In what way? Music discovery algorithm? IMHO, Qobuz and Tidal pale in comparison to Apple Music's library. Also, in sound quality, I find that once you go Diretta, Apple Music's disadvantage of exclusive mode on PC is pretty much eliminated
Question for Apple Music users on PC
- Thread starter atomLI631
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In what way? Music discovery algorithm? IMHO, Qobuz and Tidal pale in comparison to Apple Music's library. Also, in sound quality, I find that once you go Diretta, Apple Music's disadvantage of exclusive mode on PC is pretty much eliminated
atomLI631
500+ Head-Fier
So, I got a new DAC (Wandla GSE) and I noticed that with both Spotify and Apple Music the sample rate and bit depth wasn't changing on the front display no matter what song was on. It would only display whatever sample rate/bit depth I had set in windows audio settings. After researching (and remembering about this thread) I realized it must have something to do with exclusive mode. So I downloaded Qobuz trail and set the audio out to ASIO. That immediately fixed the problem. We know Spotify is lossy, so whatever. But with Apple Music, even though its showing lossless I dont believe its bit perfect (unless you play a track that specifically matches the windows settings?). Im guessing that windows is doing some sort of re-sampling from Apple through Windows to match the setting then sending it off to the DAC.
Im noticing with Qobuz that the same track is audibly louder than Apple Music. Whether it "sounds" better... Im not sure. I have to do more back and forth testing.
So for now, Im going to stick with Qobuz. Its shame really because I get Apple Music free with my cell phone subscription.
As for interface/library/features .. I think Spotify wins here. I typically use Spotify for the social aspect of sharing music with friends and family who arent into high-end audio gear. As for Qobuz, I still need more time with it. I listen to some really obscure extreme metal and so far I havent come across stuff that wasnt available on Qobuz thats available on Apple. One thing I really like about Qobuz is how it give me a little pop-up in the bottom right of my monitor when a new song comes on. I also like how if you click on an album and listen they give you the record label right there which you can click on and explore their catalogue. pretty cool.
I do find Apple Music wonky at times. Sometimes theres a delay with songs starting. If I make any audio changes in windows while its playing, it basically crashes. I have to close it and reopen it. Ripping music into Apple Music is basically nonfunctional now. When It was itunes, it wasnt great but it worked.
Apple Music is not bit perfect as it goes through Windows Mixer unlike Qobuz. If it’s buggy for you, Qobuz would be your choice. With Jpop genre, Qobuz really fails to provide albums that are only available on Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music. Some cantopop and Kpop music aren’t available on Qobuz as well. Fortunately, Apple Music on Windows 10 Surface Pro 2017 is rock stable with Diretta protocol so I have no complaints with it whatsoever
atomLI631
500+ Head-Fier
gotcha. im not really into those genres, but i did come across an album that wasnt on Qobuz that is on Tidal, Spotify and Apple Music, so thats a bummer. Ive had Tidal in the past and thought it was really good. Only cancelled it bc I had my free Apple Music Subscription. but Ill have to give it a try again.
Also, what is Diretta protocol? I looked it up, but Im still not sure how it works with Apple Music,
Diretta protocol is like Roon RAAT and NAA, but unlike RAAT and NAA, it's a system wide meaning, Netflix, Dolby Atmos, Peace EQ APO (if you like EQing) or any streaming apps you use can utilize Diretta. Naturally, that includes Roon and HQPlayer, Tidal and Qobuz as well. Heck even PC gaming can work too
Not sure about latency heheDiretta protocol can be Bit-perfect (if using the aforementioned streaming apps) or not bit-perfect through Windows Mixer (Apple Music or Deezer or Spotify). From Windows Mixer, you use an interface that lets you access Diretta such as Virtual HiFi Cable. Pretty much what you'll need is to only use the Virtual HiFi Cable from Windows Mixer as your sound device with Apple Music and let the system sound be on something like RealTek sound or other devices so that the system sound won't interfere with your music playback.
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atomLI631
500+ Head-Fier
Diretta protocol is like Roon RAAT and NAA, but unlike RAAT and NAA, it's a system wide meaning, Netflix, Dolby Atmos, Peace EQ APO (if you like EQing) or any streaming apps you use can utilize Diretta. Naturally, that includes Roon and HQPlayer, Tidal and Qobuz as well. Heck even PC gaming can work too
Diretta protocol can be Bit-perfect (if using the aforementioned streaming apps) or not bit-perfect through Windows Mixer (Apple Music or Deezer or Spotify). From Windows Mixer, you use an interface that lets you access Diretta such as Virtual HiFi Cable. Pretty much what you'll need is to only use the Virtual HiFi Cable from Windows Mixer as your sound device with Apple Music and let the system sound be on something like RealTek sound or other devices so that the system sound won't interfere with your music playback.
this sounds really interesting. is there a cost associated with DIretta and Hifi cable?
HiFi cable is free. Diretta drivers are free, but the streamer that supports Diretta such as Holo Audio Red (using GentooPlayer) are not free. If you buy a SOtM streamer, Diretta is included. With Red, I believe GentooPlayer has a one time lifetime fee and Diretta target also has either a lifetime fee or a yearly subscription. For the cheapest Diretta, SOtM is the best one because Diretta is already lifetime included with the streamer
BTW, if you're using Roon or Qobuz app, you do not need the HiFi cable because those apps can directly access Diretta drivers while HiFi cable allows for systemwide usage of Diretta or even ASIO4ALL
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atomLI631
500+ Head-Fier
so this cant be used on a windows PC without a streamer?
Nope because the point of Diretta is to allow direct streaming from PC to a RPi streamer. If you wish to connect the PC directly to DAC with USB, all you need is ASIO4ALL and not Diretta. The premise of Diretta is to isolate the PC noise through Ethernet streaming because PC noise can travel to USB causing coil whine being heard out of the DAC. If your PC doesn't suffer from coil whine noises, you don't need to invest on a streamer. I find the streamer solution subjectively sounding better than PC directly to DAC with USB. YMMV of course
Tom288
New Head-Fier
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Can someone tell me if you click the 3 waves at the top of the app where the current song is playing if it shows hi-res lossless when playing a hi-res lossless song?
as you can see in the image below, mine doesn't show hi-res lossless, but the sample rate seems to be correct. I could've sworn it used to say it there, but I might just be thinking of my iPhone.
Shows up on mine
Andrew_WOT
Headphoneus Supremus
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That's one blast from the past, anyone is actually still using this kludge after introduction of Exclusive WASAPI, why?
And yes, Qobuz is unbeatable as far as sound quality on PC goes.
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Because WASAPI Exclusive is NOT AVAILABLE for Apple Music and Qobuz does not have my Jpop album catalogs
Lastly, Diretta evens the playing field between Apple Music and Qobuz because the sound is sent as packets over the network where a streamer with all the upgrades will decode and stream it to your DAC rather than directly playing through USB
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