What equipment do you need to enjoy lossless audio?
If you like high-fidelity audio, you’ve probably heard of lossless audio. You have probably read some articles about it and now you want to enjoy it for yourself.
But what hardware do you need to access high-quality audio? Can you use an existing device or do you need specialized drivers? Here’s a quick introduction to the hardware you need to enjoy lossless audio.
What is lossless audio?
Lossless recordings take up a lot of space: about 30 MB per song. But in the past, storage space was at a premium. The internet connection is also slow and unreliable. Therefore, the first iPod’s 5GB of storage could only hold about 166 lossless audio files.
That is why lossy file formats like MP3 were introduced. About 3-5 MB per song, you can store more than a thousand songs on the first generation Apple iPod. But as the Internet has gotten faster and storage space has become more affordable, the need for highly compressed audio has diminished.
File compression reduces file size by sacrificing quality. So if you’re listening to music with lossless audio, that means you’re listening to what was recorded. Lossless audio uses a compression format that does not cause any data loss or does not compress the audio at all.
Related: What’s the difference between lossless and hi-res audio?
Lossless device for lossless audio
Now that you have a lossless audio file, it’s no good if you plan to play it on an audio device that compresses the data. After all, if data is lost between the computer and the speakers, you won’t be able to enjoy the best audio quality.
So this is what you need to get the best audio out of your lossless music files.
