Article: Apple Music Lossless, High Resolution, and Dolby Atmos Announced

[AudioDoctor]

I have mixed feelings about this, however if we can't use it in a way we want to with our systems, are locked into using Apple Music to stream it, and are unable to purchase/download Hi-Res, I fail to see any reason at all to use it.

[AudioDoctor]

45 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

Yes, if it's just tied to Apple Music and Sonos type products, then it isn't for many in this niche. However, it's a great thing overall that the biggest players in the market are offering it and it can only help people gain exposure to higher quality. If 0.0005 percent of people drift over to HiFi, our niche is looking really good. 

 

If Apple locks it into their own ecosystem then what real benefit will there be unless they increase the quality of their equipment significantly. 24/192 through a HomePod will still suck.

[AudioDoctor]

1 minute ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

especially since the HomePod's DSP likely functions at a far lower rate than 192. 

 

Yes. The biggest disappointment to me is that they don't allow the purchase of Hi Res music.

[AudioDoctor]

24 minutes ago, feelingears said:

So this seems to imply that if you ever purchased music from Apple, it's now downloadable as ALAC? Is that how y'all read this, too? Very cool, if true.

 

I am looking for the article right now, but I think I read that is not the case, that no downloadable music will be lossless in any way.

[AudioDoctor]

"Apple has confirmed to The Verge that lossless audio is exclusive to Apple Music and thus subscription-only. The company won’t offer music purchases in lossless quality, nor will there be any way to upgrade owned tracks to lossless with the paid iTunes Match service."

 

https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/17/22440090/apple-music-lossless-audio-dolby-atmos-support-audio

[AudioDoctor]

Personally, I am waiting for the first report of someones MQA light coming on while streaming from Apple Music.

[AudioDoctor]

10 minutes ago, ChipotleCoyote said:

 

I am pretty sure if Apple were supporting MQA they would be contractually obligated to use the bolded phrase Master Quality Authenticated® at least three times in every press release.

 

There are some labels that have slipped MQA files in to Qobuz, maybe someone with a set up that can stream lossless right now can find a 2L label album on Apple Music and see if the MQA light illuminates.

[AudioDoctor]

Here is a 2L album in Apple Music. Who wants to do the honors?

 

 

[AudioDoctor]

3 minutes ago, ChipotleCoyote said:

 

When this rolls out, I'll give it a try. (They said "coming in June," so it's all still AAC for now.)

 

Yeah, I noticed. I went looking for the activation stuff, and even though my phone is on the Beta its not there yet. I can find no way to get it done on a Mac, either online or in the settings of Music.

[AudioDoctor]

2 minutes ago, jcbenten said:

 

Even if you bought it would you actually own it?

 

Why wouldn't I?

[AudioDoctor]

For future reference in two weeks... This is what Roon says Qobuz is playing when I play the album I screen capped above.

 

 

[AudioDoctor]

I have been thinking about this and I don't think this service, as it stands right now, is for us. It's for the average Apple user that Apple wants to keep in the Apple ecosystem of services rather than lose them to Spotify. Perhaps in the future it will grow into something to compete with Qobuz for our dollars and match it's integration into the other services we use, like Roon.

[AudioDoctor]

37 minutes ago, loop7 said:

I sometimes wonder if the streaming industry will eventually run out of enticements for customers.

 

MQA, lossless, High-res, spatial processing.

 

What happens then?

 

Hopefully they'll start competing with quality of files and user experience/ease of use...

[AudioDoctor]

On 5/18/2021 at 3:27 AM, katools said:

If Apple & Spotify offer a way to stream lossless content to their DACs why would they choose to pay more to access the same content via those services?

 

I can't use Apple Music in Roon to stream over my network to my endpoints and to my DAC. I can't purchase Hi-Res tracks from Apple like I can from Qobuz. Etc...

[AudioDoctor]

My iPhone is on the beta of 14.7 and I do not have any "quality" option to select higher res music.

[AudioDoctor]

54 minutes ago, Mc-ornell said:

The weird thing is, in my current Apple Music settings I can choose a resolution for video playback/downloads (up to 4K/HD), so why they can’t enable lossless/high-res lossless for my current version of MacOS doesn’t make sense. I’m hoping the information Apple is currently putting out re: lossless on the Mac is incorrect. If not, I guess there will be one of the other lossless services in my future. 

 

Same thing. My only guess is that it wont be available until June.