According to Wikipedia “Clement Adler demonstrated the first two-channel audio system in Paris in 1881, with a series of telephone transmitters connected from the stage of the Paris Opera to a suite of rooms at the Paris Electrical Exhibition, where listeners could hear a live transmission of performances through receivers for each ear. *
Blumlein’s work came later.
Whoever invented it, there is enormous scope for improvement.
Apple is a very distant second to Spotify, it’s not even close. Spotify has more than twice as many paid subscribers and if you count the unpaid tier the spread is even greater.
Apple are rumoured to be launching a HIFI tier to their Apple Music subscription service …
Thoughts on whether it will get Roon integration?
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/01/ios-14-6-beta-6-hifi-apple-music/
No chance!
Apple Music integration in Roon, 
That’s a really good joke.
Apple won’t do that in a million years, that’s 180 degrees against their business model.
I’m both an Apple Music and a Roon user.
Apple Music is good enough for me to discover new music. Streaming music is currently just this for me: a huge rented library available to discover new artists.
If I really like the discovered songs/albums then I buy them so I can own them. Possibly lossless and somewhere else because Apple doesn’t sell uncompressed music (yet, maybe with this rumored Hi-Fi tier things will change). You know, HDtracks, HIGHRESAUDIO, NativeDSD…
Having my library in iCloud for casual listening on the go is a nice and convenient addition. Hi-res files are stored locally in my Apple Music library (DSF format too – Apple Music just ignores it and takes the ALAC copy I provide). AAC counterpart files are in iCloud.
For serious listening I use Roon. Albums and playlists are synced with Apple Music library and works well.
Let’s be honest: general music streaming services (not the “niche” ones – IDAGIO or Primephonic) like Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal, Amazon Music are still a mess for an “audiophile” point of view. You never know for sure what you get through that stream of bits.
CD quality? 88.2 kHz? 96 kHz? 192 kHz? MQA? If used on Mac, does Audio MIDI Setup switch automatically the sample rate? And so on…
If you ask them, they answer: what the labels have provided us. To some extent, I can’t blame them: millions of tracks, tens if not hundreds of labels, different album versions, different metadata…
Maybe Qobuz is right now the only sufficiently serious music subscription available. And even with them sometimes questions arise (MQA signaling in Qobuz stream?).
That said, if Apple will offer hi-res streaming (whatever this will mean) and hi-res music files for purchase, I will be happy. An Apple Music-Roon integration would be fantastic. Unfortunately I doubt it will happen soon, if at all. Apple is too closed in its world.
From what I have read by several sites that actually tested what they got with Airplay 2, they only got the 48kHz at 16 bits. Were they doing something wrong?? Possibly.
I recently heard Apple would promote HiFi lossless content in the Apple Music service.I never wanted Roon to support Apple because I don’t want to listen to lossy music, but if Apple supports lossless music, then the huge library will be very compelling for me. Wondering if thing would change after 2 years.
It would be such a waste of music quality if Apple don’t want Roon integration.
Apple do not cooperate they assimilate. Not sure if we would want to see Roon being digested by this $$$$$$$-machinery.
Wait. Maybe an Apple-Version of Roon?
Roople …
I just been through the same test over the last hour and nothing goes above 16/44.1 using Airplay 2.
Even using Tidal master’s topped out at the same.
While I understand that the protocol is designed for it, I am not sure it has yet been implemented in anything on the market.
The upcoming announcement might turn it on, but not sure how everything on the market suddenly becomes high resolution.
Though CD quality streaming has got to be the starting point and build from there.
If I remember correctly, AirPlay 1 and 2 are both capable of 48 kHz sample rate. From this point of view, nothing changed. AirPlay 2 introduced other enhancements (multiroom, for example).
I’ve never seen an audio streaming using AirPlay protocol (either 1 or 2) reaching 48 kHz, though. I guess it’s used when a video is AirPlayed (for example, to an AppleTV).
72 million Apple Music subscribers and rising fast, 250.000 Roon subscribers. Now even in the case that all Roon subscribers would switch to Apple Music it is 0,35% market share. In reality this percentage will be significant lower, more around 0,1% of market share. Apple is known for it’s very closed eco-system. How big are the chances they would be interested in collaborating with such a small party without a take-over. I think somewhere around 0,1%
You are almost certainly right, but they did buck that trend and integrate Apple Music into Sonos, when it was closed off to everything else (so it can happen in the right circumstances).
My guess is that the market segment crossover of Sonos and Apple was very high. There is probably a similar correlation between Roon and Apple but the numbers are probably just too small to be meaningful.
(I Am an Android phone and iPad user myself and gave up Apple Music after the free trial via EE, so have no stake in wanting this)
Apple Music is for the masses.
Wouldn’t it be great if Roon could ‘hoover up’ all the small independents such as Primephonic, Hyperion, Linn Records etc etc, and integrate them into Roon on demand.
Now there’s a USP that Apple Music couldn’t match. Imagine Roon with a ‘variety’ of specialist ‘channels’/subscriptions that you could customise Roon with, not just with Tidal & Qobuz.
Imagine DSD streaming from Primephonic? I’d subscribe!
‘Mass market’ Apple/Amazon Music isn’t for existing Roon users. We know that!
Roon will always be a relatively ‘niche’ product. It should exploit that niche, and run with it.
Any thoughts Danny? @danny
Trouble with that is Hyperion and Linn are not into streaming, just downloads, as they argue they can not get sufficient revenue from streaming to finance their recordings. According to Gramophome magazine, Hyperion’s reasoning is:
“Take the example of Hyperion Records, who have decided not to make themselves available on any on-demand streaming platforms. In 2013 a well-reviewed Baroque vocal album cost them £36k to make. During 2013, this album earned £10,847 through 2,104 CD sales and £2,152 through 444 download sales. However, 34,947 streaming events on iTunes Radio earned just £22.13. Not good, even within the context of iTunes Radio paying out less than a subscription service.”
Hence, I still buy the odd download from Hyperion.
@Martin_Kelly You may be right if you are referring to the regular posters on the forum but that is less than 50 to 100 people out of 250,000.
I suspect the majority of users use Roon in a fairly simple way that Apple Music, Spotify could easily replicate. Of course there are those who utilise every feature of Roon but are there enough?
You add a dac dongle or portable dac device and you are set then you don’t downsample.
Amazon’s app is a terrible mess so they might be a good candidate.
I agree Apple’s app stinks bad.
Apple should buy Roon and let Roon team running iRoon music.