What is the ideal way to get your high-quality music when it comes to streaming, I have used Spotify for the last 15 years but would like to step up to at least CD quality, I have messed around recently with Amazon HD and Tidal, I even have access to a year of Apple Music, Who is putting out a truly legit CD Quality file number one, and number two, what is the best way to get it’s raw form to my receiver, because this has proven way more difficult than I expected, I do have airplay but I have heard that is not a high quality sound transfer, I have an Nvidia shield TV and I also have an Apple TV 4K, both boxes seem to want to resample to 48 kHz, The Apple TV 4K is even doing this with Apple Music, is this OK or are these boxes degrading quality, I am able to get 44.1kHz through Heos but the apps music interface is awful and it doesn’t support Apple Music, it also has its limitations
A few months ago I experimented with all my means to recorded music, hoping the experimentation would reveal what routing sounded best. The experiment was performed with Classic Hauser, a high dynamic range recording, on LP, CD, 24/96 FLAC Download, and Apple Music Download. Playing these, nine ways to Sunday as listed below, I got some unexpected impressions.
LP>Technics SL-1210GR/Shure V15V (SAS)>Sony TA-E9000ES Pre-Pro Phono Preamplifier input
24/96 FLAC Download>Foobar2000>OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
24/96 FLAC Download>Foobar2000>Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD (for usb to S/PDIF conversion at 24/96)>TA-E9000ES optical S/PDIF input
Apple Music Download>iTunes>Airport Express (wi-fi to S/PDIF 16/44.1 output)>Sony TA-E9000ES optical S/PDIF input
Apple Music Download>iTunes>OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
Apple Music Download>iTunes>Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD (for usb to S/PDIF conversion at 24/96)>TA-E9000ES optical S/PDIF input
Apple Music Download>Network connection to OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
24/96 FLAC Download>Thumb Drive>OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
24/96 FLAC Download>Network connection to OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
CD>OPPO-205>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
CD>Rip to iTunes in ALAC>OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
CD>Rip to iTunes in ALAC>Airport Express (wi-fi to S/PDIF 16/44.1 output) Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
CD>Rip to iTunes in ALAC>Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD (for usb to S/PDIF conversion at 24/96)>Sony TA-E9000ES optical S/PDIF input
Conclusion: all processes yielded a satisfying listening experience, whereby tone, sound stage, and detail seemed so similar as to preclude any revelation to a particular process delivering the most compelling sound; however, three things did stand out: first, the presence of pops distracted LP pleasure, second, play of downloads via OPPO usb DAC, Drive Port, or Network connection is inconvenient, and finally, the iTunes play of the Apple Music AAC download via Airport Express to the Sony TA-E9000ES was most convenient, and sounded on par with the CD, ALAC and FLAC media. This makes me question any need for a means to music other than APPLE MUSIC. At any rate, the exercise was a fun activity on a cold and dreary weekend which has kept me indoors. Note, Apple Music to thumb drive was not tested, since it would have required purchase of the album to permit copy to thumb drive.
Update, since my experimentation, Apple Music has introduced Lossless streaming and Dolby ATMOS; however, neither of these platforms are accessible from iTunes on my laptop outputting via HDMI for ATMOS or usb for Lossless. It appears I will need to buy an Apple TV to enjoy Dolby ATMOS and if I want to stream Lossless I will need to connect my iPhone vial a decoding/charging cable to my preamp's usb DAC. I do not expect to be wowed by Lossless but I think Dolby ATMOS Music might be very entertaining.