Apple Music lossless and Spatial Audio - 5 months later | Mark Ellis Reviews

What does Apple Music Lossless sound like on AirPods Max and other consumer headphones like the Sony XM4s and Bose QC45s? And how big a difference does a great headphone amp and pair of audiophile headphones make? I’ve spent loads of time with lossless over the last five months, and these are my unfiltered thoughts (oh, and find out what I think about Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos, too!).

CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
00:42 - Lossless headphone test
04:50 - Headphone test conclusion
05:37 - Headphone amp tests
07:52 - Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos
10:58 - Conclusion

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I have zero interest in deep spec dives or long-winded comparisons. I review laptops, smartphones, tablets, headphones and the latest tech based on real experience. I'll tell you how it'll make you feel, whether or not it's worth your time (and money) and help you find the tech you need to get stuff done.

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[MarkEllisReviews]

I'm curious. Who likes Spatial Audio when it comes to music? And why do you think Apple is pushing it so much?

[abpdev]

Spatial audio with tracking fixed for music is amazing. It really puts you in the centre and it just makes sense. It’s one of those things were I can’t explain much but when listening to a song like I feel It coming by the weekend, it really adds an extra layer of enjoyment, makes me want to dance every time cause it’s like I’m at this stage with speakers pointed at me.

[charliesmaker]

I've never heard this take on spatial audio before! I'm absolutely obsessed with it for everything. For dance music in particular I end up dancing alone in my room quite frequently and I really think it's a testament to feeling like you're at a show.

[belakfan]

I think I'm the odd one...or maybe just an Apple sheep lmao, but I actually really like spatial audio with head tracking on Apple Music! I can't quite explain it...but the best I can do is say that I enjoy the perceived immersiveness of the sound. When I've listened to Stay featuring Justin Bieber, the way they play with the vocals to make it sound like the two are singing into one microphone from opposite sides while also sometimes sounding from behind me...super neat!

[QFXmusic]

As music producer i can tell you that dolby atmos is the future of music and many studios are now being built this way.. My new studio which i am building is dolby Atmos and pretty much every major studio i know is going this way.. I believe that its still very early days but its going to make a massive difference once people can have Dolby Atmos in there homes for little money... As for spacial audio i use a plugin in the studio for mixing on head phones by waves which makes you feel like you are listening to speakers rather than headphones and its superb especially with my hedd head phones. A great mixing tool and great way of feeling like you are in different mixing studio. Great review.

[geeyowthe]

I use my iPhone hooked up to my iFi HipDAC + AKG 361.

I ditched my Spotify subscription right away. That Hi-Res Lossless experience is incredible. I heard a bunch of details that I haven't heard before from songs that I thought I already knew by heart. You really gotta invest in audio gear to take full advantage of the lossless features. If you're just gonna use bluetooth headphones, you won't really hear that much of a difference because of bluetooth's limitations, as Apple devices only support AAC codec for BT audio. As for spatial audio, I agree with most people that it's really not that good. Hi-Res Lossless is where all the goodies are at. The only downside for Apple Music, I would say, is that it doesn't have a native Windows app that supports bit-perfect playback.

I am an avid Android user, and I bought my first iPhone just because of Apple Music. The Apple Music app supports bit-perfect playback when using an iPhone or an iPad, meaning you don't lose any details when your DAC receives the audio file, something that the Android system doesn't support with the native Apple Music app. Bit-perfect on Android does work with Tidal though.

[PaulMcElligott]

My experience with spatial audio is that is works better for some kinds of music than others. For example, listening to some instrumental jazz in spatial audio gives a nicely intimate feeling of being in a small room with the combo, but a good stereo mix accomplishes much the same thing. In other words, spatial audio doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t add much either. On rock music, one band I like mixed their new album in spatial audio, and it mostly serves to create a sense of distance between myself and the music, instead of it being inside my head where it should be, diluting the impact. I’ve also listened to a couple songs I thought could benefit from spatial, namely “A Day in the Life” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I was underwhelmed. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t add anything to the already excellent stereo mixes on those songs.

[rags]

Neither the airpods max nor the bose qc45 support lossless audio not even in wired mode! Sony XM4 supports only LDAC which is it’s own proprietary format. For lossless, wired headphones alone work like your HD 560s and Beyerdynamic headphones. Also more expensive dacs and amps like iFi DSD will work just as well with entry level audiophile headphones! Cheers!

[ProductivePM]

Mark, you lead me down the audiophile path many months ago when you first spoke of the iFi Zen Dac. Sice then I have purchased the Drop HD6XX Headphones, the signature series iFi Zen Dac and iFi Signature Headphone amp, an Audio Technica turntable with Ortofon cartridge, iFi Phono Amp, a Sony CD player that plays and stores 300 CD as a transport with a Schiit Dac and Audioengine HD4 speakers for my desk with a Klipsh 10" subwoofer. So I do appreciate the beautiful HiRes music that I hear. The decay of a cymbal being hit or the depth of a standup Bass or the beauty of vocals. I thank you!

[shawnswinney]

I have played with these options a great deal.
Dolby Atmos can sound the best depending on how it is mastered. Generally on the AirPods Max the volume is lower to give it more dynamic range and sometimes greater bass.
Lossless with iFi Hip Dac and HD700 sounds better than the AirPods Max, but the improvement is not as dramatic as when comparing to other headphones.
Spacial audio I like on some tracks so long as it doesn’t feel overdone. I used ‘fixed’ as I don’t want to ruin the full sound from it being balanced across both sides.
AirPods Max can sound better than the audiophile setup with the right Dolby Atmos track, but this is rare. It is, however, nice to not mess with cables, etc.
Overall I like having these various options to play with!

[Ben-yzjh]

I am glad you made this.. I have been listening to spatial audio on Apple Music for a bit and there are times where I've thought 'I should really like this but actually I really don't'. I find it tiring to listen to somehow and the vast majority of the time I think it negatively impacts the sound stage of a song rather than improving it. Perhaps it will improve over time..

[kaysule]

I agree with you that lossless sounds a bit louder over Bluetooth on the airpodsmax . Louder and a tad bit clearer so I love that . I stopped downloading any music that isn’t lossless on my phone . Airpodsmax is just way too good and I believe Apple will still keep updating this beauty of a tech for more support . Great video sir !!

[piko]

Is it possible if; for example. I open Apple Music on PC. But i can play/pause from the phone. Does it sync the queues?

[ScottJamesIrvine]

On the latest version of iOS if you go into spacial audio it now has a 'Fixed' setting so it doesn't do that annoying head tracking with music

[pritamvaishnav]

Hi
Is it support all special audio and head traking in sennhiser momentum 4 ? Please advise me I m confused to which earbuds should I buy.

[mikereed]

I'm getting some airpods Max and I was wondering if a dragon fly black Dac will work

[bubblebubble]

Can Mac let you play Spatial Audio on Airpods Max? Mines are up to date and yet my MacBook says Spatial Audio is not available on Airpods Max for no reason 😢

[chironjo]

So, lossless music is no advantage if you have L+R+ Centerchannel set up?

[yvesn]

First off, congrats for your high quality 4k video ! The difference with audio 1080p is stunning. On your content, I wonder what would be your conclusions with testing computer speakers or hifi speakers instead of headphones. Namely, I ask myself if a DAC would improve my audio experience using computer speakers. The link for ifi DAC is a different model from yours, I believe.

[zoestertoaster]

Apple devices are only capable of outputting 256kbps over bluetooth. So if you are connecting the Bose or Sony’s wirelessly to run this test, you won’t hear any difference, as the phone/Mac will only output at non-lossless, regardless of your settings.

Apple connects with its AirPod products using the “W” chip, which is a proprietary connection that allows Apple lossless data transfer (on AirPods 3, Pro & Max models)

Connecting a pair of wired headphones will utilize the device’s onboard DAC, the DAC inside the lightning to 3.5mm dongle, or (as you were using) a dedicated external DAC, which will all allow you to hear the lossless codec, be it at varying levels of quality depending on the DAC.