Apple announces lossless Apple Music is coming in June at no added cost

[superczar]

I was joking about the HomePod setup.. I just have one by my bedside to listen to podcasts / music or some sleepcast while trying to sleep because wearing headphone or earphones is not comfortable. I just bought it because of the rave reviews about how great audio quality is by tech you tubers and all my devices are pretty much apple so it would play from all.
Honestly till now I thought Apple Music was the best, I sure would like to try the best out there (best for normal consumers who are not audiophiles and can see the difference ).
Can you suggest me the best music streaming service and 1 headphone or earphone with other needed accessories I can buy and try to get the best music quality out there?
I want it to work on iPhone and MacBook Pro.
Thanks.

I think i have mentioned this before.
I have used 4 streaming services and have retained 3

1) Don’t bother with Tidal in India - the latency makes the experience slow on even very fast connections.
2) Spotify is a little better for music discovery vs AM but no lossless / streaming to airpod without a bunch of keypresses - have retained it and keep it primarily for usage in the car/ carplay
3) Apple Music is very good - and the overall integration with Homepods is very nice - retained it for homepods/ watch - yet to try lossless..will check tonight on large speakers.
4) YT music - I need to keep it because youtube without premium is extremely irritating - tried the music app but didn’t like it much

I’d have rated spotify a tad above AM - but the lossless aspect will change the equation strongly in its favor

 

[red dragon]

I was joking about the HomePod setup.. I just have one by my bedside to listen to podcasts / music or some sleepcast while trying to sleep because wearing headphone or earphones is not comfortable. I just bought it because of the rave reviews about how great audio quality is by tech you tubers and all my devices are pretty much apple so it would play from all.
Honestly till now I thought Apple Music was the best, I sure would like to try the best out there (best for normal consumers who are not audiophiles and can see the difference ).
Can you suggest me the best music streaming service and 1 headphone or earphone with other needed accessories I can buy and try to get the best music quality out there?
I want it to work on iPhone and MacBook Pro.
Thanks.

Firstly I must apologise to you for being so freaking rude for no reason. It's perfectly fine to be in Apple ecosystem ( I was till 2019)

My humble suggestions:
Streaming service:
Mostly use Tidal, Amazon and Apple music(!) Spotify is where the band's I produce for upload their music first ( So I stick to Spotify's restrictions, otherwise they apply a crappy limiter to destroy everything)
All are enough for me ( mostly an offline listener)

Headphones:
If you don't mind spending a lot, Focal Clear.

For medium budget ( and best bang for buck) Hifiman Sundara. Deva is another great option ( can use it wirelessly too) and of course HD650/600

Value champion: DT990/880 ( but coming from SE215 they may hurt your ears with treble) For a smoother sound Sennheiser HD560S
IEM: Since you do workout, SE215 is perfect, very sturdy, comfortable. Sound is not spectacular but decent enough.
Don't get into the expensive chi-fi trap ( like Starfield etc.) Either go super OPPOTY cheap ( BL03) or something reasonable like fiio FH3.

Regarding amps, DACs: Let the others join in. I'm embarrassed to say that my Amp DAC setups are very expensive ( and unnecessary)
Happy listening!!

 

[pauldmps]

What's there to discuss about the "new Audio features"?
High res audio is nothing new.

Its new for ₹99 per month on a device that is used by a lot of people.

Positional audio is a disaster.

That's your opinion.

Apple hardware can't stream high res wirelessly.

No hardware can stream high res wirelessly.

DSP correction is an interesting topic, but how many will understand?
Most people don't even know positional audio files ( basically 5 channel from stereo) can be created with 2 very expensive DAWs ( Sequoia and Pyramix) from stereo wave files.
But nobody is interested in creation, all you people crave for consumption.

Yes. We are consumers. This is neither an audio creation forum, nor this thread is about it.
Your specific problem that is related to the job you do, doesn't affect the general public.
As a software engineer, I don't go around ranting in every Lenovo thread about how my Thinkpad overheats during coding everyday.

There is a plethora of brands and hardware available in the market that caters to the specific needs of Pro users. You are free to choose and buy what you want.
Apple is too big a company to give shit about your personal problems. They are trendsetters, which every other company follows, whether its removing the analog headphone jack, or moving to ARM on desktops, or even removing accessories from smartphone boxes.

Moving to USB C exclusively was a decision to push the industry towards a unified interface so that all devices and hardware are launched with USB C instead of other ports, given this port and standard is supported by a consortium that includes non-Apple companies. That did not happen in the past 5 years. And the leaks suggest that Apple is acknowledging that now and possibly moving back to adding more ports in the next MacBook lineup. And even if they don't do it, people will still buy their hardware. Get over it & move on.

 

[msankadi]

I think i have mentioned this before.
I have used 4 streaming services and have retained 3

1) Don’t bother with Tidal in India - the latency makes the experience slow on even very fast connections.
2) Spotify is a little better for music discovery vs AM but no lossless / streaming to airpod without a bunch of keypresses - have retained it and keep it primarily for usage in the car/ carplay
3) Apple Music is very good - and the overall integration with Homepods is very nice - retained it for homepods/ watch - yet to try lossless..will check tonight on large speakers.
4) YT music - I need to keep it because youtube without premium is extremely irritating - tried the music app but didn’t like it much

I’d have rated spotify a tad above AM - but the lossless aspect will change the equation strongly in its favor

What? I have Been using tidal for past 1 to 2 years in India itself, there is no latency, even on 4g forget wifi. It works perfectly fine. Pure lies as I do remember highlighting this to you in another thread. There is absolutely zero problems with the tidal app or pc application. In fact it is 10 times better than the am app.

 

[msankadi]

Its new for ₹99 per month on a device that is used by a lot of people.

. And even if they don't do it, people will still buy their hardware. Get over it & move on.

So? Are we salesman for apple? How does it matter to you or me how many devices they sell? Or if you just want to buy what the majority in usa is buying goo ahead, why are you discussing the pros and cons?

Hi res is not new for your information. It has been there since ages. Also, most of the people who you are referring to would hear zero difference on their beloved phones and earbuds as their hardware will simply be unable to use the extra bandwidth. So there is nothing new for them apart from the hype. It is like new printed on every biscuit packet ever produced.

No hardware can stream high res wirelessly.

But Sony wireless can stream LDAC on Android which is 3 times the bandwidth of what apple can stream (900kbps vs 320 kbps). Plus that is near to what most CD quality tracks are, so it is much better than what apple can offer

 

[superczar]

What? I have Been using tidal for past 1 to 2 years in India itself, there is no latency, even on 4g forget wifi. It works perfectly fine. Pure lies as I do remember highlighting this to you in another thread. There is absolutely zero problems with the tidal app or pc application. In fact it is 10 times better than the am app.

Tidal does not use local CDNs for India.
Due to that , There is a distinct lag between clicking on a track and the actual playback start vs the near immediate playback on spotify and (the slightly longer vs Spotify) on AM
- Good for you if you don’t notice it/ if it doesn’t bother you.

I am not even sure what your other debate on wireless headphones is about .
On a side note, please don’t act like a petulant child by calling another FMs observation as lies.

 

[ibose]

Tidal does not use local CDNs for India.
Due to that , There is a distinct lag between clicking on a track and the actual playback start vs the near immediate playback on spotify and (the slightly longer vs Spotify) on AM
- Good for you if you don’t notice it/ if it doesn’t bother you.

This doesn't happen for me while using their own app on my phone or desktop. I have got a Thailand account. I have Spotify and Tidal both so would have noticed it. Which app and country are you using ?

 

[pauldmps]

So? Are we salesman for apple? How does it matter to you or me how many devices they sell? Or if you just want to buy what the majority in usa is buying goo ahead, why are you discussing the pros and cons?

It matters because their sales numbers should be enough to shut up the Apple-shitters like you. It matters because it shows that nobody cares about your opinions. It shows that there is a huge market for Apple products irrespective of what you think.
If you have a problem with what people use in USA, you should not be using Tidal, given that its US focused and never officially launched in India.

Hi res is not new for your information. It has been there since ages. Also, most of the people who you are referring to would hear zero difference on their beloved phones and earbuds as their hardware will simply be unable to use the extra bandwidth. So there is nothing new for them apart from the hype. It is like new printed on every biscuit packet ever produced.

There are three distinct features that Apple Music has launched with no extra cost - Spatial Audio, Dolby Atmos & Hi res. The last one will not work unless you have a DAC + good wired headphones. The other two will. So depends upon the user what features they want to use and what hardware they want to invest in. When it comes to AirPods devices, I don't think anyone who is into Hi-res would have bought them in the first place. For us average users, its just nice to have, at least now I can upgrade to such hardware if I want to.

But Sony wireless can stream LDAC on Android which is 3 times the bandwidth of what apple can stream (900kbps vs 320 kbps). Plus that is near to what most CD quality tracks are, so it is much better than what apple can offer

Do you use Sony wireless or just nitpicking using a proprietary technology that is used by a small number of headphones of a specific brand to win an argument?

As I have said before, if you are fine in paying $19.99 per month + VPN for Tidal just so that you can continue your hatred against Apple, you are free to do so. But none of your arguments or criticism has been anyway constructive or to the point. Its just a bunch of "Apple bad" statements including how Steve Jobs who died like 10yrs ago didn't give money to charity and somehow its related to all of the topic in hand.

 

[superczar]

This doesn't happen for me while using their own app on my phone or desktop. I have got a Thailand account. I have Spotify and Tidal both so would have noticed it. Which app and country are you using ?

Possibly because of the Thailand account and Asia servers.
I was on a US account. It's not a major lag - but small enough to be noticeable / annoying.

That + the higher cost + the bad search (vs spotify and AM) made me drop the subscription after 6-7 months of usage.
The only thing missing after that was high res - which is also sorted out now - for practically free as I'd have kept the Apple One plan anyway !

There are three distinct features that Apple Music has launched with no extra cost - Spatial Audio, Dolby Atmos & Hi res. The last one will not work unless you have a DAC + good wired headphones. The other two will. So depends upon the user what features they want to use and what hardware they want to invest in. When it comes to AirPods devices, I don't think anyone who is into Hi-res would have bought them in the first place. For us average users, its just nice to have, at least now I can upgrade to such hardware if I want to.


Do you use Sony wireless or just nitpicking using a proprietary technology that is used by a small number of headphones of a specific brand to win an argument?

This - literally no one (or at least sensible one) uses wireless headphones for audio fidelity.
For me, it's always been full range speakers if I want to listen critically.. .
For many others, its been wired headphones too - which I completely get.

wireless headphones are meant for convenience.
And for all the noise about LDAC, it rarely works at full PHY speeds in the real world

 

[Nalin]

I can't believe that the lossless feature is still not available yet, it's out for the whole world except 1 country India. I have renewed my Qobuz subscription yesterday after waiting for rollout.

 

[msankadi]

It matters because their sales numbers should be enough to shut up the Apple-shitters like you. It matters because it shows that nobody cares about your opinions. It shows that there is a huge market for Apple products irrespective of what you think.
If you have a problem with what people use in USA, you should not be using Tidal, given that its US focused and never officially launched in India.


There are three distinct features that Apple Music has launched with no extra cost - Spatial Audio, Dolby Atmos & Hi res. The last one will not work unless you have a DAC + good wired headphones. The other two will. So depends upon the user what features they want to use and what hardware they want to invest in. When it comes to AirPods devices, I don't think anyone who is into Hi-res would have bought them in the first place. For us average users, its just nice to have, at least now I can upgrade to such hardware if I want to.


Do you use Sony wireless or just nitpicking using a proprietary technology that is used by a small number of headphones of a specific brand to win an argument?

As I have said before, if you are fine in paying $19.99 per month + VPN for Tidal just so that you can continue your hatred against Apple, you are free to do so. But none of your arguments or criticism has been anyway constructive or to the point. Its just a bunch of "Apple bad" statements including how Steve Jobs who died like 10yrs ago didn't give money to charity and somehow its related to all of the topic in hand.

Haha more than 70-80% population across the world uses android. Go cry. Nobody cares about your os [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji8]

Tidal is less than 200 rupees per month legally IN INDIA. AVAILABLE NOW and for the past few years. Go cry. Nobody cares about your shitty ideas as you can't even find a good deal. No wonder you fall for using apple products as the first thing you encounter in ads.

Tidal is not US focused, it is present on many continents, see how I said continents and not countries.

NO vpn is required for tidal apart from sign-up. Get your facts right before uttering utter garbage. [emoji24][emoji24][emoji1787][emoji1787]


Sony is a small company with small number of users [emoji115][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]just shows your level of knowledge

All the sales numbers for apple mean are their are suckers like you who couldn't figure out what the rest of 70-80% world has been able to figure out.

@superczar

I was on a US account. It's not a major lag - but small enough to be noticeable / annoying.

I have south american and europe accounts, no lag. Not no observable lag, NO lag

And for all the noise about LDAC, it rarely works at full PHY speeds in the real world

What is the real world speed you have observed in your experiments? While using bubbleupnp and android, I get about 800+ kbps which is still almost 3 times what apple offers at 320 kbps. I have never measured if the 320 kbps is actually 320 kbps or AAC offered by apple is even lower than that

 

[GODMODE09]

Firstly I must apologise to you for being so freaking rude for no reason. It's perfectly fine to be in Apple ecosystem ( I was till 2019)

My humble suggestions:
Streaming service:
Mostly use Tidal, Amazon and Apple music(!) Spotify is where the band's I produce for upload their music first ( So I stick to Spotify's restrictions, otherwise they apply a crappy limiter to destroy everything)
All are enough for me ( mostly an offline listener)

Headphones:
If you don't mind spending a lot, Focal Clear.

For medium budget ( and best bang for buck) Hifiman Sundara. Deva is another great option ( can use it wirelessly too) and of course HD650/600

Value champion: DT990/880 ( but coming from SE215 they may hurt your ears with treble) For a smoother sound Sennheiser HD560S
IEM: Since you do workout, SE215 is perfect, very sturdy, comfortable. Sound is not spectacular but decent enough.
Don't get into the expensive chi-fi trap ( like Starfield etc.) Either go super OPPOTY cheap ( BL03) or something reasonable like fiio FH3.

Regarding amps, DACs: Let the others join in. I'm embarrassed to say that my Amp DAC setups are very expensive ( and unnecessary)
Happy listening!!

Thanks.. I like the Hifiman Deva.. Looks like it's really good and is also flexible with wireless option if needed and inbuilt dac with option to use better if needed and supports lot of formats. Thinking about buying one soon after I get lossless on AM. I might also spend a little on separate DAC / AMP if it's needed or can add significant improvement I will notice while listening to music. (looking to really get the cheapest and best for my use here).
Regarding watching movies and playing console games , is it the same like music? Say watching a dolby atmos movie on Apple TV app or Netflix? I guess the same Deva will be the best for these too?
Thanks for your advice.

 

[superczar]

@superczar



I have south american and europe accounts, no lag. Not no observable lag, NO lag


What is the real world speed you have observed in your experiments? While using bubbleupnp and android, I get about 800+ kbps which is still almost 3 times what apple offers at 320 kbps. I have never measured if the 320 kbps is actually 320 kbps or AAC offered by apple is even lower than that

Good for you if it works.
FWIW, I do have equipment that is resolving enough not to require me to measure the stats while playing a track for critical listening...

And when using wireless headphones, I just want things to sound reasonably good - which it does on both spotify and AM

On a side note, whats with the chip on the shoulder? No one is asking you to shift to AM or any apple product for that matter.
Neither is anyone saying that your choice of services/ equipment make you an uninformed user .
OTOH, you constantly seem to be alluding that the folks on this thread who do prefer apple services and products are either technically challenged or gullible souls

 

[msankadi]

Good for you if it works.
FWIW, I do have equipment that is resolving enough not to require me to measure the stats while playing a track for critical listening...

And when using wireless headphones, I just want things to sound reasonably good - which it does on both spotify and AM

On a side note, whats with the chip on the shoulder? No one is asking you to shift to AM or any apple product for that matter.
Neither is anyone saying that your choice of services/ equipment make you an uninformed user .
OTOH, you constantly seem to be alluding that the folks on this thread who do prefer apple services and products are either technically challenged or gullible souls

Did you miss the other user calling me a shitty person/user because "his company" apple made x profit (haha sounds so childish to even say his company xyz) ? And because apple made y profit we cannot criticize apple products?

Plus why are you defending apple so much? Nobody is asking you to shift away from apple as well. As you are defending and praising apple because of your experience, in the same way I am bashing apple because of mine. Why is being negative on apple a "thing" and not being positive in your eyes?

I don't have a chip on my shoulder I just want to make sure people hear my opinion, like you are trying to do.

You:Tidal::Me:Apple

 

[pauldmps]

Did you miss the other user calling me a shitty person/user because "his company" apple made x profit (haha sounds so childish to even say his company xyz) ? And because apple made y profit we cannot criticize apple products?

1. I didn't call you a shitty person. I called you a person who likes to shit on Apple for no reason.
2. I didn't say anything about Apple making profits. I said that many people buy and like their products. Every company aims to make profits and Apple is just one of them.
3. You don't criticise Apple products. You just blanket rant on the company name. Till date, you have not pointed out any features or services that you think is bad or has some shortcomings. You just like to go to every Apple thread, and just talk how bad Apple is in general out of topic of that thread.

Plus why are you defending apple so much? Nobody is asking you to shift away from apple as well. As you are defending and praising apple because of your experience, in the same way I am bashing apple because of mine. Why is being negative on apple a "thing" and not being positive in your eyes?

I don't have a chip on my shoulder I just want to make sure people hear my opinion, like you are trying to do.

You:Tidal::Me:Apple

Have you tried the new features of Apple music? If not, this is not the place for any of your opinions on that product.

more than 70-80% population across the world uses android.

You are comparing devices manufactured by a large number of companies to devices manufactured by a single company.

Go cry. Nobody cares about your os [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji8]

Are you sure that you are an adult man and not some 13yr old teenager?

Tidal is less than 200 rupees per month legally IN INDIA. AVAILABLE NOW and for the past few years. Go cry. Nobody cares about your shitty ideas as you can't even find a good deal. No wonder you fall for using apple products as the first thing you encounter in ads.

TIDAL - Where We're Available

TIDAL is currently available in 61 countries with plans for further international expansion soon! As we continue to grow, we'll be able to deliver more great content and TIDAL X events for our memb...

support.tidal.com

How is 200 per month better deal than 99 per month?

Tidal is not US focused, it is present on many continents, see how I said continents and not countries.

NO vpn is required for tidal apart from sign-up. Get your facts right before uttering utter garbage. [emoji24][emoji24][emoji1787][emoji1787]

Why is VPN required for signup?

Sony is a small company with small number of users [emoji115][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]just shows your level of knowledge

I didn't say Sony is a small company. I said that a small number of headsets that support a proprietary technology cannot be compared with a universally available product.

All the sales numbers for apple mean are their are suckers like you who couldn't figure out what the rest of 70-80% world has been able to figure out.

So its not an opinion about any product or feature, its just about hating a company and name-calling its users. I don't understand why you make it Apple vs the world. There are hundreds of companies making laptops & smartphones. Not a single company can ever capture a 50-60% market share. Even if 20% of the people are invested into it, that is a big achievement and that means that the company is doing something right.

 

[msankadi]

Have you tried the new features of Apple music? If not, this is not the place for any of your opinions on that product.

Hahaha is this sarcasm? Dude, then this topic should be deleted from Indian forum like TE as Apple has just hyped the product and it is still unavailable in India, so none of the Indian users have tried it

For trying out apple music, yes i tried it and dumped it because of the pathetic app on android. I have again taken a subscription to compare its hifi with tidal but alas, apple is just hype, they havent even been able to provide the service in india yet and have put out marketing articles in indian newspapers. Still as I highlighted earlier too, you can go to the below thread to see how the quality of apple lossless music sucks.

Apple music to launch lossless streaming

Yesterday, I spent some time testing their Hi-Res titles against Tidal/Qobuz over headphone, well, I found most of their Hi-Res titles (the track Fearless was as good as its Tidal/Qobuz counterpart though) were Hollow compared to Tidal/Qobuz. The tracks like 'Blinding Lights' / 'Don't Start Now'...

www.hifivision.com

Apple music to launch lossless streaming

Yesterday, I spent some time testing their Hi-Res titles against Tidal/Qobuz over headphone, well, I found most of their Hi-Res titles (the track Fearless was as good as its Tidal/Qobuz counterpart though) were Hollow compared to Tidal/Qobuz. The tracks like 'Blinding Lights' / 'Don't Start Now'...

www.hifivision.com

How is 200 per month better deal than 99 per month?

First of all, you wrote in your post that 20 usd per month and vpn is required for tidal. Now you conveniently forgot about your ignorance. How is it better? Because TIDAL actually has lossless available right now in India. Plus, its apps on Android and Windows are much much better. You can look at the 3.7 rated apple music app on android with 400k+ reviews, it is total shit.
Also, Tidal can be had for 88 rupees per month, and no I am not talking about a family plan. According to your logic now, Tidal is better. As 88 < 99.

Are you sure that you are an adult man and not some 13yr old teenager?

I can only wish I was still a teenager

Why is VPN required for signup?

Did you just type it incorrectly? Or do you not know what vpn is or what is it used for?

I said that a small number of headsets that support a proprietary technology cannot be compared with a universally available product.

What universally available product? Half or more of the features of apple's wireless products dont work with android. If anything, apple is a niche product as sony headphones work universally across the different OSes.

Not a single company can ever capture a 50-60% market share.

Android has captured more than 60% market share.

Till date, you have not pointed out any features or services that you think is bad or has some shortcomings. You just like to go to every Apple thread,

Then you havent read my complete post history. Please go ahead and check out my rants on trying to get apple tv to work, ipad limitations, iphone slowness, apple delibrately slowing down my wife's iphone etc. Not to mention pathetic support services apple has in India which unfortunately I had to go through

 

[red dragon]

Apple music needs a wrapper like thing ( like USB audio player Pro) to bypass Android's shitty upsampling.
AFAIK few Sonos systems is airplay compliant.

 

[rockstah]

Tidal does not use local CDNs for India.
Due to that , There is a distinct lag between clicking on a track and the actual playback start vs the near immediate playback on spotify and (the slightly longer vs Spotify) on AM
- Good for you if you don’t notice it/ if it doesn’t bother you.

I am not even sure what your other debate on wireless headphones is about .
On a side note, please don’t act like a petulant child by calling another FMs observation as lies.

From my experience tidal is miles faster than apple music. Right now I have tidal, Amazon music and apple music. Apple music takes some time to load playlists, albums, tracks while the other two are very fast.

 

[k_m_Arya]

@msankadi Just wanted to know how to get tidal at 88 Rs per month?

 

[red dragon]

Regarding watching movies and playing console games , is it the same like music? Say watching a dolby atmos movie on Apple TV app or Netflix? I guess the same Deva will be the best for these too?
Thanks for your advice.

Sorry mate, I know nothing about games, gaming headphones.
Have watched only a single demo video on Apple TV with APM. And the experience was really awesome ( or really strange), forgot what it's called ( possibly positional audio) but everytime I rotated my neck it felt like the sound followed the movement of my head...it's almost creepy. It's cool for sure, but not really useful ( at least for old people like me and doesn't work with anything else)
But it's definitely better than Sony's 360 audio.
Tidal is awesome guys!! How can anyone not like it? I was using it in India without any VPN or anything ( on laptop mostly, even it worked fine in my cheap Chinese Android phone without any delay/ lag)
@pauldmps, actually MANY hardware can stream Tidal wirelessly without any degradation. Actually surprised to know as an Apple user you haven't heard of Audirvana. From your smart ass comments it looked like you know little bit about Audio (just read your posts completely and realised you were not talking about bluetooth headphones), of course you will have problems whenever audio production comes up.