Sonos support for Apple Music's Lossless Audio

Because it doesn’t sound better for most people on most mass market products that people listen to. I can’t hear the difference on Sonos equipment but it’s a subtle difference that makes a fantastic difference to listening pleasure on good quality hifi.   Some people appreciate that. Some people aren’t that much into music or don’t care that much about sound quality or have never heard a really good quality hifi system. or don’t have sufficiently good hearing. But for those that enjoy good sound quality  then you will not want to listen to lossy on good hifi once you have heard lossless. 
 

I don't agree with this, and my past includes what most people would classify as excellent audio equipment. And sources that included plenty of lossless and lossy rips from the same CD. I have heard no difference. 

The head of Apple Music is just the latest to hew to this opinion. You may of course be hearing things that even he, the provider of the service, and his team, do not.

And while I am disenchanted with Sonos corporate behaviour and the availability of equally good options to have decided to replace my Sonos kit once the hardware dies in future with those options, I certainly have not changed my mind about my assessment of Sonos as good quality hifi - once it is set up with the same care as such kit. Sonos kit is designed and built to very high standards and often to better standards than visible in HiFi brands such as NAD. It is sold at lower price points because the scale of manufacture for Sonos is orders of magnitude larger than available to many HiFi makers, and that gives Sonos a massive advantage in cost structures. In addition, the design is such that no money is wasted on expensive fripperies like heavy cabinets, speaker enclosures or backlit VU meters, that do nothing to enhance sound quality delivered, but pander only to senses other than the organs of hearing, the ears.

This lossy/lossless thing - or the lack thereof - where Apple Music is concerned is giving Sonos user unnecessary grief, but that isn't because Sonos is not good enough to show up the difference. There is no controlled blind test on record that does this either, with any kind of kit.

I can completely agree and accept that most people will not be able to hear the difference on most mass market equipment and that you personally can not hear the difference. I certainly can’t hear the difference using Sonos. But then Sonos isn’t hifi. For me personally on my hifi system going back to original CD quality designed for human hearing range. has made a dramatic difference to my personal listening pleasure. The bigger difference is taking Sonos out of my hifi system which sounds like a distorted unnatural mush in comparison so there is no way personally that I am able to appreciate lossless on Sonos in my experience. But Sonos is an excellent background music product not hifi  

I fully understand and accept that lots of people can’t appreciate or don’t care about hifi sound quality. It seems some people are unable to grasp that other people though may get a lot of joy from better sound quality just because. It doesn’t do anything for them. I think a lot of people listening to lossless on a good quality hifi would be wowed. There would also be lots that would be so what. The point is it is a personal experience. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being satisfied with listening to lossy sound quality on Sonos but there is also nothing wrong if some  people get a buzz from listening to lossless on hifi and enjoying a sound which they find clearer, more natural, and detailed,. Fundamentally. it is about accepting that listening to music is a personal experience and other people’s experiences maybe different. Listen for yourself. I was also skeptical but for me changing from lossy on Sonos to lossless on a cheaper cable option has dramatically increased my listening pleasure and the amount of time I want to listen on my hifi from occasionally to everyday. 

Sigh. I refuse to waste more words.

I only hope and wish that it is true that  people will no longer continually try to promote the absurd position that there couldn’t possibly be anything that might possibly sound better to some people than lossy on Sonos. 
 

I fully understand and accept that some people are unable to understand and accept that some people may have different equipment and different Personal listening experiences.  Just like people prefer different music Genres  there is no absolute right or wrong. I’m merely suggesting that some people may prefer to try the sound of a cheaper USB cable on some systems. Great for me but might not do anything for others. It is not vaccines or Afghanistan it is merely about being open  minded enough that other peoples might have different experiences and open enough to try them and see if it works for them rather than trying to limit people’s views and experiences. 

Look nothing wrong with an opinion, but don’t just quote Eddy Cue and say told you so. While hi res is a waste of time for the vast majority of people (like Eddy says) and will never ever become anything like mainstream, In my opinion I find a difference in listening between lossy and regular lossless ie CD quality and think that folks may appreciate that Level more.

Yep couldn’t agree more, music and listening is very personal experience. I really don’t care when people say I’ve listened on my x or y and so don’t waste your  time, I’d give people a chance to decide for themselves

Indeed. I suspect that anyone that can’t hear the difference between lossy and lossless is confused by debate between lossless and hires and:or hasn’t heard a really good hifi system and/or isn’t really into music and/or their hearing is failing and/or they are trolling. It is a subtle but marked difference and just like when I’m playing Sport a small adjustment can make a massive difference to your pleasure.
 

The losslesss CD standard was set for a reason and Apple Music insist on high quality lossless recordings for a reason.

For a small investment it is certainly worth hearing and deciding for yourself rather than accepting the myth that there is nothing in the world that sounds better the Sonos lossy.

Whether it does anything for you is entirely personal and not something that someone else should try to dictate their views to you. But that is the insanity that is social media unfortunately 

Many recording studios no longer work at 192/24 because this is not their idea of “Hi-res”. The files used by consumers are down sampled from higher resolution masters.

You can fuss with higher resolution at ProMates.

Even this is a little lame because some studios operate at higher rates.