1er June, Apple will convert its music catalog to a higher quality without increasing the price of its unlimited Apple Music offer. What good are the promised improvements, such as music without degradation (“lossless”, literally “lossless”) or recorded in higher resolution (“high resolution”), as well as songs with improved sound relief (“spatial audio”)?
“Lossless”: the music intact
For purists with an exceptional ear
So far, Apple has provided songs in degraded quality on its Apple Music app. whose reputation with some audiophiles is passable – these recordings are cut off from part of the sound details of the original piece.
From 1er June, the entire Apple disco will be available in an audio format without loss of audio information, or “lossless”: the ALAC, for “Apple Lossless Audio Codec”. Contrary to Apple’s habits, this improvement does not pay: the unlimited subscription remains sold 10 euros per month while some competitors overcharge this same improvement – Amazon has also had to align with Apple’s prices. in the rain.
Listening, is the difference obvious? Not necessarily. Recall that Apple has so far not opted for MP3 and broadcasts a competing audio format, AAC, which also suppresses audio information, but more discreetly. This format is, moreover, compressed without exaggeration to 256 kbit / s.
All the hope of the designers of the AAC was to remove only the inaudible sound information, to save space without compromising the perceived sound quality. This goal is instead being met according to Justin Bacle, sound engineer and audio manager at DXOMark, a French company that evaluates the performance of electronic devices:
“Very few listeners hear the difference between AAC and lossless music. Studies show, however, that some trained ears occasionally succeed to distinguish it. I don’t know of anyone who does that for sure. For my personal use, “lossless” is not a purchase criterion ”.
That’s why Apple, a company that takes music seriously, trusts the AAC since 2007, and remains attached to him because she considers him almost indistinguishable from the ALAC.
From 1er June, Apple will let the user choose to enable lossless audio (see the user manual here) or continue to trust the AAC. Should we take the leap? Only if you have excellent audio equipment, have very high standards, and a keen ear. This file format is indeed not without flaws. It will not work not with wireless headphones because bluetooth cannot support it – the music will be played in degraded quality – nor in some cars. Old devices such as iPhone 6 and its predecessors are not compatible. There is also uncertainty over the compatibility of Android smartphones.
Even more annoying, the ALAC weighs ” much heavier ” according to apple. People who listen to a lot of music through the mobile connection of their smartphone will benefit from monitoring their data usage. Those who download their music to their smartphone will probably need to expand its memory. However, at Apple, the memory is unfortunately not expandable: this could force them to opt for a new smartphone with more memory.
High resolution: more sound details?
For wealthy audiophiles who love jazz and classical
Apple indicates that some of the songs will now be available at no additional cost in high resolution. This time around, the idea is not to deliver music without loss of sonic detail: the high resolution adds new musical information to the piece of music, present in the original recording, but which was previously erased from the soundtrack. conversion for the general public.
It works in two ways. Information is added in the higher tones, up to frequencies of 96 kHz or even 192 kHz. Then the precision of the differences in sound volume is refined: it goes from 65,000 steps (16 bits) to 16 million steps (24 bits) of volume – a bit like replacing big lego bricks with lots of bricks. finer.
In 2015, we had music professionals take a test to make sure they could see the difference between high resolution and normal resolution. None had succeeded. A result that does not surprise Justin Bacle:
“The studies are once again very clear: very few people manage to tell the difference. It seems that the treble doesn’t change anything, but the volume variations do make a little difference. This is probably not audible on most genres of music. A few rare listeners with an educated ear will sometimes be able to distinguish the difference on jazz or classical pieces, typically when the amp is pushed hard and the orchestra is playing very low at that point. “
To find out, we encourage avid audiophiles to make their own comparison by arming themselves with handpicked high-resolution titles, a high-quality music player, excellent Hi-Fi headphones, and software capable of converting a high definition song into ordinary definition. Crucial point: a friend will have to be present to hide the version he is playing to you. We have found on several occasions that our inclination to autosuggestion often causes differences to be heard when the high definition label is visible, differences inaudible when it is obscured. The test will have to be repeated several times on each piece to be rigorous.
Adopting high-resolution music is not a neutral choice: the songs weigh even more, and not all devices can read them. In addition, you need very expensive listening equipment to give yourself a real chance of hearing the difference.
Dolby Atmos, spatial audio
For everyone, but not necessarily right away
It is the advance that will speak least to audiophiles. But space audio is arguably Apple’s most promising announcement. “Music has been stuck in stereo for decades” regrets Justin Bacle of DXOMark. “However, by multiplying the channels, one can obtain new astonishing auditory impressions, as the rare recordings available prove it. It is by far this technology that gave me the best impression of rediscovering pieces of music. », A hope pursued by many audiophiles.
Still, the catalog of spatialized titles will be limited to a few thousand songs initially, according to Apple. To enjoy it in the best conditions, you will need to connect a 5.1 sound system to an Apple TV 4K, including five speakers and a home cinema amplifier, then launch the Apple Music application.
Spatial audio will also work on less speaker-equipped devices, like the latest generation iPhone, iPad, and Macbook Pro. As well as on Apple and Beats headphones, which will automatically play compatible songs in this format. According to an Apple spokesperson, spatial audio will also work on other brands of headphones, but only if this feature is enabled in the smartphone options.
If the press release from Apple insists a lot on compatibility with headphones, the fact remains that they are only stereo, that is to say equipped with two speakers – one for each ear. But with such a format, it would take several per ear to restore the feeling of space at best.
For stereo headphones, this will be software, present on the playback device, which will give the illusion of sound space through various 3D virtualization devices. A technology whose outcome remains uncertain, according to Justin Bacle of DXOMark:
“Until now, I have never really appreciated the attempts at virtualization: the improvement of the sound space was counterbalanced by the added sound defects. But I’m curious to listen: Apple rarely launches technology without tweaking it. Also, if I like the music to be faithful, I respect listeners who place more importance on the “wow” effect. And it could be spectacular ”.
Spatial audio is the technology that we will be watching most closely when it is released, which will not intervene on the 1er June like the other improvements promised, but during the month.