How to get YouTube Music's best audio quality - Engadget

YouTube Music doesn't offer the best sound quality, even for Premium subscribers. If you want lossless audio, rivals like Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal are better options. But it still has its advantages, including unofficial uploads, live performances, remixes and rare tracks. Regardless of your reasons, you can make YouTube Music sound better than its default settings. Here's how. By default, YouTube Music uses the Normal bitrate setting, which maxes out at 128 kbps. That's fine for conserving data, but not for a high-quality listening experience. The service's highest available setting is 256 kbps, which can sound noticeably cleaner, especially with good headphones or speakers. The tradeoff is that it uses more data, so it makes the most sense with a strong connection and a decent data plan. The big catch? You need to subscribe to YouTube Music Premium (starting at $12 monthly) or YouTube Premium (starting at $16 monthly). Otherwise, you're capped out at the Normal bitrate. The streaming settings are in slightly different places on Android and iOS. Beyond that, the options are identical. While you're at it, you can also change the bitrate for downloaded music: The