.
- The interface's polish and completeness signal an imminent launch, though Spotify has issued no official date, leaving the announcement in a liminal space between leak and reality.
A Reddit user named OhItsTom used Spicetify — a free tool for customizing the Spotify client — to dig into the app's underlying code and force-enable hidden interface elements, producing seven screenshots that offer the most detailed look yet at Spotify's long-delayed lossless audio ambitions. The tier, apparently rebranded from the previously leaked name Supremium to Enhanced Listening, would allow subscribers to stream uncompressed music at up to 24-bit quality through Spotify Connect, the company's WiFi-based multi-room audio protocol.
On mobile, the experience would be branded as Spotify Lossless, with an onboarding flow walking users through setup and a visible label on the now-playing screen confirming when lossless audio is actually active. Troubleshooting tips and adjustable playback and download settings round out the mobile interface. The desktop version goes further, featuring a frequency monitor displaying signal readouts from 60Hz to 15kHz, a compatibility checker that evaluates your device, network, and bandwidth, and a scoring system that rates your setup anywhere from Low to Lossless.
There are meaningful caveats. Spotify's lossless streams would cap at 1,411 kbps — a ceiling that trails Tidal's 192kHz offering, a gap that most listeners won't perceive but that audiophiles will note. A higher bitrate of 2,117 kbps appears in the screenshots, though whether it's standard or gated behind additional cost is unclear. Lossless tracks would be delivered in FLAC format, but only for select catalog titles. Bluetooth connections, the screenshots warn, cannot reliably carry lossless audio — Spotify steers users toward certified Connect hardware like WiFi-enabled speakers instead, a limitation that may disappoint those hoping to stream hi-res audio to wireless earbuds.
The interface's evident polish suggests the feature is close to launch, though Spotify has made no official announcement. The designs may still shift before release, but the depth of detail visible in the leak implies the project is far more mature than the company's long silence on the subject would suggest.
A Reddit user has posted what appears to be the first real glimpse of Spotify's long-rumored high-fidelity streaming tier, and the screenshots suggest the company is ready to finally deliver on a promise it made years ago. The tier, which Spotify has apparently decided to call Enhanced Listening rather than the previously leaked name Supremium, would let subscribers stream lossless audio—music files encoded without compression—directly to compatible devices. The images, seven in total, show both the mobile and desktop interfaces the company may roll out, complete with setup guides, troubleshooting tools, and a system to check whether your hardware can actually handle the higher quality streams.
On mobile, the feature would be branded as Spotify Lossless, and the screenshots reveal an onboarding experience that walks users through the basics. Subscribers would be able to wirelessly stream music in up to 24-bit quality through Spotify Connect, the company's multi-room audio protocol, on any device that supports it. A label would appear on the now-playing screen whenever you're listening in lossless mode, so you'd know when the higher quality is actually flowing. The interface includes troubleshooting tips for people who aren't receiving lossless audio, and a settings menu where users can adjust both playback quality and download preferences.
The desktop version reveals more sophisticated tools. There's a compatibility checker that would test whether your computer setup—your device, your network connection, and your internet bandwidth—can handle lossless streaming. At the top of the menu sits what appears to be an audio frequency monitor displaying a readout from 60Hz up to 15kHz, presumably to show signal strength. Once you connect, Spotify would run a test and assign your setup a score ranging from Low all the way up to Lossless, the highest ranking. This scoring system seems designed to give users realistic expectations about what quality they can actually achieve given their hardware and network conditions.
There are some technical limitations worth noting. Spotify's lossless streams would cap out at 1,411 kilobits per second, which is lower than what Tidal offers at 192 kilohertz. For most listeners, the difference would be imperceptible, but audiophiles comparing the two services would notice Spotify's approach is less ambitious. The leaked screenshots do show a way to push the bitrate higher—up to 2,117 kbps—though it's unclear whether that would be a standard feature or require additional payment. The lossless audio would come in FLAC format, a lossless codec, but apparently only for certain songs in Spotify's catalog.
One significant caveat appears in the compatibility checker: Bluetooth connections can degrade lossless audio quality because the wireless standard doesn't fully support lossless sound. Spotify's guidance is to use certified Spotify Connect hardware instead—devices like Amazon Alexa speakers that connect over WiFi. This is a practical limitation that could frustrate users expecting to stream lossless audio to their wireless earbuds or Bluetooth speakers.
The screenshots come from a Reddit user named OhItsTom, who revealed in comments that they created them using Spicetify, a free third-party tool that lets technically inclined users customize the Spotify client. They used the tool to dig into Spotify's code and forcefully enable the UI elements, which is why these images exist before any official announcement. The fact that the interface looks polished and complete suggests Spotify may be close to launch, though the company has not announced a release date. Whether these are final designs or still subject to change remains unclear, but the level of detail visible in the leak suggests the feature is further along than many expected.
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Bluetooth connections can negatively affect lossless listening since the standard doesn't fully support lossless sound— Spotify's compatibility checker notice in the leaked UI
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Why would Spotify go through the trouble of building a lossless tier when most people can't hear the difference?
Because the people who can hear the difference—and who care enough to seek it out—are also the people most likely to pay for a premium tier. It's a way to capture the high-end market without alienating casual listeners.
But the bitrate cap is lower than Tidal's. Doesn't that undercut the whole value proposition?
For most listeners, yes, it probably doesn't matter. But it does signal that Spotify is being conservative. They're entering the space, not trying to dominate it. They're testing the market.
The Bluetooth limitation seems like a real problem. Won't people want to use this on their wireless speakers?
Absolutely. That's the friction point. You can have lossless audio, but only if you're willing to use wired connections or WiFi-based speakers. It's a technical constraint, but it's also a business one—it limits who can actually use the feature.
Do you think this leak accelerates the launch?
It might. The UI looks finished. Spotify knows people have seen it now. Staying silent for months would just build frustration. They'll probably announce something soon.
What does this mean for Tidal?
Tidal has been the lossless option for years. Now they have real competition from a service with 500 million users. Tidal's advantage was being the only choice. That's gone.