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    The Computer Audiophile

    By The Computer Audiophile •

    Apple Music Lossless Mess Part 2: AirPlay

     

     

    Earlier this month I dug into Apple Music's Lossless and Hi-Res offerings, running several bit perfect rests on the audio output of my Macs and iOS devices. The results were less than stellar (link). This week I dug into Apple Music lossless over AirPlay. One would think that the results would be similar if the only thing changing is the method of transporting the music. However, it's still the Wild West and Apple has made the waters even more muddy with AirPlay. 

     

    Before I get to the details, I want to thank the Bluesound team. This team was very helpful while I was testing and researching AirPlay and Apple Music Lossless. These guys really know what they are doing and are on the leading edge of supporting and developing solutions that may seem simple to the end user, but are quite complex behind the scenes. 

     

    NOTE: Be sure to read the UPDATED parts below, suggested by @Marco Klobas


    Let's Dig In

     

    Just like my previous article, I want to start with some basics. 

     

    What is bit perfect and why should I care? In the simplest terms, bit perfect means that the audio hasn't been changed. The music sent, in this case from Apple Music, into the playback device hasn't been altered. The source is what has been delivered to Apple by the record labels. Apple is just the delivery company.
     
    If you care about high quality, getting the lossless streaming you're paying for from Apple Music, Qobuz, Tidal, Amazon Music, etc... then you should care about bit perfect because without it you have no idea what's happening to your audio. If this isn't a concern for you, no worries. 

     

     

    Testing Methodology 

     

    Testing AirPlay was much more difficult than straight USB connected audio devices. There are AirPlay 1 devices, AirPlay 2 devices, Shairport devices, and a host of applications that don't follow any specific set of standards when sending audio via AirPlay. 

     

    My bit perfect testing consists of a Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series 3 that identifies and decodes HDCD on all sample rates from 44.1 up through 192 kHz. When an unaltered HDCD music track is played, the HDCD indicator on the DAC is illuminated. The HDCD flag is on the 16th bit for lossless CD files and the 24th bit for high resolution files. Any alteration, DSP, volume leveling, etc... changes this least significant bit and won't enable the HDCD indicator to illuminate on my DAC. Apple Music's lossless audio that I tested was 16 bit / 44.1 kHz and the Hi-Res audio was both 24 bit / 176.4 kHz and 24 bit / 192 kHz. That's the hardware piece. 

     


    Feeding the DAC I used four devices.

     

    • A Berkeley Audio Design Alpha USB. This converts USB audio to AES or S/PDIF on BNC. This device doesn't use AirPlay, but it helps set a baseline for testing.
    • A Bluesound Node 2i that supports AirPlay 2 and uses the newest version of Apple's AirPlay 2 chip. 
    • An Apple AirPort Express 802.11n (2nd Generation) serial number C86HV7S1DV2R. This device supports AirPlay 2 and features optical S/PDIF output over Toslink. 
    • An Apple AirPort Express 802.11n (1st Generation) serial number 6F94552G2U6. This device supports AirPlay 1 and features optical S/PDIF output over Toslink.
    • A Sonore signatureRendu SE Optical. This device supports ShairPort, an open source version of Apple's AirPlay 1.

     


    Sending audio to the above devices I used the following.

     

    • An Apple iPhone 12 Pro running iOS 14.6 and the Apple Music app.
    • An Apple Mac Mini (M1) running macOS 11.4, and Apple Pro Display XDR.
    • An iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (2nd Generation) running iOS 14.6.

     


    With respect to source files, here's what I do. 
     
    I have a list of roughly ten known HDCD albums (although I could use more if needed). Many of these albums were only released as HDCD encoded CDs/files. There is no alternate lossless version. For example, Reference Recordings only releases CDs that are HDCD encoded. Pearl Jam's Live On Two Legs was only released as an HDCD master for its lossless CD version. 
     
    I set a baseline by playing my own local copy of the albums and make sure the HDCD indicator illuminates. I played some Reference Recordings albums through Apple's Music desktop application on macOS and made sure the app could handle bit perfect playback. All was good there. On iOS, I used other apps such as Qobuz, to play the identical music through the identical hardware. All was good through the Qobuz app. Again, there are no alternative versions of these lossless albums. It's the same music on all the services that offer lossless streaming.
     
    Absolutely there are possible holes in my methodology, but I believe I've minimized them as much as possible. If anyone can identify a hole, please let me know and I will retest. 
     

     

    Results Without Context

     

    Here is a list of the results, straight up without any context. 

     

    On iOS

    1. Apple's Music App, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 1 to AirPort Express 1st Gen - bit perfect at 44.1.
    2. Apple's Music App, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 1 to Sonore Rendu (ShairPort) - bit perfect at 44.1.
    3. Apple's Music App, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 2 to Bluesound Node 2i - NOT bit perfect at 44.1.
    4. Apple's Music App, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 2 to AirPort Express 2nd Gen - NOT bit perfect 44.1.

     

    iOS Notable

    1. Qobuz, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 2 to Bluesound Node 2i - bit perfect at 44.1.
    2. Qobuz, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 2 to AirPort Express 2nd Gen - bit perfect at 44.1.
    3. Tidal, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 2 to Bluesound Node 2i - NOT bit perfect at 44.1.
    4. Tidal, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 2 to AirPort Express 2nd Gen - NOT bit perfect 44.1.
    5. Tidal, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 1 to AirPort Express 1st Gen - bit perfect at 44.1.
    6. Apple's Music App, lossless streaming content, USB output with CCK - not bit perfect at 44.1.
    7. Qobuz, lossless streaming content, USB output with CCK - bit perfect at 44.1 and 192.

     


    On macOS

    1. UPDATED: Apple's Music App, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 1 to AirPort Express 1st Gen - bit perfect at 44.1 only if the system-wide AirPlay device is set. If AirPlay device only selected in the Music app, the output is NOT bit perfect.
    2. UPDATED: Apple's Music App, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 1 to Sonore Rendu (ShairPort) - bit perfect at 44.1 only if the system-wide AirPlay device is set. If AirPlay device only selected in the Music app, the output is NOT bit perfect.
    3. UPDATED: Apple's Music App, lossless streaming content, Airplay 2 to Bluesound Node 2i - bit perfect at 44.1 only if the system-wide AirPlay device is set. If AirPlay device only selected in the Music app, the output is NOT bit perfect.
    4. UPDATED: Apple's Music App, lossless streaming content, AirPlay 2 to AirPort Express 2nd Gen - bit perfect at 44.1 only if the system-wide AirPlay device is set. If AirPlay device only selected in the Music app, the output is NOT bit perfect.

     

    macOS Notable

    1. Apple's Music App, lossless local content, AirPlay 1 to AirPort Express 1st Gen - bit perfect at 44.1.
    2. UPDATED: Apple's Music App, lossless local content, AirPlay 2 to Bluesound Node 2i - bit perfect at 44.1 only if the system-wide AirPlay device is set. If AirPlay device only selected in the Music app, the output is NOT bit perfect.
    3. UPDATED: Apple's Music App, lossless local content, AirPlay 2 to AirPort Express 2nd Gen - bit perfect at 44.1 only if the system-wide AirPlay device is set. If AirPlay device only selected in the Music app, the output is NOT bit perfect.
    4. Apple's Music App, lossless local content, USB output - bit perfect at 44.1.

     

     

     

    Setting the system-wide audio device to an AirPlay device is done by selecting the following item in the system menu at the top of the screen.

     

    2.jpg 1.jpg

     

     

     

     

     

    Once selected, it will appear in the Music app this way.

     

    Display in Music App.jpg

     

     


    Results With Some Thoughts And Videos

     

    Please see the UPDATED notes above!

     

    Sending Apple Music lossless content from an iOS device to an AirPlay version 1 device was surprisingly bit perfect, when all other methods were not bit perfect. My original guess was that this is because the AirPlay version 1 Express only accepted Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC), so the sending app had no choice. However, this doesn't square with the fact that the Music app on macOS doesn't send bit perfect lossless audio to the same 1st gen Express. I retested this multiple times to make sure the results were identical on every test. The bottom line is that AirPlay 2 isn't currently receiving bit perfect lossless audio unless the system-wide output is set to an AirPlay 2 device, otherwise it's likely converting it to AAC at 256 kbps. Strangely, the Music app on macOS says it's streaming lossless audio only when sending via AirPlay 2 even if it is lossy because of the output selection only being done in the Music app, but the audio isn't bit perfect this way. The same app when sending via AirPlay 1, doesn't even pretend to send lossless, so it doesn't even display the lossless logo will display the lossless logo only if the system-wide audio device is set to the AirPlay 1 device.

     

    Currently, the only way to stream lossless audio from a streaming service, bit perfectly, over AirPlay is to use an AirPlay version 1 device and use Apple Music, Tidal HiFi, or Qobuz, or an AirPlay 2 device and Qobuz. It seems like Qobuz doesn't care what the device supports, it just send the lossless audio without changing it. Apple Music sees AirPlay 2 and dumbs the music down to lossy AAC.

     

     

    VIDEO One

     

    Here is a video of my testing Apple Music streaming lossless 16 bit / 44.1 kHz audio from an iPad Pro to an AirPort Express (1st gen) via AirPlay 1. You can see several things in this video.

     

    1. Shortly after I press play, the sample rate on the DAC changes to 44.1, the Lock light on the DAC turns green to indicated a solid signal is received, and the HDCD indicator illuminates blue to indicate the DAC recognizes the HDCD flag on the 16th bit of the audio signal. 
    2. At 0:25 into the video you can see the app shows its sending Lossless 16-bit/44.1 kHz ALAC content.
    3. At 0:35 into the video you can see what happens when I adjust the volume. As soon as the volume is not at 100%, bit perfection is lost and the HDCD indicator turns off. When I increase the volume back to 100%, the indicator illuminates blue once again. This is but one example of anything that changes the audio, destroys bit perfection and the HDCD indicator goes off. 
    4. At 0:47 into the video I change tracks. Shortly thereafter you can see the HDCD light go out, while no audio is playing for the split second, then come back on as soon as the track starts. 
    5. At 1:03 into the video you can see as soon as I press pause, the HDCD and Lock indicator lights go out.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    VIDEO TWO

     

    Here is a video of my testing Apple Music streaming lossless 16 / 44.1 audio from MacBook Pro to a Bluesound Node 2i via AirPlay 2. You can see several things in this video.

     

    1. The sample rate and Lock indicator are already good because the Node 2i had previously played this content. 
    2. When I press play, the HDCD indicator remains off, indicating something in the audio has changed, destroying the 16th bit.
    3. At 0:23 into the video you can see when I click the Apple Music lossless logo. The app indicates it's receiving lossless audio from Apple Music. The fact that it isn't sending this lossless audio to the AirPlay 2 device is not indicated anywhere for the consumer to see.
    4. Note: When sending this same audio to an AirPlay 1 device from the MacBook Pro, the lossless logo doesn't appear in the now playing window and the app says AAC if you click Get Info.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    VIDEO THREE 


    Here is a video of my testing Apple's Music application streaming LOCALLY stored  / my own CD rip lossless 16 / 44.1 audio from MacBook Pro to a Bluesound Node 2i via AirPlay 2. You can see several things in this video.

     

    1. The sample rate and Lock indicators are correct. 
    2. The HDCD indicator never illuminates, indicating the audio sent is not bit perfect. 
    3. I also adjust the volume up and down to make sure it's at 100%. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    VIDEO FOUR


    Here is a video of my testing Apple's Music application streaming LOCALLY stored  / my own CD rip lossless 16 / 44.1 audio from MacBook Pro to an AirPort Express 1st Gen via AirPlay 1. You can see several things in this video.

     

    1. The sample rate and lock indicator correctly adjust upon playback.
    2. The HDCD indicator correctly illuminates upon playback, indicating bit perfect audio.
    3. At 0:50 into the video you can see the track is local 44.1 AIFF file. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    VIDEO FIVE

     

    Here is a video of my testing Apple Music streaming lossless 16 bit / 44.1 kHz audio from a MacBook Pro to an AirPort Express (1st gen) via AirPlay 1. You can see several things in this video.

     

    1. Sample rate and Lock indicator adjust correctly.
    2. HDCD indicator doesn't illuminate upon playback.
    3. At 0:40 into the video you can see the Get Info screen showing AAC audio being sent. This appears to be the audio sent from Apple Music, not what is sent behind the scenes to the AirPlay device, even though AAc is in fact what's sent to the AirPlay 1 device as well. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    VIDEO SIX

     

    Here is a video of my testing Apple's Music application streaming LOCALLY stored  / my own CD rip lossless 16 / 44.1 audio from MacBook Pro to an Alpha USB via USB. This is just a baseline video showing Apple's Music app is fully capable of bit perfect output via USB.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    VIDEO SEVEN

     

    Here is a video of my testing Apple Music application streaming lossless audio 16 / 44.1 audio from MacBook Pro to an Alpha USB via USB. You can see several things in this video.

     

    1. The video shows all my settings correct in the app. 
    2. At 0:40 into the video I hit play and the HDCD indicator goes on for a short period, then continues to blink on/off periodically throughout the video. This indicates the audio fluctuates between bit perfect and not bit perfect. 
    3. At 0:50 into the video you can see the lossless logo clicked and Apple Music displaying Lossless 16-bit 44.1 kHz ALAC as the audio stream.  

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    Wrap Up

    There you have the complete soup sandwich that is Apple Music lossless streaming over AirPlay versions 1 and 2. 

     

    I'd like to note that some people have said my bit perfect testing isn't really that big of a deal because Apple is streaming lossless audio and they don't care if it isn't bit perfect because it's better than the lossy stuff. After doing my research, I can tell you the "lossless" may be the exact same thing as the lossy, so people really should care about bit perfect playback. If we don't know where the digital signal processing is happening, we don't know that it's even lossless. 

     

    If you see anything in my tests that you think isn't right, please let me know. The last thing I want to do is cause even more confusion with misinformation. I believe everything here is 100% correct. 
     

     

     

     

     

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    Marco Klobas

    @Rijckholt My setup didn't change so, unfortunately, I can't run more advanced tests than those I have already done.

     

    I'm still hoping Apple will improve Music/Classical-AirPlay combo in both aspects: the bit perfect side and the hi-res side (or, at least, one of them).

     

    Or maybe an Apple/Roon deal... 🤪

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    tgp-2
    14 hours ago, Rijckholt said:

    Based on my network traffic I suspect that the Apple Music and classical app are compressing in lossy way BEFORE it is handed over the the AirPlay service of the phone

     

    can you describe what you're seeing in the network traffic? ... i can't imagine why a lossy encoding step would be needed right before the Airplay transcode to ALAC

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    Rijckholt

    @tgp-2 it definitely not needed :-) but apple might have decided to do it in order to preserve battery life of the phone/iPad. Why not give the user the option to stream lossless via AirPlay 2? Apple made sure that doesn’t work and now maybe also closed the route via AirPlay 1 form their own apps (music and classical). Just need to make sure what is going on.  As for my network traffic: it is just minimal more in line with lossy compressed streaming than with lossless streaming. Just don’t see enough data flowing from my phone to the AirPort Express. 

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    Rijckholt

    @Marco Klobas thank for your reply. Yes hoping for losses via AirPlay 2 or Roon integration would be nice indeed. As for your testing, not sure about your answer. I don’t think you need more advanced tool but do same test again but now with latest version of iOS and see if your results are stille the same as when you tested with iOS 14 2 years ago (this is also only focused at mobile iPhone/iPad streaming from Apple Music/classical not about streaming from a Mac computer) 

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    Marco Klobas
    5 hours ago, Rijckholt said:

    @Marco Klobas thank for your reply. Yes hoping for losses via AirPlay 2 or Roon integration would be nice indeed. As for your testing, not sure about your answer. I don’t think you need more advanced tool but do same test again but now with latest version of iOS and see if your results are stille the same as when you tested with iOS 14 2 years ago (this is also only focused at mobile iPhone/iPad streaming from Apple Music/classical not about streaming from a Mac computer) 

     

    I repeated the test, recording on a Mac (macOS 13.5.1) a song played via AirPlay 1 from an iPad (Music app – iPadOS 16.6) and comparing it with the original track with inverted phase.

     

    I recorded the audio with Audition using the same 2 methods already mentioned in the past posts to AirPlay the song:

    • Via Shairport Sync
    • Via AirServer software receiver (on intel Macs the AirPlay receiver built in macOS isn't available anymore)

    A third recording has been made with Shairport Sync via its stdout option, again as already made.

     

    The results are unfortunately even more puzzling. I expected the same behavior. Instead I got a different outcome. These inconsistent results are really starting to annoy me...

     

    In my last recap post I mentioned:

    • The ShairPort Sync iPad to Mac AirPlay 1 (track #4) shows no difference (as expected because it's nulled) – Bit perfect
    • The AirServer iPad to Mac AirPlay 1 (track #3) shows no difference (as expected because it's nulled) – Bit perfect
    • The ShairPort Sync iPad to Mac AirPlay 1 (track #2) recorded via stdout shows a difference at around -190 dB. In this case it has a more irregular range (going from -140 db to -240 db). Sometimes it seems that the tracks null each other for a fraction of time – No bit perfect

    Here's the complete post:

     

    Now, the third point (the stdout recording) is still valid (at least one certainty...).

     

    The other two recordings (Audition via ShairPort Sync and AirServer) are not.

     

    Here are the three screenshots highlighting that none are bit prefect:

     

    spacer.png

    spacer.png

    spacer.png

     

    Acoustically, all three recordings are nulled (dead silence) leading to think that it's bit perfect. If you look at the frequency analysis, you see at -150dB or even lower that it's not true.

     

    Granted, many things have changed since my last tests. iPadOS, Music app, macOS, AirServer, Shairport Sync, Audition: all have been updated since. Only the tested album is the same. 🙂

     

    I know that my null test I risky because the songs have to be synchronized as perfectly as possible (matching their tempo) plus the convoluted recording procedure (AirPlay software receiver -> Loopback audio interface -> Recording software). It's the only method at my disposal.

     

    I don't know why the AirServer and Shairport Sync recording sessions don't null completely this time. I tested twice. Apparently the procedure was the same – the results don't match, though.

     

    I'm sorry @Rijckholt if I'm only confusing you. 😉

     

    I suggest you to enjoy your Dynaudio Focus 50 speakers. Even via AirPlay 2. Who cares! As an owner of the Contour 20i I'm sure they sound great! 😀

     

    Maybe in the future I'll give a try again. I'll wait some changing signs from Apple first...

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    tgp-2
    5 hours ago, Rijckholt said:

     As for my network traffic: it is just minimal more in line with lossy compressed streaming than with lossless streaming. Just don’t see enough data flowing from my phone to the AirPort Express.

     

    getting a good look at the network traffic can be difficult ... it's easier when either the sender or receiver is a general purpose computer such as a mac, raspberry pi, etc. ... where possible i use the utility "bmon" (i'm sure there are other good options) ... the receiving end of an Airplay1 stream will look something like this ...

    Screenshot 2023-08-20 9.48.57 AM.png

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    Marco Klobas

    Out of curiosity I tried something different: no Apple Music involved.

    • Loaded the original song on Plex server
    • Played the song through iPad Plex app via AirPlay to both AirServer and Shairport Sync
    • Recorded both sessions with Audition as usual
    • Compared the recordings with the original song (phase inverted)

    Result: both recordings show the same "activity" at -150db or thereabout. Nulled acoustically, not through frequency analysis. Not bit perfect.

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    Rijckholt
    20 hours ago, Marco Klobas said:

    Acoustically, all three recordings are nulled (dead silence) leading to think that it's bit perfect. If you look at the frequency analysis, you see at -150dB or even lower that it's not true.

     

    Granted, many things have changed since my last tests. iPadOS, Music app, macOS, AirServer, Shairport Sync, Audition: all have been updated since. Only the tested album is the same. 🙂

     

    I know that my null test I risky because the songs have to be synchronized as perfectly as possible (matching their tempo) plus the convoluted recording procedure (AirPlay software receiver -> Loopback audio interface -> Recording software). It's the only method at my disposal.

     

    I don't know why the AirServer and Shairport Sync recording sessions don't null completely this time. I tested twice. Apparently the procedure was the same – the results don't match, though.

     

    I'm sorry @Rijckholt if I'm only confusing you. 😉

     

    I suggest you to enjoy your Dynaudio Focus 50 speakers. Even via AirPlay 2. Who cares! As an owner of the Contour 20i I'm sure they sound great! 😀

     

    Maybe in the future I'll give a try again. I'll wait some changing signs from Apple first...

     

    Hi @Marco Klobas

     

    Wow, what an effort you put in! Highly appreciated! I was hoping it would be easier to determine if things are lossless or not ;-). I have also asked Otto Jørgensen from  @DYNAUDIO in another forum if they are able to confirm if Apple Music >> Ariplay1 >> Airport Express >> Toslink >> Dynaudio Focus is bit perfect or not.

     

    After reading and trying to comprehend your approach I was wondering what your graphs would look like when you compare a song that is certainly being lossy compressed via AAC using normal airplay 2. You would obviously not see bit perfertness but what about the nulling? Would it be very clear the song is now compressed? 

     

    I really thought this was just a very easy thing to determine so I could decide to put the airport gen 1 in the chain or not ;-) You very rightfully point out that it would be better to just enjoy the Focus speakers. To that I must say I absolutely love them and my ears most likely are unable to hear the difference between ALAC and AAC indeed. The Contour 20i are superb (i know from a friend)!!! 

     

    Cheers,

    Onno

     

     

     

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    Rijckholt
    19 hours ago, tgp-2 said:

     

    getting a good look at the network traffic can be difficult ... it's easier when either the sender or receiver is a general purpose computer such as a mac, raspberry pi, etc. ... where possible i use the utility "bmon" (i'm sure there are other good options) ... the receiving end of an Airplay1 stream will look something like this ...

    Screenshot 2023-08-20 9.48.57 AM.png

     

    My network runs on Unifi and i am using their dashboard. I am not sure how accurate and real time their stats are. I agree with you that analyzing network traffic can be done a lot better a computer endpoints. For my test I really want the sender to be the iphone or ipad using Apple music because that's what i am using in real life. The receiver at this point is a Dynaudio Focus speaker that is receiving a PCM signal via Toslink. So i cannot really debug that or install software (I have asked Dynaudio the same question btw). So i need to prepare/setup a computer that can capture the PCM signal from a toslink connection and then I can compare both ends. I thought this was al easy but learning it is more complicated than at first glance.

     

     

     

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    Marco Klobas
    2 hours ago, Rijckholt said:

    After reading and trying to comprehend your approach I was wondering what your graphs would look like when you compare a song that is certainly being lossy compressed via AAC using normal airplay 2. You would obviously not see bit perfertness but what about the nulling? Would it be very clear the song is now compressed? 

     

    I've uploaded here a video comparing a few seconds of Norah Jones's song Sunrise. The top track is an AIFF (uncompressed, lossless and phase inverted during the playback), the bottom track is an AAC (lossy, converted from the AIFF).

     

    When the AAC track is unmuted you hear a partially muffled sound – it reminds me, to some extent, a sound played in a metal tank.

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    actuel audio

    - Has anyone compared choosing Airplay via iOS Control Center versus Apple Music app Airplay choice?

    - Also, what about the Control Other Speakers & TVs (COST) option in iOS? Does choosing an Airplay receiver via Control Center COST button, not the Airplay list check option, result in a lossless 16/44 connection?

    I’d prefer to keep my Airport Express gen 2s as Airplay 2 plus, I have other Airplay 2 AV gear, speakers, and Apple HomePod minis.

    If simply always choosing Airplay from the macOS or iOS Control Center (or COST) and never via Apple Music app fixes the problem, then, we are done, right? Well, done for Apple Music app users.

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    actuel audio

    Just for giggles I downgraded to 7.6.9 on an Airport Express gen. 2 that I only use when in office and — after a strange warning, I did a power off by unplugging (because decades of using Apple stuff has taught me to never trust warnings like that and to just restart the device after any updating or downgrading glitch like that) — sure enough it came back on my network fine, and Airplay is the non circle check mark via latest iOS. So it is lossless 16/44 from Apple Music from iOS (latest) to this ancient relic.

    To downgrade, open Airport Utility. I did it on mac mini on latest macOS but it would also be possible in iOS. On mac, click on the Express icon. Hold down option key while over the version. A drop down arrow appears. Click on that. Choose 7.6.9 and it will downgrade to Airplay 1. An unplug restart of the express may be needed if you get an odd failed warning. If like mine, it should just be fine.

    I also tested via macOS latest version on M1 mini to it by choosing the AE from the Finder menu. It seems way snappier! With Airplay 2, it took the OS a few seconds to confirm the link from that menu. With the downgrade, it was instant. So something did happen for sure. 

    Not that my next comment is reliable but, to my ears, it sounds like CD quality. I play CDs on that same system and, they sound great. Apple Music with this downgrade sounds great too. 

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    tgp-2

    link to an updated version of what I shared in this thread earlier this year in pdf format ... added sections on AirPlay from a Mac and remote controlling lossless Apple Music playback on Apple TV ... note, for the Apple TV use case, my only HDMI connection is to a TV that I think only does 48kHz, so I'm not able to check for any sample rate conversion etc (will leave that to others here who are more experienced and better equipped) 🙂

     

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    actuel audio
    11 minutes ago, tgp-2 said:

    link to an updated version of what I shared in this thread earlier this year in pdf format ... added sections on AirPlay from a Mac and remote controlling lossless Apple Music playback on Apple TV ... note, for the Apple TV use case, my only HDMI connection is to a TV that I think only does 48kHz, so I'm not able to check for any sample rate conversion etc (will leave that to others here who are more experienced and better equipped) 🙂

     

    The COST button comes in two flavors on iOS. One is the one you show. But it is the circle one that is accessed via Control Center that is the right one to use. After using the round one and selecting a device, launch Apple Music and a device will have been automatically selected as the device you control. This method seems to be a way to skip Airplay from playing from the iOS device and keeping an iPhone just as a “remote” so to speak. It is this that I wonder, maybe, that is not AAC when controlled this way. I dunno… This is not really even Airplay but is interwoven into the UI. Messy…

    Note that, I have noticed if a device has not been used recently, it may not show up on this round COST option also, Apple confusingly tossed in a device that is getting data via the iPhone (Airplay) with devices that can independently play Apple Music (which for COST, seems right, not a mix). So, the device list can be a mix that changes. Ugh.

    It is also all too easy to reflexively choose a device on the main layer/list of any of these. That is Airplay. Don't do that. Click on the COST button, then choose a device from the totally different looking stacked list of devices.
    I think Apple should start over with Airplay and COST UI and make it simpler but clearer and not so many ways to find it and use it. Just one and done. Also, it should show unavailable stuff by making them grey. Not removing them entirely from the UI. 

    Screenshot 2023-10-11 at 1.41.21 PM.png

    Screenshot 2023-10-11 at 1.41.56 PM.png

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    MgP2804

    sideremark: what makes me personally upset, that Apple is able to play lossless using the new Airpods 2 Pro (USB Charger) to Apple Vision Pro. They have the technology obviously ready.

     

    Well, when I dig into this, I decided to use Airport Express Gen2 for 44.1/16 lossless. But you need a certain firmware to my experience not the latest. Did post above here. By using old Firmware with Airport Gen 2 you force the higher quality. Simply because it can not do Airplay 2 but only Airplay 1.

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    MgP2804

    This is the post from that time for the required firmware. 

     

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    actuel audio
    6 hours ago, MgP2804 said:

    sideremark: what makes me personally upset, that Apple is able to play lossless using the new Airpods 2 Pro (USB Charger) to Apple Vision Pro. They have the technology obviously ready.

     

    Well, when I dig into this, I decided to use Airport Express Gen2 for 44.1/16 lossless. But you need a certain firmware to my experience not the latest. Did post above here. By using old Firmware with Airport Gen 2 you force the higher quality. Simply because it can not do Airplay 2 but only Airplay 1.

    - Tim Cook talked about this Vision Pro and audio in an interview and, I forget why but, it was expected and not upsetting. I think it boiled down to the Vision Pro was robust enough and close enough to Airpods for it to happen. The tech is ready but, is your wallet?

    - Yes, I post above that that is what I did. Downgraded to 7.6.9 to get 16/44 lossless. But, that Toslink to AVR with MusicCast allowed me to hack it to send it via MusicCast. Enabling me to play 16/44 from Apple Music to Express to AVR to my MusicCast speakers, which can get and play up to 24/192. Which otherwise, as thier own Airplay receivers, are just Airplay 2 and probably not 16/44 but AAC.

    If only Apple would let its Airplay companies like Yamaha, etc. do the same, have an Airplay 1 option, so to speak, we could skip this extra step with old Airport Expresses.

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    actuel audio

    So, what is going on here? The Studio Stereo is an Airport Express gen 2 I down graded to Airplay 1. Sounds great too. But, as far as I know, MusicCast is Airplay 2. But from a mac Sonoma (latest OS) it seems to be casting to both! Indeed, Apple Music streaming is coming out of both and in sync (so it does not seem like the MusicCast Left, which is actually a stereo pair, is somehow getting AAC 256). To make it even stranger, the Airplay 2 devices — the Apple TV and the Homepods — are greyed out. As they should be.

    So somehow, Apple Music is casting to an Airplay 1 device which can only do Airplay 1 whilst also casting to a couple of independent MusicCast stereo mode speakers. 
    I am sure it has some basic explanation but, this should not be happening, right?

     

    Screenshot 2023-10-12 at 10.26.55 AM.jpeg

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    MgP2804
    13 hours ago, actuel audio said:

    - Tim Cook talked about this Vision Pro and audio in an interview and, I forget why but, it was expected and not upsetting. I think it boiled down to the Vision Pro was robust enough and close enough to Airpods for it to happen. The tech is ready but, is your wallet?

    - Yes, I post above that that is what I did. Downgraded to 7.6.9 to get 16/44 lossless. But, that Toslink to AVR with MusicCast allowed me to hack it to send it via MusicCast. Enabling me to play 16/44 from Apple Music to Express to AVR to my MusicCast speakers, which can get and play up to 24/192. Which otherwise, as thier own Airplay receivers, are just Airplay 2 and probably not 16/44 but AAC.

    If only Apple would let its Airplay companies like Yamaha, etc. do the same, have an Airplay 1 option, so to speak, we could skip this extra step with old Airport Expresses.

    it is definitelly not my wallet. thatfore I am upset. it is just a chip! +++ yep 7.6.9. sounds great with airport gen 2. this is my experience too. :)

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    MgP2804

    BTW if you use Airport Gen1 you need Firmware 7.6.1 to avoid stuttering. That time 7.6.1 was only available for Gen1 and not available for Gen 2. For Gen 2 use 7.6.9

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    tgp-2
    2 hours ago, actuel audio said:

    So somehow, Apple Music is casting to an Airplay 1 device which can only do Airplay 1 whilst also casting to a couple of independent MusicCast stereo mode speakers.

     

    yes, it seems adding an AirPlay 1 receiver to a multi-room group is supported when streaming from Apple Music on a Mac (it's not an option when streaming from iOS), and this forces the use of real-time (AirPlay 1) streams to all receivers in the group

     

    but it looks like the Mac's Apple Music app isn't receiving lossless in this case ... the lossless indicator disappears, and a rough check of the network traffic also suggests a smaller/lossy file downloaded to the Mac ... so it's a real-time / ALAC stream, but from a lossy source (and in this case it's not clear why the lossy source would be necessary) 🤔 

     

    compare this to selecting only AirPlay 2 receivers ... the lossless indicator returns, and there's more data downloaded to the Mac ... but the buffered AirPlay 2 streams are lower bitrate / lossy

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    MgP2804

    i have serious doubts, that you get alac 44.1/16 to multicast by adding a single airplay 1 device. how did you measure this?

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    actuel audio
    1 hour ago, tgp-2 said:

     

    yes, it seems adding an AirPlay 1 receiver to a multi-room group is supported when streaming from Apple Music on a Mac (it's not an option when streaming from iOS), and this forces the use of real-time (AirPlay 1) streams to all receivers in the group

     

    but it looks like the Mac's Apple Music app isn't receiving lossless in this case ... the lossless indicator disappears, and a rough check of the network traffic also suggests a smaller/lossy file downloaded to the Mac ... so it's a real-time / ALAC stream, but from a lossy source (and in this case it's not clear why the lossy source would be necessary) 🤔 

     

    compare this to selecting only AirPlay 2 receivers ... the lossless indicator returns, and there's more data downloaded to the Mac ... but the buffered AirPlay 2 streams are lower bitrate / lossy

    I’m getting a headache…

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