And as we shall see,most users won’t benefit anyway.
In fact, there are significant downsides to streaming these extra-large files.
Lossless, Lossy, HiFi?
Samuel Rios / Unsplash
But the conversion is done in a way that exploits the idiosyncrasies of the human ear and brain.
In short, it’s very hard to tell the difference between lossy andlossless recordings.
If you are listening on earbuds or a Bluetooth speaker, then it’s even worse.
Daniela Mota / Unsplash
Bluetooth itself uses lossy compression to reduce bandwidth.
Lossless, or HiFi, or whatever it is called, does have uses.
But for plain listening, lossy MP3 and AAC files are more than fine.
Ilias Chebbi / Unsplash
Tidal
Ilias Chebbi / Unsplash
It gets worse.
Music is mastered for its destination format.
Mastering means EQ and audio compression (reducing the range between the quietest and loudest parts) are applied.
With FM radio and CDs, tracks were heavily compressed to make them sound louder than the competition.
“Companies like Apple recognize this, which is why you often see older albums sold asMastered for iTunes.
The albums are remastered with todays lossy formats in mind,” says Mak.
So what do you do to get better sound?
What I did wasswitch to Tidal, where even the basic tier sound better than the Apple Music versions.
Tidal’s tracks sound noticeably better, and it isn’t because of lossiness or losslessness.
It’s because Tidal’s mixing and mastering is different and usually makes music sound better.
Lossless is little more than a marketing gimmick, then.
