AirPods don’t use the iPhones dac, they have their own dac built in.
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Kuo: AirPods Pro 2 to Feature Lossless Support and Sound-Emitting Charging Case
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diminishing returns hit hard in the audio world. you might be able to tell the difference between 128kbps to 196, but the difference is much smaller when you go from 196 to 256, even smaller when you go from 256 to 320, and, believe it or not, even smaller when you go from 320 to 1411. this isn't only true for cheap IEMS like the airpods pro, but for high end gear like hd800s/arya/clear backed with multi hundred dollar amp/dac setups.
bottom line: every airpods that apple sells is considered to be low tier compared to audiophile favorites. even if you think you can hear the difference in audio quality between 256kbps and lossless on airpods, the loss in battery life will still make it not worth it.
tldr: lossless is either pointless or not worth it
bottom line: every airpods that apple sells is considered to be low tier compared to audiophile favorites. even if you think you can hear the difference in audio quality between 256kbps and lossless on airpods, the loss in battery life will still make it not worth it.
tldr: lossless is either pointless or not worth it
ipad 1 was only supported for like 2 years. RIPOuch, rub it in. But a least I didn't pay $550.00 for them
I have a fair bit of experience with codecs and audio in general. I also consider myself a "purist" and I have pretty good hearing (can still hear sounds above 18 khz).
I also experimented a lot with blind tests.
In my experience AAC 256 and above is pretty much indistinguishable from lossless. Even in the most (un)favorable circumstances (high end audio equipment + zero background noise) you have to be so damn focused to detect the difference that it becomes a meaningless exercise in trying to prove a point rather than actually enjoying the music you're listening to.
But hey, I could be the odd one here. So here's some science to back up my point (clickable link): Lossless vs Lossy - Blind Test Results.
Can you also come up with something factual about your point of view or you expect everybody else to take a leap of faith based on your own personal experience of the placebo effect?
here's my order of importance
headphone/iem/speaker > amp > dac > audio file bitrate
in order words, if you want better audio, simply buy something outside of apple. there are way too many people in here that think that they're either forced to buy all apple products or that products outside of apple are inferior. it's not true.
I can sense more space in a lossless (Flac) recording compared to 320 mp3 with high quality headphones. Difficult to explain, is a sensation of greater space. Because this extra space created, the sounds in the recordings are easy to differentiate and enjoy. I sense space and smoothness of the sounds.
Definitely. As long as you are using at least MP3 320 (joint stereo) or AAC 256, the audio equipment is the limit.
If you are using low-end or midrange stuff, even MP3 192 / AAC 128 sounds pretty much the same as lossless.
You forgot something and the most important, the quality of the recording at the studio. You could have the greatest equipment but if the recording is awful the equipment will not perform as intended.
I can sometimes "sense" MP3 320 as being a bit shrill/sharp and AAC 256 feeling a little bit more "round". But only if I focus intensely on specific parts of tracks that I listened to at least a hundred times, with dedicated DAC, amplifier, high-end headphones.
And even in these perfect conditions, it's never obvious which one is which.
I think you should give AAC 256 a go and perform some blind tests to see how you feel about it compared to MP3 320.
I agree with you, ACC 256 compared to Mp3 320, personally I don't detect any difference and as you clearly state it, in a blind test I will fail comparing a Flac file to a Mp3 320, I can only be aware of this space at the moment of listening one song after the other and knowing which one is which.
AirPods and AirPods Pro are not good for music, they are good for other things, but not for music. AirPods are very comfortable and I use them for watching instructional YouTube videos, for music I use the Sennheiser TW momentum 2 connected to a Sony DAP with the Jetaudio App.
Call me a cynic but I doubt you're really gonna notice the difference between some pretty ordinary sound files and lossless audio on such small, low-grade headphones.
AirPods aren't studio grade monitors and they certainly don't give you a natural sound.
This is a long time coming. For whatever reason I misplace that stupid battery case all the time, and there is no way to track it unlike the headphones which I never seem to lose. It’s a simple thing but this feature alone would make me upgrade.
Has always been the case IMO. I reckon the only time you notice differences between lossy formats is when you put them into an audio editing apps and try doing stuff with them (saying this as an ex-DJ).
Even then honestly... you'll want studio monitors, not cheapo (okay noted Apple charges $$$) consumer-grade buds that have intentionally been geared towards giving you an experience with lossy files rather than a 'natural' sound.
Not only quality studio monitors are needed but a pair of good ears as well... If you have lost the ability to detect some frequencies having stellar equipment is useless.
I'm believe AirPlay uses too much power for something powered with a very tiny battery like this.
AirPlay is a protocol. It still needs an radio interface to ride on top of, like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
Exactly. Lossless is marketing ******** apple has no choice but to adopt for fear of being off the pace.
Lossless, which is indistinguishable from whatever Bluetooth is capable of in the first place even using high end headphones (Meze Empyrean user here - don’t ask) in this epitome of compromise tiny headphones? YOU WILL NOT HEAR THE DIFFERENCE. We’ll all get them for sure being apple fanboys, but please spare us the lossless quality difference talk.
I lost a Pencil for way too long, and having a way to find them would be so nice. I finally found it, but it was after using a Bluetooth sniffer to hopefully find it, but it was too dead. It would be nice to not have to replace them, which I did. ?
Yeah, the world said the same when CD's replaced cassettes, said no-one ever!
The only marketing bs was when SJ said (& convinced folk) that 128kbs was enough for anyone, until it wasn't.
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CD quality happens to hit the upper limit of a human ear’s ability to resolve audio content, with some margin. Anything above 16-bit, 44.1kHz is pure marketing bullcrap. Source: yours truly who was dumb enough to blow some serious dough on a Sony TA-ZH1ES and a pair of Meze Empyrean’s. Actually, the speakers and headphones DO matter, but the Sony sounds EXACTLY the same as the $9 Apple DAC dongle and there is NO difference between 256kbps AAC and Apple Lossless, not to mention the hi-res voodoo bs. Unless you’re a bat or a Stereophile magazine subscriber, that is.Yeah, the world said the same when CD's replaced cassettes, said no-one ever!
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