But even LDAC isn’t true lossless, that still compresses the music. So even Sony LDAC headphones don’t support lossless
And is it really greed anytime technology improves? Really?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AirPods, AirPods Max and AirPods Pro Don't Support Apple Music Lossless Audio
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
And is it really greed anytime technology improves? Really?
Yes, but fortunately for Spotify, no one would care. They have the uncanny ability to “Not be a five letter fruit themed company with ‘A’ as the first letter”, so anything they do will likely get far less publicity
Do you need some straws, because you are grasping
compression and lossless is not the same thing…you can have 100% lossless sent in a compressed format.
Yes, this means we gotta upgrade to at least all-new, yet-to-be released AirPods, or even better, both new iPhones with new Bluetooth chips as well as new AirPods with new "H2" chips.
Free is never free.
But hopefully Apple this means will push the industry forward and have the AirPods be market-leading on all fronts yet again.
Free is never free.
But hopefully Apple this means will push the industry forward and have the AirPods be market-leading on all fronts yet again.
I’m hoping for hi-res airplay 2 support to my Bluesound Node 2i streamer dac. Will be interesting to see how all this plays out. I would assume at the very least that I can play hi-res and lossless over hdmi to my receiver from either my Mac mini or my ATV.
For those that were expecting lossless over bluetooth (lmao), how are you listening to your lossless music at the moment? I bet you it's not through bluetooth or on your airpods either.
The feature for the people who thought lossless over bluetooth is even possible (without LDAC, which isn't that good) is this spatial audio / dolby atmos feature.
The feature for the people who lean more to the audiophile-side is lossless audio.
The feature for the people who thought lossless over bluetooth is even possible (without LDAC, which isn't that good) is this spatial audio / dolby atmos feature.
The feature for the people who lean more to the audiophile-side is lossless audio.
It works in that you hear high quality music, but you’re not hearing it at its full resolution.
Yes, FLAC is technically a compressed format. But the bitrate is still too much for Bluetooth to handle. Anything less than FLAC is “lossy”
Thing is, that Airpod Max won't even offer lossless through cable, decent BT devices offers BT + cable for lossless.
These fancy Apple headphones are nothing more than fashion articles.
How about Airplay? Does anyone know if i can airplay lossless to 24/96 Airplay speakers (like the B&W Formation duo). Rene Richie sais only wired connections supported, No airplay. Does anyone have more information on that?
That should read AirPods Max will not support hi-res lossless. The DAC in the lightning->3.5mm adapter, the ADC in the 3.5mm to lightning cable, and the DAC in the AirPods Max are standard components that don't operate with lossy codecs. But those components are likely only capable of up to 48kHz sample rates.
I posted a similar reply to one of the questions below, but I know you can get 192/24 out of an iPhone by using the 4K camera adapter, and a headphone DAC (Dragonfly makes some good ones). I’ve been using a dedicated iPhone for music this way for the past few years. Not cheap, but it sounds absolutely phenomenal. From my understanding, it was - and probably still is - the only way to get true lossless files out of an iPhone. It’s a hardware issue. Also, there are several free apps that support those larger files (I use VOX), but I’m guessing there will be - or has been- an update to the Apple player.
Apple today announced that starting in June, Apple Music songs will be available to stream in Lossless and Hi-Resolution Lossless formats, but lossless audio won't be supported on the AirPods, AirPods Max, or AirPods Pro.
Apple's Lossless Audio is encoded as Apple Lossless Audio Codec files, with lossless quality ranging from 16-bit 44.1 kHz playback to 24-bit 48 kHz playback and Hi-Res Lossless offering 24-bit 192 kHz quality.
AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max are limited to the Bluetooth AAC codec when paired with an iPhone, and won't be able to stream Apple Music lossless files, Apple confirmed to T3.
Apple did not mention AirPods compatibility in its press release announcing the new functionality, and on its website, Apple confirms that lossless audio can be listened to on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV, and T3 also says that HomePod is compatible even though it wasn't listed in Apple's announcement.
Apple's lossless audio is less compressed and offers up a more accurate version of the studio recording process, for music that sounds as it was intended by the artist. Lossless audio provides a wider dynamic range to bring out the detail and realism in music.
Hi-Res Lossless will require a USB digital to analog converter or similar equipment, but will provide the best sound experience. Listening to lossless audio on an iPhone will require wired headphones and it's possible an additional dongle will be needed to get the best sound quality. AirPods Max will also not support lossless audio over the Lightning cable, Apple told Micah Singleton.
While the AirPods, AirPods Max, and AirPods Pro do not support lossless audio, they do support Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, and by default, Apple Music will automatically play Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip.
With Spatial Audio support, artists will be able to create immersive experiences that provide fans with multidimensional sound and clarity.
Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio are being added to Apple Music at no charge, so both new and current subscribers will get these features for the standard $9.99 per month (individual), $4.99 per month (student), or $14.99 per month (family) pricing.
Article Link: AirPods, AirPods Max and AirPods Pro Don't Support Apple Music Lossless Audio
If you are something like an audiophile enjoying true HiRes music, you are neither using Apple nor bluetooth headphones. The idea simply doesn't come into your mind.
This isn't a decision by Apple. Bluetooth has never been able to support lossless and as far as I am aware never will be able to. I think the article could have made it much clearer for people who don't know much about his stuff.
Definitely not with Bluetooth (!) - but there is a workaround using Apple’s 4K camera adapter and a portable DAC, FWIW
Would you assume that playing iTunes on an iMac through a usb connected external audio interface into studio monitors will provide high resolution audio?
It’s confusing why wired Max wouldn’t get lossless also this kind of strike back on HomePod should have had a wired option or adapter. The mini should be enabled since it uses usbc
Well, they surely knew during the Airpod Max development, that this Apple Music lossless feature was also WIP.
They could have added decent cabled lossless support to their fancy 550$ headphones, instead of this poor lightning adapter solution.