Why Apple Music Lossless Audio Recording Is Not so Important
I admit, even I was a little excited when I heard that Apple is upscaling many of its Apple Music tracks to lossless audio . While this is not something you can listen to now, with over 75 million lossless tracks set to debut on the service in June, it’s still cause for excitement. Right? Lossless sound means you “can hear the same as artists created in the studio,” as Apple describes it.
Spoiler alert: For most people, it doesn’t matter at all. Don’t use this as a reason to switch to Apple Music; new spatial soundtracks, competitive Apple Music pricing, or Apple Music user interface (for everyone but Windows users) are much better reasons. Lossless audio is more of a sound enhancement on paper.
That’s why. First, you won’t even be able to play lossless audio on many Apple devices you use to listen to Apple Music. I didn’t shit you. Tiny AirPods that you stuff into your ears? No. AirPods Max , also known as over $ 500 headphones, which you bought for “the perfect balance of exhilarating high-quality audio,” as Apple likes to say . Nope. Regardless of whether you are going to use a wired or wireless connection, you will not be able to get “real” lossless sound. As Chris Welch of The Verge explains :
“Apple tells The Verge that when you play a 24-bit / 48 kHz lossless Apple Music track from your iPhone to your AirPods Max using a Lightning cable and dongle, the audio is converted to analog and then re-digitized to 24-bit. / 48 kHz. This re-digitizing step is the reason Apple cannot tell you are hearing lossless clear audio; it is not a complete match with the source. “
What about your fancy new HomePod speaker? Or HomePod Mini speakers? No and no. Sure, you can play around with spatial audio, but you won’t get lossless audio.
You (probably) won’t even hear the difference
So what’s the point then? Well, I think you can take a pair of analog headphones, plug them into an external DAC (which supports 24-bit 192kHz audio) and then you have the optimal listening setup. But that’s too much extra gear for … what exactly?
If I were you, I would start with this handy little online test to see if you can tell the difference between what you are getting now from Apple Music (256kbps AAC) and lossless audio at all. If you can’t do that, don’t worry about purchasing the extra hardware you need for “Hi Res Lossless” or the 192 kHz 24-bit audio I mentioned earlier. Regular mid-range ‘Apple Lossless’ sound works great compared to regular analog headphones, and unless it sounds different, you probably won’t notice the difference between the best format and that.
Clear?
If it’s confusing or you don’t want to put your listening skills to the test, don’t even worry about it. In fact, just take Apple’s word for it; lossless sound won’t really matter to almost everyone.