That’s right. Paul is only using it as the server. We’re feeding it into the DSD via USB. I would guess less than 1% of the population here on this forum use Apple Music as their primary source.
I use it on my phone because I’ve used iTunes for years and it was easy to get that old library integrated with it. It’s nice for road trips and going to the gym. It never gets fed through the main rig though
Apple Music for portability and the car! Never at home in my system.
It’s worth noting that there are at least two ways to utilize iPhones in music systems, and the potential for quality in each method is widely different. Those are a) using the phone to control the streamer and/or other components through their respective iOS apps and b) using the phone as the streamer and pushing its content to the system via AirPlay/Bluetooth.
When using the phone to control the streamer, the sound quality is determined by the combination of source material, internet connection, and the rest of your hi-fi system. The phone has no impact on it. All it does is act as a means for you to select the music you want to hear. Whereas the second method, using the phone to stream the content and pushing it to the system via AirPlay, means your sound quality will never be greater than what your phone will receive, process and pass on.
So to say that many audiophiles use iPhones in their system as justification for the belief that it must be good is a incomplete statement at best. Without knowing how they’re using them, it doesn’t speak to the quality of the results at all.
Great point Craig. Thanks for clarifying this!
Very little of it has to do with the “chips”, but rather the implementation of it and the supporting circuitry/software involved.
Yeah, not so much. There are a LOT of variables at play in the digital domain that make a difference.
You can use a Mac with Audirvana and when you stream over DLNA it’s transmitted bit perfect.
Most of the issues out there relate to getting bit perfect audio to the USB output.
“Yeah, not so much. There are a LOT of variables at play in the digital domain that make a difference.”
There are no variables involved in the digital domain, only occasional unintended artifacts. That’s the beauty and very definition of digital. Variables are involved only when digital is converted into analog or vice versa. If there were variables involved, you would never be able to successfully download a video game. The cheapest computer on this planet downloads the EXACT same video game that the most expensive computer downloads, down to each and every 1 and 0, whether the game be 2MB or 64GB.
This isn’t about the data changing. It’s like you stated, noise during the digital to analog process. Different streaming conditions may change the noise in the downstream equipment… hence why Roon gets a bad rap since it uses a lot of resources… that noise changes the sound.
Yes, during the conversion to analog, but not conversions within in the digital domain. HDMI extractors isolate the audio, decrypt it and recode it into another digital signal (optical). It never leaves the digital domain and there is no “implementation” or “variables” involved, just signaling indicating 1s and 0s.
The issue was that Chop suggested that HDMI extractors and their conversion of the audio data to optical involved “implementation” and “variables” and “coloration”.
You’re not accounting for jitter! Also, electrical noise from the HDMI chip… this will be passed on.
Jitter is involved only when digital is converted to analog due to timing clock issues. There is no jitter involved in extracting audio from HDMI, decrypting it and encode it for another digital signal (optical). There is also no jitter involved when writing to a hard drive. There are no timing clock issues with either.
If you listen on a MAC use Audivarna - then you can experiment with many resolutions and formats for a better comparison.
TV optical out is limited to 16/48 over PCM
Airplay has similar limitations
I am an Apple fan but don’t like the Apple Music interface or sound
After reading many of the responses here, I have given up on Apple Music for my setup.
What are you using as your music source?
On main system I use an Aurender N100H nto a Stellar Gain Cell DAC into an S300 power amp.
for headphones I use Macbook Air running AUdivarna feeding a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC over USBc
sorry sources are Qobuz, TIDAL and my own library of FLAC and DSD files
Do you like the Stellar Gain Cell DAC quite a bit?
from my cold dead hands
I have set my sights on a Strara next as a one box solution for another room