Beats and Bose reminded the mainstream just how much premium equipment matters in enjoying high-fidelity audio. Now Deezer is bringing its delivery service of lossless audio to Sonos' high-definition speaker systems with hopes of capitalizing on the open ears of the latest generation of audio aficionados.
Deezer's new service, Deezer Elite, will stream free lossless audio codec (FLAC) files from the streaming service's library of over 35 million songs to Sonos' wireless HD systems.
"The world of streaming is accelerating and as great music services like Deezer expand, it's an exciting thing for our customers," says Sonos CEO, John MacFarlane. "With the introduction of Deezer Elite, you can easily stream your favorite music in high-definition audio on any Sonos speaker throughout the home."
Deezer Elite will be available on mobile devices and desktops, though users of the service will want to ensure they have the audio output to realize the robust sound of lossless, uncompressed audio.
Deezer says its Elite service will offer audio at fives times the bitrate of rival streaming services. Deezer says FLAC audio has a bitrate that moves roughly 1,411 kilobits of data per second, while MP3 files transfer information at a rate of 320 Kbps.
"MP3s made music transfer and sharing easier than ever, but the files needed to be compressed due to storage and bandwidth limitations, leading to a noticeable loss in sound quality," says Deezer. "Now you can listen to performances as the artist intended with digital lossless captures of original analog audio sources."
Deezer also maintains a recommendation system and allows users to construct custom playlists. Users can sync their listening histories from other music services and import it into Deezer Elite or use the service's "Discover" feature to find new music.
"Deezer has built a global audience of over 16 million people by meeting the many needs of music consumers. Audio enthusiasts no longer have to choose between a streaming service and high-quality audio -- with Deezer Elite they can have both for the first time," says Tyler Goldman, CEO of Deezer North America. "We are focused on super-serving the needs of underserved market segments to continue to grow the music streaming category."
Deezer Elite will go into a beta period on Sept. 15, at which point consumers can test drive the premium audio service for 30 days.
A year's subscription on Sonos systems brings the monthly prices down to $9.99 from $19.99, which may be considered a good deal by many as free versions of music subscription services feature more and more ads. Without a subscription, the service costs $14.99 each month.
