OT: Pandora quality

I realize many of you are not into streaming services because of the lower quality, but ...

I've had a paid Pandora account for years. While most songs used to stream up to at least 20k, I'm finding now that everything I've checked only goes up to 16k (and cuts off sharply). I checked cuts from several different albums and this seems to be the case.

I didn't downgrade to a free pandora account. So I'm wondering if anyone else here pays for Pandora and has noticed this lower "mp3 level" quality. Or if you can check what you're finding on your end.

(BTW, I think most of us here, including me, are audiophiles, looking for the best quality. And go to painstaking steps to get it. But I'll just say this about the streaming services I pay for. I discover great songs on them. And then buy them on CD, or at the very least, lossless format on Qobuz).

Edited by EdisonLite - 02 June 2025 at 3:48pm

Well, this is a strange one. On Pandora, I discovered an alternate mix to a 1979 Frank Mills song, which I liked a lot. It showed it cut off at 16k (mp3 quality), as did about 5 other random songs I checked. So I bought this recording from Qobuz to get the better quality. And the qobuz file also cuts off dramatically at 16k. But here's the strange part. It came from a V.A. comp CD from 1995. (I couldn't find the CD anywhere, but back then, before most people even had home computers, there weren't songs released only on streaming services, and not CD. So an mp3 was supplied as a source for this 1995 CD. I know starting in the 2000s, an occasional CD single release would have an mp3 as a source. But in 1995, a CD of a 1979 song??

Maybe Pandora still broadcasts in 20k+ quality, like I had observed a few years back. I'll have to check more songs.

But it always such a disappointment when buying a "lossless" flac on Qobuz and 7Digital and getting mp3 quality. And Qobuz stopped giving refunds for something like this situation quite a while ago.

It sometimes depends on the source. Sometimes all a label or distributor delivers to any given service is a an MP3 or maybe even a WAV that's sourced from MP3. I won't say that it happens all the time but it certainly does happen.

EdisonLite wrote: Well, this is a strange one. On Pandora, I discovered an alternate mix to a 1979 Frank Mills song, which I liked a lot. It showed it cut off at 16k (mp3 quality), as did about 5 other random songs I checked. So I bought this recording from Qobuz to get the better quality. And the qobuz file also cuts off dramatically at 16k.

I am unaware of Pandora ever being lossless. The only lossless streaming services I'm aware of are Deezer, Qobuz, Amazon HD, Apple Music, and Tidal. Deezer is what I use.

Edited by Brian W. - 21 hours 5 minutes ago at 2:33pm

Brian, I should clarify what I was saying earlier. There have been some albums that literally only have been on Pandora. One in particular comes to mind - couldn't find it on any other streaming service, and the CD was impossible to find (though I eventually did and bought it). But prior to finding that, I saw that this album on Pandora went up to the 20k-22k range when I checked in Adobe. I'm fine with that; it's just when a file only goes up to 16k (especially a flat cutoff there, rather than a smooth one) that I'm unsatisfied and try to find better sources elsewhere. So I knew Pandora was broadcasting in the 20-22k range; but my test yesterday on 5 random files from 5 different artist - all cutting off at 16k - made me conclude Pandora is broadcasting files that will only go as high as 16k now... until I bought 1 of those files (Frank Mills) as a flac on Qobuz, which also stopped at 16k. I have to check other files and really figure out what's going on with Pandora.

I have a free Deezer account but have only listened to music there occasionally. Do you need a paid account to get lossless quality? or even choose the specific songs you want to hear in any given moment?