Hello all, I recently bought a DAP and I want to put music on it using my Apple Music subscription. I quickly found out that this isn’t possible, all music offered under Apple’s Music subscription is DRM-protected which means you can’t just get a file of a song and put it on an SD card. I searched the web and have possibly found a solution, it is a software called NoteBurner. It essentially bypasses the DRM protection and allows you to download all your music into different high-quality audio formats while keeping the original data (artist/album name, album cover, etc). I thought this was a bit suspect at first so I decided to download it and give it a try since they have a free version. After I downloaded the song using NoteBurner I loaded up Spek to authenticate the quality of the file. I have another file of the same song that I torrented a while ago that I used to compare, the uploader claims that it was a CD rip. The files look similar but I’m still doubtful. I’m not too experienced in this field so I was hoping I could get some advice on whether or not NoteBruner is legit and truly produces high-quality FLAC files from Apple Music. I’ll attach images of the spectrograms for 3 files, the CD rip, NoteBurner, and a free mp3 of the same song for comparison. The NoteBurner file is only 1 minute long because the free trial limits the time.
Did someone provide you with the DAP, or did you purchase one without researching whether it would grant you access to your Apple Music subscription? I opted for a Sony DAP because I use Tidal and YouTube Music and others. With it, I can download from most streaming services to my SD card for offline use. If you’re considering the illegal ripping route, there are old-school methods that may be easier.
I bought a Sony NW-A55 which uses Sonys custom software. I originally was going to torrent all the albums I listen to but that’s not working out for various reasons. If I were to get one of the nicer ones that run on android, could I install Apple Music and download my music onto an SD card? I assume the answer is yes, but the real question is if I can download the music in a lossless format like I can do with my iPhone. I’m not sure if the google play version of Apple Music allows for lossless audio, I have yet to figure that out.
Sorry, I’m not sure about the A55, but I have a Sony Walkman NW-A306. It runs on Android, so I can install and use most streaming services (using Tidal), and it allows me to store music locally on my SD card. I think you need an Android version to be able to use the major streaming services. I wouldn’t have the patience to rip music in real-time, as I believe that’s the only way to do it. There may be more advanced methods, but I assume the software needs to be quite sophisticated to hack into the app and its encryption. I would be a little worried about the software going rogue when you probably have to get permission to hook into your operating system deeply. For quality, I think the real-time rip could be bit-perfect, but you will never know since you won’t have access to the original stream. I use Tidal and have my old CD collection ripped, along with some additional HD downloads and some rogue files from the internet. To be honest, I love the new streaming world for discovery, but it also feels a bit overwhelming with all the choices.