AirPlay 2 is not supposed to support lossless playback from an iPhone - but BlusOS controller says it *is* lossless
Answered
So according to the support documents, AirPlay1 supports lossless playback, but AirPlay 2 doesn't. (source) There's a workaround when streaming from the Mac, but, I quote "This option is not available on an iPad or iPhone."
However I just tried using AirPlay 2 to stream some music from my iPhone, and the BluOS controller is actually saying it's Apple Lossless. Then, just to try I switched back to lossy in the Apple Music settings and streamed again, and now the controller doesn't say it's lossless anymore.
It seems like maybe this is some sort of detection/display bug, because when I turned it back to lossless it didn't say it was lossless anymore. However, weirdly, it didn't say anything at all. The button that gives more information was completely greyed out.
I did a couple more tests, switching back and forth from lossy to lossless. And in my findings, it *sometimes* shows it's lossless when lossless is turned on in the Apple Music settings, but not always. Sometimes it also shows as lossy.
I would love some clarification by customer support on this issue.
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Official comment
This is a bug in the iOS app. It shows whatever it remembered from the last time it saw a specific element element in a status response, When there is no such element it should not show any format. This affects inputs and endpoints. It is being fixed.
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Hi Salomon, I've been reading and listening to videos and articles about Apple's lossless/HiRes shortcomings for a while now as I'm fully living inside Apple's eco system. Maybe there are some glitches within the Bluesound hardware or software, but getting Apple Music to play through Airplay2 works. But then you (rhetorically) have that nagging feeling that you're not getting full, HiRes or lossless sound quality. That being said, the music I stream via Airplay2 sounds great on my home system, and that's what counts in the long run.
I am an Apple Music subscriber, and really like their service, but they are not the only player/s in town. Recently, I let my AmazonHD plan expire, and set up a trial account with Quboz. Now I know for sure what resolution I'm listening to via Bluesound Node with Qobuz. I really can't say Qobuz actually sounds better(it does sound great), but I no longer have that itch in the back of my brain wondering what frequency of music I'm listening to.
Maybe Bluesound will have an answer for you, but in the meantime, if you haven't already, give Qobuz a try for free. I did and I'm keeping both Qobuz and AM. The best of both worlds IMHO.
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