Is this really lossless ?- Some real time data

[rkumarblr]

There are many factors that impact the quality of sound. Obviously begins with the source then the equipment in the chain, is it resolving, then the room modes etc. In my experience, I find that a well matched set of equipment in a space that is not troubled by large impact of room interference can sound way better than the high priced equipment that may each be great at their individual functional, pieces together.

Coming to hearing the difference in lossless vs lossy. In my experience it varies by track and is difficult to perceive between AAC 16bit/44.1 and PCM 16bit/44.1 (just referring to CD quality not even hires as defined by apple) , then again based on one’s hearing ability using an A / B test will bring out the subtle differences.

Now coming to Apple Lossless. Airplay 2 is not lossless and so you need a hardwired connection, through a camera connect or USB C output or like others have stated from Airport Express or a MAC (will need change in Midi settings). Apple TV and others are not reliable ways to get apple music lossless and above. Waiting for the day when apple will open this up and provide a spotify connect like functionality. That is not stream from an iPhone or iPad but from the streamer device and more importantly open up for 3rd party streamers to support lossless audio through an apple connect like features, different from Air play.

 

[mbhangui]

Waiting for the day when apple will open this up and provide a spotify connect like functionality. That is not stream from an iPhone or iPad but from the streamer device and more importantly open up for 3rd party streamers to support lossless audio through an apple connect like features, different from Air play.

You are probably the only person who has understood the stupid implementation of apple music. Maybe you are a programmer. Spotify engineers have done the impllementation the right way, even if they are not offering Hi-Res. The crux of the issue is that the data bits are streamed from the device which runs apple music app. It should be from the device which has the dac and not from your iphone/ipad etc. Spotify streams it brilliantly from the device which is closest to the speaker rather than your device which is running apple music app

 

[Nitin K]

You are probably the only person who has understood the stupid implementation of apple music. Maybe you are a programmer. Spotify engineers have done the impllementation the right way, even if they are not offering Hi-Res. The crux of the issue is that the data bits are streamed from the device which runs apple music app. It should be from the device which has the dac and not from your iphone/ipad etc. Spotify streams it brilliantly from the device which is closest to the speaker rather than your device which is running apple music app

Though I don't have any experience with Apple music, I find Spotify brilliantly implemented. Especially their connectivity, interface and suggestions for tracks based on your tastes/playlists is very close. Besides the subscription charges are extremely reasonable even though it is not hires music.

 

[mbhangui]

Though I don't have any experience with Apple music, I find Spotify brilliantly implemented. Especially their connectivity, interface and suggestions for tracks based on your tastes/playlists is very close. Besides the subscription charges are extremely reasonable even though it is not hires music.

The apple music app does everything. It displays album art. It interfaces with the user, it displays the progress bar when music is playing. It also plays music. If you quit the apple music app, music stops

Spotify does it differently. There is a small agent whose only job is to stream music. The client does everything else - album art, progress bar, take commands from user. If you quit the spotify client, music can continue to play because agent is separate from the client. Since the agent's only job is to play music, it gives it a notch of better quality even though it is not hi-res. The other big advantage of spotify is that no matter which phone, ipad or computer you use. It will show exactly the same song same information on the display. This is because the music being played is by the agent and not by the spotify client. Apple music on the other hand is an island by itself on different devices.

Because of the two very different implementation, spotify requires much less processing power from the computer compared to apple music which has to do everything.

 

[Nitin K]

The apple music app does everything. It displays album art. It interfaces with the user, it displays the progress bar when music is playing. It also plays music. If you quit the apple music app, music stops

Spotify does it differently. There is a small agent whose only job is to stream music. The client does everything else - album art, progress bar, take commands from user. If you quit the spotify client, music can continue to play because agent is separate from the client. Since the agent's only job is to play music, it gives it a notch of better quality even though it is not hi-res. The other big advantage of spotify is that no matter which phone, ipad or computer you use. It will show exactly the same song same information on the display. This is because the music being played is by the agent and not by the spotify client. Apple music on the other hand is an island by itself on different devices.

Because of the two very different implementation, spotify requires much less processing power from the computer compared to apple music which has to do everything.

Thank you for explaining the process. I did notice this yesterday, although I closed the Spotify app & shut down the tab, the selected song continued to play. Infact finding it more convenient to enjoy listening to music than changing cd's.

 

[amit11]

But even Spotify is not perfect for some reason, even though the agent concept is different than airplay streaming.

In my case i spotified from iPhone, android, iPad to marantz streamer and the sound was different (slightly) in each case. So even i was surprised why this happens.

 

[suku_patel_22]

Spotify streams it brilliantly from the device which is closest to the speaker rather than your device which is running apple music app

I'd like to clarify.

Spotify doesn't stream from the nearest device. When using Spotify connect, it streams directly from the internet. The device (Marantz AVR in my case) connects to Spotify servers directly, and so does the phone. The phone is just acting as a remote control to manage the tracks.

This is why the stream continues to work even if you put your phone on airplane mode, also can initiate playback from Spotify directly using voice commands. "Hey Google, Play Ami Je Tomar on Receiver"

 

[mbhangui]

I'd like to clarify.

Spotify doesn't stream from the nearest device. When using Spotify connect, it streams directly from the internet. The device (Marantz AVR in my case) connects to Spotify servers directly, and so does the phone. The phone is just acting as a remote control to manage the tracks.

This is why the stream continues to work even if you put your phone on airplane mode, also can initiate playback from Spotify directly using voice commands. "Hey Google, Play Ami Je Tomar on Receiver"

That's exactly I meant. The spotify client doesn't stream. The only thing that the spotify client do is send commands like stop, play, pause, song selection, etc. The streaming always happens directly from the spotify server to the device connected to your dac/speaker. In the case of mac/linux, it is a small independent agent that does the job of playing the audio. The spotify gui doesn't do that

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Whenever I try Spotify I get attracted to its direct streaming to my CXN streamer. But then when I compare with the Airplayed Apple Music from my phone/pad to the streamer, I somehow prefer it. I find the bass and emotion better with AM, while the clarity is undertandably better with Spotify streamed directly through Connect. Not sure why. Is it due to the AAC’s superior codec? Or perhaps just a sound signature I like better.

 

[amit11]

Whenever I try Spotify I get attracted to its direct streaming to my CXN streamer. But then when I compare with the Airplayed Apple Music from my phone/pad to the streamer, I somehow prefer it. I find the bass and emotion better with AM, while the clarity is undertandably better with Spotify streamed directly through Connect. Not sure why. Is it due to the AAC’s superior codec? Or perhaps just a sound signature I like better.

Same for me.
For example we can Direct spotify to streamer.

OR, we can play spotify and stream via airplay.

Both sound slightly different and airplay sounds more musical + emotional to my ears.

 

[alpha1]

Are you sure you can hear the difference between 256 kbps and 320 kbps?
I have tested extensively with different genres (techno/trance music quite demanding for bandwidth, classical music pretty lame) at much younger age and thankfully my ears cannot discern (leading me to saving considerable monies over a period of time)