My iPhone now has lossless as an option

All my music is currently downloaded standard format and I can’t work out how to convert to lossless without deleting and then re downloading loads of songs!

Will I notice any quality improvement in sound in my car (BMW Harmon Kardon system) using Bluetooth or direct cable connection?

Also I have a Naim Muso that I run music from my phone. I assume this is where I will really notice the improvement in sound quality?

How do you expect to convert from lossy to lossless, where’s the lost bits coming from?

How do you expect to convert from lossy to lossless, where’s the lost bits coming from?

I was just hoping they would create some option that allows you auto download and replace existing library

You’ll be hard pushed to hear a difference via bluetooth and possibly even the cable in your car. Depends how the latest firmware and the receiving deck process the signal.

Personally, I’ve been using Apple lossless via USB audio from my ipod touch (and iphones) into a Helix DSP/AMP in the car and it sounds loads better than any cable or wireless into a factory head unit.

To get the signal out of the Apple device I use a camera kit and then USB audio comes out of that. Will also do hi res music with the right app.

For the home audio I use the same, playing out from an Ipad into a camera kit and then to a digital converter to give USB to COAX or Toslink digital into the amp.

Not using the camera kit will give lower quality from Apple devices (unless recent firmware finally allows digital out without it)

That being said, as mentioned by Cougar, you can’t convert lossy into lossless and magic the missing information back, so depending on how you downloaded or converted your music, you may have to do it all again.

I tend to rip or download FLACs where ever possible. Convert them to Apple lossless for ease of manipulation for the car and leave the FLACs on storage.

I don’t know for sure, but if you bought your music from Apple you may be able to redownload/stream in the new format.

You certainly won’t be able to convert from the compressed file (aac?) to the lossless file (ALAC?) as described above).

In terms of noticing the difference, my rule of thumb is it depends on whether you’re listening as background while doing something else, or paying full attention. It sounds like you have nice speakers so would hear the difference, but it’s up to you if it’s worth it.

All my music is currently downloaded standard format and I can’t work out how to convert to lossless without deleting and then re downloading loads of songs!

If you have Apple Music then there’s no way apart from deleting the music and downloading the cd quality or high res as appropriate.

Will I notice any quality improvement in sound in my car (BMW Harmon Kardon system) using Bluetooth or direct cable connection?

Bluetooth has max data transfer rate of 256kbps aac, So any cd quality or hi res will be downsampled to this rate, Wired connection will transfer at cd quality but no higher as you need a dac to decode the hi res. I seriously doubt you’ll hear any difference between 256 Kbps aac and cd quality in a moving vehicle no matter what ICE system, I have a Dynaudio 10 speaker/sub ICE system in my Tiguan and road noise destroys any “perceived” differences.

Also I have a Naim Muso that I run music from my phone. I assume this is where I will really notice the improvement in sound quality?

If you stream using airplay then you’ll get a max of cd quality, for hi res you’ll need a wired connection to your muso. There’s an internet geek hifi rumour that Apple can send hi res over airplay and this will be coming soon in a software update, I dunno if this would be possible with existing phones/iPads but it’d be nice to have, for myself and all my music loving nerding out geekiness im perfectly happy with well mastered cd quality, hi res is a side show that I’m happy to ignore.

The jump from listening to 256 Kbps aac to 16bit 44.1/48khz or cd quality is minuscule, I can tell the difference on a select few tracks of certain songs when played back to back in my acoustically treated room but really have to concentrate on note transients rather than the song in its entirety, a mate runs a rather successful record label/studio complex and I’ve learned from sitting in on mastering sessions etc but in real world conditions I’d be pissing in the wind as to what was what.

If you’re happy enough at the moment then do nothing, download any future releases in cd quality but I’d forget about hi res.

Thanks Somafunk , very comprehensive!

Frustratingly it appears impossible to download a lower quality and higher quality version of the same song to do a comparison

Just listening now it does sound slightly warmer, and a cleaner base, but that could be psychological

Putting Dolly Atmos on certainly doesn’t help on the Naim

Dolby atmos “mastering” is currently a shitshow in quality on Apple Music at the moment, to much to go into but there is confusion as to what “atmos” Apple (or the mastering studios) are releasing, there are 118 objects available to an atmos engineer to place sound and within the atmos mix there is a stereo mix and binaural type mix. Loads of chat on the various mastering/engineering forums as to what is going on but hopefully a standard will be settled on soon.

I have AirPods Pro & max and atmos sounds like shit to me, vocals are recessed and placement is all over the place not to mention the 18 luf db processing of the tracks, cd is processed at 14 luf db so atmos is very noticeably quieter.

Somewhat surprisingly playing Apple lossless to my airpods max using Bluetooth with a max transfer rate of 256kbps can sound “better than standard 256 aac files, dunno if it’s the mastering that has changed (unlikely) or perhaps it’s the dsp in airpods max playing nicely with the new Apple lossless/cd quality tracks.

If you want the best from your phone then the camera kit as mentioned above when hardwired to your naim muso will be more than enough to geek out on lossless listening.

PS – the atmos file/mix can only be listened to on headphones (unless you have an capable system for playback), on headphones you get fed a binaural mix of the main atmos file, it’s easier to place individual sounds in headphones as they are fixed to your ears thus a reference point is known where to place sounds, when atmos is played back on a stereo system there is no way of knowhere the listener is in relation to where the sound should be. My mate does full atmos mixes in his atmos mastering room and on such a system it is “shit the bed/take my money” good but utterly pointless played back on a 2 speaker stereo or single Bluetooth speaker, certain sound bars can do do well with atmos though, Sonos arc especially.

Somafunk has more than covered what I was going to say! I listen to a mixture of songs I ripped to 320Kb into iTunes, and more recently 256Kb music I’ve downloaded onto my phone from Apple Music, and I can hear very little difference between them, it’s the original recording of different albums, and the mastering thereof, rather than bitrate, that shows a difference, that’s through Apple EarPods, TaoTronics Soundsurge headphones, and a variety of IEM’s from MeeAudio and Ultimate Ears, ranging from £19 right through to £260, and the Apple Music 256Kb downloads sound as good as anything else, better in some cases. It’s really not worth using Lossless, it takes up much more room to little advantage – a deaf man would love to hear the difference, ‘cos I can’t!
Edit – I should add, that with a wired connection using either 3.5mm > Lightning cable, or a 3.5mm > Lightning adapter (NOT a dongle, that’s a whole other technology!)

it appears impossible to download a lower quality and higher quality version of the same song to do a comparison

…

Just listening now it does sound slightly warmer, and a cleaner base,

So, you can do a comparison, or you can’t?

To answer the original question, my iPad and phone auto updated my library to the lossless format where available. I have an Apple Music subscription but I’m not sure if it would update automatically without one.

OP. If you have music downloaded already on your iPhone/iPad you have to delete it before then downloading different versions of the files. 4 formats available. High efficiency. High quality (regular 256kbps AAC) lossless (ALAC 24/48), and high-res lossless (ALAC 24/96).

<h2>What you need to know about lossless audio in Apple Music</h2>
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• Streaming lossless audio using mobile data or a Wi-Fi network consumes significantly more data. And downloaded lossless audio files take up significantly more space on your device. Higher resolutions use more data than lower ones.
• AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max and Beats wireless headphones use Apple AAC Bluetooth Codec to ensure excellent audio quality. However, Bluetooth connections aren’t lossless.
• To get a lossless version of music that you’ve already downloaded from Apple Music, just delete the music and re-download it from the Apple Music catalogue

</div>

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https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212183

Spatial audio? Whatever. Remember holophonic binaural sound as used on ‘dreams less sweet’? Interesting but gimmicky.

comments on mastering I think identify the biggest differences between some tracks and their multiple versions. In the car there’ll be no difference noticeable.

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Edit.
by the way. I wouldn’t bother. Unless you’re after Atmos versions there’s no big difference beyond 256kbps AAC. Aside from the mastering tweaks. Other STW threads on this subject are available and chock-full of opinions.

do make sure you’re using unicorn wires though 😏

Here’s a longish but easy to follow read on Dolby Atmos regarding Apple Music and a few recommendations for tracks that exploit the potential, I guess it’ll take time for a mastering standard to be determined.

Atmos explanation regarding Apple Music on Pro-Tools site

Apart from a select few tracks I can’t tell the difference between what Spotify or Apple Music stream to my Sonoses (Soni?) or 256kbps MP3s vs my own music that is ripped in Lossless FLAC (one of my Seafood albums sounds awful in 256 though 🤷🏻‍♂️).

I’m not a geeky audiophile type though, but like listening to music.