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Apple Music catalog is now in lossless audio - encoded up to 24-bit/192 kHz
Available next month Apple Music subscribers will be able to download and listen to songs in Lossless Audio.
..essentially good news for music makers....thoughts?
Comments
Since everybody started using Fabfilter Saturn for more warmth, I prefer to balance out my audio in 720p for extra coolness.
Seriously though, my dogs are gonna love 24/192.
Better get some gold plated optical cables for that to make it worth while.
It’s a good move by Apple. Many listeners won’t receive the upgraded files since listening on wireless earbuds / headphones will still utilize the compressed versions . But if you listen via wire… or perhaps the Apple TV then the difference will be there, though subtle. I will be Just like playing the CD really and I’m excited about that!
However if the material has been remixed and remastered from the original recordings/multi tracks (like many albums available on SACD/DVD Audio) then the result can be profound. Anyone who has worked on tape knows how moving from generation to generation of a recording robs it of the ‘magic’. Capturing the original recording in as much detail as possible really brings the listener ‘into the studio’.
I doubt that the majority of tracks will ever receive such treatment but I hope the milestone albums will at least be presented that way. We’ll see.
As part of the Mastered For iTunes program, Apple has been accepting higher resolution files for years now in anticipation of this. I’m sure a lot of the major label releases are already compatible to some extent. That said, anything over 96kHz is stupid anyway. 🙂
Guess not all is good news
Neil Young can finally stop crying about it.
Yeah the airpod/bluetooth thing is an issue for sure.
Another weird thing is in order to replace the old compressed version of a downloaded song you have to delete it and download the new lossless version. You have to do it song by song. It won't replace all your downloads automatically.
Guessing that will change in an update though...
That sucks for anyone that bought the AirPod max headphones.
Maybe we’ll see more usb-c headphones come out. All very odd for sure.
I have some akg Bluetooth headphones that have an optional wire but I only ever use it when producing music. Can’t see myself ever using it for listening.
Do we think Spotify will replicate this approach at some point? I'd probably move to Apple Music from Spotify if only I could cast to all my Chromecast enabled speakers/systems in the house. Alas I doubt I'll see that day come
It's probably not that big of a deal, high bitrate lossy compression is very hard to tell apart from CD quality music, even on good equipment. You can test this for yourself:
http://abx.digitalfeed.net/
Personally once the bitrate gets to 256kbs I simply can't tell it apart from lossless. This is with Sennheiser HD650 headphones, but also Focal Spirit Pros and expensive floorstanding speakers. Some people are able to tell the difference, but they are listening for specific artefacts in the encoding and know exactly what to listen out for.
Of course anyone can hear the difference between a 128kbs file and lossless, but 192 AAC is pretty hard to tell apart from lossless (still possible with very critical listening to things like cymbals and high-hats though). 256kbs and up is going to be indistinguishable from lossless for 99% of people.
I also used a 3 month free trial to Amazon Music to carefully compare high-definition music (24/192) with Spotify at max quality and again I simply could not hear any difference in the material at all.
I mostly use Spotify, but I also have a Tidal subscription for their “Master” lossless streaming option. I can tell the difference only in the right conditions. When I play identical tracks side by side, on Spotify at 320 and Tidal lossless, on my father’s audiophile system with a track that was specifically recorded for hi def audio, it is noticeable. For most recordings or in daily use out and about Spotify at 320 sounds just as good to my ears.
@marmakin some tracks have been remastered for hi-def but then what you’re hearing is the new mastering rather than any difference in quality. With identical masters it’s very hard to hear any real differences. At least for me, on pretty good equipment.
I won’t be able to tell the difference then probably. Thanks for the explanation 👍
Ahh, interesting point!
It gives discerning listeners some better options.
It also levels the playing field. Albums that were 'specifically recorded for hi def audio' were a niche audiophile thing , now that's every album. The same master that is produced in the studio is in our playlists - equally true if the studio is an iPad. So it opens things up for us, both as enjoyers of music and creators of music.
Sure, the increased sampling/bitrate produces results that are negligible to most, but at least the quality of the end product doesn't automatically become X times worse.
*And there's not only lossless audio but some 3D thing called Spaceship Audio ..with support for Dubly Atmos.
So no matter how good apple can make the file sound..still ' it might sound better if the album was mixed right.'
' You don't do heavy metal in Dubly.'
dubly
@AlmostAnonymous fixed. tshh 'dobly' what the f was i thinking
@BitterGums You were thinking how much more black can this be. And the answer is none. None more black.
Apple’s engineers know this entire lossless audio hype is ridiculous, but “perception is reality” for consumers. Over Bluetooth all audio is lossy. And the original format for CD’s was designed to exceed the range of human hearing anyway. Anything beyond those original specs is imperceptible.
-> @NeuM said:
I’m going to make a fortune from producing dog-whistle albums.
Unheard of!