The problem is that Airplay 2 source (Mac, iPhone, iPad) will
report that it is streaming at 16/44.1 (at the bottom of the song on the main screen) but Airplay 2 would then convert the stream to AAC 256 without reporting to anyone. There is ample evidence of this taking place (see
this site for report on Airplay 1 vs 2 in terms of bit perfect streaming) on this and other forums (
Naim Community). The only way to check what your amplifier is
receiving from Airplay (1 or 2) is to have a device that reports the stream quality (like Topping) or an amplifier/streamer that display streaming quality.
There is one workaround to get Airplay lossless through a Mac and that is to set Mac's sound output to Airplay on the Mac itself (upper right corner) and not through the Music app or iPhone/iPad. This ought to ensure lossless and is officially supported and recommended by at least Bluesound. In JPLyman325's case, I guess if he streams through the Music app, the app will report 16/44.1 but will degrade to AAC256. If he streams Airplay 2 through Mac's sound output, it ought to end up lossless.
Vincentneo at Github has a nifty Mac app which automatically switches the output. It is free and it works flawlessly. Can be obtained here:
https://github.com/vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher