I have an apple music subscription to stream Dolby Atmos Music.
Some rare stereo albums are only available on Apple Music and not on Qobuz, my other music hunting ground.
So I would like to play Apple Music to the Rossini via USB (airplay is not an option). Maybe someone with experience can help me sort out the options:
iPads: AFAIK they auto switch sample rate
iPad 5 (2017) with lightning out. I have a lightning to USB2 dongle with lightning charging port, but that one does not seem to work. Which adapter would I need to use for this?
iPad Air 13 2024 (M2 silicon). I tried an USB-C OTG cable and that did not work. Which adapter would I need to use for this?
PC:
MacMini 2018 with Intel Silicon. AFAIK sampling rate needs to be switched manually. How to know the correct sampling rate when Apple Music does not reveal it?
Windows based PC running Apple Music. Are there limitations regarding stereo high resolution content?
Are there likely to be differences in audio quality between these devices?
I would really appreciate some pointers from the experts. Thanks a lot
Rudi
Thanks @Paul_Bemelmans
I have an USB-C to USB B cable on order, which according to other threads should work with the iPad Air M2. So I will be able to test both in the next few days.
Rudi
Did you alter the music settings on the Apple devices?
Edit:
Perhaps the On-the-go aspect was a problem? Since writing I have talked with a friend and he advises that he uses an AQ Carbon USB C-B which works fine ( to a Marantz CD Player/DAC). However he seems to have no idea regarding high-res and says he has now abandoned Apple Music and will not renew his subscription.
What I had on hand was a USB-C OTG dongle and a USB A B cable.
OTGās are wired differently from straight USB (here for micro USB):
Older devices have a socket that requires OTG. I guess the new iPads use normal USB cables to connect to peripherals. Weāll see when I get my straight cable.
Hereās an update on my venture into Apple world:
iPad 5 (2017): I have given up on that one. Donāt want to purchase a lightning to USB3 adapter
M2 iPad Air 13 2024: I have received the straight USB-C to USB B cable. No joy. The Rossini is not detected over USB. It is detected over Airplay. I then tried putting a powered USB 3 Switch between the iPad and the Rossini. Still not detected. The LED on the switchās output side remained dark when the Rossini was connected. I then connected a Neukomm CDA126ās USB port to the switch and lo and behold, the LED on the switch went on, and the XINGCore interface card in the Neukomm DAC was detected and music was heard.
I had issues on the Windows PC only seeing the Rossini in WASAPI shared mode until I installed the dCS 2018 USB driver (which suprisingly showed up in the Windows qobuz app as an ASIO connection). However the Windows Apple Music app seems limited to WASAPI shared mode, even with the dCS driver installed. I have however found out how to see the bitrate of the Apple Music albums. In the Apple Music MiniPlayer there is an icon for lossless. Click on this and the sample rate of the album is shown.
So my conclusions: Apple Music via dCS is a mixed bag:
Airplay works well, but is limited to 16/44.1
Both Mac and Windows PCs work, but out of the box, sample rate needs do be manually set (unless Lossless Switcher is installed on the Mac)
iPads (which would look like the ideal solution) donāt seem to work. This seems to be an issue of how the Rossiniās USB port announces itself upon connection. USB ports of other DACs work without issues with a USB-C iPad.
@support Is the āincompatibilityā of the USB port with iPads intentional?
I use the official Apple USB-C - to USB adapter with my USB C iPhone and USB C iPad Proās.
No problem with the iPad outputting hi res digital (ie streaming from Qobuz, Tidal, etc.) to the Sony DAC. Works like a charm with my Focal Utopia headphones
I have never tried the Apple adapter with my (old) Rossini or my new Vivaldi. Why would it not work?
It was never something that Apple officially supported - it was just discovered that it worked with the Apple Camera Kit on the iPad but itās never been something that Apple have said officially works / was supported or not.
The āmade for iPhoneā / āāmade for iPadā certification was different to that in that for the āmade forā¦ā certification meant that the device (streamer) could access the actual music files stored on the iPad/iPhone via a USB A to Lightning cable but support for that certification was dropped by Apple as they moved to wanting everything done by AirPlay instead.
I think the world has moved on from there. The camera kit was needed on the lighning based iPads (an OTG adapter cable worked just as well).
I am far from being an expert on these matters, but it seems to me the USB-C iPads follow a different concept. AFAIK they are designed to connect peripherals such as hard disks, adapters, cameras, audio interfaces directly to the USB-C port, just like a Mac. The camera kit / OTG adapter is not needed anymore, as the port is a plain USB-C port, not an OTG port.
From this perspective I am not surprised that most DACs work without an issue (and without am OTG adapter) using a USB-C to USB-B cable. They do not need a driver. Just the dCS DACs seem to be different and I am wondering why.
The world most definitely has moved on as you say - my point is that it was DISCOVERED that it would work in that way and was at no time promoted by Apple as being a feature (as far as I am aware) - since then Apple have settled on wanting to use Airplay to connect an iOS device to an external digital audio receiver / device.
dCS DACs comply fully with USB Audio Class 1 and USB Audio Class 2 standards and need no drivers under Windows 10/11, OSX and Linux or under Android from my USB C equipped Android tablets.
There are various āsolutionsā to getting USB C DACs in general (it seems to be a question that applies to much more than just dCS DACs) to work under iOS if you Google but I cannot vouch for any of them being a ācorrectā solution for you.
Interesting, there seems to be an issue with iOS 18. I wonder whether anyone else has experienced this. Strange though that my SMSL m500 mk3 is not affected at all and works without issues. Why is my external DAC not working with iā¦ - Apple Community
Let me summarize the situation as I understand it.
dCS DACs are USB Class 1 and 2 compliant
For full compatibility with Apple devices, MFI certification is needed
dCS DACs are not MFI certified
So one is left with solutions that āhappen to workā, but are not guaranteed to.
So far so good. In that case, can anyone point me to such a solution that I might try. I have tried putting a USB 3 hub between the iPad and the Rossini, but that did not help.
There is anecdotal evidence from @aublumberg that going from iPad to Bartok works
Apex was a hardware update and did not affect firmware. it concerned a revision to the DAC itself and the output stage. Nothing relating to connectivity. The last Rossini firmware revision was in 2023 with v. 2.1 ( adding Expanse).
I am on FW 2.1
I have made a baby step of progress. When in Mosaic I switch USB Class to 1 and then back to 2, the Rossini is recognized by the active USB3 switch (LED for the port is on) and the iPad. The iPad plays to the Rossini this way, not to the iPad speakers. The Rossini shows the correct sample rate, but a bitdepth of 0 (display is 0/176.4) and there is no sound although the progress bar in the qobuz or apple music app is moving.
Audio from the Windows PC to Rossini via USB still working correctly (apple music and qobuz apps).
If Rossini shows a bit rate of 0 this means that is is not receiving any music data from the ipad. 176.4, whilst a feasible sample rate, is not one commonly used by record labels. Does this figure alter when you move to different albums?
