Why is the quality better?Becouse it's louder? I'll stay with Tidal as I will not allow a Apple product in my house.
Apple Joining the Atmos streaming game!
- Thread starter Mcallister
- Start date
Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:
Not sure about quality per say - bits wise. but right off the bat what I hear and it may be the volume level issue that tidal has...music sounded crisper, cleaner, more physical disc like, if you will.
The sound quality compared to Tidal is extremly better. What a wonderful day!
It's probably better that you don't know the bitrate.
If you find out that it's actually the same lossy Dolby Digital+ like Netfilx, Tidal, etc., it's suddenly going to sound bad.
salsdali
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
Tidal blames the DialNorm issue on Dolby and thus will not fix the issue where clearly the issue is not with Dolby but is on Tidal's end so for that alone I would go with Apple
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As I am mixing myself I don‘t fall into this pit
Question for people with Apple Music as well as large iTunes libraries: have you had any issues with files (or artwork) being replaced or otherwise altered by iTunes Match or other components?
I’ve read horror stories but those have tapered off. I still see new ones from time to time and it’s the only reason I’ve avoided Apple Music. I’ve tried Tidal and liked it well enough but since the only way to listen to its surround is by planting my butt on the couch, it’s never seemed like a value proposition.
This does… unless it risks a large portion of 50k other files that include hi-res Blu-ray tips, obscure masterings, etc. that’d be a pain to fix assuming I knew how to find them. Ideally, I’d want to use it solely on iOS devices where I also have synced files… but I’d want it disconnected from the desktop. That doesn’t seem possible.
I’ve read people I trust say that it works based on tags (in which case anything custom tagged should be safe) and I’ve heard it works based on audio fingerprinting (in which case, who knows). I can’t find a consensus. I’ve assumed that one reason there aren’t as many reports of problems now as before is that people with large libraries have stopped taking the risk. That’s certainly been my stance… until now.
I’ve already got a pair of AirPods Pro and have enjoyed what I’ve heard of the spatial surround. I know it won’t match up to the home experience on the full system, but it’d be great to have even a light version of surround while out and about.
I have a free six month voucher for Apple Music, making it all the more tempting. The idea of policing my library, though, and complicating my backup routine just keeps me from trying. I suspect that many users here use Jriver or other alternatives but I’m knee deep in Apple, so even though I have arrived and use it for some things, iTunes does all the heavy lifting.
This is increasingly tempting.
I’ve read horror stories but those have tapered off. I still see new ones from time to time and it’s the only reason I’ve avoided Apple Music. I’ve tried Tidal and liked it well enough but since the only way to listen to its surround is by planting my butt on the couch, it’s never seemed like a value proposition.
This does… unless it risks a large portion of 50k other files that include hi-res Blu-ray tips, obscure masterings, etc. that’d be a pain to fix assuming I knew how to find them. Ideally, I’d want to use it solely on iOS devices where I also have synced files… but I’d want it disconnected from the desktop. That doesn’t seem possible.
I’ve read people I trust say that it works based on tags (in which case anything custom tagged should be safe) and I’ve heard it works based on audio fingerprinting (in which case, who knows). I can’t find a consensus. I’ve assumed that one reason there aren’t as many reports of problems now as before is that people with large libraries have stopped taking the risk. That’s certainly been my stance… until now.
I’ve already got a pair of AirPods Pro and have enjoyed what I’ve heard of the spatial surround. I know it won’t match up to the home experience on the full system, but it’d be great to have even a light version of surround while out and about.
I have a free six month voucher for Apple Music, making it all the more tempting. The idea of policing my library, though, and complicating my backup routine just keeps me from trying. I suspect that many users here use Jriver or other alternatives but I’m knee deep in Apple, so even though I have arrived and use it for some things, iTunes does all the heavy lifting.
This is increasingly tempting.
harync
Senior Member
Any insight if one can get Atmos by streaming Apple Music from an iPhone or Mac to an AVR? I don't want to get an Apple TV and I hesitate to sign up if that's the only path forward.
It's very strange, I cannot add it to the library, I wonder if there are some regional limitations here (wouldn't make much sense as we're both in Europe). May I ask what you did to look for the album?
I'm not sure about a Mac but am almost certain it won't work with an iPhone. The only method that has been reported to work so far on this thread is through an Apple TV, unless I missed something.
My thoughts exactly. I'm almost tempted to set up a computer with a new AppleID, copy my library over to it and then enable a free trial of Apple Music just to see what happens. I was going to do that with a second account on my primary computer, but Apple has issues with associating more than one AppleID with a computer and can lock you into only being able to download from iTunes with one of them (ability to switch every 90 days). Ugh.
I’ve considered setting up a second Apple ID also on my only computer (Windows 10). Somehow I know that would blow up in my face.
Unrelated but worthwhile tangent: A few months ago, iTunes would force download every music purchase and movie code I’d ever redeemed with Apple (1800 files total) every time I reopened iTunes. I was able to stop it quickly but couldn’t prevent it. That happened every time over a week and then less frequently. It last happened a month ago. Apple “Care” insisted it was a problem with my computer or my wifi (don’t get me started). Eventually they created a ticket. It’s possible they fixed it on their end and didn’t tell me because it’s their policy never to admit they’re imperfect… or whatever caused it was changed unrelated to my personal experience. Either way, this is without ever having turned on Match or any such settings. I also hadn’t changed settings in the months I’d been using this computer. It hasn’t exactly intensified my trust. Granted, the first time it happened, both iOS devices tried to do the same thing (that’s where I first noticed it) but they only had the issue once. iTunes did it maybe 10-12 times.
If Apple Music has even greater reach….
Anyhow, I also called to ask about Match and Music not long before that, considering subscribing. I spoke with three people. Two basically didn’t understand the question and were ready to sign me up. The third put me on hold after rephrasing my concern to make sure she understood. When she came back she just said, “Apple can’t be held responsible for any changes. You should do regular backups if you try… but if I were in your place I might not try.” (Paraphrasing because memory, but this was the clear gist.)
That said, the lure of surround that goes beyond the usual reissue suspects and includes what may be decent upmixing on-the-go means I want to do all the homework possible to make this a viable pursuit.
Unrelated but worthwhile tangent: A few months ago, iTunes would force download every music purchase and movie code I’d ever redeemed with Apple (1800 files total) every time I reopened iTunes. I was able to stop it quickly but couldn’t prevent it. That happened every time over a week and then less frequently. It last happened a month ago. Apple “Care” insisted it was a problem with my computer or my wifi (don’t get me started). Eventually they created a ticket. It’s possible they fixed it on their end and didn’t tell me because it’s their policy never to admit they’re imperfect… or whatever caused it was changed unrelated to my personal experience. Either way, this is without ever having turned on Match or any such settings. I also hadn’t changed settings in the months I’d been using this computer. It hasn’t exactly intensified my trust. Granted, the first time it happened, both iOS devices tried to do the same thing (that’s where I first noticed it) but they only had the issue once. iTunes did it maybe 10-12 times.
If Apple Music has even greater reach….
Anyhow, I also called to ask about Match and Music not long before that, considering subscribing. I spoke with three people. Two basically didn’t understand the question and were ready to sign me up. The third put me on hold after rephrasing my concern to make sure she understood. When she came back she just said, “Apple can’t be held responsible for any changes. You should do regular backups if you try… but if I were in your place I might not try.” (Paraphrasing because memory, but this was the clear gist.)
That said, the lure of surround that goes beyond the usual reissue suspects and includes what may be decent upmixing on-the-go means I want to do all the homework possible to make this a viable pursuit.
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This article seems pretty good about answering those questions. Not surprisingly with a phone the only option seems to be headphones so far.
Has anyone here tried an older non-4k Apple TV model to get Atmos tracks on Apple Music? Everything I'm seeing seems to suggest a 4k model is needed.
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For those of us on Android (Nvidia Shield TV, Amazon Firestick 4k etc) there may be some hope but it sounds like it'll be a wait.
That would be the model that Tidal followed with Android & Amazon Fire. Use it on the phone and you're stuck with Atmos for headphones. If you want to stream it through your Atmos-ready AVR, then buy one of our new branded devices. (And if you already have one of our older branded devices, well: tough luck; you'll still have to buy a new one!)
When you search by voice using the mic on the remote while a song is playing, you will notice that it will temporary lower the volume.
If the Apple TV simply passes through the original Dolby Digital+ bitstream to the receiver, it would not be able to do this.
That is why the Apple TV processes the source Dolby Digital+ bitstream, so that it can do whatever it needs (like lowering the volume), before sending the audio (which has been converted to Dolby MAT) to the receiver .
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So far, as several hours have passed, I've been noticing that Apple is loading more and more music into the spatial/Atmos categories. Several stand outs that I've not seen on Tidal include: November Rain, What It Takes, Won't Get Fooled Again, Separate Ways, Knockin' On Heavens Door (GnR), Bad Case of Loving You, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Smooth Criminal, Rock and Roll All Nite, What's Up....in the rock playlist...https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/rock-in-spatial-audio/pl.a82d7ac0ee854d8b8a95708c76210023
Another observation...with help from my wife...we both agree there is a volume level difference of almost +15db from Apple to Tidal. So on my my AVR, I have to play Mr. Roboto at 65 on Tidal and Apple at 50 to be about the same SPL levels.
jaap74
Senior Member
I am using a Apple TV 4K into my Marantz receiver which can decode Atmos and downmix it to my 5.1 system. It sounds like it is playing in surround however the Marantz is showing me Stereo as the input and 'Dolby Surround' as the output. I have Atmos turned on in the Apple TV settings and it works correctly with the Apple TV Tidal app.
Anyone got any idea if I am getting Atmos correctly or the Marantz is creating 5.1 from the stereo ?
Thanks
Anyone got any idea if I am getting Atmos correctly or the Marantz is creating 5.1 from the stereo ?
Thanks
Is your tvOS software up to date (14.6) ?
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