AirPods Max Won't Directly Support Lossless Apple Music Over Lightning

[0ceans]

I can't help but laugh at the logic here! What does Apple expect people to use to listen to Lossless?

An Apple TV hooked up to a proper sound system via an AVR. There is tremendous overlap between the people who genuinely care about this and the people with the proper setups to even notice it.

I’m sure some sort of Jailbreak solution will eventually be released for people to prove this themselves: Blind testing, there is a 0% chance you’d tell which source is lossless while using AirPods or HomePod. Not to mention the severe battery life implications of streaming music (from the server and wirelessly to your headphones) to the tune of multiple hundred megabytes per song.

 

[Mr.PT]

I can't help but laugh at the logic here! What does Apple expect people to use to listen to Lossless?

Well...real hi-fi gear!? This just shows how overpriced the Max are.

 

[Spainask27]

Yo release a 600€ headphone that is not compatible in any way with a service you gonna release 6 months later makes no sense.

 

[yegon]

And, what WIRED headphones support ALAC? Aren't wired headphones analog? I'm not getting what ridiculous pairing of an iPhone and headphones you need to make this Lossless service actually work?

Yeah, I'm confused.

I've a pair of Sennheiser HD599's which I bought for a steal at £89, purely for use wired with my Xbox (don't need a mic), they're fantastic. Merely out of curiosity, will these, using the lightning to 3.5mm audio jack, deliver lossless audio?

I confess to not really being fussed, I struggle to hear the difference between Tidal HQ stuff and the same stuff via Apple Music using these Senns. Nor can I tell the difference between the wired Senn's and my AirPods Max, in which case wireless consequently wins for convenience.

Several expressions of sympathy for AirPods Max above. Save it lol, I love them, I bought them fully aware of the limitations of wireless audio, and equally, am wise enough to never buy anything on the promise what it may or may not be capable of in the future. Heck, it's why I'm not getting the new iPad Pro until I'm convinced the screamingly fast hardware will be put to any use in ipadOS15 - currently, from a 1TB 2018, for my usage all I'd be getting is a nicer screen for a hefty upgrade cost. Same holds for the new ATV4K - give it wireless Spatial Audio and I'll buy immediately. Lack of this support in conjunction with AirPods Max IS something that annoys me I will admit.

I've got Sony XM4's too which I use strictly for work (yes, I own lots of headphones) and I couldn't perceive any difference using LDAC either, tried it with my work Android phone. Which is fortunate given iOS doesn't support it and I'm predominantly an iPhone user.

 

[Mr.PT]

Happy to wait for the $1000 AirPods Max Pro /sarcasm

I believe Apple already adressed your concern, with new service unsupported on their current devices...let’s hope they fix the design and built quality on the 1k edition...

 

[Mr.PT]

Yo release a 600€ headphone that is not compatible in any way with a service you gonna release 6 months later makes no sense.

I suspect within 6 months new airpod (1k)Max will cover that...

 

[johnnytravels]

I said it back when they were released and this just proofs my point: It was a stupid idea to not include a high grade DAC directly in these headphones. Built in DAC would have meant being able to plug directly into your phone, ipad and Mac and have the cans work like an audio interface. No need for headphone, so completely in tune with Apple’s iPhone 7 ideology.

Now, with Lossless becoming a visible factor, the shortcomings of Apple’s approach are showing. They would rather put lightning into another device and sell you an additional cable than to create a sustainable solution…

 

[Mr.PT]

1. This marketing tragedy is going to get even bigger than the one with XDR display stand.

2. Please stop the nonsense that lossless is not even distinguishable on the ear! Steve Jobs himself was working with a senior sound engineer years ago on an entirely new lossless sound format (there is an interview with the guy) because he was complaining that iTunes users were only hearing 8 percent of what they could actually hear.

3. Spatial audio requires an additional processing, which I'm sure only a certain portion of mainstream artists will do. Lossless is everywhere. Literally all songs are originally in lossless copies.

Totally agree, just 2 quick notes:
-I’d say Lossless isn’t distinguished in current Apple hardware;
Spatial audio “makes more sense” in audiovisual content (games; videos, etc.) rather than music.

 

[Mr.PT]

I said it back when they were released and this just proofs my point: It was a stupid idea to not include a high grade DAC directly in these headphones. Built in DAC would have meant being able to plug directly into your phone, ipad and Mac and have the cans work like an audio interface. No need for headphone, so completely in tune with Apple’s iPhone 7 ideology.

Now, with Lossless becoming a visible factor, the shortcomings of Apple’s approach are showing. They would rather put lightning into another device and sell you an additional cable than to create a sustainable solution…

Greed isn’t always good...

 

[Craigwilliam]

I guess it's a good thing I didn't fork out for AirPods Max. I guess we'll have to wait and see if the next models are compatible.

 

[bmunge]

Are there any technical limitations preventing future versions of Apple's dedicated BT chip from supporting lossless audio?

 

[bluskiff99]

Bluetooth is compressed nonsense. Only forced it on everyone to make money. Last thing I need is something else to recharge.

 

[ian87w]

Let’s discuss this again in 6 months.

Why 6 months when the whining and moaning are now?

 

[ian87w]

Are there any technical limitations preventing future versions of Apple's dedicated BT chip from supporting lossless audio?

There's no lossless codec working over Bluetooth currently. Even LDAC is not lossless, just high bitrate. If Apple did it, I bet it will be proprietary.

 

[kugino]

totally understand those folks who bought AP max hoping theyʻd be the end-all for their headphone listening pleasure.

but, it turns out that audio has always been a minefield and itʻs not always possible to cater to every need/situation. there are so many hi res/lossless formats out there...not even all DACs can decode every audio signal out there...add software, computational audio, AI, etc...and iʻm not surprised that the AP pro/max canʻt play these losssless files. but, thatʻs not why i have my AP pro/max.

for "real" headphone music listening, i still subscribe to lossless->external DAC->wired headphones. find ones you like. they donʻt all cost an arm and a leg.

 

[ian87w]

It’s ****ing expensive and hyped like hell by Apple, that’s why.

If you think the AirPod Max is expensive, then you are not the target market for lossless nor high res audio either. So why even complain? 128kbps mp3 will be good enough for you.

 

[bobmans]

Are there any technical limitations preventing future versions of Apple's dedicated BT chip from supporting lossless audio?

Yes, it's called bluetooth
The only way to get true lossless would be if their next headphones somehow become airplay capable

 

[coredev]

I agree, but it is just weird for a company known for its hardware to release something that none of their audio products support

Since Apple is a big fan of wireless, and Bluetooth just cannot handle the data needed for lossless, it's not so much of a surprise. This is similar to the MacBook camera, which is still stuck at 720p because Apple follows the thin-thin-thin mantra.
That they did not enable the AirPods Max for lossless though when cabled, that's really bad for an expensive Max device.

 

[coredev]

Yo release a 600€ headphone that is not compatible in any way with a service you gonna release 6 months later makes no sense.

The Max are compatible with Apple Music in a way, so your statement is wrong. Lossless is no new service but just another format to stream the music, which currently none of Apple's Audio gear can handle, and that's mostly caused by limitations of Bluetooth.
And ... I don't want to hear the complaints here in the forum if Apple had invented their own "standard" for audio transmission to headsets, perhaps with some kind of dongle.

 

[loinkloth]

And, what WIRED headphones support ALAC? Aren't wired headphones analog? I'm not getting what ridiculous pairing of an iPhone and headphones you need to make this Lossless service actually work?

I believe u just need a DAC (connected to ur wired headphones) that decodes ALAC and most of them do. The Lightning-Audio adapter will suffice up to 48kHz.

 

[ivan86]

If only Apple would of kept a 3,5mm jack and a solid DAC chip inside - this would of been non issue. You could connect any earphones/headphones and they would sound as good as they can sound with lossless audio.

Thats what prioritizing $ over customers and truly great products means.

*This is not to mention the health issues pushing into fully wireless direction. Ohh well.

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

Discontinue the product that would sound the best with Lossless Apple Music (the HomePod with firmware updates), and introduce a new product that can't support Lossless Apple Music (AirPods Pro).

It makes perfect sense! 🙄

 

[ani4ani]

People need to calm down! Go listen to Tidal sample of lossless audio can you hear the difference? It probably won’t matter the you anymore.

Most people can’t tell the difference because they dont have equipment to tell the difference. Audiophiles make the claim only once they have exhausted all the other features that improve sound quality, e.g the DAC, speaker driver (size, materials, shape, enclosure etc) and source quality. Folks wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a Ford Focus and an F1 car if the test is conducted at 70 mph!

 

[anshuvorty]

but, it turns out that audio has always been a minefield and itʻs not always possible to cater to every need/situation.

....And this is the reason why I never became interested in the high fidelity/lossless music in the 1st place! It is so confusing and so complicated, and for such little payoff. I can't discern the difference between mainstream lossy music and the supposed pinnacle of audio quality that is lossless music....

if it sounds good to me, I am content - all I want from my audio output is clean audio, no distortions, and no static.

 

[davidec]

So I have a Topping D10 USB DAC on my Mac Mini M1 which plugs into a headphone amp connected to wired headphones. Does this play the elusive Apple Lossless?

Yes of course, as long as your headphones have a true analog input (no DAC based digital input).

I don't really feel feel sorry for people who bought an airpod max. They didn't really do the proper research beforehand.



This sounds like more of a technical limitation on Apple's part:

"Apple's AirPods Max headphones are equipped with a Lightning port, but it is limited to analog output sources and will not natively support digital audio formats in wired mode. Apple has not yet said whether the AirPods Max support lossless audio over Lightning with a digital to analog converter."

Don't worry, there will probably be another dongle for your dangle

The problem with the AirPod Max is it does not have an analog input, it only receives digital signals and then converts through a DAC on input. All they needed to do was enable a DAC bypass, that would have required a component I'm sure but that would have cost a few dollars. There would be ways around it but I think its a hardware fix as opposed to a software fix. We will have to wait and see.....