Does Spotify have any hidden audio settings? Having an issue

[user-removed]

I recently started using a desktop USB amplifier-dac to get better quality audio with my new headphones. It works with everything else (itunes etc etc) except the Spotify desktop client. What I mean is, when using Spotify, music is still output through my desktop computer speakers and not through the amp/dac device to my headphones. I attempted to look over the Spotify audio settings, but other then the "enable hardware acceleration"option,  there aren't any visible settings that would affect playback for that. I did disable that setting to troubleshoot, but nothing changed.

The device does work with the Spotify web player with no problems. Even though I like the desktop version a lot better then the web player, I would still be willing to settle for that. What I didn't know until literally today was that the web player doesn't stream at 320kbps (I subscribe to the premium service) 

I might have to cancel premium if I can't resolve the issue. As there is no sense in paying the monthly premium fee for something I can no longer use. I certainly don't want to stop using it. I know it's most likely a long shot, but are there any other settings in the desktop that aren't visible?  Thanks for any help.

Windows XP

Google Chrome

[Peter__]

In Windows Control Panel > Sound, is your DAC selected as the default output device? Annoyingly the desktop spotify will only use the default output. 

[Equalify]

You could always use Equalify to set the output device for spotify, without having to change the windows default out.

The EQ part of equalify does not even need to be enabled for the soundcard change to work.

Equalify is free, and works with pretty much all soundcards, except asus xonar and auzentech.

(Full disclosure, i made Equalify..)

[user-removed]

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@Peter wrote:

In Windows Control Panel > Sound, is your DAC selected as the default output device? Annoyingly the desktop spotify will only use the default output. 

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Hi Peter. When I plug in the DAC, it automatically becomes the default output device every single time. I have checked and confirmed the settings every single time I use it. This is why I'm stumped as to why this issue is only happening with the Spotify desktop client and nothing else. None the less, appreciate the tip.

[Equalify]

Try restarting spotify after plugging in the DAC. Spotify has a tendency to not always honor the default out device if it was not present/plugged in on spotify startup.

Remember that to close spotify properly you will have to use the file->exit option, and not the [x]

[user-removed]

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@Dev0 wrote:

Try restarting spotify after plugging in the DAC. Spotify has a tendency to not always honor the default out device if it was not present/plugged in on spotify startup.

Remember that to close spotify properly you will have to use the file->exit option, and not the [x]

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Hello dev0, I have also done this many times to no avail. I just tried it again for good mesure, and still no change. Regarding Equalify, I have it installed already (nice little program you have) and use it sometimes. What setting is there to chnage the output even without the EQ  needing to be enabled? I don't see it.

[Equalify · Accepted solution]

Open the eq, and right-click the eq window.  Then Options->change sound device.

Your device should then show up in the device dropdown, save the setting and restart

The eq does not need to be "ON" for it to force it to use the device you selected.

[user-removed]

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dev0 wrote:

Open the eq, and right-click the eq window.  Then Options->change sound device.

Your device should then show up in the device dropdown, save the setting and restart

The eq does not need to be "ON" for it to force it to use the device you selected.

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Wow, I believe you just  solved my issue! The reason why spotify kept outputing sound through the soundcard and not the DAC was becuase the Equalify setting was set to output through the spund card. I never even knew that specific setting existed until you brought it up. So not knowing about it, I obviously never thought to even check it.

To confirm and test, I uninstalled Equalify and then re-started spotify. The DAC worked. I was seriously wracking my brain about this for the last few days.  if you wouldn't have commented here, I would have never guessed in a million years that Equalify was the culprit. Thanks!

[Equalify]

Glad i could help!

Equalify does not change the spotify output device without user interaction tough, so you must have been in there at one point and set it to use only that soundcard. Its an extra option that has to be manually set to be enabled, so Equalify isnt at fault really! 🙂

If you set the Equalify option to "Primary sound driver" it should always use the driver windows has set as default out.

So theres no need to uninstall the EQ to get it to behave the usual way 🙂

[user-removed]

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@Dev0 wrote:

Glad I could help!

Equalify does not change the spotify output device without user interaction tough, so you must have been in there at one point and set it to use only that soundcard. Its an extra option that has to be manually set to be enabled, so Equalify isnt at fault really! 🙂

If you set the Equalify option to "Primary sound driver" it should always use the driver windows has set as default out.

So theres no need to uninstall the EQ to get it to behave the usual way 🙂

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Well, perhaps 'culprit' was the wrong choice of words. I just meant that the issue I was having wasn't because of Spotify directly. I honestly don't remember changing the settings (or at least that setting) but regardless, glad I solved the issue. I only uninstalled Equalify for troubleshooting purposes. I re-installed it not to long after.

[Mathieu1]

WTF does EQ stand for in spotify ... thanks