[dungmp]

I have files downloaded from HDT and other. I am not impressed with hi res Apple offers. Very muffled sounding. I tried all my headphones and eq off and it just doesn’t sound good.

Now I can cancel my Apple Music sub )

 

[bru87tr]

Now I can cancel my Apple Music sub )

Not sure why. I have my phone hooked up to my Oppo HA-2 and my DL files from HDT sound great. But the oppo HA-2 hooked up to my iPad, not so great. It’s working correctly but it just does not sound as good.

 

[kkugel]

I don't know what you guys are doing with your chain - the HDTracks test sampler sounds identical to the Apple Music recordings to me. And my ears are pretty young

 

[kkugel]

Not sure why. I have my phone hooked up to my Oppo HA-2 and my DL files from HDT sound great. But the oppo HA-2 hooked up to my iPad, not so great. It’s working correctly but it just does not sound as good.

Try Apple Music on Android, I use it on Android and there's no difference.

 

[dungmp]

Try Apple Music on Android, I use it on Android and there's no difference.

I tried Apple Music on my Android phone and Apple Music on Pc via Bluestack. I have no Idivice to try. You can try "Carmen-Fantasie" of Anne-Sophie Mutter and "Come Away With Me" of Norah Jones. Even the samples on HDtracks sound different than the songs on AM.

 

[HeavenlyBlack]

Quick question: does AM hi-res work properly on Android phones like my LG V40? or is it only capable of playing back at 48kHz (with the resampling of higher rates?)

 

[Chesty]

I must admit that I have not yet listened to any of my HDtracks albums (or for that matter any of my other albums purchased from other online shops) using AM on my SP2000. I have only been listening to albums on AM that I don't own already. I need to do some A/B listening to determine if I can hear any differences.

 

[Chesty]

Having said that, I have mainly listened to AM high-res through my iMac and desktop / headphone system. I have found no significant issues with AM's SQ compared to the SQ of my purchased albums playing through Audirvana. Again, I will need to some A/B listening to determine if I can hear any differences.

 

[CharlyBrown]

I had high hope for Apple Music when they introduced HiFi. For me, Apple Music is like Apple converts lossy music (AAC) to lossless (ALAC) using software and make the tracks louder. I don't think Apple has original recording from studios.
And I tried 20+ albums with 200+ songs to see if I have bias for Apple music. I really want to find a reason to love it because its so convenient. And I dont want to pay $25/ album on HDtracks anymore

I’m not a fan of conspiracy tales and this one is ridiculous.

 

[tomwoo]

not a fan of conspiracy tales and this one is ridiculous.

Exactly. Why would Apple do that? All they needed to do was asking record companies for the files already generated for TIDAL/Qobuz/Deezer...

 

[Luis Mad]

Exactly. Why would Apple do that? All they needed to do was asking record companies for the files already generated for TIDAL/Qobuz/Deezer...

In my case, I did a few comparisons of classical between Tidal (just a few days, it was the end of an offer subscription), Amazon HD (I am in the middle of a four month free offer for Prime members) and Apple Music in hires and lossless. I compared the three with pieces and versions I know with AK SR25 and Denon AH-D7200 headphones and Etymotic ER4XR iems. I must say in most cases I did not find any difference. Tidal is louder. Occasionally one would sound better than the other but most cases no difference. I am very happy with Apple Music in hires and lossless. I believe it is a clear improvement. In my case Tidal is goodbye for good. Amazon HD is fine but I doubt I will keep both. Qobuz I have never tried so I cannot compare.

Also Apple Music is so convenient with Apple TV4K in lossless. I am now in a summer flat where I have a very basic setup with amp and speakers. Source usually is my laptop with my files. Now with Apple Music through the Apple TV4K, I barely connect the laptop anymore. Sound quality is excellent to my hears (connected hdmi to tv and this optical to amp). Very convenient using the Iphone or Ipad as remote control of the AppleTV. Only drawback for me was having the screen on with the screensavers. Those are beautiful on the AppleTV but too much light and brightness. Following advice in another place, I took a black picture and use it as screen saver, and drawback solved.

 

[kkugel]

I tried Apple Music on my Android phone and Apple Music on Pc via Bluestack. I have no Idivice to try. You can try "Carmen-Fantasie" of Anne-Sophie Mutter and "Come Away With Me" of Norah Jones. Even the samples on HDtracks sound different than the songs on AM.

Maybe they are just different masters

 

[bru87tr]

Try Apple Music on Android, I use it on Android and there's no difference.

Well, maybe that's what it is. Even with the Ipad EQ off I just cant get the right sound, or with a EQ selected or even flat. I will say I use my oppo HA-2 on my Android phone with the Onkyo APP and my files sounds awesome.

 

[ThePeave]

Also Apple Music is so convenient with Apple TV4K in lossless. I am now in a summer flat where I have a very basic setup with amp and speakers. Source usually is my laptop with my files. Now with Apple Music through the Apple TV4K, I barely connect the laptop anymore. Sound quality is excellent to my hears (connected hdmi to tv and this optical to amp). Very convenient using the Iphone or Ipad as remote control of the AppleTV. Only drawback for me was having the screen on with the screensavers. Those are beautiful on the AppleTV but too much light and brightness. Following advice in another place, I took a black picture and use it as screen saver, and drawback solved.

Depending on the way your TV handles the audio signal throughput, its very likely resampling the original output from the Apple TV and sending a set sample rate and bit depth to your DAC, no matter what sample rate the Apple TV is outputting. This may not be a noticeable problem depending on your setup, but it is a big issue for those that want to ensure that the sample rate and bit depth of the original file is what's sent to and encoded by the DAC without any resampling along the way. This is the reason I've stuck with Tidal so far, as their Mac app is one of the few that automatically adjusts the sample rate output in exclusive mode to match the source file. The Apple Music app on Mac still doesn't do this as far as I'm aware, and getting the audio output from the Apple TV HDMI out to a DAC requires some other intermediary (eg HDMI --> optical) which is typically going to resample the file, though if someone knows of a bit perfect solution to this issue I would love to hear it.

 

[jamesofla80]

Depending on the way your TV handles the audio signal throughput, its very likely resampling the original output from the Apple TV and sending a set sample rate and bit depth to your DAC, no matter what sample rate the Apple TV is outputting. This may not be a noticeable problem depending on your setup, but it is a big issue for those that want to ensure that the sample rate and bit depth of the original file is what's sent to and encoded by the DAC without any resampling along the way. This is the reason I've stuck with Tidal so far, as their Mac app is one of the few that automatically adjusts the sample rate output in exclusive mode to match the source file. The Apple Music app on Mac still doesn't do this as far as I'm aware, and getting the audio output from the Apple TV HDMI out to a DAC requires some other intermediary (eg HDMI --> optical) which is typically going to resample the file, though if someone knows of a bit perfect solution to this issue I would love to hear it.

Anyone test out the new MacOS Monterey beta to see if they fixed the lack of source resampling in AM?