HI-RES AUDIO and APPLE MUSIC done right!

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY Please be a decent human being and keep your sexist/racist thoughts and conspiracy theories to yourself. External links are also a no-no. Comments that advance the conversation are most welcome.

When Apple first introduced ‘lossless’ audio, my DAC refused to recognise the digital signal being output from my iPad Pro, or iPhone. I tried using an old, portable Oppo DAC/headphone amp. That worked brilliantly, even providing ‘gapless’ audio. So I upgraded my main DAC. That also worked, but not ‘gapless.




































































































by that! ‘hapless

If my iPad has a aux port , do I still need a dac?

Perhaps I need to buy a new iPad, because mine does not have the settings you show. Or maybe you have to be subscribed to Apple Music to access them. I don't know. I'm running the original iPad Air, with ios 12,5.7. And I cannot update any further. So it is unclear from this video what is required. I just bought a Hidisz S9 Pro dongle DAC, and will be going out to buy a Lightning to USB-C connector later. Please advise on Apple Music. Maybe for me Apple Music is not the way to go.

I am a bit confused that I still get the possibility to turn volume up and down. Isn’t it fixed when played through my external dac? What would be the correct setting then? 100%?

AirPlay 2 reflects 16 bits 44.1 kHz and Halas 256 kbps on my Wiim mini while streaming … 😢

Thanks for a great video about this topic John.. One question I have is, when you connect the iPad to the external DAC, does the Airplay symbol in the Control Centre (access by swiping down at the top right hand corner) change to an Audio speaker symbol? And when you click on the Audio speaker symbol, does it say that the iPad is connected as a 'Dock Connector"?? I am asking because I am using a Yamaha RX-V677 receiver (as my "External DAC") which has a USB slot to connect iPhones/iPods/iPads to. I just use the supplied Lightning to USB-A cable to connect the iPad to the Yamaha receiver and select "USB" as the input source on the Yamaha receiver. At this point, the receiver makes a connection to the iPad and the "Dock Connector" is listed as connected. Then I open Apple music on the iPad, select a song and hit the play button and the music begins playing through the Yamaha receiver. I can't really tell if this is another way of getting Hi-Res Lossless audio out of the iPad/iPhone.. I do see the "Hi-Res Lossless" status when playing music - but not sure if this is telling me that the audio signal being sent through the "Dock Connector" is 24bit/192Khz.. Any thoughts or comments appreciated.. cheers.

Updated: I have also included the following statement from old marketing material for the RX-V677 regarding iPad/iPhone connectivity.. "A USB port on the front panel allows convenient connection of an iPod / iPhone / iPad, which also charges when connected. Because the digital signal from the iPod / iPhone / iPad is transmitted directly to the AV receiver, there is no signal loss or interference, so you enjoy the best possible sound quality. In addition, you can use the receiver’s remote control unit to operate the iPod / iPhone / iPad music playback functions." I assume the digital signal transmitted from the iPod/iPhone/iPad is at the highest resolution without any down sampling / downgrading to a lower quality audio quality..

As a result of this video…I finally added iPad Pro to my system…to handle streaming duties using Schiit Modi DAC. Really appreciate your content. Keep it going 🤘

Thank you!

Using Apple music on android will this be same?

Do all tablets support 24 bit 192 Hz? or does it have to be a very expensive one?

Does this set up apply to Tidal app on iPhone aswell?

So basically we don’t need Roon anymore ? And I am a fan but I find it too expensive for what it is

suport for ipad air 2 bro?

I have fosi v3… i want to buy a bluetooth dac for it… which one would be better if I want to connect via rca - wiim mini or nobsound Q4 ?

Question... Samsung phone with Apple Music using a 3.5mm audio out to an RCA amplifier... Will i get lossless Audio?

how about the carplay? does carplay support HiRes audio resolution?

Nice and well explained. Thank you. The only downside is apple music app is the worst of all the apps for music streaming, it crashes, pauses, takes ages to load and the interface is very uggly. If it wasn't for the ALAC Hi-Res Losless will be Dissapointed in every single way.

After doing some research I am convinced 99 percent of people will fully happy with 16 bit 48 kHz music. Lossless audio is ok both for headphones and my tower speakers via lexicon AVR via appletv 4K. In this whole audio world people forget the biggest factor is human ear capability. It is not the number of bits but should be what bit cut off point after which bits are irrelevant to human hearing.

Bit late on this but thanks for sharing your knowledge. Very much appreciated. Can I ask will this work on a Denon D-M41 mini system ?

If you really could hear any difference?

Ever had low volume?

Hi Res is useless if you don't have a 80-inch woofer speakers with a peak power of 5.000 watts each. This subject reminds me the amateur photographers who shoot RAW at 50mp only to view their images at a 24-inch monitor.. Like RAW images, Hi-Res audio is proper for studio applications like production/mixing/mastering and thats it. 16bit-44.1Khz is all a human being can perceive. Its all about simple computer science and physics, basic anatomy and physiology of the human ear. Everything else is just, marketing.

I worked in a recording studio in LA as an assistant engineer. Everything was exported to CD quality 16bit 44.1K in the end anything above that is marginal improvement. Yes it’s nice to hear the mix from a console in hi-rez but I still listen to everything at CD quality.

i wonder if this way of connecting will work with the Rotel A12 - ipad with lightning to usb directly to the back pc usb port, anyone has an experience with this ?

Hey cool. This was extremely helpful. 👍

Newer Ipad Pro with USB-C does NOT require any adapter. You can just use a usb-c to usb-c cable (assuming your dac has the usb-c input). If your dac does not have the usb-c input then you need a usb-c to whatever adapter on the DAC side. I am using the newer ipad Pro with usb-c directly into the IFI hip dac usb-c input.

Which usb cable you use to connect dac and iPad?

You need an Apogee!

What kind of active speakers would work with a Fiio KA1?

At least it seems to get easier. I do not live in Apple Universe but for me there is no tablet as good as the iPad. So after a few years I purchased a new iPad Air. And was a little bit surprised because the redirection over the Camera adapter is not longer needed. Plugged a FiiO KA1 dongle in the iPads USB-C and got High Resolution and even MQA out of Qobuz, Tidal, Amazon MHD and even Apple Music Lossless. Maybe John can have another look on it.

the challenge is when you do not have USB input in your good DAC!!! difficult to find a good USB-Coax-opt adaptor

The biggest thing I wonder is can most people actually tell the difference?

Only 💿 for me

I love Apple Music, it’s got an incredible quality you can hear.

The best thing about a setup like this is if you get a fairly high spec iPad, it has plenty of storage to download heaps of songs in hires. Using the camera adapter, you can keep in constantly on charge as part of a set up if you want.
Not sure why but I find the quality of the down loaded files better than when you stream them. Possibly because of my crappy internet

Have you tested Apple Music Preview on a Windows 11 device……lossless?

My 1st question is

1. How do i even suss which files are 2/96 or 192?

i use a 4ktv box and an Ipad to home theatre and neither of those can help me discern what bitrates are what

The only indicator is "ATMOS"

When a file LP is ATMOS it is shown in the description

Other than that there is no way i can identify even a 5.1 lp

I do believe stereo does identify as stereo tho?

Thank you, I was foolishly not checking the fact that I was using that basic 3.5mm to lightning adapter, which was keeping me from accessing 24/192. I just picked up the needed USB to lightning adapter, and now all is well in the 24/192 world. Thanks again, brother!

this gets even easier with new ipads (that have USB-C rather than Lightning ports) and a DAC like the Schiit Modius that has USB-C input!

Hi,
is posible to get HiRes loossless with this scanario:
iPhone -> airplay stream to -> Apple Airport Express A1392 - > TOSLINK to DAC
THX

How was it determined the Apple camera adapter supports higher sample rates than the 'regular' 3.5mm audio adapter?

So an iPhone + Apple camera adapter + external DAC + wired headphones would give you the best audio quality possible from an iPhone, is that correct?

Thank you so much for this video. I just signed up for Apple Music for lossless and high res streaming and was so confused on what I needed to unlock high res. Confirmed that I need the lightning to USB adapter and an external DAC to unlock it. I'm currently using Airplay 2 to Airport Express 2 which I know doesn't support high res.

This videos would be better if I could hear this REM track and hear the difference

will this exact set up work with MacBook air?

Darko, as always - thank you for very helpful video. Just an idea - can you cover RME ADI-2 Dac drivers issues with Windows 11 streaming Cobuz? Native Windows 11 driver DirectSound works fine but RME ASIO MADIface USB driver does not properly adjust sample rate and buffer size while streaming different songs.

Wow. Great video!

What is that DAC you’re using?

I want 48/24 output to my Chromecast AUDIO device or my WiiM mini pro, from my new Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra) is that possible? Or is an Apple Airport Express w/AirPlay 2 compatible with my Android? If not, what can I do? Apple Music is FREE for me via my cell service, so some reasonably priced hardware is justifiable vs paying for Tidal, Qobuz, or Amazon music, all which can deliver the 48/24 I want.