Apple announced that Apple Music will release a spatial audio function that supports Dolby Atmos and will bring lossless audio to the entire music library. Apple Music subscribers will be able to enjoy these features from next month at no additional cost.
Apple’s official website indicates that HomePod will support spatial audio, but it is not clear whether it includes HomePod mini.
Apple said that Dolby Atmos is an immersive audio experience that allows musicians to mix sound and let the sound linger around and at the top of the space. Apple Music will play Dolby Atmos tracks by default through AirPods and Beats headphones equipped with H1 or W1 chips, as well as the built-in speakers of the latest versions of iPhone, iPad and Mac. Apple Music will continue to add new Dolby Atmos tracks and will create a series of special Dolby Atmos playlists. In addition, albums that support Dolby Atmos will display logos on the details page so that users can discover this type of music.
For lossless audio, Apple will use the ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) format to preserve every byte in the original audio file. Apple pointed out that this means that Apple Music subscribers will be able to hear exactly the same sound as the artist making music in the studio.
It should be noted that “Hi-Res Lossless” will require an external device, such as a USB digital-to-analog converter.
Naijatechnews understands that to start listening to lossless audio, subscribers using the latest version of Apple Music can turn on this feature in “Settings”> “Music”> “Audio Quality”. Here, users can choose different audio resolutions according to different network connection conditions, such as cellular networks and wireless local area networks, or download and listening needs. The lossless level of Apple Music starts from the CD sound quality, which is 44.1 kHz/16 bit. The higher level of sound quality is 48 kHz/24 bit, and tracks in these two resolutions can be played natively on Apple devices. Apple Music also provides audiophiles with high-resolution lossless sound quality up to 192 kHz/24 bit.
Spatial audio and lossless audio will be available to all Apple Music subscribers in June. Presumably, there will also be a matching HomePod software update to support the launch of the spatial audio function in a timely manner.
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