The New Apple Lossless Audio With Dolby Atmos
Apple Music was first introduced in 2015, years after Spotify was invented. Obviously, back then Spotify was the leading name in the online audio streaming services. Apple Music in 2015 came with a free 3-month trial period and then a 10$ a month subscription which is really affordable and useful. There were also other streaming platforms like Tidal and Amazon music, and today we are focusing more on Tidal (and Apple Music). This article is about how Apple Music and how it is able to dominate over Tidal without even breaking a sweat.
Apple vs. Tidal
At that time there were no other streaming platforms provided very high-quality audio waves except for Tidal. That is the first reason for Tidal’s immense popularity. Apple Music could not come near their quality and their streaming quality years before now was reportedly quite bad when comparing with the other platforms. Tidal charged extra 10$ dollars for their service. But that is not the problem, their high-quality audio came with a buffering problem. Well of course those high-quality audio files eat up lots of data when streaming but the thing is people with quite fast internet connection could not even listen to their songs via Tidal. Many considered leaving it.
Today, there are unlimited internet plans for almost everybody, and the 5G technology has begun to spread. I think Apple was looking for the right moment to introduce their newest features. For those true audiophiles out there, Apple just announced Apple Music will be now featured with LOSSLESS type audios with NO ADDITIONAL COST. If you are already using a Apple Music subscription you just have to wait till the latest operating system release. Apple’s Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos will support iOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.6, macOS 11.4 and tvOS 14.6 or later versions.
Since the connection problem is over for Tidal, their main factor to keep in the competition with Apple is the PRICE. Sadly, Tidal already lost to Apple because Apple decided to charge no extra dollars for their Lossless Audio while Tidal still takes extra 10$ from you. And as the Tidal user’s report, the Tidal Desktop player is bit messy.
Updated Apple Music
Let us take a look at Apple’s new features thoroughly…
AirPods, Beats Headphones with H1 or W1 chipsets and latest iPhones and iMacs will support the Dolby Atmos technology. For all the other headphones that supports Dolby Atmos feature you may have to manually turn on the feature from your smartphone.
Apple will provide more than 75 million songs with Lossless Audio quality. They are using a new codec called Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) to provide the original feeling of a lossless track. People who already use the latest Apple Music version can change the audio quality in the settings, there you can go for the higher qualities like 16bits 44.1kHz (the quality in the audio CDs) and for more higher like 24bit 48kHz. The highest quality that Apple Music provides is 24bit 192kHz, which would be an incredible experience if you have a suitable playback device.
About Lossless Audio
Lossless Audio file is like the same file that artists make in the studio. The size of those files could be gigantic when comparing to the other audio files. Even a CD (700MB) cannot store a single lossless audio track, so they came to an understanding and introduced the CD quality that I have mentioned before. When it comes to the streaming that CD quality was way big to handle back then. The bitrate of one of those CD tracks was 1,411Kbps (Kilobits per second) while MP3 is like 96 to 320Kbps. If you want to go higher than 320Kbps then you will have to go for formats like FLAC or WAV. The size of the CD tracks is considerably big back then, so storing those quality tracks on your device consumes pretty big chunk of space. For this particular reason Apple introduced a new format with a 128Kbps bitrate called Advanced Audio Codecing (AAC) which was able to keep the same quality while reducing the file size significantly and was quite useful for iTunes users. Eventually the storage spaces got bigger and the internet got faster and Apple Music started using 256Kbps AAC codec.
The Hi-Res Lossless tracks Apple providing will have a huge 9216Kbps bitrate (MP3 320Kbps — CDs 1,411Kbps). Because of this gigantic size of the audio file, you will have to use a USB digital to analog converter (DAC) or something similar like that to experience the Lossless audio quality. If you don’t have a USB DAC, you can’t experience the Hi-Res Lossless tracks even with a wired headphone.
- USB — Digital to Analog Converter
As the name says clearly, this item helps to convert the digital signals to analog signals to provide extremely quality, uncompressed audio waves. These items don’t cost too much money so it is a good thing to buy one for yourself if you are going to have Apple Music with Lossless Audio. Here is a good one for you.
PROZOR 192KHz Digital to Analog Audio Converter
For quite some time Tidal was the best quality audio provider in this streamers market. But with this Apple completely managed to outrun Tidal and take over their reign. There are lots of users who are willing to change from Tidal to Apple Music or even from Spotify to Apple Music. Apple only charges 10$ while Tidal takes 20$ for the Lossless Audios. And for the family packages Apple only asks for 15$ while Tidal asks for 30$ for Family Hi-Fi package.
Disadvantages
Now it is the time to talk about what is bad…
The Apple Music with Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is limited to the Apple devices while Tidal can be used on almost any device. Even though many these days uses an Apple device there are quite a big number of Android devices too and they cannot enjoy this Lossless Audio without using Tidal. So, unless people tend to buy an Apple device in order to get connected with Apple Music (of course it is the main purpose of this clever marketing strategy), Tidal have a little advantage in this matter.
There is another thing, a quite disappointing fact. You cannot enjoy the Lossless Audio if you are using an AirPods, AirPods Max or a AirPods Pro. The reason is clear, all those AirPods use Bluetooth as their connecting strategy and Bluetooth is not speed enough to carry something big as this Lossless Audio tracks. The best way to enjoy it is to use a wired audio playback device with your Apple device.
The Bluetooth 5.2 is on its way and there is a chance for next generation Apple devices to support the Bluetooth 5.2 technology. And maybe the next generation AirPods with way more advanced chipset will hopefully support the entry level Lossless Audio tracks. Until then all the audiophiles willing to enjoy the maximum level of Lossless Audio tracks will have to keep using an advanced wired headphone for quite some time.
For those who already has a HomePod Mini or a HomePod can enjoy the Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos for now. Fortunately, your HomePod or HomePod Mini devices will gain support to the Lossless Audio with a future update unlike the AirPods (I do not think this is for the Hi-Res Lossless Audio but for the Standard Lossless Audio). So, if you are looking for a device that supports both Lossless Audio and the Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, these HomePods are a good solution but keep in mind that Apple just discontinued the production of the HomePod (but you can still buy the remaining items) and only the HomePod Mini production is currently happening.
Wired Headphones
So, if you don’t have a wired headphone yet and is willing to buy one, here are some quite good recommendations from us.
- Beats Ep Wired On-Ear Headphones
An affordable but really good pair of headphones. I think this is the only type of wired headphones Beats currently produce. It is not battery powered so the playtime goes as far as you want. It is lightweight and the structure durable because it is enforced with stainless steel.
- Audio-Technica ATH-M50X
This actually is not a normal pair of headphones. This is a studio grade type of headphones from renowned Audio-Technica. These earcups are quite large and will perfectly with anyone. Since this is a studio grade type headphone you do not have to worry about the sound quality or the Noise Cancellation. The earcups can be rotated 90° and it is easy to store or carry. Actually I cannot recommend this for casual music listeners but for people who works with audio like sound producing, monitoring, mixing and DJs.
- Sennheiser Pro Audio HD280PRO
This around the ear Sennheiser headphones are quite good alternative for music lovers. The earpads are super comfortable and there is a padded headband to feel more ease when the headphones are resting on your neck and then there is a replaceable cable. These earcups too are foldable for easy transportation. Quality of the sound is brilliant and it is crystal clear, some users have said that this is even good for studio work (I can’t guarantee about that though). Again, these are extremely comfortable even for continuous usages and has a superior audio quality for the price.
Hope you found something useful via our article and if you have anything more to add please be kind enough to leave a comment.
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