I’m pretty well impressed with Apple Music so far. It works well with my iPad Mini 4 and iPhone 11 Pro Max. It also works well with my AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt. When using my Meridian Prime, it worked with the iPad, but not the iPhone. Evidently the iPhone did not provide the needed power. Not a big deal, but I’ll try it again later.
Apple Music is definitely a viable alternative to Audirvana for me. Probably not so much for Roon. I’ll continue to use Roon at home.
Is he referencing a formal, verifiable, published test? Or is this his opinion?
From the article it’s just his opinion.
Interesting, what features are missing for you in comparison to Roon?
I’m also enjoying it so far, particularly the shortcut and smart playlist stuff.
Mainly the fact that I have lifetime Roon and a Roon Nucleus. Other that paying for Tidal and/or Qobuz, there is no reason to ditch Roon. Roon has been flawless for me for over 18 months, as have Tidal and Qobuz. I use my Dell XPS 15 as Roon control device and it’s a very good user experience for me.
@Jim_F and @Bernd_Kurte
Can you play this album in Apple Music and confirm if you get the magenta MQA light?
With DragonFly MQA DAC.
Or anyone with any MQA DAC.
Use only iPhone or iPad, not Mac.
It says Lossless but Cobalt is green. That would indicate 16/44.1 I think, or maybe 24/48. In Apple Music, I have not tried to setup my DAC’s as MQA decoders or renderers, nor have I seen a place to do that.
I picked up a Dragonfly Cobalt and it sounds really good with iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Pro using the USB C supplied, I’m on the Sony X900N though.
Also sounds very good in the Audi with B&O speakers using wireless CarPlay.
Same for me…
There’s a longer extract from Cue’s interview here:
The full interview is on Billboard, but you need to be a subscriber. Still, the first paragraph tellls you that Apple will emphasise Atmos far more than lossless. “My belief is that spatial audio will go everywhere, it’s that big of a deal” Cue says. Car audio, multichannel home systems are all applications.
Cue also says that the artists were involved in the currently available Atmos remixes. Which means he must’ve brought Herbert von Karajan back from the dead.
Oops, he accidentally leaked Apple’s next product / service, Apple iLive
Oops silly me. Sorry @Jim_F
It won’t work with MQA Renderers since Apple Music won’t do the Core Decode (1st unfold).
So I need someone to test with an MQA DAC that does full decode.
Getting ready to leave the office and should be home in a bit. Can test on Mac only unless I manage to find the right cable to connect phone to DAC 
May have one stashed somewhere.
Just tried two Blue Notes albums on Apple Music and sounded good to me. Use both Apple and Quboz myself. Do probably listen more on Quboz but like to keep Apple. On this hearing will definitely keep both. I think most consumers would find Apple a good standard.
Is that also with iOS or macOS?
Cool cheers.
That album is 16/44.1k MQA apparently , so make sure Audio MIDI is set to 44.1k and volume at 100% (if you manage to find the DAC and can be bothered testing hehe)
If MQA doesn’t light up maybe try changing to 48k too.
I never thought I’d be talking MQA in this thread but one good use it has is doing bit perfect tests lol
This is playing from my iPad Mini 4 with USB to Meridian Prime. The Tidal MQA version is 24/48 before unfolding to 24/96. I suspect Apple Music does not recognize MQA and treats them as 16/44.1 or 24/48. This one would be 24/48 I suppose.
EDIT: Nice album, by the way. I just saved it in Roon from Tidal and Qobuz. Probably time for another TuneMyMusic sync of Apple Music.
Thanks. The AudiophileStyle article mentions MQA was actually lighting up for him with that album playing from Apple Music (see below).
So strange it’s not lighting up for you.
Thanks for trying it though
Maybe something to do with the fact I am using a USB connection from iPad 4?? I wouldn’t worry about it. The few MQA’s that might show up will probably sound just as good at 16/44.1 or 24/48.
