Absolutely in agreement here. In my Jeep I’ve got a Kenwood Reference series with a solid amp and Focal speakers, and boy do you know it when your source sucks. Amazon HD and Lossless subscription has been my go to as well. I hated paying for two music subscriptions but it’s been totally worth it. I am an Apple guy because of the great music roots of the company with the iPod, but they’ve certainly been slipping behind a bit in this category. I’m happy to see now that they haven’t forgotten us.
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.
Apple Music Gaining Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio in iOS 14.6, Not All Tracks Supported at Launch
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think it's great that Apple is introducing this without raising prices, but frankly one month into a three month Apple Music trial, I'm more likely to return to Spotify because of its user interface and better algorithm to discover new music.
Still can't use my AirPods for spatial audio coming from my Apple TV?
Same with Amazon Lossless subscription. Discovering new music has been really fun. I sure hope Apple Music get‘s better with this..
Sound Check is Apple's version of "ReplayGain":
ReplayGain - Wikipedia
But I'm not sure how this is being applied for Apple Music. Just like ReplayGain Apple is able to utilise it on a per track and on a per album basis. Some artists deliberately alter the volume normalisation and levels between tracks on the same album to ensure it keeps the integrity the artist tried to achieve Apple would then normalise the entire album, but not track by track. Making track 1 still being able to sound louder compared to track 2 etc..
I'm not sure when this kicks in with Sound Check. Does it only take album gain into consideration when you play specific albums or will it still somehow try to apply when playing playlists that might consist of tracks from different albums? And Sound Check won't be very aggressive so if there are tracks that vary greatly in audio levels I doubt Sound Check will suddenly cut one track to half the volume, or increase one track to double its volume.
It's also worth noting that Sound Check has to be enabled on a per device basis. You have to enable it on your iPhone, your iPad, your Mac, your Apple TV, your HomePod etc. Each device has its own setting so simply enabling it on your iPhone won't affect musing that is being played on your Apple TV or HomePod for instance.
According to this, Apple's headphones don't support Lossless / Hi-Res Lossless. Neither do HomePods
AirPods Max and AirPods Pro don't support Apple Music Lossless, Apple confirms
Apple Music is getting higher-quality streaming tiers, but Apple's best headphones can't make full use of them
$500+ headphones but refuse to buy a $30 3.5mm to lightning cable? I agree that it should have been included, but don’t limit your headphones capabilities just to feel like you’re spiting Apple.
As for the $30 price, that cable has a chipset and is like a mini DAC after all.
Embarrassed to say I didn’t know that existed. Turned it on and that solved the problem. Thanks.
Yes, I like it a lot. But there are some others in the same price range that are very well-reviewed. The Dragonfly sounds great, is small (about the size of a USB thumb drive), doesn't require external power, and all 3 models are very well-reviewed (e.g. 5 star reviews at Whathifi). But there are other good options out there.
I get confused with the word “tier” because these days it’s usually used in regard to subscription plans. So these are not quality tiers that users choose to subscribe to (for free apparently, which wouldn’t make sense to subscribe to a lower quality if they’re all free) but rather they are quality tiers that each song may or may not belong to, and it will automatically play for the user at the highest quality tier available, right?
I’m somewhat surprised though that Apple isn’t creating a higher priced subscription tier for the hi-res 192 kHz audio.
This is just a hunch, but I’m thinking lossless won’t be available for iTunes downloads because of the DRM implications. I think iTunes downloads can be stripped of their DRM via burning and ripping. But this increases the final file size, and because it’s still compressed quality, there’s less motivation to do this. If it’s CD quality (or better), it could increase motivation. Plus then it would decimate what little reason CD albums have to exist.
Of course, DRM is terrible and hurts honest consumers much more than pirates, but that’s another topic.
edit- I thought there were still certain song copy protections that exist in iTunes, but apparently they were lifted awhile back and I never got the memo (I stopped buying from iTunes awhile ago). The only thing left is the inability to officially transfer ownership (I think blockchain might be the only way to fix that).
Last edited:
I did the same and had the same experience. I tend to think it's a gimmick. I've seen it tested on sound engineers and even they couldn't tell the difference.
That's not to say there aren't people with dog-like ears who can, but my guess is they're far and few between. For the vast majority of people, who listen to their music on consumer-grade headphones and speakers, they definitely won't be able to tell the difference... nor care.
According to this, Apple's headphones don't support Lossless / Hi-Res Lossless. Neither do HomePods
AirPods Max and AirPods Pro don't support Apple Music Lossless, Apple confirms
Apple Music is getting higher-quality streaming tiers, but Apple's best headphones can't make full use of themwww.t3.com
Wait that same article confirms HomePods do support Lossless:
What’s your proof of this? It would require a new Bluetooth codec and to date nothing in the announcement has indicated that’s happening. And it would also likely require new hardware in your iPhone.
iTunes music downloads that are purchased from the store, rather than added from AM, do not contain DRM, and I believe that was what the person above was inquiring about.
did you try listening to a song you like a lot for some days with adequat devices in high quality, then switching to 256kbps to see ?
I really find there is a little difference in the global atmosphere of the song, even if you can't tell it directly you'll maybe notice it !
I really find there is a little difference in the global atmosphere of the song, even if you can't tell it directly you'll maybe notice it !
Fair enough! I will be happy, if I can enjoy Apple Music Lossless on my DAP! 95% of the music is CD Quality anyway!
Apple completely removed DRM from store-bought music in 2009, so your comment is about 12 years out of date.
I have Tidal HiFi/Masters and sometimes when I’m out for a run it’s so frustrating, because it’s always cutting off. So I was wondering if Apple had improved upon any connection hiccups.
I understand compatibility being the reasons as to why it’s limited, I guess we’ll see in a month, but I hope other headphones, and devices become compatible. It doesn’t look good with it’s lawsuit with Spotify.
I
I have Tidal, and I either use a lot of memory to download a bunch of albums to have on my phone. Or I have to turn down the quality if I’m out for a run. It’s irritating having your music pause, and lag when working out. It’s very 2011.
I believe iTunes got rid of DRM years ago.
The Verge is reporting that Apple will not sell lossless files, which is horribly disappointing. Several online stores sell these files, so I don't see what the issue is with Apple. Silly to me that they will be streaming 24-bit/192 kHz music, but will only sell compressed 256 kbps files.
