With apple announcing lossless and high-resolution music streaming, I am wondering whether Mosaic has a viable path to implement it as another source, much like Qobuz and Tidal, or will it have to be handled via AirPlay as it currently is? Further, Apple notes that 24/192 requires an external DAC, which almost sounds like a USB proposition from a Mac or PC as a source.
Edit: forgot to include source: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/05/apple-music-announces-spatial-audio-and-lossless-audio/
Apple has mainly had a “not invented here” mentality so my initial thought would be that they may be unlikely to offer an API to third parties. The fact that they are not adding a premium subscription charge indicates that they see lossless/hi-res as integral to the offer for their platform which, again, would suggest that allowing third party access may not be seen as in their interest.
Still, we can only wait and see.
NB: AirPlay as it currently is cannot be used for true hi-res as it is limited to 16/44.1.
I mirror your thoughts and don’t hold high expectations. Apple do tend to be control freaks especially on the UI/UX side. Would like to be proved wrong however 
I always find amusing that people refer dismissively to Apple as “control freaks,” when all they do is provide a wonderfully dependable, vertically-integrated hardware-software ecosystem, that is generally less vulnerable (not immune) to malware, and does not depend on surreptitiously harvesting and monetizing your personal data for its own gain (as does Google). Someone over in a car forum In which I participate just used the same phrase this morning. As if obsessive attention to customer experience is a bad thing. If that’s the definition of “control freak,” I’ll stay signed up. 
This is not meant to be flame-bait. I’ve been a computer “person” since 1969. I learned my skills long before there was an Apple. I learned punch cards, DEC, Sun, TI, IBM, Next, and I’ve programmed in a number of different languages. And to this day, I still have two PC devices. But what Apple is obsessive about is the customer experience. And if that’s “control freakish,” then I would submit that so are many other companies whose emphasis first is quality and customer satisfaction. There’s a reason that Apple is the world’s largest company by capitalization; and it’s not because customers don’t like, or are “forced” to use their stuff. It’s because they build better stuff, that is worth a higher price, people are willing to pay it, and it generates significantly higher margins. Sorry for the rant, but it’s that control that leads to customer satisfaction.
I need to go listen to music.
Just curious, what two?
Greg, I meant it as a compliment to Apple.
Then I would definitely redact the word “dismissively”! (It was a pile-on-the-bandwagon criticism in that other forum.) And I would thank you. 
Sorry, tough afternoon. Please forgive me. Anyway, music has made it more tolerable.
P.S. In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably mention that back in 1995, acting with my heart and not my head, and after convincing my wife it made more sense than gas and milk (tough times), I invested in Apple stock at a split-adjusted price of $.60 (that’s sixty cents). It’s paid for a lot of things for four daughters, including college and three weddings (so far). And maybe a Vivaldi stack somewhere in there. 
Erno, a Surface Pro and a Superlogic rack server.
No worries. I can see how what I wrote could be taken out of context, so I should have been more specific.
In a way, I have come to appreciate Mosaic’s no-frills simplicity and the dCS system as a whole because I am so used to Apple’s ecosystem and their control of the end-to-end experience. In my Rossini I have finally found what I’ve been seeking for years, namely a simple, consistent, and straight-forward, all-in-one solution to stream high-res music. And, ironically, it’s because of Apple’s control of the UX that mine might break if Mosaic won’t be able to use Apple Music as a source.
I am happy to continue paying for Tidal and/or Qobuz for the sake of simplicity, but I’m already paying for Apple Music as part of my family plan, and also not to be discounted is the existential threat posed to same by no-surcharge high-res streaming from Apple (and also Amazon).
Excellent points. I would prefer to have Apple Music available for the Vivaldi stack as well though, candidly, I already have far more music than I can ever play in my lifetime. So, I don’t see it as breaking, so much as not expanding to include everything I would like.
Same and agreed.
Presently, you’re correct, not so much break as just not expand. But if Apple Music forces drastic changes in the industry and Qobuz and Tidal will no longer remain viable concerns then it will break. I know, let’s not put the cart in front of the horse, and I’m not. Just being cautious, after being late to the dCS party and finally just finding peace.
One Vivaldi stack, two PC devices, three weddings, four daughters. What’s next? 
Five gold rings?
Six geese a-laying
Hilarious and perfect!
Music, my friend. Vino and fellowship. The delight of a wonderful partner. With a world reopening, travel again!
Cheers! Next week our second jab, and then travel again!
Excellent. I got my second on March 12. It’s been much more enjoyable since, though in fairness, I have traveled several times over the last year and even had that third daughter wedding back in October in Florida (not a single case of infection). My wife got her second last month; it was much more liberating for her. She is respiratorily vulnerable, so COVID was a serious risk for her. With the vaccine,sShe was finally able to travel for the first time since October 2019. Went to see her father in SoCal, who probably doesn’t have too much time left.
Greg is shy, otherwise he would have mentioned all the clocks he has got and the 2 megawatts power plant he installed But to recover from having 4 daughters I would have done something similar
Back to the original topic. With Apple reportedly activating Lossless & Spatial late yesterday, I can see the point of your concern. Apple keeps saying lossless is largely irrelevant—that’s behind a paywall; more content here—and yet, there it is. . . . This may just be competitive protectionism, and it might have been relatively simple. But I have to admit the Spatial Audio sounds pretty darn good over AirPods Pro. Right now, I am listening to Just Coolin’ by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. And it sounds very good.
