Apple Music, Audiophiles and Streamers.

Yes there is, however not ideal. Using the lightning to USB adapter from an iPhone or iPad to a USB DAC you can get full lossless from Apple Music. Many tutorials online. You can also do this with a computer but, the Sample Rate will not Change dynamically, thus using the iPhone or iPad does this. Airplay does in fact use lossless ALAC compression not Lossy AAC when streaming but is limited to 48khz sample rate.

i suffered dearly last time I posted to an audiophile forum. But I feel a bit safer because you are accepting of PCM. I don’t identify as an audiophile, but I’ve spent a similar amount of money on an amateur critical listening system. The good thing about having spent 10k+ is that the next part is a small percentage. Unless you are so audiophile you believe only unadulterated DSD 256+ will do, you are in luck. All the modern music you listen to - even classical - will likely have been through a computer for at least mastering if not recording and mixing as well. Quality external ADC/DACs are how it was made, so using a quality DAC out of your Mac/ iPad is absolutely fine. Industry standard. Do not fret about “the insides of a computer not being ideal”. The music has already been there. There are some really expensive DACs (like Merging) but there are excellent options around 1K if your preamp doesn’t have its own USB port to use it’s built in DAC. (Quite a few mid tear preamps have these). Then grab a dedicated HiFi iPad or Mac slave. I know a Mac Mini as a dedicated streamer sounds like overkill, but it’s cheap for a hifi component. Or pray AirPlay 3 does HiRes. In five years. Or accept that 48khz sample rate is all you can actually discern and use an Apple TV through an hdmi splitter/ARC to SPDIF. I know technically this is true (48K already being overkill), but I’m with you on imaginary magic ears and wasn’t satisfied. My ears become more magic the older I get and the more gear I can afford. When I could actually hear at 20k I was never bothered by anharmonic Nyqvist reflections from poor low pass filtering at the recording stage, or poor filtering of quantisation noise at the DAC stage. Now they haunt me like never before. A terrible thought…

Good news! I’ve had an Astell & Kern ACRO CA1000 for about 6 months, and it has the Apple Music app installed. I always assumed that it was 16/44 at best. I read something that made me wonder, and now I have absolutely confirmed: it streams full 24/192 from Apple Music.

I’ve tested it as a source via USB-C vs iPad mini, and M1 Mac Mini and it sounds SIGNIFICANTLY better. I was of the “digital is digital” mindset, but there is a huge difference.

So, a streamer that uses a modified version of Android that negates their typical 16/44 limit will play full-fat hi-res Apple Music.

If they are doing it, then I’m sure a number of other companies are as well. I’d really like to see HiFi Rose or Naim get it into their products, but the A&K is fantastic and the most versatile piece of audio equipment I’ve seen so far.

Since today there is no streamer app for Apple Music on any device the only way you can get the best resolution is getting a good DAC. I have a Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M. an iPad Pro or Mac, good quality USB-C cable to connect the iPad to the DAC, I recommend the AudioQuest Cinnamon USB B to C Cable. Good AMP. I have the Rotel RB-1590 and finally a pair of good speakers the Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M and the Klipsch SPL-120 subwoofer, together sounds amazing in a 13’x12’ room. Don’t forget to get a good speakers cables and XLR cables. This is a basic gear for a good starting. Good luck and welcome to the very expensive Audiophile world

Hey Dudedelux. Welcome to the exhilarating, frustrating, never-quite-there-yet world of audiophiles! 😂

Unfortunately, Apple TV PLAYS hi res files but OUTPUTS downsampled rates via hdmi. The limitation is the hdmi output isn’t configured for hi res (hdmi technically CAN be, but is t on App TV). For now (still) the best way to play hi res from Apple Music is from an iOS device, which automatically adjust sampling output for songs based on their native sample rates, connected to an external DAc via usb, and then into your analog connections in your receiver or amplifier connected to speakers. The solid state nature of iOS devices is pretty good for electric noise reduction. Apple Music quality on hi res settings is quite good. Of course the better your DAC/Amp/receiver/speakers setup the better output you’ll enjoy.

One day Apple will upgrade the HDMI output on Apple TV. Seems such a simple thing. Can’t believe this hasn’t happened yet. Fails to leverage their amazing library for the group that cares about audio quality. And it’s already a home audio-connected device! Pretty frustrating.

Using it via Apple TV 4K, with a "good" HDMI-Audio extractor doing 24bits at 48Khz on SPDIF (Coax or Fiber)

on a NAD M10 with Dali Rubicon 5 speakers. Use Apple Music App as remote to the ATV.

Hi-res up to 192Khz not possible from ATV limited till 48Khz, but still lossless!

Sound is rich, open and natural, I even like it better than Tidal. Sound comes close to Qobuz in my perception.

However I agree, native streaming on third party Audiophile streamers is still preferred.

Waiting for Apple to embrace the world of Audiophiles, as it seems that even a populair streamer like BlueSound e.g. can/may not integrate Apple Music, other then supporting Airplay 2.

UPDATE: HiFi Rose now natively plays Apple Music Hi-Res. This is huge as the sound quality from their products is fantastic!

eversolo dmp-a6 streams high-res Apple Music and has a phone app that will mirror the streamers interface, so you can browse tracks wirelessly. AFAIK, the other streamers that have Apple Music app like the fiio, rose hifi, shanling and acro don't have this mirroring options which is annoying because it means you will still have to get up out of the chair. May as well connect an iPad to your dac.

The FiiO R7 might be the answer we’ve all been waiting for!

An android based streamer supporting Apple Music app + high end ESS DAC + preamp + headphone amp (and numerous additional I/Os).

Did anyone tested it already?

I play music from my MacBook Pro to my stereo using a cable that is USB-C to USB-B which is plugged into USB-B connection on my DAC. It is true that Apple Music will not change the bit and sample rate. To do that you need a free piece of software called LossLess Switcher https://github.com/vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher. There is a few millisecond pause as it changes the rate (eg. 16/44 to 24/192). Works seamlessly and now allows you to listen to all of Apple Music hi-res tracks. It has a clean open and airy sound stage. Sound is excellent and defined. I also stream Tidal through Audirvana which is also hi-res and very clean sounding. Apple Music and Tidal hi-res both sound excellent but different. Apple Music has an open and airy sound stage that is wide and behind the speakers, while Tidal's sound stage isn't as wide but has slightly cleaner and more forward sound in its presentation.

Sounds a hassle. I just connect iphone/ipad to usb dac. Easy touch interface, lossless full quality sound. Buy an old ipad or iphone and a dual cam connection/power dongle off amazon. Only downside is the cable but you already have that problem.

Fiio R7, Eversolo, Hifirose AND Shanling EM5 (or EA5, or EM7).

Shanling devices use a modified version of Android OS (I don't know the others, but it's what I suspect).

I'm the owner of a Shanling EM5 and Apple Music effectively works bitperfect (i.e. no downsample), BUT, aside from the well known software bugs that affect any EM5, as far as I'm aware, none of the above mentioned brands (Hifirose, Shanling etc.) developed their products in co-operation with Apple.

As a result, software problems can always appear and you have no warranty that this won't happen, especially when a new version of the Apple music app is released.

For example, problems have been registered with Hifirose and you will find them published on the web where the brand stated that they are due to the limited info made available by Apple on their software.

With the Shanling EM5, instead, Apple Music works in closed customized Android environment so you can only update the applications together with a new firmware that can only be released by the producer (if and when)...

Yes, I also use my Ipad Air plugged into my DAC via a Lighning to USB cable. But, according to my ears, the bitperfect signal that I get from the Ipad sounds worst than the downsampled signal that I can get from my Macbook Pro (don't ask me why, but I suspect that's due to the quality of the hardware).

With my Mac I also tried to use the app Lossless-switcher ( https://github.com/vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher ) but it doesn't work seamless and, when it works, you get a audible annoying glitch any time the sampling rate changes.

Finally, if we are talking about real audiophile sound, at the moment Apple Music doesn't offer the audiophile features that Tidal, Qobuz, and even Amazon Music, do.

I cannot believe that Apple cannot solve this problem. I am incline to think that they simply don't care because most of their clients don't care, and it's a real shame.

Dear Apple, think about it.

Ciao

the iFi Zen Blue v3 wifi receiver (it's actually a transceiver as it can be a receiver and a transmitter) is arguably the very best option out there. it is bluetooth 5.4, long range, aptX adaptable, LDAC, etc. the best option for me is LDAC as my Samsung S24 Ultra phone cannot use aptX lossless, only, LDAC. still, at 96 kHz, LDAC offers a genuine and practical alternative to the messy cobbled together cabling alternative that apple would allow us to use in order to get 196 (but only at certain times when such recordings exist). since my audio visual equipment are all co-located in a media closet away from my listening seat, i can't have all that in a closet because i can't control the selection of music and can't browse!

the only option is the accept grudgingly the acceptable 96 kHz LDAC option, pay $300 for the Zen Blue v3, and enjoy the visual comforts of browsing on the intended Apple Music/Apple Music Classical interface by using Apple Music android app and the Apple Music Classical android app on my Samsung tablet. this way, there no excessive scrolling like the CAST function of Eversolo requires one to do, and one would see the beautiful full page of apple music on one's tablet.

there isn't another option currently, not until Eversolo improves on their method of executing their CAST function or the way they choose to display Apple Music/Apple Music Classical. i love the Eversolo A8, but not willing to give up the outstanding Classical browsing experience in exchange for only sometimes hearing some differences of 196 (Eversolo A8) vs 96 (Zen Blue v3).