Now that Spotify has "lossless listening," the idea of higher quality streaming is cemented in the mainstream. Those streaming numbers and bitrates are no longer just the talking points of audio-weirdos — your friend at work is suddenly going to become interested in hi-res audio, and how much better it sounds than "the old Spotify."
But what does it all mean? Why is Spotify's new 24-bit, 44.1kHz update not quite what audiophiles were hoping for, and what do those numbers actually stand for? Even further, if they're so much better, what are Qobuz, Tidal and Apple Music bitrates? I'll go through all that and more — so let's dive in.
