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HomePod Will Support Spatial Audio for Apple Music, But Not Lossless Audio
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…this is a well thought out press release 😒, i wonder what Apple executive thinking giving go signal that leads to confusion (premature)…oh well we still have until June to figure out which of which will work with
They are introducing spacial audio with all of the devices support.
Lossless audio was never going to be supported by any of them, because its not possible. Should it not exist then? Let people who know how to use it take advantage of it.
1) Announce lossless audio
2) Reveal that current Apple products unforunately don't support it
3) Announce new Apple products that do support lossless audio in a few months (WWDC?)
4) People buy the new lossless audio compatible Apple products
5) Profit!
I just lost what I didn’t even know I needed to have
OK, now that’s lame. I understand not supporting lossless over Bluetooth, but there’s no reason the HomePod shouldn’t be able to play lossless music.
I'm going to call shenanigans on this "confirmation," unless a source can be referenced or the claims can be proven. It's understandable that Bluetooth devices would not be able to support lossless, but that's due to the way BT works, not necessarily the devices themselves. Since HomePods use AirPlay 2, I'm willing to bet they'll support it (as others have said, if not the HomePod, then WHAT wireless devices will? Why would Apple TV and not HomePod?).
It's the first day of the news on this update, and there's likely some circular and/or single-source reporting going on (as an example, this article is saying that HomePod DOES support lossless). I recommend waiting for 14.6 to be released into the wild (not sure if the RC released today is providing all of the new features or not) before deciding what speakers or headphones you need to throw away or run out and buy.
It's the first day of the news on this update, and there's likely some circular and/or single-source reporting going on (as an example, this article is saying that HomePod DOES support lossless). I recommend waiting for 14.6 to be released into the wild (not sure if the RC released today is providing all of the new features or not) before deciding what speakers or headphones you need to throw away or run out and buy.
Honestly, wtf is this **** Apple? It’s safe to say they’ve been working on high res music for a while. You mean to tell me the services team under eddy cue working on this doesn’t talk to the hardware engineering teams responsible for the AirPod and HomePod product lines?
All of apple’s DEDICATED listening devices do not support lossless. By DEDICATED listening devices I mean products and devices whose primary or only purpose is to play audio.
Who even listens to high resolution music on their laptop speakers or the small speakers in an iPhone or iPad?
All of apple’s DEDICATED listening devices do not support lossless. By DEDICATED listening devices I mean products and devices whose primary or only purpose is to play audio.
Who even listens to high resolution music on their laptop speakers or the small speakers in an iPhone or iPad?
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If you think Apple’s $20 headphones can play Hi-res lossless audio, and I’ll let you continue to believe that. Keep enjoying it!
Lossless is just cd quality… anything wireless it’s mostly pointless. I can already play lossless or hires with my usb headphone amp and sennneisers now through other services now can just use Apple Music. I wonder if Sonos will support it, I have a paid of play 5’s….
AirPlay 2 is already supporting 24-bit/48kHz. I don't understand why Apple Lossless (ALAC) at 16-bit/44.1kHz would be any problem? ALAC is normally 1411 kbps if Apple hasn't done any additional tuning with the codec. WiFi shouldn't have any problems with 1411 kbps at all and the onboard buffer (I have no clue how big it is on HomePod and HomePod mini) shouldn't be affected about it being 5x the size.
It might be a result of the computational audio. Might be that the software and everything have been tuned around the use of 256 kbps AAC making it a big effort to get it to support 1411 kbps ALAC.
But it does look wired having a premium speaker like the HomePod using Apple's very own streaming tech (AirPlay 2), being capable of streaming directly from Apple Music by itself, Apple's very own streaming service and Apple is even using their very own Apple Lossless (ALAC) codec for the lossless versions. And still, it somehow is not able to play it?
It's not like the Apple A8 should have any issues with ALAC. AAC is a more demanding codec compared to ALAC when it comes to encoding/decoding/transcoding.
But the communication so far has been all over the place. It might just be that this requires some software changes and perhaps AudioOS/HomePod won't be getting the required changes in June. It might be something that comes with AudioOS/HomePod 15 in August. Who knows at this point.
It might be a result of the computational audio. Might be that the software and everything have been tuned around the use of 256 kbps AAC making it a big effort to get it to support 1411 kbps ALAC.
But it does look wired having a premium speaker like the HomePod using Apple's very own streaming tech (AirPlay 2), being capable of streaming directly from Apple Music by itself, Apple's very own streaming service and Apple is even using their very own Apple Lossless (ALAC) codec for the lossless versions. And still, it somehow is not able to play it?
It's not like the Apple A8 should have any issues with ALAC. AAC is a more demanding codec compared to ALAC when it comes to encoding/decoding/transcoding.
But the communication so far has been all over the place. It might just be that this requires some software changes and perhaps AudioOS/HomePod won't be getting the required changes in June. It might be something that comes with AudioOS/HomePod 15 in August. Who knows at this point.
They will support
Digital audio requires an digital to Analog converter. That device supports specific resolutions and true Lossless support is very specific. The high resolution DAs can be very expensive by themselves. If they were installed the sound profile and dynamics would be radically changed, so the features of the HomePod may not work as originally marketed.
Why would Apple extend lossless to a product they just canned, the original HomePod? The HomePod mini doesn't sound good enough even with AAC so that one is out.
Perhaps they have Pro audio products coming out.
Perhaps they have Pro audio products coming out.
6) Lossless turns out to be a gimmick like iTunes LP etc and gets quietly abandoned
This is pretty disappointing, after years and years of Apple pushing wireless audio solutions and removing headphone jacks from every device, to now finally release a lossless audio service that requires wires...
Apple did not mention AirPods compatibility in its press release announcing the new functionality, and on its website, Apple confirms that lossless audio can be listened to on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV, and T3 also says that HomePod is compatible even though it wasn't listed in Apple's announcement.
Given that the HomePod Mini doesn’t have “spatial awareness” I can’t see the first generation supporting Spatial Audio-it doesn’t even have support for Dolby Atmos.
WTF. The thing supports ALAC (and FLAC!), natively, and support up to 24bit/48khz. The damn thing can receive lossless streams by Airplay 2. Come on, Apple, you can´t be serious...
Will the Apple TV 4K aupport Apple Music lossless?. If it does, will it send the stream untouched to a Homepod stereo pair thats set as it default audio output?
This is my only hope right now.
This is my only hope right now.