Article: Using Apple Music as Your Entry to Immersive Audio

[The Computer Audiophile]

When the latest As We See It hits the Stereophile website, it's really going to be something. I read the conclusion. The whole thing is truly amazing, and not in a good way. 

 

This is the photo that should accompany the editorial.

 

[bbosler]

6 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I read the conclusion. The whole thing is truly amazing, and not in a good way. 

 

yes, amazing that a 2 channel guy who obviously has zero experience with an  Atmos music system is calling for the demise of the format.

 

He is probably correct about the demise of physical media except for vinyl. Best Buy will soon stop selling BluRay movies. But that does not mean that Atmos is dying along with it. 

[ajay556]

Do we really need Apple Music to experience Atmos sound? I noticed there is atmos format available in tidal too. Additionally, the audio quality of tidal has improved with hires and much better than Apple Music.

[The Computer Audiophile]

8 minutes ago, ajay556 said:

Do we really need Apple Music to experience Atmos sound? I noticed there is atmos format available in tidal too. Additionally, the audio quality of tidal has improved with hires and much better than Apple Music.

Not needed, but it’s by far the best option. Largest library, can play to computers, etc…

[ajay556]

Just now, The Computer Audiophile said:

Not needed, but it’s by far the best option. Largest library, can play to computers, etc…

Sorry what do you mean when you say can play to computer? 

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, ajay556 said:

Sorry what do you mean when you say can play to computer? 

No worries. I play Atmos from Apple Music on my Mac to my system. No other streaming service can do that currently. 

[111MilesToGo]

I‘d like to post a follow-up to my question about Apple Music in Dolby Atmos and gapless playback, in my use case streaming on an iPhone 14 Pro Max.

 

My finding now is:

- Yes, gapless works fine,

- provided the incoming data bandwidth (Mbit/s DL) is good enough.

- At too low bandwidths, there are hiccups (clicking and stuttering) right at the transition from one track to the next.

- Additional remark: I didn‘t get disturbances within tracks, which doesn‘t preclude issues at very low incoming bandwidths.

 

In technical details:

- At home on WiFi with a DL bandwidth of 225 Mbit/s from the ISP, everything works fine, i.e. replay is perceived as perfectly gapless.

- Moving to spots at home where WiFi bandwidth between the iPhone and router/repeater is less than decent, the hiccups at track transitions do occur.

- Similarly, these hiccups can show up when outside on a 5G cell network, depending on the cell bandwidth available.

Actually, quite a trivial finding … ;-)

 

Of course, I have no idea whether Apple could fix these issues by having some (at all or a larger) stream-ahead buffer spanning across track transitions.

[The Computer Audiophile]

4 hours ago, 111MilesToGo said:

I‘d like to post a follow-up to my question about Apple Music in Dolby Atmos and gapless playback, in my use case streaming on an iPhone 14 Pro Max.

 

My finding now is:

- Yes, gapless works fine,

- provided the incoming data bandwidth (Mbit/s DL) is good enough.

- At too low bandwidths, there are hiccups (clicking and stuttering) right at the transition from one track to the next.

- Additional remark: I didn‘t get disturbances within tracks, which doesn‘t preclude issues at very low incoming bandwidths.

 

In technical details:

- At home on WiFi with a DL bandwidth of 225 Mbit/s from the ISP, everything works fine, i.e. replay is perceived as perfectly gapless.

- Moving to spots at home where WiFi bandwidth between the iPhone and router/repeater is less than decent, the hiccups at track transitions do occur.

- Similarly, these hiccups can show up when outside on a 5G cell network, depending on the cell bandwidth available.

Actually, quite a trivial finding … ;-)

 

Of course, I have no idea whether Apple could fix these issues by having some (at all or a larger) stream-ahead buffer spanning across track transitions.

Out of curiosity, is the behavior the same when playing gapless stereo from Apple Music?

[111MilesToGo]

2 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Out of curiosity, is the behavior the same when playing gapless stereo from Apple Music?

Yes and no, just from a quick check.

 

Dark Side of The Moon 24/192 50th Anniversary 2023 Remaster: Gapless broken.

 

Grateful Dead Nightfall of Diamonds 16/44.1: Gapless fine.

 

Thus, maybe the proper functioning of gapless depends on the incoming data rate under the given connectivity circumstances.

[111MilesToGo]

ADDENDUM to the previous post ^:

 

I didn‘t do the previous two tests in a comprehensive way, as I simply switched Dolby Atmos Always OFF in Settings.

A few more, but still not comprehensive tests keep yielding an inconclusive picture:

 

Next test: Dolby Atmos Always ON, playing GD Nightfall of Diamonds 16/44.1 again: Gapless is broken now. As compared to Gapless works with Atmos Always OFF.

 

Another one: GD Cornell 5/8/77 Barton Hall is available as 24/192 only. Gapless is broken with both Atmos Always ON and Always OFF.

 

Unfortunate …

[111MilesToGo]

Dear @The Computer Audiophile, maybe you can imagine how much I‘d like to close the lid on the can of worms that goes by the name of gapless in relation to an iPhone … That‘s for my own sake and yours … And also since it‘s off-topic here. But anyway …

 

Up front: Maybe all is wrong, and I don‘t know too well what to expect from an iPhone. But such device should be capable of acting as a good digital transport to an outboard DAC.

 

And a preamble so-to-speak: I opened the can of worms by asking a simple request for information regarding Apple Music and gapless. As I got into the direction of data rates and connectivity circumstances first, I can forgive myself for digging deeper in that direction.

 

But now I am actually not sure what I am looking at and what I should expect. The new facts are:

 

I am getting gapless glitches with my iPhone under a much bigger number of scenarios. In particular:

 

1. iPhone 14 Pro Max 512 GB with iOS 17.1 now

 

2. ANY music app that I try gives me the gapless glitches when one track goes into the next. Not with all such transitions, but I dare say most now:

 

a) Apple Music, irrespective of Dolby Atmos or HiRes Lossless or Redbook Lossless. Checked streaming only up to now

 

b) Qobuz, irrespective of the bit rate. And both for streaming and imported local albums

 

c) Neutron, irrespective of the bit rate, playing from local storage only

 

Ouch!

 

Am I looking at a fresh case of Apple breaking gapless? Is gapless a capability of (i) the apps, (ii) iOS, or (iii) both? Checking the web for iOS AND gapless, one sees that it‘s a rather checkered track record, breaking it and fixing it several times over the years.

 

Or maybe I am wrong …

 

Anybody?

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

6 minutes ago, 111MilesToGo said:

Dear @The Computer Audiophile, maybe you can imagine how much I‘d like to close the lid on the can of worms that goes by the name of gapless in relation to an iPhone … That‘s for my own sake and yours … And also since it‘s off-topic here. But anyway …

 

Up front: Maybe all is wrong, and I don‘t know too well what to expect from an iPhone. But such device should be capable of acting as a good digital transport to an outboard DAC.

 

And a preamble so-to-speak: I opened the can of worms by asking a simple request for information regarding Apple Music and gapless. As I got into the direction of data rates and connectivity circumstances first, I can forgive myself for digging deeper in that direction.

 

But now I am actually not sure what I am looking at and what I should expect. The new facts are:

 

I am getting gapless glitches with my iPhone under a much bigger number of scenarios. In particular:

 

1. iPhone 14 Pro Max 512 GB with iOS 17.1 now

 

2. ANY music app that I try gives me the gapless glitches when one track goes into the next. Not with all such transitions, but I dare say most now:

 

a) Apple Music, irrespective of Dolby Atmos or HiRes Lossless or Redbook Lossless. Checked streaming only up to now

 

b) Qobuz, irrespective of the bit rate. And both for streaming and imported local albums

 

c) Neutron, irrespective of the bit rate, playing from local storage only

 

Ouch!

 

Am I looking at a fresh case of Apple breaking gapless? Is gapless a capability of (i) the apps, (ii) iOS, or (iii) both? Checking the web for iOS AND gapless, one sees that it‘s a rather checkered track record, breaking it and fixing it several times over the years.

 

Or maybe I am wrong …

 

Anybody?

 

Perhaps a phone reboot will help?

 

I'm on iOS 17.1.1 and just successfully streamed 24/192 gapless from Tidal and Atmos gapless from Apple. 

 

 

[bobfa]

I am on the IOS betas and Have been for the last five years.  I do not see/hear any of the issues you have with Apple, Qobuz and a couple of others. 

 

Do you have some sort of VPN or something like it running?

[The Computer Audiophile]

I split the gapless iPhone discussion into its own topic here - https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/68934-iphone-gapless-issue/

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

On 11/6/2023 at 5:45 PM, jkelly said:

In a depressing December Stereophile As We See It, they state “Apple Music streaming version of Atmos for speakers bitrate at 768 kps and Apple Music Atmos for headphones at 256kps.” If I read it correctly.

 

Here's my take on the situation - 

 

 

[jkelly]

I have a M1 Mac mini and an older AV 7.1 set up.

I have been using this inexpensive 8 channel dac, and found it a great way to get introduced to surround audio from Apple Music. It’s not gonna win any awards but it’s not horrible. It also is on Black Friday sale at Amazon for $142.  My experience is that the levels are everything - I had to lower the center channel and get the front to back balance just right. There are eight LEDs on the front panel that indicate the level of each channel playing which is helpful to see what is going on with the selection.
ESI GIGAPORT DJ Audio Interface: USB Type-C Powered, 8 RCA Outputs, Dual Headphone Ports, 24bit/192kHz Quality, 7.1 Channel Support