Apple Music sounds metallic. Anyone agree?

[tonyr6]

At first I liked Apple Music but comparing it to Play Music which I signed up again Play Music sounds much better. I notice when I listen to Apple Music especially with headphones it sound more metallic actually giving me a slight headache. On Play Music the stereo sound is much deeper and natural. I think Play Music at 320k MP3 sounds great but Apple Music at 256k AAC does not cut it for serious listening.

My Apple music trial is up in May but with the sound quality, bugs (well on the Android app the audio keeps stopping) and having to use horrible iTunes which freezes all the time I am staying with Play Music.

 

[lagwagon]

256k AAC is the same as 320k MP3.

If you're listening while using cellular data make sure you have "High Quality On Cellular" toggled to on. When off it drops down to 192k AAC while on cellular. (Wifi is always 256k AAC)

 

[rillrill]

Yeah! Black Metallic!

 

[tonyr6]

High quality is on. Right now I am listening to a song on both services and Play Music sounds better while AM is louder but has more of a tin can metallic sound.

Forgot to say I listen only to old music mostly 70s to 90s nothing later than 2006.

 

[lagwagon]

High quality is on. Right now I am listening to a song on both services and Play Music sounds better while AM is louder but has more of a tin can metallic sound.

Forgot to say I listen only to old music mostly 70s to 90s nothing later than 2006.

I don't know about the android version of Apple Music but this might also apply. In Settings for Music for iPhone there is an EQ setting. The difference could very well be whatever EQ setting it's on or not on.

 

[malih]

Could also possibly caused by the lack of Android MusicFX processing (it's Android System-wide equalizer & effects), as far as I know Apple Music skips MusicFX processing, but Google Play Music output is normally processed by MusicFX.

 

[tonyr6]

Could also possibly caused by the lack of Android MusicFX processing (it's Android System-wide equalizer & effects), as far as I know Apple Music skips MusicFX processing, but Google Play Music output is normally processed by MusicFX.

That is what I though. When I listen though iTunes on the computer it sounds great. Heck even 128k AAC sounds better than on the phone.

However on Play Music I don't have any equalizer present but as you say it uses MusicFX. Disabling MusicFX causes crashes. I got to dig out my old iPod Touch and try AM on there.

 

[tonyr6]

Sound quality is comparable some songs sound better on AM while others on Play Music.

I am still not renewing AM. The random pauses which searching around here is even happening on iPhones so it is not a Android problem, the fact that the POS iTunes on the computer freezes all the time and skips songs randomly I will stay with Play music unless Apple fixes it. I doubt it as these problems are still the same since day 1.

 

[malih]

Sound quality is comparable some songs sound better on AM while others on Play Music.

I am still not renewing AM. The random pauses which searching around here is even happening on iPhones so it is not a Android problem, the fact that the POS iTunes on the computer freezes all the time and skips songs randomly I will stay with Play music unless Apple fixes it. I doubt it as these problems are still the same since day 1.

I do think it's wise for you to not use AM if you keep having problem with it. I do have some random pauses when streaming sometimes in Android, after all it's still labeled as Beta (for God knows how long).

I usually get around the problem by downloading songs offline before commuting, also I make sure to change cache setting to a larger size. Also it may help to swipe clear all other apps from multitasking view before streaming.

 

[tonyr6]

also I make sure to change cache setting to a larger size

Does that help? I tried the default 200 MB and 500 MB even 0 MB which no change.

 

[Fuchal]

I use it every day and haven't noticed Apple Music tracks sounding any different than my locally ripped from CD tracks. (on iPhone and Mac Pro)

 

[malih]

Does that help? I tried the default 200 MB and 500 MB even 0 MB which no change.

it helps you save data, so you only have to stream a song once, and it will be cached for next time you play it.

in my case it helps me with streaming a playlist on spotty data connection.

 

[tonyr6]

it helps you save data, so you only have to stream a song once, and it will be cached for next time you play it.

in my case it helps me with streaming a playlist on spotty data connection.

Thanks so it really does not matter for me as I have unlimited streaming with Music Freedom from T-Mobile since Apple Music is a partner and so is Play Music. It might help with a spotty connection though so I will leave it at 200MB.

 

[malih]

Thanks so it really does not matter for me as I have unlimited streaming with Music Freedom from T-Mobile since Apple Music is a partner and so is Play Music. It might help with a spotty connection though so I will leave it at 200MB.

I wonder if the T-Mobile plan is cause of your metallic sound.

There was an article about EFF saying T-Mobile limits video quality when streaming on unlimited plan (http://www.wired.com/2016/01/t-mobile-is-throttling-video-for-unlimited-streamers-the-eff-says/), I'm not sure with audio, but it's worth knowing if it is.

 

[tonyr6]

I was wrong with the sound quality. Actually Play Music sounds more muddy. I found this out by hooking up some premium computer speakers and Apple Music sounds much better.

 

[iDuel]

I wonder if the T-Mobile plan is cause of your metallic sound.

There was an article about EFF saying T-Mobile limits video quality when streaming on unlimited plan (http://www.wired.com/2016/01/t-mobile-is-throttling-video-for-unlimited-streamers-the-eff-says/), I'm not sure with audio, but it's worth knowing if it is.

Just as a side note, music freedom does not degrade the quality of the audio stream since audio files use little data compared to streaming video.