{"id":553519,"date":"2026-04-27T16:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/553519\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:12:12","slug":"apple-music-exec-most-people-cant-hear-the-difference-with-lossless-audio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/553519\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Music exec: “Most people can’t hear the difference with lossless audio”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most people can’t tell the difference between lossless<\/a> and standard resolution audio, an Apple Music<\/a> executive has claimed.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Billboard’s On The Record podcast<\/a>, Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music<\/a>, was told by the host that “most average people can\u2019t really hear the difference with lossless.” He replied “Correct”, and went on:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“My second point is: honestly, if we did an anonymous [blind] test on just an iPhone with headphones… I can tell you most fans wouldn\u2019t be able to tell the difference.”<\/p>\n

Article continues below <\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Apple has prioritised Spatial Audio<\/a> over lossless audio, as Schusser claims that in the exact same test, more people can hear the difference.<\/p>\n

Apple’s approach to lossless is best described as complicated. All of its AirPods wireless earbuds and headphones support the standard AAC Bluetooth codec, which isn’t lossless. The AirPods Max<\/a> and Max 2<\/a> over-ears are the only Apple headphones to support lossless playback, and that’s only over the wired USB-C connection. Its HomePod<\/a> range of wireless speakers does support lossless, as does its recent iPhones<\/a>, iPads, and Apple TV 4K<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a further complication, Apple Music’s catalogue features three tiers of high resolution music: CD quality (16-bit\/44.1kHz), Apple Music Lossless (up to 24-bit\/48kHz), and Hi-Res Lossless (up to 24-bit\/192kHz). The HomePods and Apple TV 4K only support Apple Music Lossless, not Hi-Res Lossless.<\/p>\n

To hear the full-fat 24-bit\/192kHz resolution on an iPhone, you’ll need to plug in a wired pair of headphones<\/a> and an external DAC<\/a> that supports that resolution.<\/p>\n

The latest hi-fi, home cinema and tech news, reviews, buying advice and deals, direct to your inbox.<\/p>\n

Schusser’s comments go some way to explaining Apple’s approach, as the brand has staunchly stuck with the non-less AAC Bluetooth codec across its AirPods range of headphones and earbuds.<\/p>\n

Other audio brands, however take a very different tack: Sony’s higher-quality LDAC<\/a> codec (supporting up to 32-bit\/96kHz) comes as standard on all of Sony<\/a>‘s high-end wireless headphones and smartphones (it’s also supported in other brands, such as the Technics EAH-AZ100<\/a>.) Meanwhile, with the prevalence of hi-res music being available on other streaming services, JBL says its customers are requesting wired connections to its Flip<\/a> and Charge<\/a> Bluetooth speakers so they can get access to lossless music.<\/p>\n

Personally speaking, we can hear the difference with lossless, though a lot depends on what equipment you’re listening with (better headphones will be more revealing, for example).<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

Do you agree with Schusser’s comments? And what do you think of Apple’s approach to lossless? Let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/p>\n

What is Apple Spatial Audio?<\/a> Find out here<\/p>\n

Read our Apple Music review<\/a><\/p>\n

The best AirPods alternatives<\/a> you can buy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most people can’t tell the difference between lossless and standard resolution audio, an Apple Music executive has claimed.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-553519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}