Is 'lossless audio' really all it's hyped up to be?

[NewBench]

I'm no audiophile, but can appreciate good sound. I've had APMs in the past, and they sound superb to me, some of the best headphones I've ever used, wired or wireless. They don't support lossless, but I don't feel the sound I'm hearing is substantially missing something.

I keep hearing people talk about 'lossless audio'. Whilst I've never listened to audio in 'lossless' format, is it really all its hyped up to be? The new AirPods Pro 2 are rumoured to possibly have support for it.

What does lossless offer that would improve the experience of listening to anything through APMs or AirPods Pro? Is it really going to take my listening experience from a 9/10 to a 10/10?

 

[iStorm]

I'm one of the 98% of people that can't tell the difference. I feel it's more of a buzz word...or induces FOMO.

Apple Music boss says 98 percent of people can't identify lossless audio

Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior VP of Internet Software and Services, told Billboard that only those with “incredible ears” can tell the difference between compressed and lossless audio, but that this requires “very, very high-quality stereo equipment”

audiomediainternational.com

It's also amusing that Apple says you can listen to lossless audio using the built-in speakers on the iPhone, iPad, or Mac when they don't exactly have the best sound quality to begin with.

About lossless audio in Apple Music - Apple Support

Learn about lossless audio in Apple Music and how to turn it on or off for your device.

support.apple.com

 

[bassexpander]

The sad truth about hifi has traditionally been that only old rich people with bad hearing can afford high-end equipment. Those young people with ears still sensitive and most capable of enjoying the finer details are rarely able to afford the best. I still have a pile of SACDs in a drawer. I miss the days when they wowed me. Now I cannot hear above 12,000Hz.

 

[haralds]

I have to admit I cannot tell the difference. Not on my high-end audio monitors costing thousands nor any of the AirPods (I have all of them) nor on my Denon cans. My ears are old.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I've wanted and tried to tell the difference, but for me 320kbps AAC/MP3 is where it stops and I can't tell anything is better beyond that.

I keep my personal collection in as high of quality ALAC as I can, mainly to just always have a top quality source file, but then I down convert them all for storage/consumption on portable devices.

 

[Steve121178]

I can tell the difference when using my Shuare Aonic 5's wired vs using them wireless. Also a difference when using my iPhone in my car wired vs wireless.

My car has a top end sound system and my Shure IEM's are very decent so yes it does make a difference. I presume your hearing ability also comes in to it. If you have high end headphones and can't tell the difference then something's not quite right there.

It's not a night & day difference but it's a very nice upgrade.

Playing say a few Hans Zimmer Intersteller tracks lossless vs bluetooth shows the difference for me. It's quite significant.

 

[chiefsucker]

The sad truth about hifi has traditionally been that only old rich people with bad hearing can afford high-end equipment. Those young people with ears still sensitive and most capable of enjoying the finer details are rarely able to afford the best. I still have a pile of SACDs in a drawer. I miss the days when they wowed me. Now I cannot hear above 12,000Hz.

Unfortunately this is true for so many things in life. Like expensive mirrorless cameras with excellent image quality you can't see anymore due to deteriorated eyesight, or fast sports cars you have to drive at 20 mph due to reduced reaction times and the inherent danger in traffic.

 

[BIGSHOTT]

At a sufficient data rate, lossy audio is capable of being audibly transparent. CD sound is transparent with room to spare. Once sound fidelity exceeds our ears' ability to hear it, you can improve the sound, but it won't sound any different. All you get are bigger file sizes and bigger numbers in the specs.

I maintain masters in my collection at 16/44.1 and the music I actually listen to is AAC 256 VBR. The only reason I buy an SACD or blu-ray audio disk is for multichannel sound.

 

[BIGSHOTT]

I can tell the difference when using my Shuare Aonic 5's wired vs using them wireless. Also a difference when using my iPhone in my car wired vs wireless.

Bluetooth uses several different codecs. Some are transparent, some are not. Your phone might be defaulting to an inferior codec.