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

[bdavidson]

Or I guess you could start with a AudioQuest DragonFly Black v1.5 DAC/AMP combo. $99. Its cheaper than the Modi/Magni combo and more portable, but can't really drive a good set of headphones well.

 

[hagar]

Apple: developing a high quality HomePod speaker
Customers: meh

Apple: releasing a pro music quality service
Customers: angry they can’t listen to it without investing in the appropriate pro equipment.

 

[Htsi]

From what I’ve read, it will still sound better than wireless. Not the best, but hey it’s free

 

[infinitejest]

This is a slippery slope. I know I will sound like an ass for saying it, but if you have to ask, chasing high res lossless is not worth the effort. You will hear the benefit of the Apple Music source being lossless over the current 256kbs streams with anything you plug into your iPad or MacBook.

But if you really want to go down the rabbit hole, I would start with a Schitt Modi $99 (DAC), Schitt Magni $99 (Amp), and a Audeze LCD-1 $399 (of you like bass) to the Hifiman HE400i $449 (if you like neutral.) For the iPad, you need to add a Camera Adapter USB kit $39. About the same as a pair of AirPod Max with a hell of a lot less convenience and no wireless or spatial audio.

For the ATH-M50xBT, get a 1/4" headphone cable and plug into the Magni.

So, that means a simple audio interface (e.g. Focusrite) would work as well?

 

[GloatGoat]

So, that means a simple audio interface (e.g. Focusrite) would work as well?

Will it pass a lossless audio signal? Yes. Most modern audio interfaces are capable of clocking 192/24. The quality of output will depend on what headphones you are trying to drive. Cans with an impedance of 150 Ohms or lower should be passable without a dedicated headphone amp, though the addition of the Schitt Magni Amp as suggested by bdavidson will certainly improve the listening experience.

 

[Htsi]

Will be fun to try when it launches. Getting burnt is part of the course, no worries.

 

[honglong1976]

Honestly, I cannot wait to hear how lossless sounds through my iPhone speaker! Unfortunately, my homepod, airpod pro and solo pro headphones can't play them.

What is Apple playing at?

 

[Lemon Olive]

Congratulations. This is the most wrong post on this website. Amazing.

Nope. Had you been aware of any of this before today, you'd know. No iPhone with a 3.5mm jack had an amp that could output 24-bit.

 

[ErikGrim]

Nope. Had you been aware of any of this before today, you'd know. No iPhone with a 3.5mm jack had an amp that could output 24-bit.

Oh FFS, stop moving the goal posts and admit you were wrong.

 

[Stellarspace]

What nonsense is this? AirPods Pro for sure work for input and output, is this a problem with the non-pro version? I doubt that is a Bluetooth limitation.

If you're on a Mac and you are using the microphone and audio output of the AirPods at the same time, the quality is lowered.

 

[Lemon Olive]

Oh FFS, stop moving the goal posts and admit you were wrong.

View attachment 1777499

Nope. Knew exactly what I meant the entire time. This conversation is not about 3.5mm jacks on some turntable somewhere.

 

[vault]

Nope. Knew exactly what I meant the entire time. This conversation is not about 3.5mm jacks on some turntable somewhere.

You are confusing lossless with high res so your original post is 100% wrong. I thought it was some kind of sarcasm at first. Also, even Apple's own 3,5mm dongle has 24bit dac.