The Best Music Streaming Services For Hi-Fi Audio, Ranked

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Most audiophiles will tell you that listening to music on vinyl is a richer experience than listening to music digitally, but it's hard to argue against just how convenient streaming services are when it comes to listening to whatever you want, whenever you want. Fortunately, more and more streaming services are embracing hi-res and hi-fi audio, giving listeners the opportunity to listen to higher-quality music without having to carry a turntable on their backs.

"Hi-fi" is short for "high fidelity" and is used to describe music and music players that can faithfully reproduce what a typical human ear would hear if the music was playing live. Digital music, like CDs and MP3s, can't quite match the highest and lowest frequencies and dynamic range of human hearing. Hi-res audio takes this a step further, and is officially defined by the Consumer Electronics Association as being 96kHz/24-bit, compared to the 44.1kHz/16-bit levels most CDs and streaming source files reach. Usually though, the terms "hi-fi"and "hi-res" are used interchangeably and can be generally defined as "CD quality or higher."

More streaming services are offering higher-quality streaming tracks, giving them monikers like "Ultra HD" or "Master Quality." However, features vary from service to service, including the amount of hi-fi tracks available, the limits to how you can listen to them, the lossless formats used, and the pricing plans for access. To help decide which is right for you, here's a list of the best hi-fi music streaming services today.

If you're an audiophile who feels more comfortable owning their music rather than just streaming it, Qobuz is a great option that allows you to buy and download the music in its catalog. Even better, the tracks are high-quality, with much of the music available in hi-res up to 24-Bit/192kHz. The pricier "Studio Sublime" tier gives subscribers a discount on purchases and costs $179 per year, while the standard  Studio Premier plan will run you $12.99 per month.

One of the downsides to using the lesser-known Qobuz service is its lack of support for most smart speakers, though it is the first service to bring hi-res audio streaming to the Sonos ecosystem. Other drawbacks include its lack of auto-generated playlists and "radio stations," or other perks like music videos and karaoke mode that you can find elsewhere. The Qobuz library also lacks some popular music you'd expect to find nearly everywhere else, which can prove frustrating if you're in a top 40 mood.

If you're an Amazon Prime member, you may be using its Amazon Music streaming service, which comes at no extra cost and is the default music player for Alexa-enabled devices. But by paying a little extra each month, you can subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited, which among other perks, offers "HD" and "Ultra HD" music content, which is the service's way of branding hi-fi audio. The Ultra HD tracks can be streamed at 24-bit/192kHz, and Amazon seems intent on using high-quality audio to better help it stand out from the competition. It's been steadily increasing its Ultra HD library since its 2019 launch, and the library currently includes millions of hi-fi tracks in addition to its catalog of over 100 million tracks offered in CD-quality.

Amazon Music Unlimited is also offering more innovative music formats, like spatial audio, even allowing listeners to enjoy this enhanced music with its existing headphones, unlike other services that require specialized equipment to do so. Its library of spatial audio tracks, as well as Dolby Atmos and Sony's 360 Reality Audio files, is also constantly growing. The Unlimited tier costs $10.99 per month, though a $5.99 per month student tier is available. However, Amazon's algorithms leave much to be desired when compared to a lot of their competition, so don't expect its personally-customized playlists or new music suggestions to be incredibly useful.