What is the best way for streaming Apple Music Lossless or Hi-Res Lossless on LS650 Home Theatre. DoesAirPlay 2 on LS650 Support this? Or, do I need an external DAC? By default, I think that there is already an improvement in sound quality because of the increase in bitrate from 256 Kbps to at least 320 Kbps.
Also, I heard a few Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio supported songs via AirPlay 2 and I could feel the surround sound speakers kicking in? Is it also supported?
Hi-Res is not available yet, but you can stream lossless with a select number of devices. I'm using my iPhone and iPad with an Apple camera adapter and AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt DAC to headphones. I was also able to stream from my iPad to my Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier using the camera adapter and USB cable.
I can stream from my Apple TV 4K to LG OLED to Bose Soundtouch 300 via HDMI cables. The Apple TV is limited to 24/48. I think AirPlay may be even more limited, IDK for sure.
Make sure you update your iPhone, iPad, and/or Apple TV 4K to IOS 14.6.
I think I misspoke earlier. Apple Hi-Res is available now when using certain Apple devices connected to a DAC.
UPDATE: Based on my personal experience -
To play lossless audio via HDMI cables it is only possible through HDMI eARC which is not available on LS 650. The best way to do that is via AirPlay 2 which supports lossless but not Hi-Res Lossless.
P.S. This is from personal experience as I played the same song via AirPlay 2 on my LG C9 (which supports eARC) connected to the LS650 via HDMI and I then played it on my LS650 directly via AirPlay 2 and their is so much more clarity in the lyrics, synths and the base.
To further test my theory, I played a lossy audio via both methods and they sounded virtually the same via both methods.
So, the conclusion is that the only way to play lossless music to the LS650 is directly via a DAC, AirPlay 2, a local server with saved Hi-Fi music and/or via a supported Hi-Fi music service on the SoundTouch App.