Apple Music is now letting you access their entire catalog of music (over 75 million songs!) using lossless audio compression at no extra cost. So, what exactly does that mean and why should you be excited about it?
What is lossless music?
When you stream music online and from services like Spotify and Apple Music, you’re usually listening to compressed audio, like MP3. These files are made smaller to take up less storage, but squishing the file size results in missing details from the low and high ends of the song. This means compressed audio typically doesn’t sound as good as the original recording.
Lossless audio is a type of compressed audio file that doesn’t lose any details or data from the original recording. These files are a bit larger than traditional compressed audio, but the larger size allows for a richer listening experience since you are hearing the song exactly as the artist intended in the studio.
Stream in lossless.
To listen to lossless music on your iPhone, go to Settings > Music. Select Audio Quality, then tap Lossless Audio to either turn it on or off. From there, you can change the settings of your lossless music. Lossless gives you a maximum resolution of 24-bit/48 kHz. Hi-Res lossless gives you a maximum resolution of 24-bit/192 kHz. However, to listen to songs with a sample rate higher than 48 kHz like Hi-Res lossless, you will need an external digital-to-analog converter. For the casual music-enjoyer, normal lossless at 24-bit/48 kHz will deliver a stellar listening experience.
It’s not just for iPhones.
Apple Music isn’t limited to only iPhones! Android users enjoy all the benefits of Apple Music including lossless listening. To listen to lossless on an Android device, tap the More button on the Apple Music app. Then select Settings, then Audio Quality. From there you can turn lossless on or off and select the lossless setting you’d like to use to listen.
Visit Apple’s site to learn more about lossless audio and how to listen on other devices, like Mac and Apple TV.
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