This is for anyone listening to hi-res audio from Apple Music from a Mac or iOS device. As you’re probably aware, the only way to listen to hi-res audio from Apple Music is through hi-res capable wired headphones or a wired digital connection to an external DAC/amp. If you’re using the latter, particularly from an iPhone or iPad, that device is either anchored to another piece of hardware, or tethered by an extension cable. You do have limited remote capabilities from another i-device using the built in Control Nearby Devices, but that’s a clunky solution and is only play/pause, next/previous track, and volume up/down. It you want to manage what you’re playing, select something else from your library, or search, you have to remove your backside from wherever it’s planted to physically access the device running Apple Music. I can tell you, this alone had prevented me from expanding beyond streaming over Bluetooth, because I’m basically lazy. This Lysoniq app fixes all that. The Bluetooth option works well, but it’s limited to AAC, which is actually not bad, but I’ve been curious about true hi-res and if it’s noticeably better than AAC (still working on that). If you’re an audiophile (I’m not committing one way or the other), you probably already have an answer.
When I first heard about it, I thought it was just a glorified remote control app that mirrored on one device what Apple Music was running on another. But it’s actually a separate Apple Music client that runs on two or more devices, where one is assigned as the source (the one that’s wired to a DAC(amp), and another is the ‘remote’ controller. I have my iPad connected to a WiiM Amp Ultra, which has a built in hi-res capable DAC, via USB C/Optical adapter (Cubilux USB C to SPDIF Adapter), with Lysoniq running on it and my iPhone. Within the app on the iPhone, i have the iPad set as the source device (app needs to be running on both devices) playing full hi-res out of the DAC/amp. From there, the app behaves just like Apple Music, except the audio only plays from the iPad while being fully controlled from the iPhone. So far it’s working flawlessly.
There is a one-time purchase fee ($7.99 US), which I gladly paid for this functionality and is infinitely better than a subscription arrangement. Pay for it once, and then you can install it on any other devices tied to your App Store account. Definitely worth a look. More info can be found in the App Store and at the lysoniq dot app web site.
When I first heard about it, I thought it was just a glorified remote control app that mirrored on one device what Apple Music was running on another. But it’s actually a separate Apple Music client that runs on two or more devices, where one is assigned as the source (the one that’s wired to a DAC(amp), and another is the ‘remote’ controller. I have my iPad connected to a WiiM Amp Ultra, which has a built in hi-res capable DAC, via USB C/Optical adapter (Cubilux USB C to SPDIF Adapter), with Lysoniq running on it and my iPhone. Within the app on the iPhone, i have the iPad set as the source device (app needs to be running on both devices) playing full hi-res out of the DAC/amp. From there, the app behaves just like Apple Music, except the audio only plays from the iPad while being fully controlled from the iPhone. So far it’s working flawlessly.
There is a one-time purchase fee ($7.99 US), which I gladly paid for this functionality and is infinitely better than a subscription arrangement. Pay for it once, and then you can install it on any other devices tied to your App Store account. Definitely worth a look. More info can be found in the App Store and at the lysoniq dot app web site.