Wired USB instead of Airplay/Bluetooth : Mind blown

[arunvenkats]

I just couldn't understand why Apple Music's Lossless/highres music sounded not any different (or even lower) compared to the lossy versions from Spotify. I thought that it was kind of a scam! But everything changed when I by purely chance connected my iPhone to the DAC directly through USB. I did not even know I could The result was truly phenomenal. I have *never* heard music with such fidelity and fullness. Brilliant quality.

I understand that plain bluetooth does a lossy compression over the already lossy streaming from online services. But I thought Airplay which claims lossless transmission over wifi will be substantially better (CD quality 44kHz, lossless). It is better, but nothing, nothing compared to the direct USB connection to the DAC. This was a revelation to me. Just wanted to share it here!

I do not have an Apple TV, but looks like it does not have a USB out. Does it have optical out? I am too lazy to leave the phone physically connected to the DAC while I sit many feet away. Wireless music's convenience has spoilt me. I want to know how to do remote playback with this serious quality... Any suggestions?

Regards,
Arun

 

[CKumar]

@mbhangui sir, please help.

 

[nuvo]

Some years back, there was a discussion on this forum about Apple Lossless music. It was concluded that iPhone would give highest quality output to DAC but not the Apple TV. Apple has put some limitations in the Apple Music app of Apple TV 4K.

So the best way to get HQ music is to use iPhone as source.

 

[mbhangui]

Apple tv is meant for video playback. It will always ouput at 48 kHz. So there goes bit-perfect and lossless (unless you have music sampled at 48 kHz rate). Airplay is bit perfect only with the ancient Apple Airport express devices but only if the music is sampled at CD quality. This is what the airport express looked like. It has now suffered the fate of the dinosaurs.


You can get the best result only by doing the following

1. Use external dac
2. connect the external dac to iphone/ipad using a cable. Only the IOS/IPAD os automatically adjusts the sampling rate according to the sampling rate of your music file. Even as of 2025, apple engineers still have not implemented the audio stack on macbooks properly. The IOS team has done it the way it should be. So if you are a normal non-techy user, this is the best method for you.
3. If you are using a macbook/mac mini, then install vincent audio lossless switcher. Even Darko has mentioned this. With this installed your macbook/macmin becomes equal to iphone/ipad.
   

   LosslessSwitcher adds bit-perfect Apple Music playback to MacOS | Darko.Audio

   A neat little app from an independent software developer.

   darko.audio

@CKumar, As of now, in this galaxy, there is no way to consume apple music perfectly without using 2 or 3 mentioned above. If you want the best quality you can't use Apple TV, you can't use linux, you can't use windows, you can't use laptop, you can't use raspberry pi, etc. I personally use a macmini with vincent audio switcher and use the Apple TV remote to control playback. Yes the Apple TV remote works with my Mac Mini which has an IR receiver.

 

[reignofchaos]

Use any eversolo streamer. It does native apple music - lossless/hires.

 

[CKumar]

Apple tv is meant for video playback. It will always ouput at 48 kHz. So there goes bit-perfect and lossless (unless you have music sampled at 48 kHz rate). Airplay is bit perfect only with the ancient Apple Airport express devices but only if the music is sampled at CD quality. This is what the airport express looked like. It has now suffered the fate of the dinosaurs.
View attachment 89407

You can get the best result only by doing the following

1. Use external dac
2. connect the external dac to iphone/ipad using a cable. Only the IOS/IPAD os automatically adjusts the sampling rate according to the sampling rate of your music file. Even as of 2025, apple engineers still have not implemented the audio stack on macbooks properly. The IOS team has done it the way it should be. So if you are a normal non-techy user, this is the best method for you.
3. If you are using a macbook/mac mini, then install vincent audio lossless switcher. Even Darko has mentioned this. With this installed your macbook/macmin becomes equal to iphone/ipad.
   

   LosslessSwitcher adds bit-perfect Apple Music playback to MacOS | Darko.Audio

   A neat little app from an independent software developer.

   darko.audio

@CKumar, As of now, in this galaxy, there is no way to consume apple music perfectly without using 2 or 3 mentioned above. If you want the best quality you can't use Apple TV, you can't use linux, you can't use windows, you can't use laptop, you can't use raspberry pi, etc. I personally use a macmini with vincent audio switcher and use the Apple TV remote to control playback. Yes the Apple TV remote works with my Mac Mini which has an IR receiver.

What if I use android phone apple music to play through wiim using cast?
What would be the best solution in this case?
TIA

 

[mbhangui]

What if I use android phone apple music to play through wiim using cast?
What would be the best solution in this case?
TIA

You can use android 14 and above. Android 13 and below, the OS resamples audio. Cast doesn't give you lossless for DSD and 192 kHz and above. It is like Airplay. Is there a way to display the sampling rate that wiim is using? If you have a DAC that displays the sampling rate and connect that to wiim, then you can test the cast lossless. Google suggests that it can be lossless as long as the sampling rate is 96 KHz or below. I don't have a wiim, so I can't confirm. Don't go by what Apple Music app displays. When it displays lossless, it only means that it has picked up the lossless version of the apple music file. It doesn't mean that what the DAC is receiving is lossless.



Again google search indicates that wiim can cast lossless upto 192 kHz.

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