The one big feature missing from the AirPods Pro 2: hi-res audio playback

[What Hi-Fi?]

The AirPods Pro 2 have plenty of improved features throughout, but there's one missing for hi-res music fans.

The one big feature missing from the AirPods Pro 2: hi-res audio playback : Read more

 

[HappySounds]

Lossless audio? For a pair of in-ear headphones? Are you seriously serious?

I would wager a large sum of money that NO-ONE could tell the difference in quality in blind testing, and even if they could the difference just would not be significant.

Furthermore the quality of in-ear headphones is way good enough for their use-case with the current technology. They are NOT used for high quality listening experiences with someone sitting in a chair and concentrating on the music, but for background music while you are travelling, with all the distractions involved.

(Content edited by moderation - please show staffers courtesy even if you disagree with content.)

 

[APB]

Even though I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference, I was looking forward to experiencing lossless audio via the new Air Pods (what’s the point of having it and not being able to use it?).

However, I’d settle for Apple fixing the automatic pauses between tracks on Apple Music. Steve Jobs was an audiophile, but I wonder how much music the people in charge now actually listen to. Listening to, for example, Pink Floyd on Apple Music (£30 per month as part of the Apple One package) via my new iPhone (over £1,000) and new Air Pods (£250) is a very disappointing experience given all of those Apple imposed pauses.

 

[finneym]

Agree with HappySounds, and I'd go further - 95% of people can't discern the difference between high bitrate compressed audio and HiRes audio. Spotify knows this, acoustic professionals know this and the wider music industry knows this. It's all a marketing ploy to eek more cash out of you and me. Even so called 'audiophiles' who claim to hear the difference fail the blind test with decent hifi separates and reference speakers in a dedicated listening room.

 

[HappySounds]

Yes, and it is disappointing that What HiFi perpetuates this marketing hype. I am not sure whether they are doing this for cultural reasons (the need always to pursue the ultimate, even if there is no real value in it) or because the industry expects this of them, but it does reduce their credibility to me!