[zlayde]

Hi all -

I have an iPhone and I'm an avid user of Apple Music with Lossless (got a nice usb dac amp and U12T). Very happy with them but I'm considering one of the higher end DAPs on the market to double as my desktop dac/amp and dap on the go.

My question: is Apple Music on Android lossless like on iOS?

I've seen some hardware manufactures have gone to great lengths to bypass Android audio processing to get the best sound.

This article seems to state unequivocally that lossless on Android is 100% real. Any feedback from current DAP owners would be great too. Curious what everyone would recommend.

I just want to make sure a DAP purchase isn't gone to waste b/c of Apple Lossless + Android not being real.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[psikey]

My experience is Hiby are, and great DAP's too. I think iBasso and Fiio are too.

Sony DAP's arn't bit-perfect for 3rd party apps and rather have a Hi-mode which uses 32/192 so would pad-up lower bitrate tracks.

 

[zlayde]

Very hepful. Thank you!

 

[NAD Fi]

My experience is Hiby are, and great DAP's too. I think iBasso and Fiio are too.

Sony DAP's arn't bit-perfect for 3rd party apps and rather have a Hi-mode which uses 32/192 so would pad-up lower bitrate tracks.

I can confirm Ibasso DX320 does bit perfect Apple Lossless.

 

[Kalnet101]

My trusty Shanling M3X does work as well. It detects which bitrate it's playing flawlessly.

 

[nioh]

You said on the go, so just my personal opinion here.

Most, if not all Chi-fi DAPs can play bit-perfect audio (bypassing the Android resampling). Most of the high-end ones are bulky and not very portable. The mid-tier ones like iBasso DX170, FiiO M11S, Hiby R6 etc. are more portable.

That said, I have the Sony Zx707 and iBasso Dx320 and sound quality wise it’s barely a difference to my ears. I like them both depending on the mood but in general I use my Zx707 on the move since it’s more portable. The Sony DAPs do upsampling/downsampling (based on High-Res streaming setting) so they are not bit-perfect. Honestly I don’t see any difference in being bit-perfect or not.

Hence my recommendation would be the Zx707 (Japan import, US ones don’t have high gain). I am using Apple Music Lossless too. The Zx707 is portable, has great battery life, fast CPU (for a DAP), sounds great and has a great UI !

 

[zlayde]

Very interesting. It’s a good looking player!

 

[berger]

 

[o0genesis0o]

Hi all -

I have an iPhone and I'm an avid user of Apple Music with Lossless (got a nice usb dac amp and U12T). Very happy with them but I'm considering one of the higher end DAPs on the market to double as my desktop dac/amp and dap on the go.

My question: is Apple Music on Android lossless like on iOS?

I've seen some hardware manufactures have gone to great lengths to bypass Android audio processing to get the best sound.

This article seems to state unequivocally that lossless on Android is 100% real. Any feedback from current DAP owners would be great too. Curious what everyone would recommend.

I just want to make sure a DAP purchase isn't gone to waste b/c of Apple Lossless + Android not being real.

Thanks,
Rich

Depending on the Android. My old Xiaomi phone? Nope.

My Shanling M6 Ultra? Yes. I can see the number at the top changing when I switch the streaming quality of Apple music.

Unrelated point: Can I hear the difference? Nah. I like to say that I can consistently, but at the end of the day, even a YouTube video at full HD is good enough to distinguish and pin point differences between IEMs. I like to buy and store lossless file just for “assurance”.

 

[BS5711]

Fiio M11 Plus LTD streams Apple Music bit perfect without fault.

Sample rate display shows up to 24/192 as does a connected ifI Gryphon or other DAC if using the M11 as a source only.

I have used mine with Apple Music nearly every week day for about 18 months with no issues.

 

[Balthazar B]

Hi all -

I have an iPhone and I'm an avid user of Apple Music with Lossless (got a nice usb dac amp and U12T). Very happy with them but I'm considering one of the higher end DAPs on the market to double as my desktop dac/amp and dap on the go.

My question: is Apple Music on Android lossless like on iOS?

I've seen some hardware manufactures have gone to great lengths to bypass Android audio processing to get the best sound.

This article seems to state unequivocally that lossless on Android is 100% real. Any feedback from current DAP owners would be great too. Curious what everyone would recommend.

I just want to make sure a DAP purchase isn't gone to waste b/c of Apple Lossless + Android not being real.

Thanks,
Rich

Most of the current information I've seen indicates that all Apple Music content will be resampled by the Android media processor, which Apple Music can't/won't bypass. This means generally that won't get bit-perfect rendering of content, and you won't get high-res (e.g., 192/24) that Apple supports for a pretty good chunk of its catalog. You can get pretty good audio -- and depending on the resolution of your equipment and quality of your ears, you may not hear a material difference -- but if you're finicky about your audio, that could make a difference.

More information:
https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,121853.0.html
https://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/products/usb-audio-player-pro (note that unlike Qobuz, Shoutcast, etc., Apple Music does not leverage this solution)

 

[zlayde]

Yeh I think that's right. Some DAP makers have built entirely separate processing components to bypass it. E.g. iBasso:\

As with previous iBasso players, the DX320 bypasses the SRC from the system level, whether it is the built-in Mango player or the third-party streaming APK, you can enjoy the system-level "Non-SRC" feature.

Other high-end DAP makers do the same.

 

[zenaldo]

Any Android DAP will do the trick and bypass Android kernel limitation to resample everything to 48hz. Still, I was shocked this morning testing Apple Music with my S23 Ultra connected to my iFi Zen Dac Signature V2, and I found that it was playing the Hi-Res Lossless Apple Music songs at a higher sample rate. Playing PCM 44.1/48kHz, the DAC light will be yellow, but when I played Hotel California Hi-Res Lossless, the light went immediately White, meaning it is playing a PCM 88.2/96/176.4/192/352.8/384kHz.
The tidal app in Android does the same, but when you plug in the external DAC, the app shows a pop-up asking you to confirm the direct access of the app to the DAC. Apple Music doesn't give a *** about Android permissions and warnings and sends the file direct to the external DAC without asking anything...LOL.
There will be no other way for iFi Zen DAC to turn its white light.