Apple Music Classical—not ready for audiophile primetime
Yesterday, Apple launched the Apple Music Classical app based on its 2021 purchase of the classical music specialty app, Primephonic.
It’s a good-looking, highly informative classical app geared to detailed metadata searches specific to the highly individual nature of classical works. In this, the app mimics Roon, although not as detailed. But whereas Roon only allows two high-definition services to populate its ecosystem, Tidal and Qobuz, Apple Music, of which the classical app is a subsidiary, is left to Sonos and others where high-definition playback up to 192 kHz is not supported.
As such, if you want Apple Classical native support on any of the major player’s high-end audiophile components including Lumin (review forthcoming), Naim, Aavik, dCS, Aurender, Innuos and many others, you’re out of luck. The closest you’ll get to HiRes Audio as advertised on the Apple Classical info page is plugging a high-end DAC into your iPhone, the only platform at launch. Not an ideal “high-end” solution.
Apple’s PR says: “Apple today launched Apple Music Classical, a brand-new standalone music streaming app designed to deliver the listening experience classical music lovers deserve. With Apple Music Classical, Apple Music subscribers can easily find any recording in the world’s largest classical music catalogue with fully optimized search; enjoy the highest audio quality available and experience many classical favourites in a whole new way with immersive Spatial Audio; browse expertly curated playlists, insightful composer biographies, and descriptions of thousands of works; and so much more.”
The PR goes on to list the music luminaries helping to launch the app. Lots of biographies, podcasts, playlists, etc, all to the good, and a superb app for those new to classical music.
When Apple, very late to the party, switched its library to CD quality, it was a big deal. The main reason is Apple’s reach—they simply have the widest, deepest catalogue for classical music. And that’s yet another reason for a classical music civilian why Apple Music Classical may be perfect for you. But as an audiophile, it’s a big no.
From the Apple info page:
The Highest Audio Quality
Apple Music Classical features lossless audio of up to 24 bit/192 kHz throughout the service so listeners can experience the nuances of every performance. In Hi-Res Lossless mode, sound is so astoundingly crisp and clear that each note feels close enough to touch. And thanks to revolutionary Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, listeners can enjoy thousands of recordings from the best seat in the concert hall, immersed in a 360-degree soundscape where music comes from every direction, including above. Apple Music Classical’s Spatial Audio catalogue adds new albums every week as legendary recordings are remastered and contemporary performances are captured in Spatial Audio.
According to my friend Austin, a specialist in streaming and digital music:
“Yep, that is Apple for ya. They did half the job. Only Sonos has it built in and only up to 24/48. Airplay 2 is the same issue. You can connect an AudioQuest Dragonfly or the like to a mobile device and do a bit better. Until Apple wakes up and gets native support in high-end devices, you will have to look elsewhere.”
Apple headphones and the HomePod Gen 2 are hardly audiophile devices, all dependent on Apple’s audio computational trickery. Compare the same Apple Music track to a HiRes 192 Qobuz or Tidal MQA track through a high-end, two-channel streaming system, and there’s no comparison. Sure, Spatial Audio through my SONOS setup and Apple TV 4K can sound impressive, but again, compared to my Aavik streamer and audiophile setup, it’s a non-starter. Of course, an Apple Classical setup can be heard for pennies on the audiophile dollar. You gotta pay to play.
Once again, it’s an audiophile lunch bag let down from Cupertino. Maybe Apple will fix this in an update, but unless they talk to and support high-end devices (they don’t play well with others—Google, Netflix, etc—so don’t hold your breath), pass.
Apple Music Classical is included at no extra cost with nearly all Apple Music subscriptions.
Availability
Beginning today, Apple Music Classical is available for download on the App Store everywhere Apple Music is offered, excluding China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey.
Apple Music Classical is available for all iPhone models running iOS 15.4 or later.
Apple Music Classical for Android is coming soon.
To listen to music on Apple Music Classical, users must have an internet connection.
For more information, visit apple.com/music and follow @appleclassical on Twitter.
