Spotify’s new audiophile upgrade comes with a big trade-off

Spotify is finally letting desktop users try out an audiophile mode, but there’s a catch that could make you hesitate.

The company is rolling out a new feature called Exclusive Mode for its desktop app. Spotify says it bypasses the operating system’s audio processing, which can reduce sound quality, but it comes with a trade-off for multitasking.

The main issue for years hasn’t been Spotify’s bitrates, but how your computer processes sound. Operating systems usually mix audio from different sources, like your browser and music player, and then resample everything to a set frequency. This process can add jitter and unwanted noise. If you use a high-end Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) or studio monitors, you may have been frustrated that you couldn’t send them a pure audio stream straight from Spotify.

Exclusive Mode fixes this problem. When you turn it on, Spotify takes full control of your audio output device, skipping the system mixer and sending audio directly to your hardware. This lets your audio device handle the digital-to-analog conversion, resulting in more accurate sound. The difference is especially clear if you use high-impedance headphones.

However, when this feature is on, Spotify locks your audio device, so other apps can’t play sound through it at the same time. If you open a YouTube video, get a notification, or start a game, you won’t hear anything from those apps unless you switch devices or turn off the feature.

Setting up Exclusive Mode is simple. Go to the Spotify Desktop app settings, find the ‘Devices’ section, and look for the ‘Exclusive Mode’ toggle next to your output source. That said, the feature doesn’t apply to music videos, podcasts, preview clips, and canvas clips.

If you use basic Bluetooth earbuds or laptop speakers, you probably won’t notice much change. But if you have wired headphones, an external DAC, or studio monitors, Exclusive Mode can help you get a bit more clarity from your music.

To get the best results, you should adjust a few settings. Spotify suggests turning off Volume Normalization, Automix, Crossfade, and the Equalizer, since these features change the sound and prevent a pure signal. After that, you can control the volume from your DAC or directly in the Spotify app.

At the moment, Exclusive Mode is only available for Premium users on the Windows desktop app. Mac users are not left out, as Spotify says a version for macOS is being developed.