- YouTube is testing new audio quality settings: Auto, Normal, and High. The High setting could bring clearer 256kbps audio.
- The feature won’t work on all videos and may use more data. YouTube already tested this earlier with select music videos.
- Only available for Premium users.
If you’ve ever watched a crystal-clear YouTube video only to get stuck with muddy audio, you’re not alone. Right now, YouTube doesn’t let you tweak audio quality the way you can change video resolution. Whether you’re streaming in 144p or 4K, the audio stays the same—a 128kbps variable bitrate using the Opus codec. That means even if a video looks amazing, the sound could still be dull or compressed, depending on how it was uploaded. And users have no way to improve that. But that might soon change, at least for YouTube Premium users. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest leak about YouTube’s audio quality update.
YouTube’s Next Premium Perk Could Be High-Quality Audio
Android Authority dug into the latest beta version of the YouTube app and found code suggesting YouTube is working on a new audio quality feature. It would let users pick between Auto, Normal, and High audio settings. Auto would adjust sound based on your internet speed. Normal seems to stick with the current standard quality. High, the most exciting option, could offer 256kbps audio for clearer sound and a better listening experience—but only for Premium subscribers that costs $13.99/month or $139.99/year. You can also opt for a family plan that costs $22.99 per month. These changes wouldn’t apply to all videos, though. The code indicates that the High setting might only show up for select content. And as expected, it would use more data than the other options.
Some of the strings found in the app’s code give us a glimpse of how this feature might appear in the future. Labels like “Auto (recommended),” “Normal – uses less data,” and “High – available for some videos with YouTube Premium” suggest that the interface will clearly explain the differences between the settings and the limitations tied to them.
This isn’t the first time YouTube has explored better audio settings. Earlier this year, the platform quietly tested higher audio quality, but only for a few music videos. That experiment quietly ended last month with no official word on what’s next. But now, it looks like the company is preparing for a broader rollout. YouTube even confirmed that Premium users can now enable a test that plays music videos at up to 256kbps. That test is available under youtube.com/new, where YouTube often rolls out experimental features for Premium subscribers.
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Other YouTube Experiments
And that’s not the only upgrade in the works. YouTube is testing a bunch of new features for Premium members. You can try watching videos at 4x speed on mobile, instead of the usual 2x limit. Shorts can now play in picture-in-picture mode on iOS, so you can multitask without stopping your video. There’s also a smart downloads option for Shorts that saves videos you might like when you’re on Wi-Fi, so you can watch them offline. Plus, the “Jump Ahead” feature—already on mobile—is coming to the web. It uses machine learning to skip to the most interesting parts of a video based on viewer data.
While YouTube hasn’t officially announced when the audio quality controls will launch, the fact that it’s showing up in the code and being tested behind the scenes means it might not be too far off. But like many of YouTube’s newest tools, this one seems designed to reward paying users. So if you want that crisp, high-bitrate sound, be ready to go Premium.
