Apple Music, Audiophiles and Streamers.

Hi Mr. Mobius. In one setup I am using my iPAD Air USB-C connection to Anthem STR pre-amp USB-B input for lossless streaming. In second setup I use MiniMAC USB to Yamaha CD-S3000 USB-B input. Both works fine. According to your post in second setup the Sample Rate will not change dynamically. What do you mean by this ?

Thx !

With a Mac and an external audio interface, MacOS does not dynamically change the sample rate of the external audio interface to match the sample rate of the audio playing. Example: External audio interface default set to 48k internal sample rate. Apple music plays a 96k track. The audio interface will downsample, as MacOS will not switch the external interface to 96k. You would have to set that using the MacOS AudiMidi app or software of the interface provider.

One solution is to manually set the sample rate of the external audio interface to its highest possible rate. say it support 192k. Set to that and all other sample rates below will play without needing to match the external sample rate.

iOS does set sample rates dynamically to match the same rate as the track. It's not too big a deal.

I’m using an old ipad air with lightning to hdmi connection to my also old pioneer elite vsx-74txvi receiver (pioneer does DAC duty). Only running apple music but I assume I could stream spotify and any other apps if I wanted. It’s not ideal if I want to browse or skip tracks since the ipad is tethered but sound quality is pretty good. Am I missing out on better sound? Ipad shows its lossless content which is fine by me but asking more informed folks here if I’m missing something by not getting a dedicated streamer.

Hi, forget Airplay or bluetooth, is only by wired cables, I spend many hours looking the best way , at the end is connect USC- C from my Mini Mac, thats go to the DAC-SMLS, and after that connect toslink cable to my amplifier, its sound beautiful, its pure 192kHz, and I read somewhere apple lossless is more clear than Tidal and is true I have both. at same time I connect the HDMI cable from the Mini Mac to my AV receiver by do way is a Marantz NR 1711, and I can watch the music videos and listen to the music from the DAC or the HDMI.

That is my current solution as well. iPad usb-c into a bifrost2. The inconvenience of having to walk over to the iPad though to select browse and select is almost a non-starter for me.

Fantasy land.

I work in music production and there is NO WAY you can tell the difference between 48k and 96k. You might feel it. But not hear it. Let alone 192K. The important numbers are the bit depth and (ideally zero) compression rates of your source. As you get older this becomes even more apparent and I challenge anyone over the age of 50 to hear anything above 15k. That requires a sample rate of merely 30k to be resolved. Forget 192k for playback.

All music production involves a computer and guess what your DAC is a computer effectively. This component definitely can affect your appreciation especially with regards to jitter and consistency as well as how well it can actually reproduce 24bit sound.

The reason for 96k and above is so that at the RECORDING STAGE in the ideal environment of a recording studio, full bandwidth is captured, and when digital manipulation is inevitably introduced (reverb, mixing, compression, stereo width manipulation, panning to “simulate” surround (cos it’s not as simple as just placing a surround mic array in front of an orchestra and playing this bit for bit through your speakers hah! If life were that simple)etc) all these additive and subtractive processes can take place at 64 bit float at 192k so that the final output (48k at 24bit) does not reflect any rounding errors in the various computations involved - which used to be a problem in digital mastering in the late 90’s as studio gear could not go past 48k internally in that era. Not the case today. (This historic limitation was audible and fuelled the early vinyl vs CD debate that raged in the 90’s).

Best way to spend £10k from an audiophile perspective is first: sort out the room you are listening in. Seriously stop and read that again. Your room is going to add so much crap to the signal that you spend thousands reproducing. You need to sort out the reflections in the room.

Then sort out the source (get as high a streaming rate as you can/best DAC you can afford up to I wish day 40% too your budget) and balance your remaining budget between speakers and amp. You can upgrade speakers later. It’s a continual changing game that one. Cables, again, are a brilliant marketing ploy of the HiFi industry and unless you are running bell wire across a football pitch, you are basically fine. Nothing compares with balanced signal transmission as found in the studios where all this wonderful music is recorded and mastered.

So sorry to be a wet blanket on this - but actually things are more affordable than the hifi industry wants you to know.

Headphones? That’s another whole story.

coming from a samsung android tablet, a samsung s24 ultra phone, and a roku for my tv streaming, i decided to try apple music (dip my toe into it to try it out first). so i bought an apple tv 4K ethernet model and connected it to my Anthem AVR. well, i was able to experience Atmos music via the Apple TV 4K box, albeit at the reduced streaming rate. my main goal is to try out Apple Music Classical, as they bought Primephonic (the best classical streaming service) and simply rebranded it to be Apple Music Classical.

after trying out apple music classical's app on my Samsung android tablet, i now understand how great apple music classical, ne primephonic, really is! the suggestions, the layout, the number of recordings of a particular piece, the written commentaries accompanying most pieces, are all fantastic.

now my problem is to get the highest possible quality streaming of Apple Music Classical (as well as Apple Music regular). looking at all the options, i don't want to piece together an iPad with dac and make it a science project. my audio visual equipment is 35 feet away from my listening chair inside a media closet (with a door) on equipment racks, so controlling the music being streamed is important.

i looked into the Eversolo A6, A6 upgraded edition, and the A8. everything was a "go" for me on the Eversolo A8 until i discovered that its CAST function is like a limited visual field on the apple music classical page! you have to use your tablet to scroll up and down and left and right non-stop to be able to even view a standard page on apple music/apple music classical! then, a friend said this to me: one might be better off and enjoy the pleasures of being able to browse/select music on a standard apple music page without the need for endless scrolling MORE than the pleasures of occasionally listening to recording that happen to have 196 kHz streams.

that, to me, is precisely the issue i encountered. i think the actual pleasures of being able to browse as apple music classical is designed to be browsed, exceeds the occasional pleasures of having some recordings at a high bitrate.

as such, i ended up looking for a high quality bluetooth receiver, i.e. the iFi Zen Blue v3. this device streams LDAC 96 kHz and i will simply attach this device to my Anthem AVR, and at my listening seat, have my Samsung tablet and browse as it is designed to be viewed, full page, without excessive scrolling. sure, i had to give up 196. but you know, getting the occasional 196 gives me limited additional pleasures only some of the time (when there are such recordings), and only sometimes, i might notice the difference - it is not obvious each and every time. whereas the outstanding Primephonic, now Apple Music Classical presentation on their pages, as they are designed, gives me enjoyment all the time whenever i browse, select music, look for other pieces that i've wanted to listen to, look at their huge (really huge!) list of recordings offered for that piece of music, select one that i like to listen to, consider their "editor's choice" recording at the top of the list, maybe read their summary blurb at the top (which are very well written, btw), all this gives me far more pleasure than the occasional 196 via Eversolo.

now, of course, if one day, i can browse full page as it was designed, through the Eversolo or a new apple device, sure, great, i'll buy that device. but in the meantime, apple is taking their sweet time NOT giving audiophiles an easy solution, i'll wait with my LDAC 96 streaming AND with full screen browsing as apple music classical was designed to be used and enjoyed.

That’s not relevant to 3rd party streamers using Android. Native Android limits the sample rate to 16/44. Some companies have modified their devices Android OS to permit full 24/192 with the Apple Music app. If that’s the case, you don’t need another app to switch the sample rate - the device does that automatically.

There’s no way to do it. I spent an hour and a half in the phone with Apple support asking me questions that demonstrated they don’t have a clue. There’s no way other than using the 3.5mm out. I am all but done with Apple Music it’s a waste of time for lossless - I will move to another service like Tidal. Apple have really screwed up its a complete mess - they must realise that if the go after consumers that aren’t price sensitive those consumers are likely to have decent hifi and expect a lossless source to be just that. In apples case lossless is really little more than a gimmick.

Inderdaad, this works fine. I use the iPad Air connected to a Marantz ND8006 - having a DAC - thus using my HiFi system in full HiRes audio.

Have fun!

while i understand all our frustrations and wish that apple would listen, my fear is that the audiophile market is just to small and niche that apple doesn't care one bit! they only care about large market segments like the folks who use earbuds. the fact that 1% if not even less of their customers are like us, i.e. audiophiles, seem to have zero interest to apple.

i hope i'm wrong, but i fear that this is the case. apple has shown no interest in any small market segments.

a link to the previous version of the bluetooth receiver i'm waiting for (one more week for its arrival):

[link removed by the apple forum]

i am waiting to buy my iFi Zen Blue v3 as it is due to come out around July 5th or 7th, so one more week of waiting. hoping that bluetooth 5.4 and its associated long range capability will help me out when streaming LDAC from my samsung tablet at my listening chair to the media closet with this new Zen Blue v3, which is roughly 35 feet away.

this combination will allow me to use the standard apple music android app and the apple music classical android app on my android tablet at my listening chair. the ability to use the standard apps translates to seeing the apple app's pages as intended, so the pages are attractively organized, with search results, "editor's choice" selections, and written blurbs about musical pieces well organized. all these pros, i believe, will outweigh the 196 vs this LDAC option of 96. sure, it's not 196, but then again, not that many recordings stream at 196 either! also, when they do stream at 196, not that many times you can actually hear the difference.

[Edited by Moderator]

Very important…on right now…Heresy III speakers, Onkyo TX-SR 805 amp, Teac NT 505 Dac, MacBook Air streaming through usb to dac…great sound…

There are ways like:

1. Apple TV HDMI or Optical out to another DAC
2. Quality streamers with Apple app support

in both cases your phone is just the remote and the lossless stream is pulled straight from Apple servers

Apple Music is a small segment of the streaming market share. Apple is making strides by releasing a Music app for Windows and Android. They have also allowed native integration into the Tesla cars without car play. That's the first indicator to me that Apple is aware of the market desire to have the Music app on your favorite device. My hope is they allow Blue OS to have a native Apple Music app. That would be a deal maker for me to buy a BlueSound streamer. They have built-in high-end DACs and AMPs. Combine that with native, non-airplay, Apple Music and you have high resolution digital without compromise.