Apple Music Hi Res Lossless over AirPlay 2 with an Airport Express (connected to a DAC)?

[Agent_Apple]

Have not seen this discussed yet - but wondering if Hi Res lossless will work over Airplay 2 with an Airport Express? I have distributed audio in my house that consists of multiple re-purposed AirPort Express boxes, with the latest firmware and AirPlay 2. I am particularly curious if an AirPort Express connected to a high-end DAC via TosLink will be able to push Hi Res lossless audio from Apple Music.

Any thoughts or insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[supermars]

Very good question. Maybe a new generation of Airport Express and Time capsule is coming.. ? Please !

 

[grumnz]

I have a similar setup to you - Airplay2 to AEX, then Toslink to hi end Cyrus DAC. I believe Airplay audio is lossless at 16/44kHz. I play all sorts of media over this, from streamed radio at 128kbps, Tidal Hifi, CDs ripped to ALAC (so 16/44), locally stored HiDef audio tracks at 24/96 (which I guess get downsampled for Airplay transmission to 16/44), and so on.
Anything works, and if the source is 16/44 or better it all sounds fantastic. I think once you get to CD quality (16/44) your downstream components (DAC etc) have a much bigger bearing on sound quality, than a few extra bits. I've seen some studies that say 24/96 etc can actually sound worse...

So, my thoughts are we will be happy. If Apple Music streams to my house at 16/44 or anything higher, I'm a subscriber.

 

[Uofmtiger]

Have not seen this discussed yet - but wondering if Hi Res lossless will work over Airplay 2 with an Airport Express? I have distributed audio in my house that consists of multiple re-purposed AirPort Express boxes, with the latest firmware and AirPlay 2. I am particularly curious if an AirPort Express connected to a high-end DAC via TosLink will be able to push Hi Res lossless audio from Apple Music.

Any thoughts or insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

It definitely has left us with a lot of questions. Will Airplay 2 get upgraded to allow hi res streaming? The other is whether they will update the Remote app to better integrate Apple Music..which would at least allow you to use a computer to play the files without having a monitor on. Will Apple have Airplay products that can handle this resolution.. I am not sure about the new AppleTV.. but the old ones would put out a 48khz signal regardless of the file resolution.

Excited about this update, but still trying to figure out how I will get the most out of it.

 

[zoomp]

I have read somewhere (maybe roon forums) that there seems to have an specification on airplay 2 api for 192/24 but it wasnt implemented by Apple yet. I think it was on apples developer wddc presentation on airplay 2. I guess we will hear about that in June. I hope we can use our apple tv 4k for that as well.

 

[eat_more_ramen]

I have tested the my first gen Airport Express and it is outputting 44.1kbps only to my DAC. For now, streaming high-res music is not possible via Airport or Airplay Music endpoints.

 

[Shroomfuhrer]

Greetings to everyone who, like me, faced the problem of high-resolution audio on AirPort Express. Now I own a MacBook pro M1 and want to output sound from it through an optical cable to the Edifier S2000PRO speakers, where there is a DAC that suits me. Unfortunately, due to for the new processor and operating system, many audio interfaces are currently not supported or do not work correctly. Today I found out that AirPort Express has the ability to output audio to optics via AirPlay, which is even better than what I wanted! But after reading the forums, I also found out that AirPlay 2 limits the quality of the stream to 16/44.1 and this already loses the meaning of all my audiophile fantasies. So I want to know if I should take the AirPort Express and hope for a protocol update to be able to transmit truly Hi-Res audio, or should I look for another audio interface with a Toslink connector? In this case, which one is better to take for a full 24/192? I'm not interested in the most expensive solution, since the task is as simple as possible - just output lossless audio from USB to Toslink.

 

[LCC0256]

I have been asking this question since 2007 when I first started using AirPort Extreme & Expresses to stream to my 4 low/mid range amplifier/speaker combinations (All with 24/192 DAC capability in amps) I subsequently replaced 2 of those amps with Airplay 1 capable low/mid range amps.
Ask 100 people got 100 different answers. I fully understand that the 16/44 is what will be passed via optical through the Expresses. That is quite good by the way. Do not for one moment think it is not. Got mega bucks tied up in "audiophile" listening room & equipment leads MOST to look down their noses at Apple & music in the same sentence. Good for the economy is my reply. Bottom line is I never got a straight answer on the EXACT ROUTING of my music stream. It starts at my ISP delivery/configuration. From there it goes to my separate modem via ethernet 6 cable. Then to my AirPort Extreme newest unit w latest firmware. Here is where there is some confusion. From there I believe it travels to my base iMac (Duo Core 2 / El Capitan - which may be an issue in and of itself) into iTunes on the iMac. There sit all my music files. Some ripped in via CD on said iMac at highest settings & the rest either purchased or matched via iTunes. Then later on "added to library" by Apple Music membership. The old iMac/iTunes set up does allow me to see the bit/sample rate. I have not been able to figure out how to see the bit/sample rate in the Apple Music program on my newer MacBook Pro. I have my music settings in the MIDI setting on iMac set to highest settings. As stated earlier I have two Airplay 1 equipped amplifiers & the other two amps are served by Airport Expresses 1st Gen.
(for now due to the fact there is no advantage to using my newest Expresses which are Gen 2's.) Since I have all my songs sitting on my SSD on my iMac I feel sure the best I get is whatever the "quality" the respective song/file is whether it be ALAC or AAC. I also have a 2012 MBP than has none of my library sitting on it. It streams all from the cloud. However the music that has been added since Apple "upgraded" Apple Music has all appeared on my iMac as AAC files 16/44. I can only assume that is the case for all the music coming from the cloud. Until there is proof that "high resolution" music files are in fact being "added" to my music library & consequently 'streamed" to my home music - I am not attempting to upgrade any of my amps. I just want to see if I can hear any difference. I did not buy my amps & speakers over the years with "streaming" or "high definition files" in mind. I auditioned them the old fashioned way LP/CD. I would be very interested & appreciative to read about more from the posters here.

 

[Uofmtiger]

I have been asking this question since 2007 when I first started using AirPort Extreme & Expresses to stream to my 4 low/mid range amplifier/speaker combinations (All with 24/192 DAC capability in amps) I subsequently replaced 2 of those amps with Airplay 1 capable low/mid range amps.
Ask 100 people got 100 different answers. I fully understand that the 16/44 is what will be passed via optical through the Expresses. That is quite good by the way. Do not for one moment think it is not. Got mega bucks tied up in "audiophile" listening room & equipment leads MOST to look down their noses at Apple & music in the same sentence. Good for the economy is my reply. Bottom line is I never got a straight answer on the EXACT ROUTING of my music stream. It starts at my ISP delivery/configuration. From there it goes to my separate modem via ethernet 6 cable. Then to my AirPort Extreme newest unit w latest firmware. Here is where there is some confusion. From there I believe it travels to my base iMac (Duo Core 2 / El Capitan - which may be an issue in and of itself) into iTunes on the iMac. There sit all my music files. Some ripped in via CD on said iMac at highest settings & the rest either purchased or matched via iTunes. Then later on "added to library" by Apple Music membership. The old iMac/iTunes set up does allow me to see the bit/sample rate. I have not been able to figure out how to see the bit/sample rate in the Apple Music program on my newer MacBook Pro. I have my music settings in the MIDI setting on iMac set to highest settings. As stated earlier I have two Airplay 1 equipped amplifiers & the other two amps are served by Airport Expresses 1st Gen.
(for now due to the fact there is no advantage to using my newest Expresses which are Gen 2's.) Since I have all my songs sitting on my SSD on my iMac I feel sure the best I get is whatever the "quality" the respective song/file is whether it be ALAC or AAC. I also have a 2012 MBP than has none of my library sitting on it. It streams all from the cloud. However the music that has been added since Apple "upgraded" Apple Music has all appeared on my iMac as AAC files 16/44. I can only assume that is the case for all the music coming from the cloud. Until there is proof that "high resolution" music files are in fact being "added" to my music library & consequently 'streamed" to my home music - I am not attempting to upgrade any of my amps. I just want to see if I can hear any difference. I did not buy my amps & speakers over the years with "streaming" or "high definition files" in mind. I auditioned them the old fashioned way LP/CD. I would be very interested & appreciative to read about more from the posters here.

as far as I know, the only Apple products that support bit rate switching on the fly with Apple Music is iOS and iPadOS with a compatible DAC ( usually with Apple’s lightning to USB adapter). I believe you have to manually change the midi settings on the Mac to change bit rate to match file. Not ideal.

Personally, I also subscribe to Amazon Music since I can stream HI Res to a Wiim Mini. It gives me an easy way to hear the file in the proper resolution when I am in the mood. I still use AppleTV with AppleMusic quite a bit since it is so convenient and you can get album art and lyrics.

I am happy having the choice depending on my mood.

 

[LCC0256]

Thank you so very much for this information. I need to try Amazon Music & I am hearing seriously good things about that new Wiim Mini. Everywhere you read a review it is positive. Great post !!!