Apple Music Best 3.5 mm headphones and DAC to listen to Apple Music in Hi Res

[Luba]

There’s going to be CD quality lossless, then there’s going to be Hi Res Lossless where you’ll need a DAC and 3.5 mm wired headphones. What some good value and high end DACs? What are some good value 3.5 mm headphones and high end headphones. If Apple’s AirPod Max could handle Hi Res Lossless I’d probably just get that, but it can’t. I’ll be listening to Apple Music on an iMac.

Out and about I’ll make do with AirPods Pro. Hopefully, new AirPods Pro coming out soon!

 

[Marco Klobas]

For the DAC/Headphone amp take a look at Topping DX7 Pro. Very good value for money.

It doesn't have 3.5 mm jack, though. It offers 6.35 mm, 4.4 mm balanced and XLR 4 balanced headphone outputs. With an adapter of course it's possible to use 3.5 mm headphones.

Speaking of headphones: it difficult to suggest a model. Headphones are like gloves: what fits me could or couldn't fit you and vice versa.

Besides, the market offers a lot of models nowadays with a broad price range: dynamic/planar/electrostatic, in-ear/on-ear/over-ear, closed/open...

You can start with this list here: https://crinacle.com/rankings/headphones/

Apple just shed some light on the whole lossless/hi-res thing.

 

[nicho]

There’s going to be CD quality lossless, then there’s going to be Hi Res Lossless where you’ll need a DAC and 3.5 mm wired headphones. What some good value and high end DACs? What are some good value 3.5 mm headphones and high end headphones. If Apple’s AirPod Max could handle Hi Res Lossless I’d probably just get that, but it can’t. I’ll be listening to Apple Music on an iMac.

Out and about I’ll make do with AirPods Pro. Hopefully, new AirPods Pro coming out soon!

The wondering I have is whether it is Dolby Atmos or Lossless that's going to improve my listening the most (if either of them will... at all...)

If the former, will a DAC and wired headphones support that?

 

[alazhaarp]

apple's own lightning to 3.5 mm headphone jack adapter is actually tremendous value. from apple's documentation: "The Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter is designed to transmit audio from the iPhone’s Lightning connector. It contains a digital-to-analog converter that supports up to 24-bit/48 kHz lossless audio."

 

[Luba]

The wondering I have is whether it is Dolby Atmos or Lossless that's going to improve my listening the most (if either of them will... at all...)

If the former, will a DAC and wired headphones support that?

For Dolby Atmos, I don't believe you'll need a DAC or wires as it will work over Bluetooth. For Lossless, Apple says using their $35 cable the Max will come close to Lossless, but how close (99% of Lossless?) their support document doesn't say. Seems like Dolby Atmos will improve the listening experience the most, but it will only be offered on a limited number of songs, whereas Lossless will be available on something like 75 million songs.

 

[rainbowtapes]

I've used one of these for a while with my Plex music library - works great.

USB Audio Portable HiFi Music | Zorloo | Hong Kong

The home of innovative USB Audio solution. Zorloo provides affordable portable HiFi music product fom USB-DAC to digital earphone.

www.zorloo.com

 

[grahamwright1]

A little late to the conversation, but I'm using a Fiio E10 (https://www.fiio.com/e10k) and absolutely love the results. My new Ma Mini M1 is great, but it sounds dull as if it was a cheaper DAC built into the system. Switching my Sennheiser HD580's from the Mac mini directly to the FIIO is like night and day, so the FIIO stays plugged in all the time for listening...

 

[dagored]

I use this at home iFi Hip-dac Portable and this if at the beach or pool, AudioQuest DragonFly Red USB Stick DAC. Everyone's taste will be different.

 

[perspective7]

There’s going to be CD quality lossless, then there’s going to be Hi Res Lossless where you’ll need a DAC and 3.5 mm wired headphones. What some good value and high end DACs? What are some good value 3.5 mm headphones and high end headphones. If Apple’s AirPod Max could handle Hi Res Lossless I’d probably just get that, but it can’t. I’ll be listening to Apple Music on an iMac.

Out and about I’ll make do with AirPods Pro. Hopefully, new AirPods Pro coming out soon!

RME ADI-2 DAC FS

you won’t regret it…..

 

[grahamwright1]

RME ADI-2 DAC FS

you won’t regret it…..

That's a seriously nice piece of hardware! What headphones are you using with it?

 

[perspective7]

That's a seriously nice piece of hardware! What headphones are you using with it?

That's a seriously nice piece of hardware! What headphones are you using with it?

im using sennheiser HD600 , love them.