Apple Music Quality

[Shoghunuk]

I recently posted this query on the official Apple forums but it got removed. I don’t know why but it’s in their Terms and Services that they can remove any post. Maybe someone can help?

I queried: why in the age of 5G, increased storage space and unlimited data do the songs on Apple Music sound like bad 8 bit recordings? Even CDs are 16 bit and they’re not great. Why hasn’t Apple increased the quality? I understand that when digital music became the trend music files were made small because of download speeds, data usage and storage limitations but that’s all changed now. If you compare a track directly from Apple Music and a CD, you can hear the difference. Even though the CD is only a 16 bit recording it has more depth, sounds richer and much sharper.

Isn’t it time for a change?

 

[benshive]

Apple Music songs are 256kbps aac files. I guess that's what they consider the sweet spot between sound quality and storage space/bandwidth for streaming. Personally I've never had an issue with the quality. It'd be nice if they gave the option to stream at 320kbps like Spotify does though.

 

[DaPhox]

How can you hear the difference?

1. Are the songs the exact same mastering from the same source?

2. Are the files/songs sent through the same DAC?

 

[Hunter5117]

For years I avoided streaming services and only bought CD's and ripped them to ALAC files on my iPod and listened via a FiiO portable amp. When the $10 Apple music plan came out I pretty much gave this up for the convenience of having any music I wanted available. I have a/b'd my ripped files vs Apple music on my laptop and there is definitely a noticeable difference when using my Shure 535's but its not enough to warrant going back. Using my AirPods pro's I hardly hear any difference.

 

[Expos of 1969]

I recently posted this query on the official Apple forums but it got removed. I don’t know why but it’s in their Terms and Services that they can remove any post. Maybe someone can help?

I queried: why in the age of 5G, increased storage space and unlimited data do the songs on Apple Music sound like bad 8 bit recordings? Even CDs are 16 bit and they’re not great. Why hasn’t Apple increased the quality? I understand that when digital music became the trend music files were made small because of download speeds, data usage and storage limitations but that’s all changed now. If you compare a track directly from Apple Music and a CD, you can hear the difference. Even though the CD is only a 16 bit recording it has more depth, sounds richer and much sharper.

Isn’t it time for a change?

Apple Forums are a joke. If a person has a question or comment and if any information they provide is in anyway deemed critical or not positive towards the company, it is removed. Ridiculous way to operate.

 

[Shoghunuk]

How can you hear the difference?

1. Are the songs the exact same mastering from the same source?

2. Are the files/songs sent through the same DAC?

I can’t confirm the source as I don’t know where Apple Music source their music but the DAC was the same, in the Naim SuperUniti.

As for ‘how can you hear the difference’, how come you haven’t?

I recently had a friend over who had never heard 24 bit 192 kHz music before and I played him a piece of music streamed and then a .flac file of the same piece. He was stunned. The difference is massive. How come you’ve never noticed?

 

[Shoghunuk]

Apple Music songs are 256kbps aac files. I guess that's what they consider the sweet spot between sound quality and storage space/bandwidth for streaming. Personally I've never had an issue with the quality. It'd be nice if they gave the option to stream at 320kbps like Spotify does though.

I know that 320Kbps .mp3 ‘lossy’ is an industry baseline and I think the Apple .aac files are basically equivalent but companies such as Tidal and Qobuz offer much better quality music for, albeit, slightly more per month subscription. Unfortunately I’m locked into the Apple ecosystem and I do enjoy the ease of compatibility between devices so I’m my own worse enemy. I really really want Apple to equal or better Tidal and Qobuz but I guess they don’t like me pointing that out on their own forums.

 

[Shoghunuk]

For years I avoided streaming services and only bought CD's and ripped them to ALAC files on my iPod and listened via a FiiO portable amp. When the $10 Apple music plan came out I pretty much gave this up for the convenience of having any music I wanted available. I have a/b'd my ripped files vs Apple music on my laptop and there is definitely a noticeable difference when using my Shure 535's but its not enough to warrant going back. Using my AirPods pro's I hardly hear any difference.

I use Apple Music to ‘check out’ new albums to see if I will really enjoy them. If I like an album, I’ll buy either the CD or vinyl album, rip them and play them on my AK Jnr for portable music or my home sound system. I concede that Apple Music has probably saved me more than what I’ve spent on subscription in me not wasting money on music I found I didn’t enjoy as much as anticipated but I would really like it if I just had one, easy source for my music.

 

[Shoghunuk]

Apple Forums are a joke. If a person has a question or comment and if any information they provide is in anyway deemed critical or not positive towards the company, it is removed. Ridiculous way to operate.

I guessed as much but couldn’t be sure as I’d never used their forum before. The only reason I posted was because I got annoyed at their iPhone 12 presentation where they harped on about 5G but not the things that mattered to most of us. I mean, 5G isn’t as great or as available as they profess anyway!

 

[DaPhox]

I can’t confirm the source as I don’t know where Apple Music source their music but the DAC was the same, in the Naim SuperUniti.

As for ‘how can you hear the difference’, how come you haven’t?

I recently had a friend over who had never heard 24 bit 192 kHz music before and I played him a piece of music streamed and then a .flac file of the same piece. He was stunned. The difference is massive. How come you’ve never noticed?

I can easily spot differences between different files, but NOT with ripped 256kbps AAC-files vs wav/aiff files from the same CD. I would claim its virtually impossible...

Au contraire, in my case many Apple Music tracks which are mastered for iTunes sound better than my original cds...

 

[Eric Idle]

Apple Forums are a joke. If a person has a question or comment and if any information they provide is in anyway deemed critical or not positive towards the company, it is removed. Ridiculous way to operate.

Remember when Apple Discussion Forums Were Useful?

Looking at Apple's support discussion forum, it's staggering how awful they have become. Back in the day, they had (non Apple) posters with thousands upon thousands of posts, seemingly doing nothing with their time but helping people. Many times they helped me out of difficult jams. Today...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Shoghunuk]

I can easily spot differences between different files, but NOT with ripped 256kbps AAC-files vs wav/aiff files from the same CD. I would claim its virtually impossible...

Au contraire, in my case many Apple Music tracks which are mastered for iTunes sound better than my original cds...

You’re right in that it’s very difficult to tell the difference between file types ripped at 256kbps but why would you rip a CD at such a low bitrate? I would rip a CD at 16 bit 41Khz or around 903 Kbps into a .flac file. Unless I was desperate for storage space I rip at the highest quality available. I have no idea how you’re listening to your music so I won’t comment on iTunes music being better than CD quality. We clearly hear differently.

All that notwithstanding, the point is being missed. Apple could increase their sound quality if more people cared. They’ve increased the quality of their video playback to HDR and Dolby Vision because people cared and that’s what they wanted so Apple delivered. Unfortunately too many of the ‘digital generation’ have never listened to anything other than CDs and low quality digital downloads and so don’t know any better. How can you miss HiFi sound if you’ve never listened to it before?

 

[DaPhox]

But they cant increase the sound quality even if they increase the bitrate? Im guessing this is also apples thinking...

 

[philrock]

I'm new to Apple Music, sadly my hearing isn't what it used to be so quality has to be pretty bad before I notice. I did notice a option in the app to stream "high quality streaming" under cellular data. If I were to guess, HQS is standard and if you don't check that it's a reduced quality?