LOSSLESS AUDIO Explained! AAC | Lossless | Hi-Res Lossless | Apple Music

Ever wonder what all the hype is about surrounding lossless audio on streaming platforms like Apple Music, Tidal, or Qobuz? Well, in this video, I go over exactly that! Focusing on Apple Music in particular, I hit on the terms and facts you need to know about why it's a big deal, and how to listen to it on your own device. Neat! I hope you get something out of it in the end!

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MY HOME THEATER SETUP
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65” LG C1 OLED TV

Marantz SR7015

Outlaw Audio Model 7000x Amplifier

Peachtree Nova300 Stereo Integrated Amp

Emotiva BasX A3 Amplifier

FRONT LCR
Aperion Audio Verus III V8T Towers

Aperion Audio Verus III Grand V6C Center Channel

FRONT WIDES & VOICE OF GOD
Aperion Audio Novus Slim N6SC LCR

SURROUNDS
Aperion Audio Verus III Grand V5B Bookshelf

SURROUND BACKS
Aperion Audio Novus N6T Tower Speakers

ATMOS HEIGHT SPEAKERS
Aperion Audio A5 Height Module

LG UBK90 4K Blu-ray Player

AppleTV 4K (4th Gen)

Nintendo Switch

14 AWG Copper Speaker Wire

Monoprice Low Profile 22 Lb Capacity Speaker Mounts

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MY VIDEO GEAR
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Audio Interface – Focusrite Saffire Pro 40

Sennheiser MKE600

Sony A7 II Full Frame Mirrorless Camera

Canon EOS Rebel T5i

DJI OM 4 SE

Shure KSM32 Cardioid Condenser Microphone

XLR Male to Female Microphone Cable

JOILCAN 81" Tripod

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LINKS
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Check out my website for all the links to my merch, Patreon, Bandcamp, and children's book sites:

#applemusic #losslessaudio #hifi

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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
0:45 Technical Overview
4:06 Hi-Res Lossless
5:31 How To - iPhone and iPad
6:29 How To - Mac
7:04 How To - AppleTV 4K
7:50 Active Listening
9:36 Passive Listening
10:21 Recap
10:55 Final Thoughts
11:30 Outro

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DISCLAIMERS
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[andrisoanirindrainy]

This guy is actually the kind of teacher generations need

[daryldraws]

I kept blind testing a playlist of songs in their AAC vs ALAC versions often enough and now I can't unhear the difference and finally Lossless ain't so worthless anymore ; )

[AzraelIgnis]

I'm a car audio enthusiast and to those people who are interested in going down that road. This video summed it up well about lossless and why it's important. Personally I think car audio is better than home audio for one specific reason, space! It's a smaller enclosure and the woofers and the sub woofers can move air a lot better than if you were in a 10 by 20 room. That close quarters experience is a lot more dynamic and can really immerse you in your favorite song. The secret to that sauce is a DSP (Digital Sound Processor). It will control everything from time alignment to polarity and it will center stage your favorite artist while you drive. I recommend going to a car audio show and take the chance and sit a SQ build, your outlook on audio will completely change.

[savjottoor]

This guy has so much logic in every statement he made. Everything has been so easily simplified.
Thankyou

[GurdevSambali]

Man, seriously... The best explanation and presentation out there! Hats off! Thank you!

[TheSHNGAM]

Really enjoyed this video, great, concise explanations.

To get the best experience with lossless, I’ve been using an EarMen TR-Amp and Audeze headphones. USC-C to C connections from my iPad and Mac. Just thought I’d throw that out there for anyone looking for what is, at least for me, an endgame setup.

I canceled Spotify.

[robertb.]

I already noticed the difference. I gobbled up most of my new phone’s memory by having the WHOLE music library in Lossless instead of just my newer downloads in Lossless. Now my phone’s library is back to AAC, the stuff I had in Lossless now sounds flat and disappointing. I regret not getting the 1TB hard drive for my phone. It’s totally worth the memory it takes up for the sound quality.

[elysium]

I set the audio quality to hi-res lossless and usb connection on my Ford Focus, the sound quality is out of the world

[meowgilla]

Great video, really explain about everything that you need to know about lossless. I'm surprised this only have 1k viewers you deserve more 👍

[Spazza]

The problem with Lossless is that it still requires a wired connection from a headphone jack to get the benefits. All of these "hi-res streaming" providers are selling snake oil. The best bluetooth coed is LDAC and even that can only manage 900kb/s which is a far cry from 16bit's 1400kb/s. No one's getting 24bit music streamed from their phone to their AirPods, the file might say 24bit but it'll be compressed to 300kb/s because that's AAC's limit. If you stream or use anything wirelessly, don't bother - you may as well convert down to LC-AAC which is roughly 500kb/s (5mb per song).

[gavinhardy]

I find Apple 256kbps AAC files with the ‘Apple Digital Masters’ (formerly known as Mastered For ITunes’) mark indistinguishable from lossless/hi-res lossless.

Using Philips XR2hr headphones with a Teac HA-P50 headphone amp/dac.

There is a very slight difference between older AAC files without the ‘ADM’ tag and its lossless equivalent. Yet it is very small and you have to listen very intently.

It’s been proven many times that AAC at 256kbps sounds fantastic even through great quality gear.

[cynical_l.e.d.]

So it’s 2023 and I listened to astrothunder by Travis Scott with AirPod pros (1) and even when comparing downloaded from aac to hi res lossless, I still hear a super difference in the bass at the beginning and no, it’s not spatial audio, it genuinely sounds better and makes a difference

[daniannaci]

First timer here. I really enjoyed, and learned, from your video. Your visual and description of the difference in sound between lossy and lossless was inspired!
Just received my Christmas present from me to me an iFi Hip Dac 3 for use primarily with my home stereo. It streams (and confirms) hi-rez directly from my 2020 iPhone SE direct (just an included wire, no additional adapters necessary) without an issue and sounds better in all metrics than the infamous Apple dongle, even though I always thought the dongle was…🧐…it worked.

[Chris_Hruska]

I would love to hear a demo of High res Lossless vs 320 AAC on some super hifi speakers and see what the real difference is

[petertoledo]

I finally understood lossless and got feedback on my experience listening lossless. Yes darn right you teach well sir and I enjoyed your sense of humor😂

[javtimestwo]

Great job explaining lossless and for mentioning the Apple lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter.
Here is my set up and mostly because I'm a newbie to lossless music, not an audiophile and do not have expensive wired headphones:
iPhone 13 mini-i recently purchased the $9, 3.5mm headphone jack adapter because I learned it features a built in DAC or the $39 Belkin lightning audio + charger because it features a built in DAC
So with my Apple EarPods I can use either adapter to get lossless music, yeah?
I also reviewed my MacBook Air set up to make sure the music playback settings were correct. They were not. When plugging in my 3.5mm Apple EarPods they were previously set to AAC audio(rookie move). I just changed the setting to lossless and now I can see the lossless icon next to the song title.
I guess I could purchase an external DAC for much more money but do I really need to?

[decaf]

Great video! Now I finally know what a dongle DAC is lol. Clear concise and always entertaining thank you!

[wildbird]

Been using the 14 pro max with hi res lossless audio. I have some Sennheiser hd 650s with a DAC and it sounds amazing. Also have AirPods Pro 2nd gen for more casual listening and for notifications and calls. Got some Sennheiser momentum 3s for traveling and to use when the AirPods aren’t doing it for me and I don’t want to pull out my hd 650s

[hwamilka]

I found this video because I was trying to see what is the difference between cds and mp3. Last year I started buying cds (when you’re a kpop fan you eventually start doing it, regardless of your finances). I thought I was buying the albums for the photobooks, photocards, stickers, even the box, I didn’t expect to get much value from the actual cds, since I already had access to the songs, but I was so pleasantly surprised by the quality of the audio, it was definitely different to what I had always listened to. I decided to stop paying for streaming and continued to buy the albums. I never listen on shuffle, btw, and always listen to either individual songs at a time or to the whole album. I also don’t like “discovering new music”, I deliberately search and listen to the music I already know I love.

[mikeartzcom]

Ealan, you production quality is amazing!