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From MP3 to FLAC: Audio file formats explained
Exploring the best audio formats for every need under the sun
The world of digital audio formats can seem complex and overwhelming, especially for those new to digital tunes. With terms like "lossy," "lossless," and "bitrate" being thrown around, it's easy to get lost in the tech jargon.
How to listen to Apple Music's lossless tracks on your Android or iPhone
Apple Music supports lossless audio with a bit of work: Here's how to get the best sound around
If you consider yourself an audiophile, you're probably not content with traditional audio streaming services, which lock you into compressed, lossy audio formats playing at 16-bit/44.1kHz. This is CD-quality output, but many audio connoisseurs demand nothing less than lossless audio that plays at least 24-bit/192kHz.
The best DACs for Android are portable devices that not only work well with all sorts of smartphones, but they elevate the listening experience. How do they do that? Well, every link from the phone to your ears impacts the sound — and when there’s a weak link, everything else suffers. While wireless earbuds and headphones are already doing the work, having a signal chain where every individual piece is the best it can be creates a listening environment that’s just a bit better.
ifi GO bar review: Desktop-class audio in a tiny package
True audiophile-quality music has never been this portable
High-end audio has always been a pricey hobby, with people willing to spend ludicrous amounts of money for the best listening experience possible. Unfortunately, the best Android phones today don't have DACs powerful enough to satisfy audiophiles, let alone a headphone jack to take advantage of.
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FiiO M11 Plus ESS review: Audiophile quality for the masses
The iPod may be dead, but this thing is better at playing music anyway
Standalone digital audio players (DAP for short) have been around for a while, but high-end players used to be reserved for people who already had large collections of high-def and lossless music at their disposal. The push for lossless and hi-fi music from streaming services has made it easier than ever for people to make the jump into the audiophile hobby, and the FiiO M11 Plus ESS is a great value for the money in this space—but it's not for casual music listeners.
Snapdragon Sound's new lossless audio won't just sound better, it might stop your Bluetooth buds from cutting out all the time
Qualcomm's certification and the new aptX Lossless hide a pretty good perk
Bluetooth audio is hardly cutting-edge. Bargain bin buds can be had these days for $15 on sale, and folks buy them in droves. But they're not all created equal — different models and different phones support different standards with different qualities. Qualcomm, with its fingers in basically every part of the smartphone pie, decided earlier this year to roll out a new Snapdragon Sound certification: a single badge you could look for that means "this thing does the good audio stuff." And today, the company has announced that Snapdragon Sound will support lossless CD-quality audio, which is all the rage these days now that Apple Music has it. But, even if you don't care about better audio quality, there's actually a tiny, hidden benefit to this change that I'm actually even more excited for.
Apple Music's latest update delivers lossless and spatial audio for 'compatible devices'
Your playlists have never sounded so crystal clear
Spotify may be the reigning champion of streaming music, but it's far from the only choice. Apple Music is a surprisingly competent app even on Android, and some of its recent additions make it an even better service. In May, Apple added lossless and spatial audio to its service at no additional cost, and with its latest app update, both are finally coming to Android.
Apple Music just changed everyone else's plans for lossless audio
Apple's hi-fi tier arrives next month for all users, along with support for Dolby Atmos
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Lossless audio seems to be the next significant advancement in music streaming. Amazon has been offering a high-quality plan since 2019, and in February, Spotify announced a new HiFi plan to launch later this year. Leave it to Apple to shake up the entire ecosystem with its announcement of lossless audio. Starting next month, all Apple Music subscribers will gain access to improved audio quality along with select Dolby Atmos tracks at no extra cost.We already knew that a lossless tier was on the horizon for Apple Music, thanks to recent leaks from both iOS 14.6 and the latest beta version of the Android app. Launching it at no additional cost to subscribers, however, is an unexpected and game-changing move. More than 75 million songs will be available in lossless audio, which should cover nearly every song on the service. High-fidelity tracks will only be available to subscribers; you're still limited to standard quality when purchasing songs or albums through the iTunes store.
Square just bought Tidal and your guess is as good as ours as to why
The two companies share a love of really boring logos
Square, the company that makes those little portable payment machines you use when you're in a small restaurant or paying for a caricature, is buying Tidal, that music streaming service that's obsessed with audio quality. If it seems like an odd match, consider that musicians often need to get paid in non-traditional ways—that's how it's being pitched in the official announcement, anyway.
Music streaming service Deezer is expanding the availability of its lossless membership tier, known as Deezer HiFi, to include Android, iOS, and the web. Opening up HiFi access to these platforms, in addition to the previously available desktop support, will give users access to millions of FLAC (free lossless audio codec) files.
If you are someone who would pay 20 bucks a month for lossless streaming audio, you would probably like the option to play those high-bitrate tunes through the receiver connected to the biggest screen in your house. It's only fair. Rejoice, audiophiles and audiophile wannabes (like me), because streaming service Tidal has released an Android TV version of its app.