Spotify has a huge collection of music and offers users plenty of options to stream their favorite tunes:you can enjoy Spotify through your web browser or by installing the dedicated smartphone or desktop app. However, these methods do not always provide the best sound quality. Spotify Connect aims to solve this problem by allowing all your favorite tunes to be played through any compatible wireless product, including stand-alone speakers and soundbars.
ContentsWhat You'll NeedRaspbian:Are you using the latest version?Install Spotify ClientEnjoy Spotify on your Raspberry PiSetting up Spotify ConnectIn this tutorial, you will learn how to set up your Raspberry Pi as a portable and inexpensive Spotify Connect device.
To complete this tutorial you will need:
4. In the lower left corner, select the small "Devices" icon.
5. Find your Raspberry Pi and press it.
Your Raspberry Pi should now play the song you chose!
To improve the user experience, you can make several changes to the Raspotify software.
You can change Raspotify settings by running the following Terminal command:
sudo nano /etc/default/raspotify
This launches a configuration file in the Nano text editor.
You can make various changes to this file, including:
Give your Raspberry Pi a unique name
By default, your Raspberry Pi will be named “raspotify (raspberry pi)”. If you have multiple Raspberry Pis on your network, you may want to give each device a distinctive name, such as "Raspberry Pi Kitchen" or "Spotify Connect Client".
To rename your Raspberry Pi, find the following line:
And make any changes you want – for example, this tutorial uses:
DEVICE_NAME="Jessica's Office"
Don't forget to remove the # symbol!
Save your changes using the Ctrl + X keyboard shortcut, then press the yes and Enter the keys on your keyboard.
Every time you modify the configuration file, you will need to restart your Raspotify service by entering the following command in the terminal:
sudo systemctl restart raspotify
Check the Spotify app on your smartphone or tablet, and you should notice that your Raspberry Pi now has a brand new name.
Improve audio quality
Bit rate refers to the amount of data processed over a period of time. The higher the bitrate, the better the audio quality, while lower bitrates will consume less data, which can be useful if you're playing Spotify on your smartphone.
The standard bitrate for Spotify Connect is 160kbps, but audiophiles can unlock high quality audio by increasing this to 320. You can also try Spotify's "low quality" bitrate of 96 to see if you can really tell the difference.
Whether you opt for low (96), medium (160) or high (320) quality, you can control Spotify's bitrate setting by editing the following line:
Save your changes using Ctrl + X , Yes then Enter. Finally, you will need to restart the Raspotify service:
sudo systemctl restart raspotify
Ultimately, sound quality depends on the audio device you connect to your Raspberry Pi. Don't forget to use these Spotify tips to improve your listening experience.
