can i listen to lossless on my windows pc using iTunes?

arunsbharat wrote:

Can I get Apple lossless from iTunes (windows)?

I don't think we can say for certain yet. As I wrote above:

Given that no reference to Windows is made at all in the linked document my guess would be that Windows may not get access to Apple Music content in lossless format, but only time will tell.

tt2

Hi there, just so you know, I was interested to know what the maximum resolution that Airplay/Airplay 2 supports (as I have a recent Denon receiver with Airplay 2 which I stream to from my iPhone 12 Pro Max) and discovered that Airplay doesn't *transport* lossless audio. You can find the thread here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252848734#:~:text=Answer%3A%20A%3A,protocol%2C%20regardless%20of%20Apple%20Music.

So while the Apple Music app tells you its playing lossless on the iPhone (which is true), it then has to go to the network stack to be transported via Airplay - it is at this point that it is compressed back to AAC (which as others has said is 'good enough' in general terms, particularly as you are starting with a hi-res source).

By the way, in that thread I linked to there is also a reference to a blog post from the head of software development over at Naim audio (who are a long established higher end hi-fi brand, who now also make some lossless streamer products); in this he not only reiterates the point above, but also actually has a screengrab of the Airplay network debug tools showing what is actually happening during streaming - which confirms the compression to AAC.

What I ended up doing is removing all of my iTunes downloads, changing my audio playback to 24/192. And then redownloading the entire library. You can change your playing from Windows iTunes from Edit - Preferences - at the bottom, change it to 192 kHz / 24 bit.

Not sure if this makes a difference, I personally can't tell the difference even with super high-end equipment.

But Apple has not updated PC iTunes in a really long time. But if you wanted to see and try this would be the best way of doing it.

Just make sure what your playing things through can support 24/192.

I am currently running everything through an AV receiver that can support 32/384 via HDMI.

You can listen to Apple Lossless content that you create in iTunes now. Given that no reference to Windows is made at all in the linked document my guess would be that Windows may not get access to Apple Music content in lossless format, but only time will tell.

tt2

Hi, Sorry for digressing a bit:

I know that regular AAC 256 kbps files are listed as "Apple Music AAC audio file". (as viewed via song info for a track in iTunes)

What is the "Kind" (as viewed via song info for a track in iTunes) for ALAC audio files?

I am trying to use this to create a smart playlist filtering for Lossless files in iTunes on Windows.

First of all if you are worried about REAL Hi-Fi quality then you should know AV reciver will never play or make you hear the difference between 16/24 bit and 44KHz to 192 or more. You need integrated amplifier and good speakers to actually hear the best sound that Hi rez offers. Dont get that what AV "can do". AV has mediocre DAC chips unless you buy the high-end 3K+ recivers that have good dac but still wont be as good as same price separate intergrated amp.

I'm using also PC iTunes but its goes to 3k integrated amp to speakers leaving my reciver to play movies not music.

My Sony STR-DE1075 pushes my macintosh speakers (high end speakers not apple related) very well and all i play is flac audio, and I think it sounds just fine.. I can tell the difference. But lets be real here for a minute when i really want to hear the crisp sound I use my RAAL SR1a's paired with a Schiit Jot R Amp/DAC. Those alone were WELL over 3k, but thats the cost you pay when your a audiophile. I prefer the sound of a viynl over a digital file but maybe thats just me lol.

If you like music listening multi channel stereo then its fine. Majority audiophiles use 2 speakers to get best sound and dead on soundsteage and image (no AV processing in middle.)

fds thats what i ment. Real audiophiles will never looks for AV recivers for serious music listening. You want as less as distortion and processing as possible. And only best speakers + intergrated amps provide that. I'm looking for external dac now to jump to next level music enojyment and instrument separation for wider eperience. Dac and amp cost total around 6-7k eur. Speakers are on top of that.

You couldn’t afford my Mcintosh Audio setup.. My “Av” receiver is for my computer as is pared with XR50s.. I have a Mcintosh MC152 AMP, with a C49 pre amp (overkill and not really needed) all pushing 2 Mcintosh XR100’s. Real audiophiles know nothing compares to vinyl.. Go flex on someone else dude. Because your“System” doesn’t even come close to mine, which cost me over 20 grand. To anyone else if you want good sound go find a find a pair of sennheiser hd 650 used or new, a reasonable headphone dac/amp and enjoy.

Also it’s pretty pathetic that your on a discussion forum, trying to assert your superiority complex on every one.. Most people can’t tell difference regardless of format. Also as I mentioned in the post prior to this, a good HiFi experience can be had with headphones and a dac under a grand.. But here you are bloviating and trying convince everyone that the only way to experience high end audio is to spend thousands. Which is a total load of garbage. Also are you really going to tell me that a digital file streaming online is better than vinyl 🤣.. Yea ok pal sure it is 😂🤣😅

Man you got it all wrong. I didnt ment to flex.... Everyone can buy audio system they want only wallet is limit. Question is just when the sound improvement becomes so little but cost goes up exponentially. That is up to buyer to set the goal....

I replied to user above you who was using AV reciver and multi channel for music listening. I only described that if using only AV reciver as sound output then its not best choice to hear the quality of hi-fi tracks.

Using separate amps and preamps is correct. Not sure why you thought i was flexing jesus...

I wouldnt even flex with 100k grand system because its nothing special ether

Well as an audiophile I want highest possible audio experience when on the move.

The Apple Music app on my iphone 12 streams lossless over personal hotspot via Airplay to my Shanling Q1 that streams the recieved uncompressed Airplay data via APTX to my Koss ksc75 that is soldered to the KZ APTX-HD bluetooth cable. Incredible how good Apple Music lossless content is in this setup. So not bound by multiple cables and even streaming over 5g using this setup is very stable and lots better then over bluetooth in alac !

I sure do hope they add this capability for the Windows version of iTunes. I have both Macs and a Windows PC for gaming with high-end DACs and Hi-Res headphones. I used to use Tidal for higher-quality streaming, but once Apple released their lossless and I compared the two services (on my Mac of course), I decided I couldn't hear any difference and canceled my Tidal subscription (I could *definitely* hear a difference between 256kbps AAC and Tidal or Amazon's high-end files). I mainly use my Mac for productivity work, but am on my Windows PC and bummed. Maybe I will have to keep Tidal for now. 😔

I just realised you also mentioned Bluetooth, even with APTX (which is an audio compression codec) you will be getting transcoding and compression. So while the source might be ALAC, FLAC or some other ‘Hi-Res’ format no version of Bluetooth will give you lossless and/or Hi-Res audio - it is simply impossible as it will always be compressed (same for the Apple W1 or W2 chips, which gives you their proprietary version of APTX).

I also just looked up the KZ cable you mentioned, it has some slightly dubious language, but clearly says in their product blurb that it’s using AAC compression codec, so that’s definitely not lossless!

Hi there, so I must admit I haven’t tried yet, as I don’t use my Windows PC hosting my iTunes library to listen to music very often at all.

However while they don’t mention Windows in the ‘how to listen’ article, they also DON’T say it is not supported.

So I would say the answer is you can, but you might need to check quality settings in preferences AND delete the downloads from your library (not the actual songs/album) similar to what you need to do the iPhone to force it to download or stream the hi-res versions.

Of course the other factor will be the audio capabilities of your PC, not all on board DSPs offer higher bit/sample frequency support, so check the specs of your PC (unless you already know what they are of course!)