Apple Music: lossless ALAC or lossy output?

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Level 1

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Apple Music: lossless ALAC or lossy output?

It looks like my network players' output is not lossless ALAC 16/44 or higher as stated in the Music App. Is it because of the limitation by Airplay2? Will there be a fix with a future iOS update? Thanks

Posted on Nov 19, 2021 8:28 PM

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Answer 1

Brian_P7

Community Specialist

Nov 20, 2021 2:37 PM in response to walderasse

Hey there, walderasse.

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities! Thanks for posting about lossless audio when using Apple Music. We'd be glad to see how we can help.

You mentioned that you use a network player with Apple Music via AirPlay 2 and that it doesn't seem like that player is getting lossless quality tracks. Tell us a little more about what leads you to that conclusion. Does this player have a quality readout where it shows you the track quality, or does something else show that the tracks aren't the correct level of quality? is this for streamed content or content you've already downloaded? If you have previously downloaded a song or album, you may need to delete it and redownload it to get the lossless version of that music. More information About lossless audio in Apple Music can be found here.

Take care.

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Answer 2

walderasse Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 20, 2021 10:50 PM in response to Brian_P7

Hello Brian,

Thanks for your reply. Appreciated. Let me try to answer your questions:

Yes, network player (in its app) does have a readout for file format and sample rate. It displays that info while streaming from NAS (all music files ripped from CDs in FLAC) or other hifi tier streaming services. That is not available during Airplay for sure. I do not use any cable and DAC between MBP/iPad/iPhone and player, only via Airplay. I am not after hi-res streaming, 16/44 would suffice just fine for new music discoveries and some playlists for background. Yet, when I stream a particular album from Apple Music (in lossless form) that I know very well, I can easily discern the difference between Apple Music and that album's ripped version or other streaming services in FLAC. I do not want to be mistaken. Apple Music in 16/44 still sound quite good in my system compared to previous itunes files (AAC 256?) or MP3 and OGG Vorbis 320 kbps streams, perhaps just not as good as CD quality level.

I try to reduce my subscriptions to different music streaming services. Hence was my question.

All the best,

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Answer 3

Brian_P7

Community Specialist

Nov 21, 2021 3:27 PM in response to walderasse

Thanks for the info, walderasse.

So 16bit/44.1kHz is CD quality, and while you can sample the tracks in higher bitrates, such as 192kHz and 257kHz, the output should be virtually indistinguishable. Have you attempted to listen to the lossless music in Apple Music via any other method other than Airplay 2, such a direction connection to your output audio device? If so, did you notice a difference in quality? If not, try that and see if you notice a quality difference.

Be well.

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Apple Music: lossless ALAC or lossy output?

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