Apple Music Now Rolling Out Support for Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio

[Boardiesboi]

So I’m streaming the “made for spatial audio” playlist from the main page and the Dolby atmos icon doesn’t show up under the track when I play a song?

I have the same song from the original album which I downloaded in Dolby atmos and that icon is showing up.

I have Dolby atmos set to always on.

 

[Bass1293]

I can't get the atmos to work on my XM4's (it's just showing the lossless symbol) but it works absolutely fine on my phone connected to a pair of Solo3's.

Weird.

Settings are fine but it just won't play the DA.

 

[whsbuss]

in the currently playing box, you'll see an Icon in the top right of the box. (you're able to click on it for info) For either lossless or Atmos. I've tried the some of the songs in the Spatial playlists and the logos don't show. Other songs outside those playlists they do. Weird.

Yeah I see that but only for Atmos.... is there something for lossless

 

[tripleh3lix]

Guys... I got iOS 15 this morning.

TL;DR - Spatial audio is system wide on iOS 15 Beta 1 - Including Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, anything with audio. It works.

Was playing around with Apple Music, the head tracking feature for Spatial Audio sounds better in Stereo Spatial, bass is all clear, and it's even slightly louder. Atmos has head tracking too, but it's the least impressive IMO (aside from the songs with great seperation) I almost don't want to go back to iOS 14 for basic stereo again.

Then I tried Spotify.. works there. I was shocked.

Sounds incredible with my EQ and bass cranked up a bit.

Then I went to YouTube, turned my head to grab something... it works there too! Facebook Videos, Tik Tok, Netflix, everything works! Stereo Spatial Audio (Head Tracking) works SYSTEM WIDE.

Once people experience this, people will be really happy (because I initially wasn't with the iOS 14 version of Spatial Music) Not sure why this wasn't added in with the Spatial Audio update in iOS 14. This is a game changer!

 

[Theryesider]

It really is a mixed bag, some songs on my APP sound superb, others I don’t know almost slowed down and really poor, think I will leave off updating my whole library for the time being.

 

[DJbrandon2]

Yeah I see that but only for Atmos.... is there something for lossless

Theres an icon for Lossless that comes up when not in Atmos.

 

[cardfan]

I would say the Spatial Audio is an improvement on AirPods Pro. Not game changing. Spatial Audio on my Bose 700 seems to make it worse. Muddled a lot of tracks. I possibly notice a small improvement in Lossless when my Bose 700 are hardwired. Also have a Sonos Beam. Lossless sounds good. I assume I'm receiving Lossless from the Apple tv 4K from the music app. Overall a mixed bag for me and my devices. Expected a better performance of Atmos. I would expect to notice a bigger difference on an Atmos sound bar or other speaker system.

Messed with Apple TV and Dolby atmos is definitely noticeable on surround sound system. This is probably the only real significant difference I’ve seen since Apple flipped the switch. I’ll keep this on atv along with lossless. . Turn off on mobile devices.

 

[Bass1293]

I find that it kind of works intermittently/loads the atmos in very slowly when using my XM4's but my beats work straight away. Maybe it's just a case of iOS15 being buggy (My phone is on the Beta)

 

[cardfan]

I feel the same as you do, as in I can hear a difference on my AirPods Pro listening to "Lossless" albums.

From what I have read from many people claiming to know what they are talking about when it comes to the technical stuff with music, is that you will hear a difference, just obviously not even close to 100% Lossless due to the bluetooth limitations.

Then obviously I have read the people that say you will hear zero difference.

Like I said, I truly believe I can hear a difference. I was actually listening to some Metallica myself and they sound incredible, S&M2 for example. Also, Meatloaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love (But Not That)" sounds absolutely amazing, especially the intro, as I said in a way earlier post on this thread, I think it is the best I have heard yet.

So I am with the people saying you can tell a difference! There has been no definitive answer, which I would love one, however, until there is...I am hearing a great difference.

Definitive answer from Apple.

Can I listen to lossless audio using AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max?

AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and Beats wireless headphones use Apple’s AAC Bluetooth Codec to ensure excellent audio quality. Bluetooth connections don’t support lossless audio.

Can I listen to lossless audio over Bluetooth?

We will deliver music using lossless audio compression to your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Lossless will play back normally on Bluetooth speakers and headphones. However, Bluetooth connections don’t support lossless audio.

Can I listen to lossless audio on my HomePod or HomePod mini?

HomePod and HomePod mini currently use AAC to ensure excellent audio quality. Support for lossless is coming in a future software update.

Can I listen to lossless audio using Apple’s Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter?

Yes. The Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter is designed to transmit audio from the iPhone’s Lightning connector. It contains a digital-to-analog converter that supports up to 24-bit/48 kHz lossless audio.

Can I listen to lossless audio using the AirPods Max Lightning to 3.5mm Audio Cable?

The Lightning to 3.5 mm Audio Cable was designed to allow AirPods Max to connect to analog sources for listening to movies and music. AirPods Max can be connected to devices playing Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless recordings with exceptional audio quality. However, given the analog-to-digital conversion in the cable, the playback will not be completely lossless.

What content isn’t available in lossless audio?

Broadcast radio
Live radio and on-demand content from Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country
Music videos

 

[dandrewk]

Anyone else finding "lossless" is coming and going today?

e.g. Taylor Swift's latest album shows as lossless, Apple Digital Master and Atmos. But when I play a track, only Atmos shows up in the badges. I have lossless turned on in settings.

It was working yesterday, but today I can't get lossless at all.

 

[msvadi]

I have an extensive collection of CDs that are not on Apple Music. Ripped some to ALAC on my Mac and added to my Apple Music Library. The files appeared on my iPhone and their sizes match those of the ALAC files on the Mac. Unfortunately, no lossless icon, but since the file sizes match, I believe it's safe to assume that local ALAC files are no longer converted to AAC when added to Apple Music Library. This is a feature I wanted for a really long time.

It seems that Match works with ALAC files. When I added ALAC files of songs that are in Apple Music catalog, they were matched and the file sizes correspond to those in Apple Music instead of my locally ripped files. However, the metadata matches that of the local files. Also, the lossless icon has been added to the album.

 

[thettareddast]

A few interesting observations

1.On Desktop/MacOS the player will only show the Atmos logo when using Airpods Pro, not my 3rd party headphones (Sennheiser HD6xx connected through JDS Element DAC-Amp. App preferences set to Atmos Always On)

2.Listening on 3rd party headphones, without Atmos logo, I can hear a difference in the Zane Lowe narrated sample tracks (Marvin Gaye + Weekend)

3.The "Atmos" version (even without logo) sounds much better on the Sennheiser than the Airpods Pro.

4.Listening to Lossless 24-bit 96kHz even on the nice equipment... no obvious differences. Probably there is with very "carefully" listening. But in a normal listening scenario (environment, state of mind, concentration), its not really worth my time to seek for the audible needle in a haystack

 

[MostlyGordon]

In general, Dolby Atmos through Airpods Max sounds terrible. The sound stage is compressed, volume levels are wildly different from song to song. frequency extremes are gone. most unimpressed.

Not to mention channel imbalance. It's just horrible, and not just on Airpods Max.

 

[msvadi]

Can I listen to lossless audio using AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max?

AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and Beats wireless headphones use Apple’s AAC Bluetooth Codec to ensure excellent audio quality. Bluetooth connections don’t support lossless audio.

I'm pretty sure that Metallica is an exception and would play lossless through anything including bluetooth

Just kidding

 

[thettareddast]

Anyone else finding "lossless" is coming and going today?

e.g. Taylor Swift's latest album shows as lossless, Apple Digital Master and Atmos. But when I play a track, only Atmos shows up in the badges. I have lossless turned on in settings.

It was working yesterday, but today I can't get lossless at all.

On desktop, the album description has the logos for Lossless, Atmos, and Apple Digital Master.

However none of the tracks show up with the Lossless symbol in the timeline, or Get Info\Files.

On other albums I notice that not all tracks are Lossless enabled.

 

[dandrewk]

On desktop, the album description has the logos for Lossless, Atmos, and Apple Digital Master.

However none of the tracks show up with the Lossless symbol in the timeline, or Get Info\Files.

On other albums I notice that not all tracks are Lossless enabled.

I’m having difficulty finding any single track that has the lossless badge. Such was not the case yesterday.

 

[Chacocliff]

One thing I haven’t seen, will the wired lightning connection to my car play Lossless thru the car speakers?

 

[aut0maticdan]

Let's not turn it into another MQA debate, since MQA is high resolution and, besides, every album available as MQA is also available as non-MQA true lossless (at least in my experience). If you are suspicious of MQA or don't like it, there is a non-MQA lossless version.

By the way, I'm not advocating for Tidal here. My plan is to ditch Tidal as soon as Apple Music is updates all its catalog to lossless. For now, it's 50%-50% for albums in my library (classical).

It's not a debate. MQA isn't lossless. I happen to like Tidal and own 5 dacs that support MQA. I used Tidal for 5 years and only cancelled this week because of Apple Music. I even kept Tidal after comparing to Qobuz and Amazon Music after preferring the sound out of Qobuz because Tidal had better playlists and better integrations with things I use.

 

[msvadi]

It's not a debate. MQA isn't lossless. I happen to like Tidal and own 5 dacs that support MQA. I used Tidal for 5 years and only cancelled this week because of Apple Music. I even kept Tidal after comparing to Qobuz and Amazon Music after preferring the sound out of Qobuz because Tidal had better playlists and better integrations with things I use.

From my experience, every album available on Tidal as MQA is also available on Tidal as a true lossless FLAC at least in CD quality. So Tidal is 100% lossless: simply use the non-MQA version.

 

[Jamone]

I want you back by the Jackson 5 😙

Same with I'll Be There by Jackson 5

 

[brezz]

If you have both Atmos and Lossless turned on, does the phone default to Lossless over Atmos? I'm guessing both don't work at the same time.

Brian

 

[mxrider88]

I’m hearing it now but difference depends on song I guess. Listened to Kenny Rogers gambler off that spatial playlist. In stereo I hear the guitar easily left and right. In spatial it’s not and more like coming from middle.

Anyways. I much preferred the stereo or original. Pretty sure I’ll keep Dolby option off. No point in lossless for me with bt headphones. Haven’t looked at atv and sound system yet.

I rebooted the phone now it works. Now I hear the difference.. another bug, who would have thought lol 😂😂

 

[AppleUser2]

Don't go for Dragonflies: they max out at 96kHz. There are already quite a few hi-res 192kHz files on Apple Music, but Dragonflies cannot play at sampling rates higher than 96kHz, unless it's MQA. It seems that the entire Dragonfly lineup targets the MQA format adopted by Tidal, but MQA is never going to be on Apple Music.

Yep. I’m 51 though so in the diminishing return camp so probably won’t benefit from 192. The Dragonfly does dramatically improve all listening for me though simply because it’s better than internal DACs.

 

[msvadi]

Yep. I’m 51 though so in the diminishing return camp so probably won’t benefit from 192. The Dragonfly does dramatically improve all listening for me though simply because it’s better than internal DACs.

There are plenty of DACs of similar quality that are not focused on MQA

 

[msvadi]

I’m wondering when Apple plans to bring lossless Apple Music to other devices such as Samsung smart TVs. Our Samsung QLED has the Apple Music app, but it’s still lossy.