Full Review of YouTube Music Audio Quality in 2025

Part 1. How Is the YouTube Music Audio Quality?

We all know that the audio quality is a basic element influencing the streaming experience. And when you stream on YouTube Music, the sound quality you enjoy depends on your subscription plan. Free users have 2 audio options to choose but YouTube Premium users can choose up to 4 options.

Unfortunately, there are some limitations to using the YouTube Music AI generator. Ask for music feature is only available to Mobile users who have paid for YouTube Music Premium or YouTube Premium.

⭐Tip: YouTube Music's Always High option helps you maintain a high quality when you stream under a poor connection.

The Audio Format on YouTube Music

There are two audio codecs that YouTube Music utilizes: AAC and Opus. No matter whether you are Free tier or Premium, you can enjoy the two versions when you stream.

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding): It is generally favored for the balance of audio quality and file size. If you have a good connection, the YouTube Music audio format defaults to AAC. With AAC, you can enjoy a smooth, high-quality listening experience.

Opus: Make sure YouTube Music keeps playing great audio quality even under a bad connection.

Both audio formats on YouTube Music can make your stream ideal for internet streaming.

Part 2. How to Change YouTube Music Audio Quality

On PC

Step2. Click your profile at the top right of the YouTube Music home interface.

Step3. Tap on the Settings button after the menu window appears.

Step4. Choose the Playback, and you can see the Audio quality choice. Click the fold icon to choose the audio quality you want.

On Phone

• Step 1. Tap on the YouTube Music app on your screen.
• Step 2. Click your profile at the top right of your screen.
• Step 3. Click Settings, and choose Playback & restrictions.
• Step 4. Tap Audio quality on Wi-Fi or mobile network, and then you can select available YouTube Music audio options.

Part 3. YouTube Music Sound Quality vs. Other Streaming Services Sound Quality

There are many discussions about YouTube Music. And the hottest topic is the comparison between YouTube Music audio quality vs. Apple Music and YouTube Music audio quality vs. Spotify. To make it clear for you, we list an unlimited comparison table that contains all the famous music streaming services.

Through the comparison table, we find that YouTube Music audio quality is not the most superior to other music streaming services.

Take the comparison to Spotify, which many people are concerned about, YouTube Music provides AAC and Opus, but Spotify only offers AAC and Ogg formats, and Spotify has its built-in EQ to adjust the audio quality.

Or, compared to Apple Music, Apple Music has its own Hi-res Lossless to advance the listening experience for users, but some users reflect that YouTube Music does better on the listening experience on wireless Bluetooth.

It’s difficult to say YouTube Music's audio quality is best or worst, but we believe YouTube Music and other music streaming services are devoted to providing more wonderful audio quality and formats to enrich listeners’ user experience.

Bonus: How to Download YouTube Music with Original Sound Quality

After knowing the audio quality of YouTube Music, do you want to download tracks, albums, or playlists on YouTube Music with the original audio quality? Or do you want to convert your downloads from YouTube Music to other formats? If you want, try ViWizard Audio Capture. ViWizard can record any tracks, albums, or playlists on YouTube Music, even if you don’t have YouTube Music Premium!

ViWizard Audio Capture can keep your audio quality recorded from YouTube Music with up to 24-bit, 256 kbps. And you can transfer the audio format to WAV, M4A, WMA, AAC, FLAC, AC3, AIFF, M4B, AU, APE, MKA, OGG, AMR, M4R, MP2. Despite the audio quality, ViWizard also has a built-in auto-splitter and editor. Make every track you recorded have no ad interruption and a silence duration. If you want to check the track’s information, ViWizard also keeps the original ID3 of each song. The following is the ViWizard Audio Capture’s guidance to use.

ViWizard Audio Capture

Record any sound from your computer—like music, games, or meetings—and save it as MP3.

Available on:

Free Download

Free Download

Secure Download

Step 1 Personalize Your Audio Quality and Format

After installing and registering, open the ViWizard Audio Capture on your Computer, and put your sight on the format selection bar next to the Format, click Audio, and you will see many audio formats for you to pick. Tap one format you prefer, and the audio quality follows in the right window. Choose one, and your downloads from YouTube Music will be recorded as your choice.

Step 2 Choose Record Resource

YouTube Music has no official desktop app, so you can only record YouTube Music from its web player. Look at the top left of the Capturing window, and click the Select/Add an App bar. ViWizard will automatically recognize your browser or music app on your computer. Click the name of the browser you frequently use. It will become the target-capturing resource.

Step 3 Start to Record

After setting your audio quality, format, and browser. Head back to the Capturing window, click the Start icon, and ViWizard will activate the target browser you chose. During the recording, one thing you need to do is stream YouTube Music in your daily life. If you want to end recording, return to ViWizard, click the Stop icon, then tap on the Save button. After simply editing, you can see the downloads in your History window.

Conclusion

YouTube Music strives to deliver high audio quality to meet users' expectations. It also keeps developing its music services to enrich users’ experience. YouTube Music has its own audio quality features to welcome music lovers. We love YouTube Music and hope it can get better audio quality development in the future.