I like Apple music rather a lot, and whereas I’m slowly being tempted away to different, extra area of interest music streaming providers it would endlessly maintain a spot in my coronary heart because the gateway to one in all my most costly hobbies. Apple Music lossless despatched me down the darkish and lonely path of discovering the very best audio gear potential, becoming a member of a whole bunch of different individuals within the lengthy and dusty halls of audiophile-dom. All through my journey there was one query I at all times had – does plugging one of many greatest DACs into my Mac for Apple Music lossless even do something?
For a very long time, it was not a query I may reply. In any case, DACs are typically fairly costly, and when you can be spending cash on new audio system or headphones, a DAC was a bit of additional down my checklist of audio wants and desires. It was at all times there although, boiling away beneath the floor. Every time I appeared on the settings menu and Apple Music informed me ‘to get the very best sound high quality, you want an exterior DAC or a more recent machine’ I at all times puzzled what it will sound like. Simply how a lot of a distinction it will make.
It seems, for many who don’t wish to learn my ramblings, that it makes extra of a distinction than I may have ever imagined.
What even is an exterior DAC?
Or only a DAC, for that matter. A DAC is a kind of issues we’ve all come into contact with sooner or later or one other. They’re in our wi-fi headphones, our laptops, our iPhones, and even our watches. It’s how we’re in a position to take heed to streamed music in any respect.
A DAC is a digital-to-analog converter. It takes the digital sign {that a} streaming platform pumps out, and turns it into an analog sign that the speaker models, or drivers, in your headphones could make into candy music to your ears to take heed to. That’s a quite simple breakdown of a DAC, however it would serve the aim I would like it to right here.
The problem is that not all DACs are created equal. The DAC in your iPhone 14 might be much less succesful than the DAC in your MacBook Professional 14-inch, and so forth and so forth. See, music recordsdata of various qualities come in several bitrates, a measure of the standard of the digital observe itself. I gained’t go into element right here, however typically, the upper the bitrate, the higher high quality of the observe. Now, with larger bitrates, simply as with higher-quality video recordsdata, comes the necessity for better-quality audio conversion. The DACs in telephones, laptops, and tablets simply aren’t constructed to transform the very best bitrates correctly. On this case, they’re the weak hyperlink within the sign chain.
That’s the place a devoted DAC is available in. It’s a bit of field that’s made with the only goal of changing these high-bitrate tracks into listenable indicators, utilizing stronger {hardware} to decode the higher-quality observe. The higher the DAC, the higher the analog sign that’s transformed from that digital observe.
So do I would like one?
In a phrase: No. In a couple of extra phrases: No, however you undoubtedly need one. Apple Music is able to spitting out very excessive bitrate tracks, with some even reaching the lofty heights of 24bit 192kHz (that is a really high-quality observe, for reference). Now, you’re not going to get these bitrates by means of Bluetooth, as the usual merely isn’t going to be robust sufficient to hold the unimaginable quantities of information that’s contained inside a lossless audio observe. All of those require a cable, not to mention a DAC.
If you wish to take heed to these lossless tracks, you’re going to want an exterior DAC, there’s little question about it. This, for instance, is the Chord Mojo 2. It’s a ache to make use of, however its functionality as a DAC is solely phenomenal. It additionally prices $500. That, in case numbers aren’t your forte, is rather a lot.
Now you don’t need to spend that a lot on a DAC to get these high bitrates. DACs from the likes of iFi and others price a complete lot much less, whereas competently changing your lossless tracks. They’re not going to sound nearly as good because the Mojo 2, and they may not have among the different cool options (just like the amp within the Mojo that may energy even the biggest and most power-hungry headphones), however they’ll price much less. You too can spend extra on a DAC, if you would like, however that’s when it begins to get to some extent of diminishing returns.
A superb DAC works as a result of it is ready to reproduce a greater analog sign, that’s actually all there may be to it. If you wish to profit from the Apple Lossless, then you need to completely look into getting a DAC. That method, you’ll have the ability to expertise larger high quality audio and get curious as to what different HiFi streaming providers are like, equivalent to Qobuz or Tidal (Spoiler; they’re flipping nice). Apple Music can act as a gateway to higher audio. You possibly can even get one that can plug into the greatest iPhones, so you may be fantastic it doesn’t matter what system you are utilizing.
Do you want a DAC although? Should you similar to to take heed to Apple Music over your AirPods Max or related Bluetooth cans, then you definitely’re not going to be too bothered about one thing that nearly ties you to your desk. Sure, the Mojo 2 has a built-in battery and is known as ‘moveable’, however you’re not going to wish to transport any additional than your bed room to the lounge. Not one for the bus. If that is you, then no, you don’t want a DAC. However you could be tempted.
