Lossless Audio: Everything you need to know as a ...

This is the type of audio that has the minutest of details. Due to storage constraints though, it's not practical to distribute this audio ... Wearereadersupported.Externallinksmayearnusacommission.December10,20213:05amCommentSumukhRaoGuidetoLosslessAudio:EverythingyouneedtoknowfromaPhoneUserperspectiveRememberbackinthedaywhenWalkmansandCDswereathing?Orevenbeforethat,whenvinylrecordswereplayedonturntables?Nowthatwastruelosslessaudio.Audiointheformtheoriginalcreatorwantedyoutohearitin,withoutanylossofinformation.Withtimeandevolvingtechnologythough,thesediscswerereplacedbyubiquitousMP3playersliketheiPodorjustaboutanymobilephonethatcouldplay.mp3files.Whilethiswasrevolutionaryinmanywayssinceyounolongerhadtocarrybulkyequipmenttoenjoyyourfavoritetracks,itcamewithacompromise—audiocompression.WhatisAudioCompression?Beforeweanswerthatquestion,it’simportanttolearnabitmoreaboutsome(notso)commonlyusedterms–bitrateandsamplerate.Bitratereferstotheamountofdatathat’sbeingencodedasaudioeverysecond.Dataisintheformofbits,sobitrateisgenerallydenotedintheformofkilobitspersecondorkbps.Samplerate,ontheotherhand,referstothenumberoftimesinasecondthatthesoundisbeingconvertedtodata.Sinceanyvaluepersecond denotesfrequency,thesamplerateisexpressedintheformofKiloHertzorKHz.Ifyoufindithardtounderstandwhatbitrateandsamplerateactuallymean,justknowthehigherthebitrateandsamplerate,thebetterqualityofaudioyouwillhear.Traditionally,CDsorCompactDiscshavemusicfilesburntontothemintheWAVformatwhichyoumayhaveheardofbefore.WAVfilesgenerallyhaveabitrateof1,411kbpsandasamplerateof44.1KHz.Ideally,thisisthebitrateandsampleraterequiredtohear“lossless”audio.However,there’sacaveat.Ahighbitratemeansmoredata,whichinturnmeanshighfilesizes.Inordertoreducethesizeoftheseaudiofiles,theyhavetobecompressedandthat’swheretheylosethelosslesstag.MostaudiofilesyoudownloadfromtheinternetthesedaysaregenerallyinMP3format.Thisformatispopularsinceit’swidelysupportedacrossmultipledeviceswithoutanycompatibilityissues.However,MP3isacompressedaudioformatwhichbasicallymeansyou’relosingoutonsomeinformationthatyoumayotherwisehearonalosslessaudiofile.Thereasonwesaymayisbecauseevensomeaudiophilesclaimtheycannotdifferentiatebetween320kbpsMP3andalosslessformatlikeFLAC,whichwe’lltalkaboutlater.AudiostreamingservicesalsouseaformatknownasAACwhichisslightlybetterthanMP3butstillcompressed.24-bitWAVAudio320kbpsMP3Audio128kbpsMP3AudioThewaveformsyouseeabovedoagoodjobdepictingthedifferencebetweenWAVandMP3audio.Asyoucansee,thedetailsaboveacertainfrequencyarecutoffintheMP3audiofilesbutareretainedintheWAVaudio.Inthe128kbpsMP3spectrogram,youcanseethecut-offfrequencyislowerthanthe320kbpsMP3fileindicatingthequalityoftheaudioislowerontheaudiofilewithalowerbitrateandbitdepth.The24-bitWAVfilehasahigherrangeoffrequenciesindicatingmoredetailsandbetteraudioquality.DifferencebetweenUncompressedandLosslessAudioTheterm“lossless”isbeingusedquitelooselyeversinceApple’sannouncementoflosslessaudiocomingtoAppleMusiconbothiOSandAndroid.It’simportanttonotethoughthatlosslessaudioanduncompressedaudioarenotthesame.Uncompressedaudioreferstoarecordedtrackinitspurestformwithoutanytechnicalintervention.Thisisthetypeofaudiothathastheminutestofdetails.Duetostorageconstraintsthough,it’snotpracticaltodistributethisaudioformatwhichiswherecompressedyetlosslessaudiocomesintothepicture.Incommonspeak,thisissimplycalledlosslessaudio.Forsomecontext,ifyouremember,wementionedthatlosslessaudiohasabitrateof1,411kbps.MP3andAAC,ontheotherhand,candoamaximumof320kbpswhichshowshowcompressedtheseformatsactuallyare.Bynowyoumusthaverealizedit’simportanttofindamiddlegroundbetweenlosslessaudioandcompressedaudio.EnterFLACandALAC.LosslessAudioonSmartphones:FLACandALACLosslessaudioondigitaldeviceslikesmartphonesandcomputershasbeenaroundforawhilebuthasn’tbeenverypopularduetotworeasons—one,it’sexpensiveandrequiressubscriptionstoserviceslikeTidalorAmazonMusicHD.Two,theavailabilityofalbumsinthelosslessformatislimited.Howdotheyworkthough?TheyuseanaudiocodecknownasFLACorFreeLosslessAudioCodec.FLACusesacompressionalgorithmthatcanmaintainahighsamplerateofupto96KHzwhichisevenbetterthantheWAVformatwespokeaboutearlier,whileoccupyingjusthalfthestoragespace.Whilemostmodern-daysmartphonesandlaptopshavesupportforFLAC,ApplebeingAppledevelopeditsowncodecknowsasALACwhichstandsforAppleLosslessAudioCodec.ThisissimilartoFLAC,exceptit’scompatiblewithiOSandmacOS.IfyouwanttotransferlosslessaudiotoyouriPhoneusingiTunes,thisistheformatyou’llneed.There’soneparameterwedidn’tmentionearlierwhichalsoplaysabigpartindeterminingtheaudioqualityandthat’sbitdepthorresolution.Bitdepthindicatesthenumberofbitsofdatapresentineachsample.Asimplewaytounderstandthiswouldbetolookatitfromtheperspectiveofvideos.Ifyou’rewatchingavideoatalowerresolutionlike480p,theamountofinformationordatayou’regoingtoseewouldbelowercomparedtoa1080pvideo.Similarly,ahigherbitdepthorresolutionindicatesbetteraudioquality.BothFLACandALACsupportupto24-bitaudiowhichishigherthanthe16-bitresolutionsupportedbyCDs.Also,noteWAV,FLAC,andALACarenotperfectrecreationsofuncompressedaudio.TheyhavealotmoresamplesthanMP3orAACsotheaudiowaveformisalotsmootherthanMP3orAAC—butit’sstillnotperfect.AppleMusicLosslessAudio:WhatdoesitmeanforMusicStreamingonPhones?IflosslessaudiowasalreadyavailableonplatformslikeTidalandAmazonMusicHD,whyisApple’sannouncementbeinghypedsomuch?Asyou’llhaveguessedbynow,Apple’slatestannouncementofprovidinglosslessaudiothroughAppleMusicmakesuseofALACfiles.ThebiggestdifferencebetweenAppleMusicprovidinglosslessaudiofromotherplatformsistheentirecollectionofsongspresentonAppleMusicwillnowbeavailableinalosslessformat.You’llnowbeabletolistentoyourfavoritetrackswithalotmoredetail,justthewayitwasintendedto.AppleMusichasamuchlargerlibrarycomparedtolesser-knownaudiostreamingplatformswhichautomaticallyimpliesyou’llhavealargercollectiontochoosefrom.Bestofall,Appleisofferingthisupgradetolosslessfreeofchargetoitssubscribers.Ofcourse,youstillneedasubscriptiontoAppleMusictouseitandit’llbeavailableonbothiOSandAndroid.ThisisbignewsbecauseApplegenerallysetsthetrendforotherbrandstofollow.IfAppleisofferinglosslessaudioatnoadditionalcost,consumerswhouseotherstreamingserviceswillbetemptedtoswitchovertoAppleMusic.That’sthereasonwe’realreadyseeingcompetitorslikeSpotifyannouncethey’realsoworkingonbringinglosslessaudiototheplatform.Attheendoftheday,it’sawin-winsituationforus,theendconsumers,sincewe’regettingsubstantiallybetterqualityaudio,somethingwe’vebeendeprivedofforyears.AppleMusiclosslessisnowavailableforuserstoexperienceonbothiOSandAndroid.Ofcourse,you’llneedrelevanthardwaretoexperienceitwhichyoucanfindinourbestaccessoriestoexperiencelosslessaudioarticlethatlistsallthedifferentpartsthatyouwillneedtolistentolosslessaudio.WillyoubeabletoDifferentiatebetweenLosslessAudioandCompressedAudio?Foranaverageuser,thedifferencebetweencompressedaudioandlosslessaudiomaynotbeasapparent.Evenifyou’reanaudiophile,youmaystillnotbeabletoclearlytellthedifferenceapartbetweena320kbpsMP3versusaFLACfile.Asimplewaytocheckifyou’llactuallybeabletotellthedifferencebetweencompressedandlosslessaudioisbygoingtothevoicerecorderapponyoursmartphoneandrecordingthesameaudiointwodifferentformats.OnaniPhoneforexample,navigatingtoSettings>VoiceMemos willrevealanoptioncalledAudioQuality. SetittoCompressedfirstandthenheadovertotheVoiceMemosappandrecordashortclip.HeadbackintoSettingsandnowchangetheQualitytoLossless.Recordanotherclip.Playbackbothclipsinsuccessiontoseeifyoucanhearadifference.That’smoreorlessthedifferenceyou’llnoticewhenplayingcompressedaudioandlosslessaudio.Notethatit’sbettertouseapairofIEMstolistentothisbitsincethedifferencewouldbemoreapparent.Alternatively,youcanalsovisitthissiteandrunthetestwithyourheadphonesonandseeifyoucantellthedifferencebetweenlosslessandlossyaudio.However,highbitratedoesn’tevenmatterifyoudon’thavetherighthardwaretomakeuseofit.HowtoExperienceLosslessAudioonyourAndroid/iOSSmartphoneNowcomesthedifficultpart.You’veunderstoodwhatlosslessaudio,FLAC,ALAC,andalltheotherjargonmeans,andyounowwanttoexperienceit.Howcanyoudoso?Well,wewishtheanswerwasstraightforward.SoonaftertheannouncementoflosslessaudioonAppleMusicwasmade,Applealsoputoutastatementthatlosslessaudiowon’tworkontheAirPodsProoreventhesuper-expensiveAirPodsMax.Infact,evenifyouhavethebestsmartphoneandthebestpairoftrulywirelessearphones,you’llstillnotbeabletoexperiencelosslessaudioonAppleMusic.ThereasonforthatisthatBluetoothcodecsjustcan’tmatchthebitrateofalosslessaudiofile.AppleusesAACtotransmitaudioviaBluetoothandhasacappedbitrateof256kbps.WhileAndroidphonesandsomewirelessearphoneshavesupportforaptXHD,thebitrateonthatcodec(576kbps)alsodoesn’tcomeclosetoALAC.Sony’sLDACcomesclosesttothe1,411kbpsmarkrequiredtoachievelosslessaudio(32-bit/96kHzat990kbps),buttheiPhonedoesn’tsupportitandthereareveryfewearphonestoothatsupportthecodec.ThecruxofthematterisBluetoothaudiocodecsdon’tsupportthebandwidthnecessaryfortransmittinglosslessaudiofileswithoutcompressingthem.SothebestwaytoexperiencelosslessaudioonyouriPhoneistousealightningto3.5mmDACalongwithagoodpairofearphonesorheadphones.SamewithanAndroiddeviceaswell,exceptyouwouldneedaType-Cto3.5mmadaptor.SomeAndroidphonesdocomewithanin-builtHiFiDACandthoseshouldbeabletotransmitlosslessaudiodirectlyviatheheadphonejackorUSB-Cport.Whileeveryphonetechnicallyhasabuilt-inDAC,itmaynotbecapableofpushinglosslessaudio.LGusedhigh-qualityDACsonitssmartphonesandnowtheAsusROGphone5hasone.Ifyouwantthebestexperience,youmightwanttoinvestinagoodexternalDACthatconnectsviaUSB.Thesamesolutioncanbeusedonacomputerorlaptopaswell.NotethatAppleMusiclosslesswillcomeintwotiers–Thelosslesstieris16bit/48kHzwithabitrateof1411kbps.ThisisthetierthatwillbeaccessibleifyouuseApple’slightningDAC.There’salsoaHi-reslosslesstierthatletsyouexperience24-bit/192KHzaudioforwhichyou’llneedabetterDAC.Thus,forthejourneytolosslessaudio,youneedthreepartsworkingtogether:Adevicewithabuilt-inDAC,oradeviceandexternalDAC.ApairofIEMs.Afilesourcethat’slossless,i.e.astreamingservicethatsupportslosslessaudiostreaming.Herearesomeproductsuggestionsthatwouldhelpyougetstartedoffwithlosslessaudioonyoursmartphoneorcomputer.Thesearejustsomeoftherecommendationsyoucanchoosefromdependingonwhatdeviceyouhaveandwe’llsoonhaveamorecomprehensivelistofalltheaccessoriesyoucangettoexperiencethedifferenttiersoflosslessaudio.AppleLightningto3.5mmDongleAdapterforAppledeviceswithLightningportThisisthedongleyou'llneedtoconnectyourpairofwiredearphonestoyouriPhoneviathelightningport.ViewatAmazonPortableUSB-C32-bitDACAffordableUSB-CDACThisisoneofthemostaffordable32-bitUSB-CDACswecouldfindandshouldbegoodenoughformostpeoplewantingtoexperiencelosslessaudio.ViewatAmazonXtremProX1USB-ADACAffordablehighperformanceDACTheXtremProX1DACconnectsviaUSB-Aandoffersreliableperformanceatanaffordableprice.Ifyoujustwanttogetstarted,thisisanidealoption.ViewatAmazonKZZSNProIEMTheseareoneofthemostpopularIEMsyoucanfindandthey'realsoaffordable.Highlyrecommended.ViewatAmazonIfyouarelookingformoreoptions,wehaveaseparateguideontheAudioEquipmentyou’llneedtogetstartedwithLosslessAudio.ThislistsoutseveraloptionsforDACs,Chi-Fi,IEMs,Headphones,andmore.ShouldyoubeexcitedaboutLosslessAudio?Ifyou’reanaudiophile,hellyeah!Ifyou’resomeonewhocan’ttellthedifferencebetweencompressedandlosslessaudio,whichshouldbequitealotofyou,there’snotawholelotthat’sgoingtochangeexceptforslightlyhigherdataconsumptionmaybe.Unlikevideostreamingwherethere’sahugedifferencewhenmovingfrom480pto1080p,theupgradethatlosslessaudiobringsmaynotbeasdrastictoalotofpeople.Tags3.5mmheadphoneAppleMusicaudioHigh-ResAudioWirelessEarphonesXDA»NewsIn-Depth»GuidetoLosslessAudio:EverythingyouneedtoknowfromaPhoneUserperspectiveAboutauthorSumukhRaoAtechfanaticwithahungerforknowledgeintheever-growingfieldofscienceandtechnology.AnavidquizzerandagadgetcriticwholovessimplifyingtechforthemasseshasakeeninterestinmoddingAndroiddevices.LoadCommentsSubscribetoXDAReceivethefreshestAndroid&developmentnewsrightinyourinbox!LatestXDANewsThisappletsyourunAndroidAutoonaTeslaoverthebrowserDecember19,2021HowtodeletevoicehistoryfromAmazonAlexa,GoogleAssistant,andApple’sSiriDecember19,2021OnePlusBudsZ2Review:Purposefullymid-rangewithgoodANCDecember18,2021ThiswebsitehelpsyouquicklyfindandinstallFOSSalternativestoGoogleappsDecember18,2021ThisnewappcandecoratetheMacBookPro’sscreennotchDecember17,2021XDADeveloperswasfoundedbydevelopers,fordevelopers.Itisnowavaluableresourceforpeoplewhowanttomakethemostoftheirmobiledevices,fromcustomizingthelookandfeeltoaddingnewfunctionality.Areyouadeveloper?|TermsofServiceThissiteisprotectedbyreCAPTCHAandtheGooglePrivacyPolicyandTermsofServiceapply.MoreinfoContactAdvertiseAboutSuggestContentSecurityPrivacyPolicyChangeAdConsentDonotsellmydataUsefulLinksBestAndroidPhonesHowtoRootBestLaptopsHowToGuidesCopyright©XDAWe'reSocial