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rct_guy
Enthusiast I
May 17, 2021

Sonos support for Apple Music's Lossless Audio

  • May 17, 2021
  • 153 replies
  • 92048 views

Announcement: https://www.apple.com/ca/newsroom/2021/05/apple-music-announces-spatial-audio-and-lossless-audio/

 

Now that Apple Music has joined the “lossless club”, can we please hear from Sonos as to whether this will be supported, and, if it will be, approximately when that may occur?

 

Thanks.

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    Sonorous
    Trending Lyricist I
    May 22, 2021

     

    I’m not convinced it will sound any better than AAC played through the Sonos app, but it’s worth $30 to find out.

     

    The downside is that your iDevice will be eating battery charge all the time that music is playing.

    It’s an old phone and I’ll only be using it at home, so I don’t see this as an issue. I can just keep it plugged in if I need to.

      Kumar
      May 22, 2021

      I am not sure what happens to music play when there is a phone call underway, but again, this won’t matter if the phone is not in use as such.

      Sonorous
      Trending Lyricist I
      May 22, 2021

      I am not sure what happens to music play when there is a phone call underway, but again, this won’t matter if the phone is not in use as such.

      No SIM card so no problem. :)

      jrguk
      Lyricist III
      May 23, 2021

      … since Apple doesn’t seem to have an API for casting, and it would make sense for the API used to be dictated by the device with less firmware resources.


      I'm slightly confused by your commentary, as AirPlay (2 definitely, but I think even 1 could) is capable of operating both in what I would describe as a direct streaming mode (data flows from source device app to audio/video output target), and also being used in a handoff mode (data flows direct from 3rd party “internet” source to audio/video output target, source device app retains control for pause/play and progress feedback)

      As far as I am aware Sonos Connect can do both too, for audio. Those using the Spotify app are using a handoff approach, I think?

      (It seems unlikely that you’ll ever see Connect implemented in the Apple Music app on iOS, but you can use it to stream to a Chromecast device when running on Android.) 

      Generally I use Sonos’s own controller app because playback can be controlled from whatever device is to hand (phone, iPad, a computer). It can be frustratingly slow to catch up with what is playing sometimes, and the browsing experience is never as good as the music source’s native app, so I certainly understand why many don’t use it!

      Kumar
      May 23, 2021

      also being used in a handoff mode (data flows direct from 3rd party “internet” source to audio/video output target, source device app retains control for pause/play and progress feedback)

       

      From what I have read here, this is possible only via Apple hardware like Apple TV. 

      jay house
      Avid Contributor III
      May 23, 2021

      So Apple have released a support page clarifying what we already knew, lossless doesn’t work via Bluetooth. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212183

      Still no mention of AirPlay though. I’ve read various snippets, including something from Cambridge Audio, that AirPlay streams at a lossless bit rate but it still seems to be a secret as far as Apple are concerned. Would like to see something official that AirPlay doesn’t compress audio before transmission.

      jay house
      Avid Contributor III
      May 23, 2021

      Also, Amazon and Tidal are both available in lossless form on Sonos so it would be pretty silly for Apple not to offer this via Sonos too.

        Sonorous
        Trending Lyricist I
        May 23, 2021

        Still no mention of AirPlay though. I’ve read various snippets, including something from Cambridge Audio, that AirPlay streams at a lossless bit rate but it still seems to be a secret as far as Apple are concerned. Would like to see something official that AirPlay doesn’t compress audio before transmission.

        AirPlay is lossless and I believe utilizes ALAC for transmitting audio. One of the audio mags tested AirPlay a few years back and showed that 16/44 PCM had bit-perfect transmission via AirPlay to an AirPort Express.

          DarwinOSX
          May 28, 2021

          What’s the current quality of Apple music on Sonos?  Based on the information from the article, sounds as if Apple is only offering above CD quality on Apple devices...which is pretty typical of Apple.  

          Both of those statements are incorrect.

          DarwinOSX
          May 28, 2021

          Still no mention of AirPlay though. I’ve read various snippets, including something from Cambridge Audio, that AirPlay streams at a lossless bit rate but it still seems to be a secret as far as Apple are concerned. Would like to see something official that AirPlay doesn’t compress audio before transmission.

          AirPlay is lossless and I believe utilizes ALAC for transmitting audio. One of the audio mags tested AirPlay a few years back and showed that 16/44 PCM had bit-perfect transmission via AirPlay to an AirPort Express.

          16/44 is not lossless.  That would be 192.  Airplay does use ALAC which is often called ALAC Lossless but 16/44 is not lossless.  I can’t see why Sonos wouldn’t do 16/44 or even better 24/48 with Apple Music since they claim they can use both formats. https://support.sonos.com/s/article/79?language=en_US

          Apple shouldn’t have to do anything to work with Sonos so I don’t know why Sonos is saying contact Apple.

          https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/05/apple-music-announces-spatial-audio-and-lossless-audio/

          “Apple Music’s Lossless tier starts at CD quality, which is 16 bit at 44.1 kHz (kilohertz), and goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz and is playable natively on Apple devices. For the true audiophile, Apple Music also offers Hi-Resolution Lossless all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.1”

          Of course Apple is also calling 16/44 lossless.  It clearly isn’t.  Nothing is recorded or mastered at that level.

           

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