Apple Lossless? Do I need Tidal now. Is it better with my Node 2i?

@hilde45

In other words, to listen to Apple Music Lossless, I now have to bypass my streamer?

No. You’re conflating Lossless with High Resolution. You are listening to Lossless using the method you employ. You aren’t listening to Apple High Resolution.

The article you linked explains that BlueOS plays AAC 256, which is lossless, but is limited to 44.1kHz (CD quality). Lossless (AAC) does not equate to high resolution (24bit/96kHz or 24bit/192kHz), which is possible using Darko’s technique.

However, as I mentioned previously, high resolution (24bit/96kHz or 24bit/192kHz) doesn’t necessarily translate to preferable sound. The DAC (and streamer) matters.

Many folks prefer 18bit/44kHz content via a well designed DAC.

@tvad Ok, well I think your last comment saved me hours, seriously. Thank you. I really don’t care about 24 bit -- what I was worried about was whether I was presently settling for 256k lossy. 44.1kHz (CD quality) is just fine for my middle-aged ears.

@hilde45, Apple’s AirPlay 2 protocol downsamples audio files to 24-bit/44.1 kHz (Lossless).

@tvad Ok, got it (for now). I really don't need to obsess about file formats or high or super high resolutions at this point in my audio journey. I want to ensure "non-lossy" as my standard and then focus on other things (I'm setting up a new listening room, so as you can appreciate, I have a bunch of 800 lb elephants in the room to deal with.) Thank you for your expertise and for your willingness to converse with me about my questions.

Tvad is Right on the money. I am a Qobuz subscriber and got a free trial with Apple lossless and I could clearly hear the difference between between 24/96 and 24/48 bit rates so I canceled the Apple subscription. Regarding Tidal,  my ears told me the MQA presentation was somewhat sonically degraded and I didn’t like that at all nor the relentless pushing of a certain genre content.