The OS will resample to what your system audio is in that scenario for Apple Music.
There is some switching hack that someone created to try and get round Apple Music’s lack of exclusive mode and rate switching but not sure it worked well or is still in development. Without it all is resampled to what the desktop is which is normally 48/24 I think.
Well I can set the digital output of the sound card to its maximum (24/96) and Apple Music happily plays that. I’m using my CXNv2’s DAC to convert the digital into the analog realm. And it sounds pretty good.
To be honest. Using my iPad to AirPlay it to the CXNv2 doesn’t sound that bad either.
Yes It will happily play it, it’s just upsampling anything below that frequency and down sampling anything higher. It can still sound good but bits are best left alone if possible. AAC on the whole sounds pretty damned good for a compressed source so not surprised Airplay sounds good. You have to use what works for you in the end.
Normally when you close the lid on a MacBook it will put the computer to sleep. I’ve disabled that through a terminal command and managed to squeeze both the MacBook Air and the Audiotrak side by side in my cabinet.
I’m using screen sharing on my MacBook Pro to get Apple Music to play through the MacBook Air.
You are right about AAC sounding pretty good for a lossy format. It definitely sounds much better than mp3 or whatever Spotify uses. Which is Ogg Vorbis I believe.
But yeah… If you can go for losless and hi-res with Apple Music then why not 
It plays ALAC instead of AAC this way.
@Simon_Arnold3 is this the software to which you referred?
Yes thats the one.
My 2017 MacBook Air and the Audiotrak Prodigy Cube 24/96 nicely tucked away in my cabinet. I’ve installed Google Remote Desktop on both the MacBook and my iPad, so I can remotely login from my iPad to manage Apple Music.
This way I don’t have to use AirPlay 2 to stream music to my CXNv2. But using the CXNv2’s optical input instead. So I am getting ALAC instead of AAC.
A bit cumbersome. But I guess it is the only way to get around AirPlay 2’s limitation…
You can also use an Apple TV with an HDMI extractor and control Apple Music on the Apple TV with an iPad or iPhone, with the only limit being that the output is always 24/48.
I have little use for an Apple TV. Even though I am an Apple guy (2 MacBook’s, iPhone, iPad and a Mac Mini running my Roon Core).
I already have a Toshiba SMART TV and a small digital TV box from my ISP. The Audiotrak is limited to 24/96 which is ok with me. I don’t really hear a difference myself between 24/96 or 24/192.
Maybe your Toshiba is better than my LG, but for us the appleTV is so much better for a streaming experience than the built-in apps that it’s very worth it. Frankly the remote alone is nearly worth it.
Sheldon
Agreed 100% - Apple TV is one of the best devices we have - very versatile and intuitive to use. Also the upscaling to 4K is extremely good.
I’ll stick to my Toshiba then as it is native 4k. The same thing goes for my Sony BluRay player.
A lot of streaming content is not in 4K - so either your TV or an external device (like Apple TV) will upscale it - and all devices are not created equal in that regard.
Getting a bit OT now I guess.
One day Apple will emulate Tidal Connect / Spotify Connect
BTW - What’s the grey bar thing ?
You mean in front of the CXA81? It’s the handle of the glass door from the cabinet.
As Apple owns AirPlay 2 and pretty much every streamer and amp supports it I don’t see an Apple Connect happening. We basically already have it.
Thanks for posting this. I have a “backup” Roon core on a Mac Mini (late 2014). I use Splashtop to control the Mac Mini from my Dell laptop. I just opened Apple Music on the Mac Mini and am playing to my RPi4 that is connected by WIFI with output to Meridian Prime, Denon AVR, and Pioneer HPM 60 speakers in my listening room. I have Apple Music set on 24/96 and it sounds good. Makes a good “fallback” for Roon if needed.
EDIT: I suppose I should set it on 24/48 since I assume it’s using AirPlay.
When I get home next week, I’m going to set up my iPad Mini 6 running Apple Music through a camera adapter and FiiO KA1 DAC with 3.5mm mini jack into my Meridian Prime. The Meridian Prime is using RCA to Denon AVR-2805 running in Pure Direct - Analog mode to my Pioneer HPM-60 speakers. I think it should play Apple Music high resolution with no issues.
I will control the iPad with my iPhone using the Accessibility app built into Apple IOS. I’m testing that now and it controls Play/Pause, Previous/Next Track, and Volume Up/Down. I’m hoping I can also use Splashtop to have full control of the iPad.
Just another alternative to Roon, Tidal, and Qobuz if ever needed.
EDIT: OK, this works. Playing Apple Music on my iPad Mini 6 using camera adapter and FiiO KA1 DAC with 3.5mm cable to Meridian Prime and RCA to Denon AVR-2805 with Pioneer HPM-60 speakers. I’m using my iPhone 13 Pro Max Accessibility app to control the iPad. Controls include those listed above. Tomorrow, I’ll run the wires properly for power and to the Meridian Prime.
This is a good fallback for Roon, Tidal, and Qobuz.
