Spotify's new 'Exclusive Mode' gives you "bit-perfect" playback from the Windows desktop app
Good news for Windows users
by Harry McKerrell · What Hi-Fi?
Share this article
0
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the What Hi-Fi? Newsletter
The latest hi-fi, home cinema and tech news, reviews, buying advice and deals, direct to your inbox.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Spotify has introduced a new 'Exclusive Mode' as a way for its Premium subscribers to access "bit-perfect" audio playback when listening using the desktop app.
According to Spotify, this new mode gives the music streaming platform's desktop app control of the audio processing on your computer or laptop, meaning you'll be listening to songs "exactly as they were mastered." This mode is available to Windows users now.
Spotify says in a community post that your multi-tasking computer "may alter audio before it reaches your DAC by resampling it, mixing other system sounds in, and changing the volume." Turing the Exclusive Mode on ensures that all other sounds from your computer are "disabled" so that the Spotify desktop app can deliver the highest quality and "most accurate version of a song possible."
Article continues below
That makes it better suited, says the platform, to listeners with external audio equipment like a DAC "who want the purest possible sound". Spotify still advises – as we would – that you'll need wired headphones connected to an external DAC and use the Lossless tier to ensure you are getting the highest possible audio quality without any drop in resolution.
To get access this Exclusive Mode, open the Spotify desktop app, head to settings and then scroll to the Playback tab. Under Audio output, select your device from the dropdown, and then toggle Exclusive Mode to on.
Note, however, that while Exclusive Mode is switched on, Spotify will have, as the name suggests, exclusive control of your selected audio device, so other apps will need to use a different output in order to be heard.
The Exclusive Mode is available for the desktop app (not mobile) and is available now for Windows users, with Mac roll-out expected in a future release.
Get the What Hi-Fi? Newsletter
The latest hi-fi, home cinema and tech news, reviews, buying advice and deals, direct to your inbox.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
Spotify has already made the earth-shattering announcement in late 2025 that it would finally be adding Lossless streaming, granting access to hi-res 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC file quality for Premium subscribers.
With the introduction of Exclusive Mode, it looks like the Swedish streaming giant is pushing harder than ever to provide higher-quality performance to head off competition from five-star rivals Tidal and Qobuz.
MORE:
Apple AirPods Max 2 vs AirPods Max: what are the differences?
Forget the Oscars, this wildly underrated western has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard
"Hugely capable and surprisingly unfussy" – this streaming and vinyl hi-fi system is a premium package, but you'll be richly rewarded