2023年2月26日日曜日

Sound Quality of YouTube Music (Hi-Res and Spatial Audio)

https://g-tips.jp/youtube-music/youtube-music-sound-quality/


Release 2022/11/09 Update 2023/02/03

This article is about the sound quality of YouTube Music.


It is useful for those who are particular about sound quality and are not sure which music service to use.


It explains whether YouTube Music has poor sound quality and whether it supports high-resolution and spatial audio.




Table of Contents

About YouTube Music's sound quality

Is the sound quality bad?

About High-Res Audio Quality Support

High-resolution support

Lossless

Spatial audio

Sound Quality Comparison with Other Services

Amazon Music

Spotify

Sound quality of YouTube Music

Sound quality of YouTube Music

The sound quality of YouTube Music can be changed.


However, you can only change the sound quality if you subscribe to the paid version of YouTube Music Premium.




When connected to Wi-Fi or a mobile network, you can choose from the following four sound qualities


Low quality": 48 kbps AAC

Standard": 128 kbps AAC

High quality": 256 kbps AAC

Always high quality sound (high sound quality can be maintained even when connection conditions are poor)": 256 kbps AAC

kbps (kilobits per second) is a unit of data transmission speed and is used to describe sound quality.


It represents the amount of data exchanged per second. A higher number means higher speed and better sound quality.


If no sound quality is selected, "standard" is automatically applied.


Incidentally, you can also change the sound quality of temporarily saved (downloaded) songs, but only "low," "standard," and "high" sound quality can be selected, not "always high" sound quality.


Below, we will show you whether the sound quality of YouTube Music is bad or not, and whether it supports high-resolution, lossless, etc.




Is the sound quality bad?

Here are some reviews and opinions about the sound quality of YouTube Music.


When I listen to music on YouTube Music, the sound quality is too good.

When set to "high sound quality," the sound is smoother and the intensity is more detailed

Sound quality is subtle.

The sound quality of songs via YouTube is poor

Music videos with poor sound quality are uncomfortable to listen to music

If you are concerned about sound quality, you should use other services

The sound quality of cover songs is uneven and difficult to hear.



There are few opinions that the sound quality is good, and many opinions that the sound quality is bad.


Below are some impressions of sound quality when actually playing music on YouTube Music.


Both the singing voice and the accompaniment sounded raspy, and the sound quality did not seem clear.

When set to the "high sound quality" setting, high pitched sounds became easier to hear and the rattling sound was reduced

When playing a music video, the sound was muffled and the volume seemed a little low.

There is no difference between the singing voice and the accompaniment, and this becomes more noticeable as the volume gets louder.

In terms of sound quality, I didn't think it was very good.


If you want to listen to music with good sound quality, we recommend using other music distribution services that specialize in sound quality.




About high sound quality support

This section describes whether YouTube Music supports high-resolution, lossless, and spatial audio.


High-resolution support

Currently (as of November 9, 2022), YouTube Music does not support high-resolution.


High-resolution audio is a high-quality sound source with information content that exceeds that of a CD. High-resolution audio is an abbreviation for "high resolution audio," meaning "high definition" or "high resolution.


The higher bit rate and finer sampling allows instruments and voices to sound more like the original, giving listeners the feeling that they are really listening to a live performance in a studio.


Lossless

Currently (as of November 9, 2022), YouTube Music does not support lossless.


Lossless is a data compression method that restores the original sound quality (lossless compression) when audio data is compressed and decompressed.


The term "lossless" means that there is no loss.


High-resolution has a sound frequency of up to 192 kHz/24 bits, whereas lossless has a sound frequency of up to 48 kHz/24 bits, with high-resolution having higher sound quality.


Spatial Audio

Currently (as of November 9, 2022), YouTube Music does not support spatial audio.


Spatial audio is a three-dimensional audio technology that produces sound from front, back, left, right, up, and down angles, giving the listener the feeling of being in his or her surroundings.


Apple Music has Dolby ATMOS, a system that creates a three-dimensional sound field, while YouTube Music does not yet have such a system.



However, using the "spatialize stereo" function of AirPods, it seems that you can enjoy three-dimensional sound with spatial audio in YouTube Music as well.


Comparison of sound quality with other services

Below is a comparison of YouTube Music and other music distribution services in terms of sound quality.


Amazon Music

Comparison of sound quality with Amazon Music

In terms of sound quality, Amazon Music is superior to YouTube Music.


Amazon Music offers three types of sound quality: standard, HD, and Ultra HD.


Standard sound quality: 320 kbps

HD quality: 850 kbps

Ultra HD sound quality: 3730 kbps

YouTube Music has a maximum of 256 kbps, while Amazon Music has 3,730 kbps, so if you are concerned about sound quality, Amazon Music is recommended.


Spotify

Sound Quality Comparison with Spotify

In terms of sound quality, Spotify is superior to YouTube Music.


Spotify offers four types of sound quality: low, standard, high, and highest.


Low quality: 24 kbps

Standard sound quality: 96 kbps

High sound quality: 160 kbps

Highest sound quality: 320 kbps

YouTube Music has a maximum speed of 256 kbps, while Spotify has a maximum speed of 320 kbps.


The free version of YouTube Music offers only standard sound quality (128 kbps) and cannot be selected, while the free version of Spotify offers up to high sound quality (160 kbps).


For both free and paid plans, Spotify is recommended over YouTube Music because of the wider range of sound quality to choose from and the higher maximum sound quality.

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