First, I’d love to know how many of the negative commenters in this thread actually own a set of AirPods Max, and have listened to spatial audio on these amazing cans. It’s a wonderful listening experience that’s totally different than anything I’ve obtained with any other listening device. Call it Computational Audio, Spatial Audio or whatever you like, but it’s profound.
Second, I can confirm there is a BIG difference in what you can hear in lossless audio ALAC or 96-192Hz 24 bit audio, when you plug a DragonFly Blue DAC into your recent-model iPhone, and then plug a worthy set of wired headphones (I’m partial to B&W P7s) into the DAC. The difference is so noticeable that I’ve been subscribed to Qobuz for the past year and a half.
Third, if you own a high-quality AVR—such as the Anthem 1120–and a suitable set of speakers, such as the Paradigm Prestige 85f, and have tuned the system to compensate for your listening area, you can obtain a similar experience to using the DAC-and-wired-headphones.
This doesn’t require “golden ears.” I’m well over 65 and can hear the difference when playing classic rock, jazz or classical music. It’s fantastic to play music you’ve loved all your life, when it’s been re-mixed and re-released in HD Audio. Not exactly like hearing this music for the first time, but close enough.
All of these factors make me very excited about the upcoming Apple Music upgrade. I’ll have the choice of listening in any of the above three ways -- Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio on AirPods Max, ALAC with DAC-and-Wired-B&W-p7, or ALAC through my Paradigm 85Fs—and I won’t have to pay any extra on my Apple bundle.
