Ideas: Higher Audio Quality

pboser · ‎09-24-2019

How about higher audio quality? Amazon has introduced this feature, and others have been ahead of Pandora as well. It would be great to have the Genome Project advantage with higher audio quality. Do others agree?

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

MarkMusic · ‎04-20-2022

They will become a Blockbuster Video in a "Netflix" world if they don't keep up

Pjd813 · ‎04-20-2022

There are already three tiers of subscription and I feel better audio should be one of the basic upgrade benefits, along with eliminating ads. It should not in any way be considered a “premium” benefit where one pays the most expensive subscription price to receive better sound. IMHO the basic concept of the Genome based system is the semi random nature of delivery. I liken it to having my own personal DJ who makes decisions on the fly to give me a personalized, ever changing open ended experience. I personally don’t care for “curated” content. Quality sound should be assumed to be a basic, cornerstone feature of the product. In this context the playlists, repeat functions and other manipulations of the delivery of music should be considered “extra” and “premium”.

mcmusic · ‎04-20-2022

I’d be interested to hear from someone at Pandora on the likelihood of a lossless/cd quality.

Seems everyone here agrees that Pandora algorithms are better than the competition when it comes to stations, lists etc. I’ve discovered some pretty cool bands here. The hi res streaming is just bandwidth at this point. That keeps increasing. I have 1gbps fiber now at my house. With the cloud getting cheaper by the day, what is the reason not to offer this?

I’ll be leaving for tidal here soon most likely. Don’t want to, but my dac, headphones and amp demand it. Paying for 2 services for music isn’t worth it.

freddiep7 · ‎04-27-2022

Well, I canceled my membership. I mean why pay for **ahem** sound while they have the free service. I specifically told them I was canceling due to the Subpar sound and it was as if I didn't even mention it lol. Made me think, WTH is going on over there? It's crazy that they don't care to improve the service. Oh well, there are other services that have better sound but not the algorithm. Amazon music has Great sound (HD, Ultra HD, Dolby Atmos, 360 3D Music) but the app and algorithm are not great. It's getting better at predicting for me though. The only reason I got Amazon music is that someone in my family is sharing it with me. Hopefully, they improve in the near future and I'll come back.

Jpoole52777 · ‎05-02-2022

Upgrade The sound quality

jab6string · ‎05-23-2022

Many of us would pay for this feature. Add this and gapless playback (vote) and Pandora will be a stronger streaming competitor. Pandora, go big with your updates!

Pjd813 · ‎05-23-2022

When I pay for elimination of commercials I should also get higher quality audio. By paying at all I feel that is a major vote of confidence and commitment to a service I can get for free, albeit with commercials. I shouldn’t have to pay for quality a la cart or have to go to the level that offers other “features” I don’t want or need, like playlists.
Pete D.

MarkMusic · ‎05-23-2022

I totally agree however with the caveat that if the reason they
can't/won't do it is the increase in overhead due to the increase in
bandwidth necessary for high quality I'd be willing to pay a little
extra for it. $5.99/mo or whatever.

Pjd813 · ‎05-23-2022

I get that…. You make a good point… Having said that my take on this, only my opinion, is that the extra bandwidth would be minimal. After eliminating commercials at about $5 it would be very hard to justify another $5.99 for better sound for me. Subscriptions have already become onerous and I don’t want to pile on even more expense. But they will charge what the market will bear and I may be an outlier in this respect.

MarkMusic · ‎05-23-2022

I hear ya. AND... In February 2019, satellite radio giant
SiriusXM announced it had completed the acquisition of Pandora in a
$3.5 billion all-stock transaction.
They probably don't give a **ahem** about Pandora anyhow. IT'S SINCE
LOST OVER 10M USERS.

I don't know the logistics of beaming music from 23,000 miles above
the Earth but I can't say SiriusXM Satellite radio's quality is any
better... probably worse than Pandora.

I use Tidal for CD quality. the Pandora genome thing for choosing
music to play is unmatched but the quality of Tidal.com "Master"
quality is the best in my opinion.