Only way I know of is taking their word for it. On my iPhone I can check the storage space used by an album and the size corresponds with a hi res download. What device are you downloading music to?

 

I am downloading on the iPhone. I have all my accounts linked. When I download a file from Apple music it syncs to all my devices. One of my devices is iTunes on a PC. When I view the file in in iTunes it shows a 256kb file. When I called Apple they said it shows up that way because iTunes is not compatible with Apple Music. This sounds fishy to me and I don't believe them.

 

I have a Topping DAC at home. I will try to run my phone USB to it tonight. The Topping will show the bitrate.

 

iTunes has pretty much been abandoned by Apple. I just downloaded using the new Apple Music client for Windows and it also downloads protected aac at 256kbps. Tbh I think I read somewhere that lossless/hi-res was for iOS and AppeTV/HomePod only.

 

So, they may be right. I will try this tonight on the Topping DAC and report back. I am not an Apple fan and never have been. I like the iPhone for my current car because it syncs better than android. Also the iPhone gives pure digital USB to my digital bridge (DOUK)

 

I use Amazon HD unlimited for my music source.

The only thing I don't like about Amazon Music is their Station algorithm. It mostly just replays the songs I've liked instead of fetching similar music. Other than that, I love listening to one of the largest collections of Lossless audio available.

 

I love Amazon Music. I have both Apple and Amazon. The problem with Amazon is that it is not compatible with a DAC. If I use Amazon Music with carplay it works just fine.

 

Apple Music and Itunes is now just basically "merged" you can still buy songs on itunes they just kind made it a not as easy to get to but its there. its listed as "itunes store"

im not sure if the songs you buy are hi res or not i can only attest to the streaming service.

With regards to lossless it has different kHz levels depending on song (the entire catalog isnt fully done but i believe Apple has the largest library of Lossless audio. At bare minimum its CD Quality.

Whether on your computer or phone you have to make sure you check off the setting for the highest quality possible. (see screen shots)

Regardless you wont get the "full Quality" unless youre using a DAC.

My DAC's LED changes colors when i get the full kHz so yes it is doing Hi res lossless.

Ive tried Amz, Tidal, and few others and i like Apples eco system the best.

 

Its true. On iTunes Pc version there is no lossless, only 256kb, while apple music on ios devices has the full hi-res lossless. I also had to get a second service(tidal hifi) to use with my Pc :/

 

I do not have the same screen as you on my iTunes. I do not have sound quality options

 

Check the actual audio files on the PC. Meaning the location where the music files are actually stored and see what size files are there. IIRC a 256kb song will be between 5MB to 10MB depending on the length of the song. Lossless files will be much larger.

 

I just did this and the file size is correct for a hi res file. I compared this to a known 256kb file and the downloaded file from Apple is indeed big enough to be "Hi-Res". It's just strange that it shows up as a 256kb file on iTunes. Are there any Media servers that work well with Apple. I Use J-River for everything not Apple and iTunes for Apple. Apple does not play nice with J-River. Have I mentioned I hate Apple Products.

 

To give you an idea how large the files are.

 

dumb question, why are you downloading on your iPhone, why not just stream it?

 

I have close to 7,000 songs downloaded on my phone. I use Apple Music. The quality is noticeably better when downloaded vs streaming. Not even close.

 

About lossless audio in Apple Music - Apple Support

Learn about lossless audio in Apple Music and how to turn it on or off for your device.

support.apple.com

How to Get Apple Music Lossless on Windows 11 and Stream High Quality Music

Missing your high quality Lossless Apple Music Audio on Windows? Here's how to get Apple Music Lossless on Windows 11.

mashtips.com

 

Slight issue with that is if it’s actually android it will likely resample everything to 48khz

so while you can select lossless as the output it’s not unless the windows 11 android eco system has magically got round the android audio layer

 

As long as you have your iPhone settings set up for the highest res along with a good DAC you’re good to go!

 

No lossless/hi-res on windows. Too easy to "rip" the lossless/hi-res files

 

I can confirm that Apple was correct. I hooked my phone to the Topping DAC and it verified 24/96. It just flipped me out when I saw the 256kb bitrate. Apple still sucks. Just because my computer can't play hi-res doesn't mean I don't want it there. I put Hi-res files on iTunes all the time. If I download from HDtracks to iTunes in 24/192 my computer will just convert it to 24/48 when I play it. My phone will convert it to 24/96. Who the heck gave Apple the right to decide what I want or need on my computer. iPhone wins for sound quality. Android wins for everything else.

 

Except for the stupid android audio layer… if android binned that off and made sample rate dynamic with all apps not just a few specific ones that take over it that would make android sooo much better for audio

 

iOS is just a scaled down version of Mac OS which means that the Core Audio extension is part of the OS. This is why with the proper equipment you can make real studio quality music on an iPhone. Android's audio system is much less refined, more like an afterthought. If you ever get a chance to compare the latency of music creation apps like Garageband on iPhone vs the top Android music making apps you'll notice that the latency is horrible on Android, which makes the apps almost unusable.

 

I usually stream and have my phone set up to stream at lossless. I haven't tried downloading music directly to my phone

 

Go on settings / music and check

 

[QI figured it out. Apple does download in hi-res. It just displays as low res in iTunes but has the stored file in hi-res.UOTE="cristianloopy, post: 6120053, member: 235186"]
Go on settings / music and check
View attachment 369761
[/QUOTE]

 

I have been following this thread and I was curious if someone could explain the limitations of the Android OS. As I understand it even if I choose lossless on Apple Music, downloaded files, even when I play them back through a usb from my Pixel 7 pro the phone downmixes the song? Is this correct?

 

The Android audio layer is limited to 24bit 48khz I believe. An external DAC can't grab any more info than that. More info can be found here
Supported media formats | Android Developers

 

The Android audio layer is limited to 24bit 48khz I believe. An external DAC can't grab any more info than that. More info can be found here
Supported media formats | Android Developers

Ok thanks.

 

You can't generalize Android phones like you can generalize apple. Not all Androinds are created equally. There is several Androind phones build for SQ audio with built in DACs and the processing to back it up n such. Then when we talking bout streaming/playing through the air (which is what I mostly do) apple is very limited. I hate apple everything but..... I only use apple music now. That's one thing they've got right in my book.

 

I don’t know of one android phone that can get around the android audio layer and stream Apple Music/deezer in its native sample rate… so we can generalise that… no android phone does it, even the LG that has the best dacs a phone has ever had… for example no android phone will play cd quality or hi res from Apple Music…

they still need an app to control the audio layer and the restrictions I outlined above

considering android is the most customisable setup I have zero clue why some dum ass decided to not make the audio play natively if you flicked a switch…

 

I don't mean through android auto. I mean through Bluetooth. Your right though if your going through android auto it's way limited.

 

Is a dap like the Fiio M11 limited as well? On-board storage with hi res flacs? Apple Music on that same device?

 

No, they use a heavily customised version of android as far as I know specifically written to optimise it for audio

 

LG is one but it lacks In processing. If I wanted to go that route id go with the latest or previous model Asus ROG phone.