[Lalapuni]

Tidal is great, but Apple’s library management is significantly better

And music offerings... though, I notice that Tidal is missing some artists. Rammstein isn't on the service, not even a single song... what? o____o

 

[sonitus mirus]

To be honest, I can't go back to lossy now It's like going back to 30 fps after 60-120... you can but it will take some time to get used to and to lower your standard.

It is similar to video in that it is only something that can be seen, but almost certainly not any difference that can be heard.

 

[Lalapuni]

It is similar to video in that it is only something that can be seen, but almost certainly not any difference that can be heard.

m8te wot??

 

[Lichi]

To be honest, I can't go back to lossy now It's like going back to 30 fps after 60-120... you can but it will take some time to get used to and to lower your standard.

I agree with you. But, Does everybody really able to distinguish anything above 320Kbps? I know if guys compare DSD format with 128Kbps, you are able to "feel" more things in detail. How about 320Kbps or above? The limit of human eyes is 55 frames per second. If you can maintain such things above this level, is it really important to infinitely seeking the lossless? I would consider the balance of pay and gain.

 

[Lalapuni]

I agree with you. But, Does everybody really able to distinguish anything above 320Kbps? I know if guys compare DSD format with 128Kbps, you are able to "feel" more things in detail. How about 320Kbps or above? The limit of human eyes is 55 frames per second. If you can maintain such things above this level, is it really important to infinitely seeking the lossless? I would consider the balance of pay and gain.

Well I don’t know about human eye limit but the difference between 165-300 FPS and 30, 60 is huge

60 is the golden standard in terms of power consumption and performance but if you can get more, it makes major difference and I do notice it easily. it’s not just eyes but also smoothness and responsiveness

try doom eternal with 30, 60, 120 and 300 FPS

 

[Ufanco]

I really like the features Apple Music offers. Right now going back and forth with it and amazon music service. Sound wise amazon is a little better imho. Apple thou integrates better with my personal music so think might keep the free amazon prime service and go with apple one plan. I like the news service and Apple TV is included with the one plan.

 

[3Putter]

I really like the features Apple Music offers. Right now going back and forth with it and amazon music service. Sound wise amazon is a little better imho. Apple thou integrates better with my personal music so think might keep the free amazon prime service and go with apple one plan. I like the news service and Apple TV is included with the one plan.

Apple TV is pretty good, their content of series and movies is solid. I did some comparing last night with Apple Music and Tidal. Just something missing from Apple Music. It sounds fine, much better than it used to sound but Tidal has more depth, slightly more detail, and overall I can't unhear what my brain is saying...

 

[Luis Mad]

Here another Apple Music fan. I started, convinced by my teen daughter, with a family subscription a few years ago. I have always loved music but 2019 I rediscovered classical, and hifi as well. During the last two years I have tried Tidal, Amazon Music HD and Deezer, always with Apple Music as well. After Apple Music has started with hires that has been the end for me of any of the other streaming services.

Nowadays I make an intensive use of Apple Music. A lot of use comes in the Android version in my Astell and Kern SR25. Sound quality is amazing, I have several long playlists downloaded in the SR25. I listen to Apple Music with my headphones and iems, also Bluetooth connection to the car stereo, sometimes line out connection to the car stereo and AirPlay connection to my Yamaha musiccast speakers in my bedroom.
In my living room I have my best stereo connected to AppleTV4k via the tv and my Yamaha streamer and preamp. I know everything is upsampled or resampled to 48 khz with the AppleTV4k, but after several trials I am more than pleased with the sound quality and the AppleTV4k is incredibly convenient and easy to use with my Ipad or Iphone as remote. I also take the AppleTV4k to my summer flat when I go there.
Finally I also use Apple Music when on the go with Bluetooth iems, Etymotic Er2xr.
Apple Music has certainly room for improvement in relation to classical music. Search of classical is simply horrible. Once you find the stuff sound quality is excellent but the direct search in Apple Music is hopeless for classical. Thankfully there is this app Concertino, that is really good to find classical stuff in Apple Music. Also after the acquisition of Primephonic https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/08/apple-acquires-classical-music-streaming-service-primephonic/ , I hope the service, specially the search, will improve. Sound quality wise, I am really pleased. In the dap, AppleTV4k or in the Iphone, truly convenient.

 

[sonitus mirus]

For anyone that is invested in the Apple ecosystem, Apple Music is a clear winner in my opinion. Since leaving Roon with both a Tidal and Qobuz subscription, I have been greatly enjoying listening to music with Apple. It is the only service that I can stream in my car (using CarPlay), without any issues. I've made trips from DC to Orlando and back and was streaming music at the highest lossy format available, all while using Waze and sometime taking calls.

Having all of my music available on all my devices and completely in sync is wonderful. I have 3 Apple TVs connected to 4K TVs with surround sound systems, a big office I use for work that has 2 floor speakers that I play music through my MacBook Pro M1 and RME ADI-2 DAC FS setup. I can take the MacBook to my game room where I have some powered 2-way 8" speakers when I'm playing darts or pinball. I found that convenience will trump pure audio quality, but I'm not sure the sound quality is audibly different than other setups I have enjoyed in the past.

With Apple Music, to me it seems like they make a better effort to ensure the quality level of the media is solid. It is much easier to control the quality when the operating system is identical, the hardware is fully controlled and tested with the in-house software/applications that run on it. If somebody has a problem with a Spotify track, there is so much noise to sift through as the problem could be from so many different pieces of the puzzle, whereas Apple can be aware of a problem and take care of it with more confidence.

Add to the fact that your own music can be seamlessly included into the entire Music environment, and you have a great solution that is only getting better over time.

 

[pjones5]

For anyone that is invested in the Apple ecosystem, Apple Music is a clear winner in my opinion. Since leaving Roon with both a Tidal and Qobuz subscription, I have been greatly enjoying listening to music with Apple. It is the only service that I can stream in my car (using CarPlay), without any issues. I've made trips from DC to Orlando and back and was streaming music at the highest lossy format available, all while using Waze and sometime taking calls.

Having all of my music available on all my devices and completely in sync is wonderful. I have 3 Apple TVs connected to 4K TVs with surround sound systems, a big office I use for work that has 2 floor speakers that I play music through my MacBook Pro M1 and RME ADI-2 DAC FS setup. I can take the MacBook to my game room where I have some powered 2-way 8" speakers when I'm playing darts or pinball. I found that convenience will trump pure audio quality, but I'm not sure the sound quality is audibly different than other setups I have enjoyed in the past.

With Apple Music, to me it seems like they make a better effort to ensure the quality level of the media is solid. It is much easier to control the quality when the operating system is identical, the hardware is fully controlled and tested with the in-house software/applications that run on it. If somebody has a problem with a Spotify track, there is so much noise to sift through as the problem could be from so many different pieces of the puzzle, whereas Apple can be aware of a problem and take care of it with more confidence.

Add to the fact that your own music can be seamlessly included into the entire Music environment, and you have a great solution that is only getting better over time.

Yeah, the Apple ecosystem makes everything much easier.
I really wish Apple would re-release an "audiophile" grade iPod complete with high quality components, large storage capacity, and multiple output options. I highly doubt they would, but one can dream.

Does anyone have any recommended USB or Dongle DACs to be used with iPhone?

 

[pjones5]

Apple TV is pretty good, their content of series and movies is solid. I did some comparing last night with Apple Music and Tidal. Just something missing from Apple Music. It sounds fine, much better than it used to sound but Tidal has more depth, slightly more detail, and overall I can't unhear what my brain is saying...

Only rarely have I noticed a real difference between Apple Music and Tidal. I have noticed what some have said about Tidal bumping the volume of an MQA track up a decibel to give it a greater sense of presence. If you're listening to a FLAC file and then an MQA file plays with a slight bump in volume, your brain will more than likely perceive it as an improvement.

I do think Apple Music's spatial audio is better executed than Tidal's 360 music experience. I actually enjoy listening to Apple's Dolby audio, but Tidal's version sounds as though they've just applied a spatializer plug-in without it actually being mixed in 5.1 or 7.1 stereo.

I still use Tidal pretty regularly, but I'm finding fewer and fewer reasons to keep paying the $20/month for MQA on top of Apple Music's $9.99/month. The only reason why I've kept it this long is Apple Music fails to work on my Sony ZX507 and Tidal works quite well.

 

[3Putter]

Only rarely have I noticed a real difference between Apple Music and Tidal. I have noticed what some have said about Tidal bumping the volume of an MQA track up a decibel to give it a greater sense of presence. If you're listening to a FLAC file and then an MQA file plays with a slight bump in volume, you're brain will more than likely perceive it as an improvement.

I do think Apple Music's spatial audio is better executed than Tidal's 360 music experience. I actually enjoy listening to Apple's Dolby audio, but Tidal's version sounds as though they've just applied a spatializer plug-in without it actually being mixed in 5.1 or 7.1 stereo.

I still use Tidal pretty regularly, but I'm finding fewer and fewer reasons to keep paying the $20/month for MQA on top of Apple Music's $9.99/month. The only reason why I've kept it this long is Apple Music fails to work on my Sony ZX507 and Tidal works quite well.

I just don't hear it the same but wish I did. I keep A/B testing and feel it is very close on some tracks, not so close on others, and barely discernible on the rest. It does become more evident, in Tidal's favor, on my desktop/wired listening.

 

[HirkEukvic]

I'd totally switch to Apple music if they'd ever support lossless on non-Apple hardware. I can't justify buying a Mac or iPhone just for streaming music and much of the software I rely on is Android or Windows compatible only (notably anything that's 32 bit). I'm also locked into a payment plan on a Note 20U so I'm Android for another year at least.

If only Qobuz would make their app less crashy...

 

[sonitus mirus]

I'd totally switch to Apple music if they'd ever support lossless on non-Apple hardware. I can't justify buying a Mac or iPhone just for streaming music and much of the software I rely on is Android or Windows compatible only (notably anything that's 32 bit). I'm also locked into a payment plan on a Note 20U so I'm Android for another year at least.

If only Qobuz would make their app less crashy...

Absolutely understand your point. If I didn't see evidence showing that Apple's MacOS and associated hardware used a resampling algorithm that was essentially audibly transparent, I would still be using Roon with Tidal/Quobuz. I just set my MacBook to 16/44.1 and only select lossless files to play. Most of the streaming music is 44.1 kHz with a few at 48 kHz, but the internal conversion does not appear to create any audible problems (and measurements confirm this) and I'm not one to put much faith into HD quality making any bit of a difference. After using Tidal since the beginning, and even Qobuz once it was made available to stream via Roon, I'm confident that what I'm hearing with Apple Music is every bit as good or better with the music I listen to on my gear.

https://archimago.blogspot.com/2015/11/measurements-apple-mac-os-x-yosemite.html

 

[pjones5]

I'd totally switch to Apple music if they'd ever support lossless on non-Apple hardware. I can't justify buying a Mac or iPhone just for streaming music and much of the software I rely on is Android or Windows compatible only (notably anything that's 32 bit). I'm also locked into a payment plan on a Note 20U so I'm Android for another year at least.

If only Qobuz would make their app less crashy...

Yeah, makes perfect sense.
I think for me what really expedited the switch was the release of the M1 processor.
I was a long time user of the iPhone, but didn’t get much out of it. Used what Windows and my Walkman to stream. Also had an iPad but only read books. Hated MacBooks because of their ridiculous cost to performance. I mean, for the price of a 2019 MacBook Pro, you could find a Windows laptop that would run laps around it. Once the M1 chip stepped onto the scene tho, that was no longer the case - and thus I took the plunge and went full Apple-verse. In that case, Apple Music makes sense.