Apple Music is finally bringing high-fidelity audio to its music platform, according to Apple Newsroom. This move combines Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos system to provide high quality and resolution for consumers.
A lot of signals are lost when audio files are compressed into lossy formats such as MP3, WAV, and AAC. For years, Apple Music has been offering AAC for many of its catalogs but this is about this change as the platform offers more than 75 million songs into ALAC, Apple’s version of the FLAC lossless format.
Apple Music and Beats vice president Oliver Schusser is optimistic about this move, saying, “Apple Music as we know it is about to change forever.”
Lossless formats, preferred by audiophiles, convey sound as the creators intended to. Unlike lossy formats, which discard some information, lossless ones such as ALAC, FLAC, and DSD encode audio identical to the original, uncompressed data as created by artists and producers in the studio.
The hi-resolution option is accessible to consumers by using the latest version of Apple Music. To turn on this feature, users need to go to Audio Quality, under Music in the Settings.
Users are given the ability to choose specific resolutions for particular connections including streaming or downloading via Wi-Fi or mobile data.
The resolutions available under this setting include 16-bit 44.1kHz and 23-bit 48 kHz. Lossless resolution is available at 24-bit 192kHz.
Aside from Hi-Resolution Lossless availability, the platform now also integrated Dolby Atmos, Dolby’s leading technology that offers a “richer, fuller, and more immersive experience” in addition to the stereo and surround sound capabilities of music systems.
Atmos natively exists in some phones created by other companies such as Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, LG, Xiaomi, and Huawei.
Schusser is remarked that with the addition of Lossless and Spatial Audio, “Apple Music is making its biggest advancement ever in sound quality.”
“Listening to a song in Dolby Atmos is like magic. The music comes from all around you and sounds incredible. Now, we are bringing this truly innovative and immersive experience to our listeners with music from their favorite artists,” he added.
MacRumors noted that not all tracks will be supported upon launch. Apple did not specify a launch date in its post. Moreover, only Spatial Audio will be supported by HomePod and HomePod Mini while there was no mention of support for Lossless Audio.
