To support the artist?
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Good point. Iām sure they are making more from the sale of an album.
Maybe this question has already been asked (and answered) ā so my apologies for redundancy. But could someone explain to me why the AM app is incapable of sending out a 16/44.1 stream via Airplay 2. The latter is technically capable of handling up to 24/48. What is the technical problem?
To be clear: Iām talking about ALAC, not AAC.
As we thought, Apple are placing much more emphasis on spacial audio, rather than lossless audio:
What if your internet service is down for a few days due to, say, ransomware, or other reasons? If you own it, you can still play it if you have power.
Also, to support record labels. If no one bought music media, and it was 100% streaming, under the current payment system, how could either labels or artists survive? Will the entire industry need to go on strike and demand meaningful payment for streamed works? Does anyone have a working crystal ball?
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Scores, maybe hundreds of times more.
Because thats how is works right now. Same reason lossless doesnāt work on Homepods. They are an aac ecosystem and set it up as that. Shows that this hires was an after thought. Likley for stability of multiroom and the fact it was only an aac stream. Other services send ALAC AM sends AAC. Until they decide to change that you wont get lossless via Airplay.
Well he wonāt if heās listening via an all Apple eco system 
At least lossless is closer to the original master of how they wanted it to sound, I doubt with spatial it is.
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Sorry, Qobuz is far far superior for Classical and Jazz. Apple couldnāt hold a candle to Qobuz
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Any way I donāt think youāll be seeing hires via Airplay and forget any kind of Roon, Audivarna or streamer integration with MusicKit as.i already pointed out.
As already said elsewhere, on my Mac, Music app curiously shows lossless logo when streaming via AirPlay to HomePod.
If I switch to other AirPlay receivers the logo disappears. If I choose AirPlay system wide (through the volume menu bar icon) instead from Music app, then the lossless logo is shown again.
So, either Music app is lying giving inconsistent informations or thereās a difference between AiPlay chosen inside Music app and AirPlay affecting the whole operating system.
Unfortunately I donāt own an AirPlay device capable of providing some more informations about what is really streamed (AAC or ALAC).
For the record, my AirPlay devices (real and virtual) are: Lumin T2 streamer, HomePod, Apple TV HD, Shairport Sync and AirServer.
Itās definitely not sending ALAC I would not trust what that logo says at all. Source maybe lossless but what the device is receiving isnt. When they update the app and firmware on the homepods it will be which is what they said needs to happen this will then be the same for other devices via Airplay I assume. Hires on the other hand I would not hold your breath for.
I love the album choice!
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Iām prone to believe Musicās AirPlay informations arenāt reliable, too. Especially considering that HomePod canāt receive currently ALAC.
Why doesnāt he talk about using a lightening to usb to DAC (dragon fly) straight into your stereo like I am currently and successfully using?
AM has better curation. Theyāve even partnered up with the leading classical music magazine, Gramophone. In their digital edition you press on an album, and it opens up automatically in AM. Try finding Linn Records or MDG Gold in Qobuz. Some albums in Qobuz have tracks missing (eg Heras Casado for quite a few Harmonia Mundi albums). Compare how many Bach cantatas interpreted by J.S. Bach-Stiftung you get in Qobuz compared to MA. And I wonāt even mention Carplay (very important to me, as I have a serious commute).The only advantage of Qobuz is that they provide booklets and Roon integration ā thatās why Iāve stuck with them for now. If I had to choose, though, Iād go with AM for their much larger catalogue.
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But how do you find all instances of a composition in AM? For sure Roon sometimes makes frustrating errors when suggesting complete performances, but all AM seems to offer is tracks and CDs, which for me is close to useless.
Apple Music āTop Resultsā for āMozart String Quartet 17ā. Useless, because it only gives me tracks, not the whole work.
Apple Music āAlbumsā for same search, better, but still not much use.
Roon does a good job.
There is really no contest for me.
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