Apple Music Launching Spatial Audio With Dolby Atmos and Lossless Audio in June at No Extra Cost

[krspkbl]

"Due to the large file sizes and bandwidth needed for Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless Audio, subscribers will need to opt in to the experience. Hi-Res Lossless also requires external equipment, such as a USB digital-to-analog converter (DAC)."

 

[matrix07]

Hope for some classical music in Dolby Atmos!

 

[Prabas]

People are excited but do they realize that none of Apple's current headphones support ALAC?

 

[chabig]

Well...the additional cost would be the new AirPods

Even the first gen AirPods support this, so you don't have to buy new ones.

 

[chabig]

People are excited but do they realize that none of Apple's current headphones support ALAC?

They will after the next firmware update.

 

[Braderunner]

"At no additional cost". I feel like there will be some kind of catch to that. I don't know what it could be. It's just hard to believe. I want to believe it, though. 😛

 

[joeszef1]

will it be included on the latest iOS 14 betas ?

 

[steevn]

All my music is bought from the iTunes Store, I don't have the desire to subscribe to millions of songs when I only want to listen too the ones I already own. It seems we aren't going to be able to pay Apple to upgrade our existing libraries like we did with 128bit to 256bit.

This seems so crazy to me honestly, if you spend more than $99/yr buying music you are losing money. You could just add all the songs you have/want and save them, which would be lossless sound when it’s released.

I only had like 100 iTunes songs since it’s inception but I just deleted all of them and added to Apple Music instead.

How do you find and listen to new music without a streaming service?

 

[krspkbl]

People are excited but do they realize that none of Apple's current headphones support ALAC?

and unless Apple start selling wired headphones then lossless is pointless. there's only so much current Bluetooth can do.

 

[tkermit]

They will after the next firmware update.

Where are you getting this from?

 

[bwayne]

¡Adiós, Spotify!

 

[ruka.snow]

This seems so crazy to me honestly, if you spend more than $99/yr buying music you are losing money. You could just add all the songs you have/want and save them, which would be lossless sound when it’s released.

I only had like 100 iTunes songs since it’s inception but I just deleted all of them and added to Apple Music instead.

How do you find and listen to new music without a streaming service?

At most I spend 99p a year on music. I already own all the music I listen too, why would I buy more?

Edit: Apple can get a £100 or so to upgrade all my existing 256 bit music to the highest quality, but not a subscription for the same music I am going to listen to for the next few decades.

 

[krspkbl]

Where are you getting this from?

it's common sense?

with it now announced they'll probably start testing it in 14.6 betas and 14.6 will probably come out in time for lossless launch.

 

[Poontaco]

ALAC - was that a thing before now?

Yep, It's been around since 2004.

 

[mdellepi]

Two questions:

1) would the difference in quality be noticeable listening from an HomePod (original one)?

2) any idea what the default quality will be for HomePod? The press release only refers to iOS settings to choose the quality depending on the connection...

 

[AppleUser2]

The wording of this confuses me (might just be me?). Looks like the ultimate service but the way the last 2 lines leaves me slightly confused RE Hi Res:
Apple Music’s Lossless tier starts at CD quality, which is 16 bit at 44.1 kHz (kilohertz), and goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz and is playable natively on Apple devices. For the true audiophile, Apple Music also offers Hi-Resolution Lossless all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz."

 

[Frankie55]

do any of Apple's wireless headphones have the correct codecs to play ALAC? I recall researching this when the airpods max were released and couldnt find anything that indicated you could listen to ALAC wirelessly without losing some sound quality.

 

[Ikertxo40]

"Due to the large file sizes and bandwidth needed for Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless Audio, subscribers will need to opt in to the experience. Hi-Res Lossless also requires external equipment, such as a USB digital-to-analog converter (DAC)."

I haver my apple tv connected to my Sony Hi-res amazing home cinema, where I play bluray audio albums, SACD, etc and digital hi/res music. Hope the apple tv can pass the hi-res stream via HDMI untouched!!!!

 

[archer75]

and unless Apple start selling wired headphones then lossless is pointless. there's only so much current Bluetooth can do.

Bluetooth has more than enough bandwidth for lossless music.

 

[tkermit]

it's common sense?

I don't think so considering the bandwidth limitations of the Bluetooth variant used by AirPods. I fully expect that AirPods will continue to not support Lossless when used wirelessly.

 

[iamdmann]

I'm curious about what firmware updates will bring to the beats studio 3. they have a W1 if I'm not mistaken. they don't seem to work with 'find my', but if they will be included in this compatibility, then maybe 'find my' inclusion will also change. (not even touching whether they are of high enough quality for any of the updates to matter; a lot of us got free pairs in promos and spatial/find my might have me using mine rather than AirPods Pro from time to time).

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Ah it looks like it is only for Apple Music and not for the library you have already bought so pretty irrelevant.

Not necessarily.
when Apple introduced 4K a couple years ago, they upgraded all 1080P iTunes movies to it for free.
it would be nice to see the same thing here

 

[Brenster]

No additional cost? yes!
H1 & W1 AirPods and Beats supported? Yes! (AirPods Pro for myself, son uses my hand-me-down 1st gen AirPods)
Latest phones and iPads? Yes! 12 Pro here and M1 IPad Pro on Friday.
Already a hi-res fan via a seperate Sony DAP & wired headphones, so bring this into the Apple ecosystem is wonderful.

Looks like Apple TV+Atmos capable AVR/sound bar are out in the cold (boo! On behalf of my Denon 5.1.2 AVR+speakers). Likewise third party wireless and all wired headphones are out in the cold.

And no mention of if any of this extends to the iTunes store and past purchases (fond memories of iTunes Plus upgrades for past purchasesback in 2007).

Still, very happy for what Apple is bringing to the table for no extra cost here. My Apple One Premium subscription just became an even bigger no brainer. Your move Spotify!

 

[matrix07]

lol. In 2021 most people are streaming.

It would be great if we can buy it as well (Goodbye HDTracks). Alas, that’s not the case.

 

[JulianL]

How so - I never use my library and stream songs I haven't bought through AM?

Difficult to stream on airplanes. Admittedly not much of an issue for me at the moment with air travel severely restricted but one day it will be a consideration for me again. Difficult to stream in any area with a dodgy mobile network connection and no WiFi. Also not everyone has high or unlimited data caps on their mobile phone plans so there can be cost implications especially if you’re on holiday and would need to use roaming data in a place where it’s extortionately expensive. And finally there’s battery life if you’re out and about. It’s far more power efficient to play from local storage than stream over a network especially a mobile phone network. Good for you that your circumstances never give you any of those issues but there are other people out there who aren’t in your situation. As you might have guessed a lot of my music listening is when travelling, out walking, sitting enjoying the sun outdoors somewhere etc.