• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Apple Music LosslessSwitcher app for Mac

Χ Ξ Σ

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Jul 16, 2020
Messages
457
Likes
1,969
Location
UTC-8
Does this app work when Apple Music is playing local files?

I have tried it and the sample rate doesn't change.
 

alexeyi

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2023
Messages
13
Likes
8
Yes, it works with local and streaming.
You start the Losslessswitcher app and then you start your music.

pic1.png


you can see in the console that it switched from 44.1 to 192 automatically based on played song.
 
Last edited:

Χ Ξ Σ

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Jul 16, 2020
Messages
457
Likes
1,969
Location
UTC-8
Well, still no luck here. The sample rate shown on LosslessSwitcher is stuck at the sample rate when it opened but doesn't response to further changes.

Maybe that's because I disabled Apple Music in Music app completely? I only use Music as a local file player.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2023-01-20 at 7.48.18 PM.png
    Screenshot 2023-01-20 at 7.48.18 PM.png
    741.5 KB · Views: 74

alexeyi

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2023
Messages
13
Likes
8
Well, still no luck here. The sample rate shown on LosslessSwitcher is stuck at the sample rate when it opened but doesn't response to further changes.

Maybe that's because I disabled Apple Music in Music app completely? I only use Music as a local file player.

If I open the app downloaded from GitHub sometimes it’s not working for me either.
Instead if you right click on it and show files, then open the LosslessSwitcher from inside the folder of OS it works every time. How I can tell if the app is working, is if the console that you can see in my picture opens. If you do not have the console open, the app will not work.
 

Zorlac

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2022
Messages
41
Likes
30
Location
Spokane, WA
Hello,
I am using it with Ventura 13.1 and it is working as expected.
Serious? This is big news! So you are saying that your DAC auto switches to different bit depths and sample rates depending on the track you are playing in Apple Music? To my knowledge, macOS has never been able to do this....only iOS and iPadOS has this capability.
 

sarumbear

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 15, 2020
Messages
7,604
Likes
7,314
Location
UK
Yuhp, such a great little tool - makes you wonder why apple didn't implement something like this, considering that they are the ones who are providing a lossless audio service through their iOS-exclusive music app....
It just works -- not! :p
 

_thelaughingman

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 1, 2020
Messages
1,324
Likes
1,943
Serious? This is big news! So you are saying that your DAC auto switches to different bit depths and sample rates depending on the track you are playing in Apple Music? To my knowledge, macOS has never been able to do this....only iOS and iPadOS has this capability.
I’ve been using the app for while and it’s iffy at best. Some days it works well and some days it stays stuck in whatever bitrate it was last at.
 

alexeyi

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2023
Messages
13
Likes
8
I’ve been using the app for while and it’s iffy at best. Some days it works well and some days it stays stuck in whatever bitrate it was last at.

For me it did work every time I used it, after I figured out it has to have the console/terminal of the app open and that works only if I open manually the application from the executable inside the package. But yeah, it is not like an official implementation of Apple, which at this time I’m not sure it is going to happen anytime soon. They release the lossless variants of music, but no exclusive mode to fully enjoy.. half implement solution Apple style.
 
Last edited:

dufferdan

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2022
Messages
71
Likes
33
Just so I am clear, because I haven’t really experienced this except in a few situations:

Playing Apple Music from my iPad connected via USB Camera adapter to Topping D70sMQA DAC, I occasionally get glitches at the very start of a song as the DAC adjusts to the new bitrate and depth.

Playing my late 2015 iMac via USB out to Schiit Modius/Magnius (I cannot recall which is the DAC and I am away from the house at the moment), using Apple Music on the iMac, the Schiit DAC won’t change bitrate unless I used this app? I have also experienced the static as the Schiit DAC seems to adjust but it does and away it goes. Or is it not switching?

Thanks for clarifying for me. My Mac is currently on Mojave? (One step before the current OS, Ventura?)
 

Zorlac

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2022
Messages
41
Likes
30
Location
Spokane, WA
iPadOS and iOS devices will auto change bit depth and sample rate. macOS devices will not. Annoying that macOS still hasn’t had this fixed.
 

JeffJ

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2023
Messages
19
Likes
8
If I open the app downloaded from GitHub sometimes it’s not working for me either.
Instead if you right click on it and show files, then open the LosslessSwitcher from inside the folder of OS it works every time. How I can tell if the app is working, is if the console that you can see in my picture opens. If you do not have the console open, the app will not work.

Can I close the console, or have to leave it running the whole time for the app to work? Thanks.
 

leonidas

Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
36
Likes
38
This app is pure gold, why did I just learn about it today?? :)

Now I can finally enjoy my music through my Mac instead of connecting an iPhone or iPad every time. This is great. Thank you 1000x to the developer if you read this!!
 

Zensō

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 11, 2020
Messages
2,740
Likes
6,740
Location
California
This app is pure gold, why did I just learn about it today?? :)

Now I can finally enjoy my music through my Mac instead of connecting an iPhone or iPad every time. This is great. Thank you 1000x to the developer if you read this!!
It’s working fine for me too. The big question is whether or not it makes an actual sonic difference. Can you hear a difference? At least for me, the answer is no. It seems resampling in Core Audio is not an actual issue…

 
Last edited:

Music1969

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 19, 2018
Messages
4,636
Likes
2,809
Early on there were bugs and I ditched it. Even spoke to the dev and he had lost interest because he couldn't overcome the bugs.

It seems like he managed to sort the issues though - many people reporting it works well these days.

Nice !
 

voodooless

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
10,227
Likes
17,806
Location
Netherlands
iPadOS and iOS devices will auto change bit depth and sample rate. macOS devices will not. Annoying that macOS still hasn’t had this fixed.
There is nothing to fix. On MacOS an application has no exclusive access to the audio hardware, so any app can play any sound at any bit and sample rate and all of them in parallel. The OS mixer therefore resample a all audio to a fixed configurable rate.
 

IPunchCholla

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 15, 2022
Messages
1,102
Likes
1,384
There is nothing to fix. On MacOS an application has no exclusive access to the audio hardware, so any app can play any sound at any bit and sample rate and all of them in parallel. The OS mixer therefore resample an all audio to a fixed configurable rate.
Audivarna has the ability to run in exclusive access to the hardware mode, but when I tested it it was kinda glitchy. Is there any technical reason Apple couldn’t just allow the MIDI setup utility to run in exclusive mode?
 

leonidas

Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
36
Likes
38
It’s working fine for me too. The big question is whether or not it makes an actual sonic difference. Can you hear a difference? At least for me, the answer is no. It seems resampling in Core Audio is not an actual issue…

Of course not haha This is all about psychology! It makes me feel better if I see 96khz etc. in the display. Like probably everybody else I cannot hear any sound differences above 192kbit/s mp3
 

Dogen

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 31, 2018
Messages
360
Likes
612
Location
Durham, NC USA
When they say a few seconds “interruptions” in music playback, does that mean gapless playback doesn’t happen? That would drive me crazy.
 
Top Bottom