Hi there. I'm probably not alone in saying that although I pre-ordered my Sign of the Times Super deluxe CD/Vinyl set (me from Amazon) that it won't be arriving at my doorstep anytime soon. Mine hasn't despatched yet and don't know when it will, so I'm not able to have access to download codes or Amazon digital downloads. So in the meantime, I'll probably turn to Spotify.

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So, my question, is there a big difference in quality between it being downloaded in Spotify in 'Very high' quality and it being downloaded with the download codes/amazon digital download? If there is, I'd rather wait until I get the download codes/Amazon digital downloads - I've waited long enough, another few weeks wouldn't make much difference.

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Cheers me dears.

[Edited 9/25/20 1:20am]

If you don't want to splash additional cash I would suggest you just listen to Spotify until your delivery arrives. Do you need to download from Spotify or could you just stream from it and don't concentrate on quality until the CD arrives?

You could sign up for Qobuz for the trial free month and stream at 44.1 / 24bit.

That's what I've done. Sounds good enough for me. To be honest I might even pay for Qobuz, it's quality is head and shoulders above Spotify, though there are holes in it's catalogue.

It's also all on YouTube, albeit presumably at reduced quality.

ThePersian said:

If you don't want to splash additional cash I would suggest you just listen to Spotify until your delivery arrives. Do you need to download from Spotify or could you just stream from it and don't concentrate on quality until the CD arrives?

You could sign up for Qobuz for the trial free month and stream at 44.1 / 24bit.

That's what I've done. Sounds good enough for me. To be honest I might even pay for Qobuz, it's quality is head and shoulders above Spotify, though there are holes in it's catalogue.

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Thanks for your thoughts. You can download songs from Spotify in varying quality - "Very High" being the best quality. I just wondered if anyone out there has both the official high quality downloads AND listened to the "Very High" Spotify download to see if there is much difference. If the official high quality downloads are much better, then I won't bother with Spotify and wait to be WOWed when I finally get my SD Vinyl version despatched.

For some reason Spotify turns me off

Lordy said:

ThePersian said:

If you don't want to splash additional cash I would suggest you just listen to Spotify until your delivery arrives. Do you need to download from Spotify or could you just stream from it and don't concentrate on quality until the CD arrives?

You could sign up for Qobuz for the trial free month and stream at 44.1 / 24bit.

That's what I've done. Sounds good enough for me. To be honest I might even pay for Qobuz, it's quality is head and shoulders above Spotify, though there are holes in it's catalogue.

.

Thanks for your thoughts. You can download songs from Spotify in varying quality - "Very High" being the best quality. I just wondered if anyone out there has both the official high quality downloads AND listened to the "Very High" Spotify download to see if there is much difference. If the official high quality downloads are much better, then I won't bother with Spotify and wait to be WOWed when I finally get my SD Vinyl version despatched.

I've not downloaded enough from Spotify to be an authority on it but the downloads I have had have been patchy. Some good, some mediocre. Perhaps stuff recorded & released after 2005 having better resolution than older stuff.

ThePersian said:

If you don't want to splash additional cash I would suggest you just listen to Spotify until your delivery arrives. Do you need to download from Spotify or could you just stream from it and don't concentrate on quality until the CD arrives?

You could sign up for Qobuz for the trial free month and stream at 44.1 / 24bit.

That's what I've done. Sounds good enough for me. To be honest I might even pay for Qobuz, it's quality is head and shoulders above Spotify, though there are holes in it's catalogue.

I'd love to listen to it on Spotify...but it won't play yet! It did this to me with 1999 - list the tracks and then take days for me to be able to access them! It's unbearable!

Lordy said:

ThePersian said:

If you don't want to splash additional cash I would suggest you just listen to Spotify until your delivery arrives. Do you need to download from Spotify or could you just stream from it and don't concentrate on quality until the CD arrives?

You could sign up for Qobuz for the trial free month and stream at 44.1 / 24bit.

That's what I've done. Sounds good enough for me. To be honest I might even pay for Qobuz, it's quality is head and shoulders above Spotify, though there are holes in it's catalogue.

.

Thanks for your thoughts. You can download songs from Spotify in varying quality - "Very High" being the best quality. I just wondered if anyone out there has both the official high quality downloads AND listened to the "Very High" Spotify download to see if there is much difference. If the official high quality downloads are much better, then I won't bother with Spotify and wait to be WOWed when I finally get my SD Vinyl version despatched.

Yeah, the highest resolution that Spotify offers is 320kbps...

With 24Bit 44.1kHz you'lll be getting around 1,300 or 1,400 kbps... so that should give you an idea of the jump in quality when you go lossless.

Rimshottbob said:

Lordy said:

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Thanks for your thoughts. You can download songs from Spotify in varying quality - "Very High" being the best quality. I just wondered if anyone out there has both the official high quality downloads AND listened to the "Very High" Spotify download to see if there is much difference. If the official high quality downloads are much better, then I won't bother with Spotify and wait to be WOWed when I finally get my SD Vinyl version despatched.

Yeah, the highest resolution that Spotify offers is 320kbps...

With 24Bit 44.1kHz you'lll be getting around 1,300 or 1,400 kbps... so that should give you an idea of the jump in quality when you go lossless.

The numbers don't give any idea as to the quality difference. And 320 would be plenty good enough, most people can't hear the difference between 320k mp3 and lossless. I struggle to hear the difference with 256k mp3, don't think I'd pass a blind test at 256 and definitely wouldn't at 320.

I am listening on Spotify until my cd boxset arrives and sounds great but i am no music expert! Just enjoying the songs.