Wireless Apple Music Control HiRes and Lossless [Control Fixed, Need help with DAC]

[helloimajay]

Hi! So after months of struggling, here is what I have come up with as a working solution to get Apple Music Lossless/Hi-Res (24/96Khz) working wirelessly. Now what I need help with is to push it up to 192khz.

Setup:

On Android:

1. Samsung Galaxy S6 Lit Tab (Rooted, with the hack to increase the bitrate to Hi-Res)
2. USB Passive DAC that can go up to 96Khz.
3. Teamviewer QuickSupport
4. Apple Music Hi-Res Android App

[Note: I ran a few test songs in Roon and figured that the DAC I have even though it says 192khz on the lable, goes only up to 96khz/24bit which is still better than AAC Airplay, but this solution will turn perfect if we have a working DAC]

On Phone (iOS/Android) [Device You will be using to control]

1. Install Teamviewer App


1. Plug the Tab into DAC and DAC into Audio Output Source (Speakers etc)
2. Open Teamviewer QuickSupport on Tab: Note down ID to share
3. Connect to Tab using the Teamviewer App on iOS/Android and control and open Apple Music.

Now what I need is:

1. If I used a Rpi with a DAC HAT, do I need to root Android or will it output bit perfect audio? I know the 48KHZ limitation is for USB DACs. I have managed to root and break it but it only recognises "Passive DACs" and that too caps them at 96khz. Am using LineageOS19 and my Tempotec Sonata DAC does not work. I wanted to check if this issue exists with Android HAT solutions on Pi. In which case I can do this whole thing a lot easier with Emrita OS and a Pi3B+ PLUS a DAC.

2. Is there a way to get my TempoTec Sonata DAC working properly on this rooted android? All other DACs work.

For now, I can play Apple Music 24/96 wirelessly using a Tab and Teamviewer. Given how much this was a problem in the past, for now I celebrate this solution.

 

[mbhangui]

Download usb audio pro app from google playstore on your tab and check if you can play at 192 kHz. My nexus 6p goes to max 96 kHz using android. But using usb audio pro app which doesn't use the android audio stack, it can easly play 192 kHz sampling rate.

You will be better off using your iphone directly connected to the dac using the CCK cable. Using an iphone or ipad is the only way to play HiRes and lossless with apple music. Nothing else works properly, even apple's own devices like macbook pro, macbook air, apple tv cannot play lossless with apple music.

After wasting lot of time, I have finally re-purposed my mac mini with a small executable that changes the sampling rate every time the song changes. Only apple ipads and iphones can adjust the rate automatically. Apple has to get its act together and it will take them time. They have just got into this streaming business.

 

[helloimajay]

I checked with UAPP and its capped at 96khz and I also checked it with my iphone using an adapter. Seems the DAC was too good to be true (INR 1.2K Cable Creation!)

You can get Apple Music Hi Res Lossless on Android. The issue is Android downs samples everything to 48Khz. I use my Sony NWA-105 Android Walkman that seems to have reset it and lets me enjoy 24/192khz full quality.

The Sony NW-105 runs a custom build without the SRC issue but for other android devices (most of them I think) you'll need to root the device and change the sample rate. (I did this with the tab I'm using).

The issue seems to be with Lineage OS which can't recognise my Temptec Sonata. DAC works on other systems fine and it recognises the 96khz DAC Fine.

I think I need to try with a dac that's proven to work at 192Khz and that my Tab can recognise.

But for now I have a working Apple Music 24/96khz Wireless Solution and I am chuffed!

 

[bansalp]

Nothing else works properly, even apple's own devices like macbook pro, macbook air, apple tv cannot play lossless with apple music.

I have a Macbook Air M1 connected to SMSL PO100 via a USB C cable which is then connected to my Marantz PM6007 via optical cable.

I was under the impression that i am playing apple music lossless. Is that not so?

On the apple music app, the displayed bitrate ranges from 16-bit 44.1 kHz to 24-bit 192 kHz depending on the song. Is this displayed bitrate accurate? Is there any way for me to check the actual bitrate being transmitted?

 

[mbhangui]

I have a Macbook Air M1 connected to SMSL PO100 via a USB C cable which is then connected to my Marantz PM6007 via optical cable.

I was under the impression that i am playing apple music lossless. Is that not so?

The macbooks play music at a fixed sampling rate regardless of the source. What you need to do is when the song starts playing look at the sampling rate. Then run the application "Audio Midi Setup" application. In this app you can change the sampling rate and change it to match with the source. Brain dead programmers at apple?

On the apple music app, the displayed bitrate ranges from 16-bit 44.1 kHz to 24-bit 192 kHz depending on the song. Is this displayed bitrate accurate? Is there any way for me to check the actual bitrate being transmitted?

What apple music displays is the sampling rate of the source that it has picked up from the server. If you have a dac that displays the sampling rate you will know it. Otherwise if you are running apple music app on a macbook, run the 'Audio Midi Setup' app. It will display the sampling rate of your playback device. See the screenshot below (right now I haven't connected a dac to my macbook pro, but if you do, it will appear in the left pane).

 

[mbhangui]

There is a programmer who has written a Lossless switcher for macbooks. You can install this if you want your macbook to automatically switch sampling rate like what Iphone and IOS does. I'm using this for my mac mini.

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

A neat little app from an independent software developer.

darko.audio

 

[bansalp]

What apple music displays is the sampling rate of the source that it has picked up from the server. If you have a dac that displays the sampling rate you will know it. Otherwise if you are running apple music app on a macbook, run the 'Audio Midi Setup' app. It will display the sampling rate of your playback device. See the screenshot below (right now I haven't connected a dac to my macbook pro, but if you do, it will appear in the left pane).

Okay. I had set the sampling rate to maximum thinking that it's an 'upto' kinda situation. I didn't know that it resamples to the selected sample rate. Thanks for explaining.

I am using the inbuilt DAC of my Integrated Amplifier and it doesn't have a display. I will do a deeper dive of the Audio MIDI Setup app. I had in the past only used it to select audio device and set the sampling rate to maximum for each device.

 

[bansalp]

There is a programmer who has written a Lossless switcher for macbooks. You can install this if you want your macbook to automatically switch sampling rate like what Iphone and IOS does. I'm using this for my mac mini.

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

A neat little app from an independent software developer.

darko.audio

Have downloaded the app. Thanks for the info.

 

[bansalp]

Brain dead programmers at apple?

It sometimes seems that the people at Apple go out of their way to not implement features that are available in devices that cost half as much.