AirPlay 2 Audio Quality

[David_S]

Not sure what the point of this new update is. I have already had AirPlay 2 on my Naim devices for years, so this update doesn’t add any functionality to my system. When I do use AirPlay via Roon, the signal path shows only ‘High Quality’ rather than ‘Lossless’ or ‘Enhanced’. Am I missing something?

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@David_S

Not sure what the point of this new update is.

For instance, it enables AirPlay 2 features for certain devices:

@vova

Over 10% of Roon listeners own HomePods, and starting today you can enjoy them with Roon as stereo pairs or in a hybrid array, maybe with an Apple TV. Simply create a stereo pair using the Home app, and Roon will treat them as a single stereo device.

You can also group HomePods with other AirPlay 2 or AirPlay 1 devices. And all your first-generation AirPlay devices will continue to work with Roon as well. This update is about expanding your options, not replacing them.

@David_S

I have already had AirPlay 2 on my Naim devices for years, so this update doesn’t add any functionality to my system.

Naim supports AP 2 but Roon didn’t use it. With the Naim it didn’t matter because it supported Roon’s AP 1 already - but not ever single update must be beneficial for every single user.

@David_S

When I do use AirPlay via Roon, the signal path shows only ‘High Quality’ rather than ‘Lossless’ or ‘Enhanced’. Am I missing something?

Airplay 2 now on - sounds good, but will that enable my Samsung TV?

Airplay has always been high quality as it can and will resample to match the clock of sender to clock of receiver under the hood so Roon never class it as lossless. Also Apple TV resamples all content to 48/24 under the hood. It has nothing to do with AAC. Airplay 2 isn’t AAC by default you are miss informed here. Airplay 2 has two streaming options legacy streaming (ALAC 44.1/16) and low latency streaming (AAC256). It’s wholly app dependant as to which it uses and is decided by the developer.…

[John_English1 (John English)]

I think I understand this. Is the only way to get lossless playback to Sonos units is use Sonos streaming instead of Airplay 2?

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

No, AirPlay 2 had a lossless mode as was explained in the last link that I posted

[John_English1 (John English)]

Thanks. I’m new to all of this.