Summary
- YouTube is working on audio quality tiers, with higher bitrates likely locked behind Premium.
- Users may soon get “Auto,” “Normal,” and “High” audio options.
- YouTube previously tested higher audio for music videos, and a wider rollout could be coming soon.
YouTube is one of the best free video streaming platforms, but lately, the company has been pushing more users toward its paid YouTube Premium subscription. The paid YouTube plan already offers a number of perks like ad-free videos, offline downloads, and a complimentary YouTube Music subscription, but now, it looks like audio quality could be the next thing locked behind the paywall.
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Currently, YouTube’s audio quality remains the same regardless of video resolution. Whether you’re watching at 144p or 2160p, the audio streams at 128kbps variable bitrate (48KHz). This is unlike other streaming platforms, which downgrade audio quality when video quality is lowered to optimize bandwidth. However, right now, YouTube doesn’t allow users to manually upgrade audio quality, even if they want to.
Earlier this year, YouTube experimented with higher audio quality, but only for select music videos. That experiment ended last month, and YouTube hasn’t officially addressed whether it will expand the feature across the platform. Now, it looks like the company is preparing to roll it out more widely.
YouTube might restrict audio quality controls to Premium subscribers
According to Android Authority, the latest beta version of the YouTube app contains code references for new audio quality settings, suggesting that users will soon have the ability to switch between different bitrates.
The upcoming audio options will reportedly include Auto, which adjusts audio quality based on internet speed; Normal, which likely keeps the current 128kbps (48KHz) quality; and High, which will be similar to the earlier experiment, offering 256kbps audio regardless of video quality.
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However, just like in the previous experiment, the report suggests that higher audio quality might remain exclusive to YouTube Premium subscribers. This means free-tier users may not be able to adjust audio quality at will.
There’s no official word on when these audio quality tiers will roll out, but considering YouTube has already tested this feature before, it might not be too far off. We’ll keep you updated as soon as YouTube makes an official announcement.
