Update 5/17 : Apple has announcedhigh - res lossless sound for Apple Music , launching in June . This article has been update to reflect the news .
We ’ve heardrumors of a new AirPods designfor some time now . ( Many keep calling them AirPods 3 , though there was never really an AirPods 2 . ) Depending on who you believe , those are due to be announce at any fourth dimension — at WWDC , or this fall , or now thelatest hearsay says too soon next week . They were supposed to go with anew Apple Music subscription tier that launched Mondayaftera hatful of rumorsbut did n’t .
While a Modern AirPods purpose is welcome , this gamey - death Apple Music level is not . High - faithfulness euphony has always been ophidian oil ; a style to part music - loving audiophiles convinced of their golden ears and from their severely - earned money . It has never caught on , mostly because it ’s just not needed . With Amazon and Spotify tally hi - faithfulness tier to their services , I ’m not surprised Apple added the new lossless option to Apple Music , but I wish it had n’t , even though it does n’t cost any more .
The high-fidelity audio graveyard
Apple would n’t be the first company to endeavor to betray euphony - lovers on the need for mellow - fidelity audio . Or the second . Or the fifth . Digital hi - resolving power , gamey - faithfulness audio recording has been athingsince before the iPod , when there was a format war betweenDVD - AudioandSuper Audio CDover which one could get you to replace your atomic number 48 player and most of your music for no damn reason whatsoever .
Music fan have been ripping CDs in lossless formats like FLAC for age . Apple even has its own , ALAC(Apple Lossless Audio Codec ) , which is now open - author and royalty - free . Despite these formats being available for a very long fourth dimension , they never really became mainstream .
Apple Music Hi - Fi wo n’t sounds any dissimilar on your HomePod .
Michael Simon / IDG
think back Neil Young’sPono Player ? OrTidal , the “ creative person - owned ” toilet table service whose title to renown is countenance you compensate more for high - fidelity streams ? Spotify is apparentlyready to roll out a Hi - Fi grade , which may be the reason Apple is doing this Apple Music Lossless thing . Sigh .
There are mickle of reason for medicine intersection and service to fail , but it seems like every one that stakes it lay claim on “ superior audio recording ” meets an ill-timed end .
Almost nobody can hear the difference
There ’s a good reason for that . mod “ lossy ” music densification isreally goodat getting rid of only the audio data you ca n’t really take heed anyway . The fact is , when put to the test most people ca n’t tell the difference between “ lossless ” audio recording and well - encode lossy ” audio frequency ( say , 256kbits per second AAC , which is what Apple Music presently streams ) .
Maybe one in a thousand people have get wind that is honest enough and trained well enough to pick out the differences . Even if you do , you need a hear line capable of faithfully reproducing such subtle differences — decipherer , amplifier , and speakers or earpiece . Oh , andyou need to be in a ripe hearing environment , too .
The biological , environmental , and technical wizard have to alignjust rightin rules of order for lossless , high fidelity music to go even the tiniest bit better than modern high - quality lossy music . People wish to convince themselves that they ’re one of the special few , as though there is some economic value judgement in being able to take account lossless hi - fi music . You are n’t special , and that ’s fine , because again , modern lossy audio compression isamazing .
Want to assay it yourself ? Give thisDigital Feed ABXtest a whirl . It ’s the good statistically - sound measure of doing a blind audio quality test I ’ve image yet . Do n’t find bad if it says you probably ca n’t pick up the difference between lossless and lossy audio frequency — almost nobody can !
A solution in search of a problem
HiFi , or lossless , or high - resolution , or whatever - the - latest - merchandising - is music keep failing because it just not a trouble that require to be figure out . Every so often a unexampled Cartesian product will found in this space and you ’ll understand reviews from audiophiles that utilize flowery language about how it “ preserve the affectionateness ” or sounds “ wide and elaborated ” or “ crunchy ” or some other strange combination of adjectives . What youwon’tsee is reader that subject themselves to a validblind listening test .
Apple Music Hi - Fi wo n’t even sound much better on AirPods Max .
Jason Cross / IDG
When we know we ’re listening to fancy sound recording , we can convince ourselves that it sounds better . Tell a auditor they ’re about to hear a $ 10,000 amplifier and they ’ll gush about its quality , too . When we try a unsighted test , we see that the emperor has no clothes . advanced compressed audio is open of attain the limits of human perception and the level-headed reproduction capabilities of even very expensive consumer gear ( such as theAirPods Max ) .
But following Spotify and other back down the well - worn path of “ high fidelity music ” is the same onetime marketing gimcrack . That way of life leads off a drop and always has .
