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What is the quality of Apple Music’s lossless high-definition music? We use a magic mirror to find the answer

It has been more than a month since Apple Music launched Dolby Atmos and HiRes lossless audio services. I still remember the early adopter Apple Music Dolby Atmos HiRes lossless audio released by Sanerjun at that time | Why is Apple changing again? The article "Industry" has aroused a lot of attention on various platforms, and the controversy in the comments is also expected to be endless.

In more than a month, Apple Music has brought significant changes to the industry. Hardware manufacturers are stepping up research on software compatibility in response to the new version of Apple Music, and manufacturers in the Android camp are also paying more attention to overall bypassing SRC and other optimizations; in terms of software, after Apple announced that the API will be opened to third-party software, software such as Audirvana are working on solving the problem. As a rival, Tidal has also opened up the function of fully unfolding MQA code streaming through USB output on the Android side. Even Amazon has launched HD services. As for music content, it can be seen that there are well-known singers and record companies both in Greater China and overseas. Released Dolby Atmos music content, Dolby is also actively promoting Atmos production for headphone listening, and lossless/HiRes resources in Apple Music are also constantly enriched. Apple Music’s impact on the audio and music industry can be said to be all-round.

As of the deadline (July 21), we have not seen third-party HiFi playback software successfully connect Apple Music online high-bitrate content directly through the API. Therefore, the way we currently enjoy Apple Music is the same as There is no difference between the previously published introductions. Interested friends can refer to our old articles.

Explore the original appearance of Apple Music with all-digital links

From the previous gameplay introduction, we can understand that there are quite a lot of ways to enjoy Apple Music. You can use a portable decoding headphone amplifier. The tail can be connected to a mobile phone, or it can be equipped with a power cord, a high-end USB cable, an interface, an advanced clock and a DAC, etc., which are close to the HiEnd. Of course there is a chance to bring better sound regardless of the cost, but the primary purpose of Sanerjun's matching method this time is to clearly hear the original appearance of Apple Music content.

Therefore, Sanerjun chose the method with the least variable influence to test the sound quality level of Apple Music’s high-definition lossless content - using Apple’s most common audio sources Macbook and iPhone as audio sources, with a digital interface, and through AES The digital signal comes directly from the Genelec 8331 active monitor speakers.

The digital interface used with Mac this time is Matrix X-SPDIF 2 digital interface, which uses the XMOS U208 USB AUDIO solution, two ACCUSILICON femtosecond clocks and excellent power supply design.

The transmission/sound link of this set is generally all-digital, USB-AES-digital crossover-Class D amplification, which reduces unnecessary losses as much as possible. Of course, the highlight is this set of Genelec 8331 active monitor speakers. As a small product of Genelec’s The Ones series using second-generation technology, 8331 has all my expectations for a small home monitor speaker.

Using ACW hidden dual-track bass MDC coaxial mid-range and high-pitched units to form a three-way fully coaxial point sound source, coupled with the MAX DCW directivity control waveguide design on the seamless front panel, 8331 is born It has advantages in frequency response and directivity control.

Unlike the ideal test environment for speaker development and use in a recording studio with good acoustic conditions, the acoustic conditions in the home environment always have more or less problems, and it is usually difficult for us to completely Get the best performance out of your equipment. In order to make the test results more convincing, Sanerjun also used Genelec's official GLM correction system, so that the Genelec 8331 can also perform convincingly in Sanerjun's home listening room.

Mac is the sound source, simple and real.

Although there have been several pairs of different active monitors in and out of the listening room at home, in the past, more and more traditional monitors were used. Mix and match HiFi equipment, hoping to create a relatively straightforward but moderately flattering look at home. This is actually the first time that this kind of all-digital link has been applied, so the experience of just turning on the sound is still quite fresh for San Erjun.

"Take headphones as a teacher"? After the system was set up this time, the first album San Erjun used for sound audition was Live At The Vamp; A, one of the first major releases on Apple Music, a new audiophile-level record that contains rich space and performance information, in the highest format is 24Bit/96kHz. Facts have proved that even with this simple speaker system, the experience is not comparable to that of a headphone system.

When listening with headphones and turning on panoramic sound, we will be pleasantly surprised that the "mid-head effect" problem that headphones often have is greatly improved. When this set of 8331 makes sound, it can be clearly felt that the presentation of the record content is much more complete than that of headphones. What impresses Mr. Saner the most is the sound field feeling in the Raphael exhibition hall of the Vamp; And more planes result in longer reverberation times. Intricate and strong reverberation details and the orchestra's performance can be clearly deconstructed in this pair of speakers. This is due to the high playback capabilities of the hardware. It can also be seen that this Apple Music record is of high quality and can be called a good audition product.

If the new album Live At The Vamp; The highest format for an album is 24Bit/192kHz.

Although it is a "popular piece", it is also a test for the humble house. The listening room is only about 20 square meters, which is not very large. It is set up in a horizontal position and a near-field triangle position similar to studio monitoring. The actual box distance and listening distance are less than two meters. In addition, the size of the 8331 is not It is not large (the bass is a 130x65mm oval low-frequency unit), so it is not easy to coordinate the output sound pressure and subjective dynamic perception, and the scene playback of large-scale recording is even more difficult.

Mr. Saner set the sound pressure at the listening position to about 78dB. Unexpectedly, Mr. Saner was surprised by the opening bass drum part. The percussive low-frequency impact makes people forget the size of the speaker. The shape is much more conservative than common HiFi systems, but it has a large dynamic presentation that reaches into the space, and at the same time, more layers can be heard. Compared with the group performance of the orchestra, the sense of position of the band with a simpler structure appears more strongly and clearly in the live recording. Lead singer Joe Walsh's voice has thickness and detail, maintaining good separation from the guitar and other instruments, and the resolution of each part is sufficient. By the end of the performance, the audience's cheers were even more enveloping. It is rare to hear such a direct and real feeling in home listening.

Comparing the first-class streaming music platforms in iOS

iPhone/iPad are also commonly used devices among Apple Music users. This time, the interface Sanerjun has paired with the iPhone is from Letu. PAW-D1 adopts its own LTOS DSP solution, equipped with AK8142 independent high-precision clock chip, and adopts a recording studio-level isolation design. iPhone can be directly connected and used without external power supply.

Just like many years ago when testing iOS devices to play lossless/high-definition content through USB output, Sanerjun always believes that the output quality of iOS is not necessarily inferior to that of common PCs/Macs and iPads that have not been specially optimized. The output quality will be slightly better than that of the iPhone. The main problem with the iPhone is that it seems to be a bit sensitive to the signal condition at that time.

Today, we have multiple convenient lossless/high-definition streaming platforms to choose from on the iOS platform. Apple Music and Qobuz are the two apps that Sanerjun uses most, and Qobuz has always been the most popular one. Generally considered to be the better sound quality option.

The comparison between Apple Music and Qobuz on iOS is also a comparison of the content quality and software optimization of the two platforms. Because Qobuz does not access API playback through a third-party HiFi player App, the conditions are completely fair. From a subjective listening experience, if both playback parties provide equally high-format content, Sanerjun believes that it is not easy to hear obvious differences in this system. However, in terms of the content of the standard CD specification of 16Bit/44.1kHz, especially for relatively old recordings or albums that are not marked as "Apple Master", the playback effect of Apple Music is slightly inferior to Qobuz. The specific differences can be generally summarized as Qobuz's sound has a more "HiFi" feel, the effect of content such as Apple Music will appear slightly dry, and the sound field lacks the transparency and three-dimensionality of Qobuz.

The reason for the difference in playing 16Bit/44.1kHz content between the two is currently unknown. If you want to guess, Sanerjun speculates that Qobuz, which mainly promotes the HiFi market, has optimized its algorithm to be more pleasing to the listener. Even the mastering aspect is handled to a certain extent. But after all, they are two platforms with very different charging standards. This difference is completely within the scope of Sanerjun's acceptance. If you listen to new recordings or high-format content, you can ignore the difference.

The source file size is close to Flac

Sanerjun knows that there will definitely be friends who want to see Apple Music playback compared to local files, and can definitely tell you that the advantages of local file playback exist. , because there are abundant HiFi-level third-party software options available, and the advantages brought by various optimizations are obvious, so they are omitted here.

In order to satisfy everyone’s curiosity, Sanerjun compared the same track file downloaded from Apple Music and the famous high-format music platform HD Tracks. The publisher of Yo-Yo Ma's "Six Evolutions - Bach Cello Suites" is Sony Classical. Generally speaking, there will be no difference in the content provided to different platforms.

By comparing the file sizes, we can see that the file sizes downloaded on the two platforms are basically the same. In other words, the space occupied by the HLS package file with the Apple movpkg suffix is ??close to that of the common FLAC. It is worth noting that the digital protection of HLS encapsulation means that the file cannot be directly copied to other devices or software for playback, which is a pity for local playback enthusiasts.

The significance of inclusiveness is greater than that of HiFi attributes

Apple’s own hardware is used as the sound source, transmitted through an all-digital link with less interference, and monitored by Genelec 8331 coaxial monitors calibrated by the GLM system The speaker makes sound. After several careful listenings and comparisons, Sanerjun believes that we can try to draw a conclusion on "Is Apple Music high-definition lossless audio enough for HiFi?"

The preferential price does not mean that the quality of the content is low. In the test comparable to the magic mirror, it can be seen that the quality of Apple Music's content can stand the test, especially the content in high-definition format and "Apple master tape". It shows a disadvantage in comparison with Qobuz, which has many HiFi users. As of the time of writing, in addition to Mac OS, iOS, and iPad OS, the official version of the App that supports high-definition formats for Android clients has also been launched. As a brand with its own ecosystem and a large user base, Apple provides high-quality content for most users, and it only costs a price that can’t even buy milk tea every month. For mass music lovers, the inclusive significance of Apple Music is far greater than its HiFi attributes, not to mention that there are more and more panoramic sound content optimized for headphone users.

Is HiFi enough? For Mr. Saner, who has always believed that "reliable music sources are the basis", Apple Music is undoubtedly more than adequate. After repeated tests, Sanerjun did not find it unbearable to listen to, nor did he find any strange taste in the preset sound coloring of some music platforms.

Of course, Mr. Saner also hopes that Apple Music can be more HiFi. The previous article briefly shared the optimization methods that can be built around Mac. It is not difficult for us to achieve more extreme hardware. However, Sanerjun is currently looking forward to professional HiFi players such as Audirvana Studio to complete the access to Apple Music online playback API as soon as possible. Judging from the current version of Audirvana Studio (1.5.7), ordinary local files of Apple Music can be stably accessed, but online or offline HLS encapsulated files are still not supported. To put it simply, Apple Music needs to be closer to the strict requirements of HiFi enthusiasts, and it also needs to achieve automatic BitPerfit on Mac, as well as support functions such as memory playback and exclusive USB output. All of this needs to wait for the efforts of third-party HiFi players. .

Finally, this experiment actually proved that Sanerjun is not that HiFi. Apple Music, which is not yet perfect, already accounts for a large proportion of San Erjun’s daily music listening. It may be more important to enjoy music reliably and simply (yi)~