Apple lossless official announcement

[kuka7]

Has anyone experience Atmos music from apple with a real Atmos system yet ?

I watched this french video youtube.com/watch?v=OszGQzpoIr0 today about Doldy Atmos mixing for music and it really makes me want to try out the experience.

I was considering to switch my stereo setup to the Sonos Amp to stream apple music seamlessly, but now I'm thinking it might be worth to spend the extra money on an apple tv + a Denon ARV to be able to experience Atmos mixes in the futur as they become more available.

That's my configuration for Atmos from Apple music, Apple TV and a Denon AVR. I love stereo music, but I also love multichannel music, I think it's more entertaining

 

[Jhify]

Well thanks guys. Since Apple tends to keep their customer as much as possible in their own ecosystem Apple TV might stay the only way. I'll give it a go.

Any good receiver besides Denon with a good preout section ? I'll probably go with an external power amps for the stereo channels but preamp receiver are way over expensive for what they are.

 

[abdo123]

Well thanks guys. Since Apple tends to keep their customer as much as possible in their own ecosystem Apple TV might stay the only way. I'll give it a go.

Any good receiver besides Denon with a good preout section ? I'll probably go with an external power amps for the stereo channels but preamp receiver are way over expensive for what they are.

I would use the Denon amplifiers first, unless you know for a fact that they won't offer enough power for your use.

 

[Jhify]

I would use the Denon amplifiers first, unless you know for a fact that they won't offer enough power for your use.

I'm 100% sure the Denon amps would be good enough but I've got a power amp available so why not. But there's good chance I won't hear any difference and get rid of it. (Or maybe not I'm a hiss maniac).

 

[Blaspheme]

Well thanks guys. Since Apple tends to keep their customer as much as possible in their own ecosystem Apple TV might stay the only way. I'll give it a go.

Any good receiver besides Denon with a good preout section ? I'll probably go with an external power amps for the stereo channels but preamp receiver are way over expensive for what they are.

Top two of the new Yamaha models have XLR-out for the stereo channels, so RX-A6A would be my pick. If you are ok with single-ended, you can go down the line for less money. The range looks less ugly than previous generations—or Denon—but you are still stuck with a folded sheetmetal case. NAD 778 at that level is nice but single-ended pre-out. More stylish turns from NAD, Bryston or Focal will get you out of the sheetmetal rut but are well above that in price.

Edit: scratch that, NAD Master combo gives you a fairly nice case, Focal may be thick sides with screws, the others not so much.

 

[Jjbb25]

Any suggestions on what could be causing a pop click (not loud) at random and quite rare moments when using Apple Music airplay2 from iPhone 11 to tcl series 6 Roku tv with optical out to schiit modi3 to nad c316b integrated amp?

no artifacts or those clicks I use Spotify connect to tcl tv to midi using optical or use Spotify connect to chrome cast audio or having tv optical out to modi for Netflix etc ? any fixes or ideas?

Would iPhone to lightning to camera usb dongle to modi usb input worth the hassle of not being able to change tracks or control from couch?

Ps using the nad amp to my jbl stage a170 is a real pleasure

 

[Cyfrox]

I have not used it yet, but from what I read, it involves installing it on both devices, running it on both, designating which is to be controlled and making sure both are on the same network.

I've tried searching for any tutorials online and so far I've tried a few but still unable to work.

 

[Blaspheme]

I've tried searching for any tutorials online and so far I've tried a few but still unable to work.

The Switch function is an accessibility thing, so a bit of a hack for this purpose. I took a look and went 'nope'. Unfortunately, the Remote app—which would be nice—only controls AppleTV or Mac playback.

 

[kuka7]

Well thanks guys. Since Apple tends to keep their customer as much as possible in their own ecosystem Apple TV might stay the only way. I'll give it a go.

Any good receiver besides Denon with a good preout section ? I'll probably go with an external power amps for the stereo channels but preamp receiver are way over expensive for what they are.

Keep in mind that with an Apple TV at the moment with stereo music you can't get higher than 48kHz 24bit.

For stereo I use an old iphone7 connected to a DAC with camera kit and a dedicated stereo amplifier.
The differences I can hear are very small, probably just placebo effect, but we all know how it works.

 

[Jhify]

Keep in mind that with an Apple TV at the moment with stereo music you can't get higher than 48kHz 24bit.
View attachment 138670View attachment 138671
For stereo I use an old iphone7 connected to a DAC with camera kit and a dedicated stereo amplifier.
The differences I can hear are very small, probably just placebo effect, but we all know how it works.

Thanks for pointing this out but even thought I was able to make a difference convenience is the main goal.

Plus I'm pretty confident to say that proper Atmos mixing will be a big step foward in quality and entertainment way much more than HiRes. I'm very excited Apple is pushing it. Hope other streaming services will do the same.

 

[Jcruise]

Thanks for pointing this out but even thought I was able to make a difference convenience is the main goal.

Plus I'm pretty confident to say that proper Atmos mixing will be a big step foward in quality and entertainment way much more than HiRes. I'm very excited Apple is pushing it. Hope other streaming services will do the same.

I agree that spatial is probably higher on Apple’s agenda than hires/lossless. They are shipping billions of dollars worth of ‘headphones with chips’ where the chips are apple exclusive and their support for on-device spatial audio processing creates a high degree of differentiation from the competition (which is cloning basic form/features of apple devices and driving prices down).

I wonder if the need to refactor the backend infrastructure and content management systems to support spatial made it relatively cheap to throw out hires/lossless and create further differentiation between Apple Music and competitive streaming services. Apple are really good at working the vertical integration in their supply chain to their advantage. They are clearly prepared to play the long game and make big investments to gain market share in services.

I do think that there is also a sincere interest in delivering high quality audio/video experiences to consumers that are prepared to spend more on their a/v setups. I don’t think very high end audio is the main driver but it is consistent with apple’s brand values of building products to suit the needs of creators, professionals, and other discerning (i.e. price insensitive) consumers. I see products like appletv4k and homepods as relatively niche products (for apple) that target the home setups of this audience. They are quite over-engineered but rather nicely supported considering that they are probably not big earners. Of course this is all enabled because Apple are really on top of their leading edge silicon game right now.

 

[Kalessin]

I agree that spatial is probably higher on Apple’s agenda than hires/lossless. They are shipping billions of dollars worth of ‘headphones with chips’ where the chips are apple exclusive and their support for on-device spatial audio processing creates a high degree of differentiation from the competition (which is cloning basic form/features of apple devices and driving prices down).

Not just headphones with chips... Apple is betting big on their new series of iMacs and MacBook Pros with the M1 chip.

In the info webpage for the new 24" iMac, they advertise the following:

There are six speakers distributed around the 24" monitor case with computer inside, which is 11mm thick. I wonder what one would sound like here in my home office...

The M1 laptops (13" and 16" also note support for Dolby Atmos playback in their specs, but they're not calling it out in the advertising, so the audio effect might not be so great.

 

[vhild§]

For stereo I use an old iphone7 connected to a DAC with camera kit and a dedicated stereo amplifier.
The differences I can hear are very small, probably just placebo effect, but we all know how it works.

May I ask what dac do you use? I can only make Dragonfly & Ifi Hip Dac work with my iPhone.

 

[Jhify]

From what I understood from the Amos mixing engineer (not related with apple in any way) An 11 channels track get out of his studio built with the Dolby software. Then Dobly atmos ready products can decode/render it in 7.0, 2.0 or binaural for headphones thanks to algorithms. It is most likely that the Imac is a stereo speaker set : 2 opposite mid/bass drivers + 1 tweeter each side = 6 speakers. But it can decode/render Atmos content in stereo.
The Atmos engineer claims that Atmos mixes are better, clearer and a great improvement over stereo even for stereo set. They doesn't give much details. But the software can emulate some sort of space with some effects like changing the frequency response, delay, reverb. Then the mixes are suppose to sound more spacious with a more accurate location of each instrument. There might be some documentation from Doldy Digital about that.

 

[Jhify]

May I ask what dac do you use? I can only make Dragonfly & Ifi Hip Dac work with my iPhone.

Had 3 ES9038Q2M based dacs, all worked flawlessly with Iphones.

 

[vhild§]

Had 3 ES9038Q2M based dacs, all worked flawlessly with Iphones.

Can you name any models? Where they with in-built batteries?

 

[Jhify]

Can you name any models? Where they with in-built batteries?

topping d50 worked fine I guess TOPPING NX4DSD would behave the same it's IOS compatible on the spec sheet.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...sd-dac-and-portable-headphone-amplifier.3507/

 

[kuka7]

May I ask what dac do you use? I can only make Dragonfly & Ifi Hip Dac work with my iPhone.

I use an SMSL sanskrit 10th mkii and I also have a Loxjie D30 and it works with this too. They have both external power, so there is no problem with draining power from iphone.

I remember when I connected for the first time the iphone to the smsl dac through Apple cck, and i couldn't figure it out why it wasn't working.
I'm 100% serious, the problem was the volume of my iphone, too low, and nothing audible was coming out from my speaker. After more than an hour I turn the volume up from iphone and everything was ok...never felt that stupid in my life.

 

[tmtomh]

I use an SMSL sanskrit 10th mkii and I also have a Loxjie D30 and it works with this too. They have both external power, so there is no problem with draining power from iphone.

I remember when I connected for the first time the iphone to the smsl dac through Apple cck, and i couldn't figure it out why it wasn't working.
I'm 100% serious, the problem was the volume of my iphone, too low, and nothing audible was coming out from my speaker. After more than an hour I turn the volume up from iphone and everything was ok...never felt that stupid in my life.

We've all been there!

 

[vhild§]

I use an SMSL sanskrit 10th mkii and I also have a Loxjie D30 and it works with this too. They have both external power, so there is no problem with draining power from iphone.

I remember when I connected for the first time the iphone to the smsl dac through Apple cck, and i couldn't figure it out why it wasn't working.
I'm 100% serious, the problem was the volume of my iphone, too low, and nothing audible was coming out from my speaker. After more than an hour I turn the volume up from iphone and everything was ok...never felt that stupid in my life.

^ Hmmmm.....was the level of volume at zero or just somewhere below, say 30%? I might have to try that myself too.