I couldn’t tell the difference. I’m using a Dragonfly DAC with Sennheiser wired headphones.
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Apple Music Now Rolling Out Support for Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio
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If MacOS Music App doesn't have an exclusive mode, then this means Apple Music on Mac DOESN'T SUPPORT HI-RES LOSSLESS. All of the hype simply doesn't apply. Roon + Tidal + Qobuz works, but Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless (from a Mac, via a USB DAC) is a huge fail.
As @cmatuk says, you can manually set correct sample rate. This will make it bit perfect. But it's a manual process for now. I expect at some point it will work like on iOS (ie work properly)
great question and I'd love to know; Im guessing the spatial audio just adds an effect on devices that support it (the device and the headphone), but the og Airpods should play Atmos just fine.
This doesn't solve the issue - I don't want to re-sample audio output - I want exact bit-perfect pass-through of the lossless, or hi-res lossless, source music from Apple Music's streaming servers to be sent to my USB-connected DAC.
Apple Music, as of today's launch, on a Mac, does not send the original Hi-Res Lossless stream to a USB DAC.
It does if you change the Mac's output, but I get what you're saying...
You can also verify you have High Resolution Lossless checked
Also also, you can verify the Sound output is using the correct device
Attachments
How can you be sure that Apple Music is not sending Hi-Res Lossless stream to a USB DAC? are you aware of some kind of check you can do it to know what it is sending? I've set manually sample rate on my audio card driver and it seems to stay in sync with no problem. but yes, there can be resampling somewhere in the path
This has probably been pointed out somewhere, but...lossless audio can be turned on for HomePods (with the beta).
In Home app, tap Home icon, Home Settings, your name, then Apple Music. There is a toggle to turn Lossless Audio on or off.
In Home app, tap Home icon, Home Settings, your name, then Apple Music. There is a toggle to turn Lossless Audio on or off.
False advertising by Apple here. Apple Music on Mac does not send hi-res lossless to my USB DAC, despite all the correct settings today. Roon + Qobuz or Tidal does - and has for a long time. Apple has no excuse for the misleading BS surrounding this Lossless "launch", if it doesn't work on Macs.
Can recommend the audio quest dragonfly range (I don't work for them!). Will need the lightning to USB A dongle though.
Will lossles work for wireless CarPlay?
Following Apple's announcement during the WWDC keynote that Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio for Apple Music would be rolling out today, the feature now appears to be going live for some users.
For many users, restarting their device appears to trigger activation of the feature, but others have reported that a restart hasn't helped, so users may just need to be patient until it becomes available to them.
Once it's available, you'll see a new option in the Music section of the Settings app where you can choose whether Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is Off, Always On, or Automatic, with the Automatic option using Dolby Atmos content when your device is connected to output accessories like AirPods and compatible Beats that your device recognizes as supporting the feature. For other types of headphones, you may need to manually select the Always On option.
A separate section offers options for Lossless Audio, where you can turn the higher-quality audio files on and then choose from more granular options to specify what quality of music files your device should use when streaming over cellular, streaming over Wi-Fi, or downloading music.
In the Music app, you'll also be able to see which albums support Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio, thanks to new labels in the album details sections.
(Thanks, @JGobel!)
Article Link: Apple Music Now Rolling Out Support for Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio
I'm now seeing Dolby logos and lossless (not both together) in AM on my Mac (the play bar), not sure that was there earlier today.
I don’t know if it’s only me but Atmos sounds kinda compressed. I don’t know if it’s a matter of getting used to it but stereo sounded more vibrant to me.
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It is bit perfect if you (manually) match the same sample rate in Audio MIDI.
Resampling is only when source content sample rate and output sample rates are different.
But yes it's a pain on macOS to have to do this manually. On iOS it's automatic.
I am doing this on my Mac, with my SMSL M500 DAC connect via USV, so I am not setting manual settings on audio cards. I am expecting the Apple Music app to send the 44.1kHz/24bit, 48kHz/24bit, 88.2kHz/24bit, 96kHz/24bit or higher stream directly via USB to my DAC, without further user intervention. And, my DAC has a display on it that shows me what it is receiving. It shows 96kHz when I play Maroon 5 from Roon/Qobuz, but not when I play the same from Apple Music.
Atmos on Mac is a mess right now.
With
Playing the official 'Made for Spatial Audio' playlist on macOS, the Dolby Atmos indicator shows up intermittently, with no predictability whatsoever.
Playing the same playlist on iOS or iPadOS, each track is reliably played with Dolby Atmos.
This seems like a very patchy debut, I had hoped for better from Apple.
On the bright side, when Atmos does work, it works well.
With
Dolby Atmos: Always On in music preferences, it seems to be entirely random as to whether or not Atmos-encoded tracks actually play with Atmos.Playing the official 'Made for Spatial Audio' playlist on macOS, the Dolby Atmos indicator shows up intermittently, with no predictability whatsoever.
Playing the same playlist on iOS or iPadOS, each track is reliably played with Dolby Atmos.
This seems like a very patchy debut, I had hoped for better from Apple.
On the bright side, when Atmos does work, it works well.
So Apple expects me to switch sample rates in Audio MIDI with every song, as I switch between albums that are "Apple Lossless" and "Apple Hi-Res Lossless". That is a fail.
On Roon, with my Tidal and Qobuz subscriptions, running on exactly the same Mac, my DAC automatically and seamlessly adjusts to the different sample rates and bit-depths of the source songs I am playing.
yeah, for me too. some tracks sound better than others. The problem could be that in the same bitrate they squeeze more channels and more spatial information. Also I am under the impression that psychoacoustic tricks generate small phase issues that can degrade presence and sounds like compression do. So at the end you are trading bigger soundstage with sound definition. for now I'm much more interested in lossless, but maybe in the future audio engineers will learn hot to produce better Atmos mix, I think it's a totally new way of working also for them
Those trying to figure out how to get lossless audio on Mac...
1) Check that macOS is sending max sample and bit rate that your DAC supports from Audio MIDI Setup:
2) You can validate the result from System Information:
3) Enable lossless in Apple Music preferences:
4) Verify that it is actually playing back lossless version:
Or by selecting track "Get Info":
Did I miss something 😅
1) Check that macOS is sending max sample and bit rate that your DAC supports from Audio MIDI Setup:
2) You can validate the result from System Information:
3) Enable lossless in Apple Music preferences:
4) Verify that it is actually playing back lossless version:
Or by selecting track "Get Info":
Did I miss something 😅