This week, one of the hot-button topics among audiophiles and general music fans has, without a doubt, been Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music, suggesting “most people” can’t hear the difference with lossless audio.
Why do we say this, on what to many may be a seemingly innocuous claim? I mean, how many people even know what lossless audio is, right?
Lossless, not to be confused with hi-res, audio is a compressed file that remains bit-perfect when it is unpacked. The most common examples are FLAC or ALAC. Lossy formats, including MP3 and AAC, are ones that lose information in the packing process, potentially impacting audio quality.
The Apple high-up made the suggestion while appearing on Billboard's On The Record podcast. And we know it’s a hot-button topic, because you, our loyal readers, have since flooded the site, plus our forums and social media pages with comments.
Article continues belowAnd to be fair to Apple, a small number have agreed, like commenter “Luke Vesty”, who bluntly wrote, “It's not a controversial statement at all. It's fact.”
There was also “audiofilish”, who jibed, “audiophiles are a funny lot,” for caring about something as silly as lossless.
But most, especially those of you identifying as serious music fans or audiophiles, had a very different take.
Audiophiles (not) at a loss for words
Instead, many of you were quick to point out that you can definitely hear the difference between lossless, especially when playing music on “proper hi-fi”.
This was quite bluntly stated by “abebogere”, who wrote: “If you are using Apple products for audio, you certainly cannot tell the difference. On an actual audio system, you can.”
Then “Judas Shuffle” added: “I think most people haven't heard good quality audio. Once you [have] had a really good pizza, you want more.”
Finally, commenter “Erlend” added that, while he believes there is a difference, it’s one that “normal” people won’t really understand until they experience it first-hand.
“If you are passionate about music and an experienced listener, I firmly believe anyone can hear the difference on good equipment,” wrote Erlend.
“I know that I can. It’s not just about new details in the treble or definition of the bass. It’s also about the sense of air, room, timbre and placement of voices and instruments. It often comes more alive and gives you the feeling of being present with the musicians. Like someone removed a veil.”
But, there is some truth to it if…
While not everyone agreed on the dig at Apple products specifically, nearly all of you agreed with Erlend's point that you need decent hardware if you want to hear the difference, which is why so many don't "get" the difference, even at an academic level.
Commenter “Andy” summed this up writing: “[Most] people don't listen on gear that allows them to hear the difference, and also they only listen as background music. There is no point paying for high definition if your equipment can't transpose that. People understand that with TV/video, but for some reason don't get it when it comes to audio.”
Reader “sbrain111” then mirrored his sentiment, arguing: “I tend to agree that for most people, listening with headphones in the street or with Bluetooth or with most speakers, they won't hear much of a difference. Equipment where there is so much signal processing going on, I wonder if it makes a difference to listen to hi-res lossless. I only hear a difference when playing on my home hi-fi set-up, which is only mid-range.”
Our hot take
We agree that lossless does make a difference, but also that the amount of gains you experience will be dependent on a variety of factors.
These range from the hardware you’re using to play the music to the specific music you’re listening to. As we said in our best punk rock songs guide, if the song was badly recorded, there’s only so much technology can do to polish it.
But, equally, as famously said by our technical editor, Ketan Bharadia, music is there to be enjoyed and if you can’t hear the difference, “in some ways you’re lucky, as you’ve likely saved yourself a lot of money”.
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