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Android phones and USB DACs
Dec 19, 2012 at 5:54 AM Post #1,111 of 9,526
Quote:
gikigill said:
I didn't get the "app loses focus".
 
Does that mean when its running in the background playing music?
 
I am happyto be able to use it as it is if I could only run it in the background.
 
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Currently, it cannot run reliably in the background (again, this app is primarily meant as a recorder) since background tasks get 5% cpu time max. So if the app is not visible (in the foreground), then it gets too little cpu time unless you raise the buffer size. To solve this, I would need to make a part of the app as a service which does not have this cpu limit, but that will take some time to implement as well.
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 6:27 AM Post #1,113 of 9,526
Quote:
lee730 said:
 
The DACport LX is a pure DAC while the DACport is a DAC/Amp combo (both units are Class A and run quite hot). The DACport LX is the better unit IMO and is cheaper. The DACport Amp section is the weaker point of the unit and it impacts the sound quality. You get less transparency on the DACport than on the LX. Believe me the DAC plays just as big of a roll IMO as the amp can. The fact is the DACport LX didn't reach its full potential until I hooked it up to the Triad L3 (even that needs to be properly powered with a dedicated PSU to give you its full potential).
 
If the DAC really wasn't that important in the chain I'd have been happy with the UHA6 MKII DAC which is Cirrus Logics flagship DAC. Simply put the DACport LX crushes it with ease, just as the DX100 Sabre DAC does. Just no comparison at all IMO. The DAC will play a major roll just as the amp will. But in the end it isn't always about the specs which many people get wrong. It is also how those parts are implemented as a whole. Poor implementation of high quality parts can sound worse than low quality parts with great implementation. You are only as strong as your weakest link.
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I can go along with you on this I suppose but really we should do A/B testing where we use a great amp and swap in and out different DACs. I guess that is happening.
 
Yeah I was afraid you were going to say that, I can believe that a solid battery would make a difference too. Now we're up to 4 devices. I'll need a bat-belt or a gadget bag...
 
So your reference (portable) setup is DACportLX + Triad L3? What else is in your chain?
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 6:29 AM Post #1,114 of 9,526
Quote:
davy wentzler said:
I've been thinking about the following: to minimize my amount of work, would it be an idea if I added a Playlist tab where you could see the playlists you have made (in other apps) and be able to play those?
 
Thanks for all responses by the way, I appreciate it!
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My two cents is I'd like DLNA access to my larger music collection on my NAS on my LAN. And just play random rather than playlists. 
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 7:27 AM Post #1,115 of 9,526
Quote:
davy wentzler said:
 
Yes, it uses async operation. And auto sample rate switching is indeed a good idea.
 
I've been thinking about the following: to minimize my amount of work, would it be an idea if I added a Playlist tab where you could see the playlists you have made (in other apps) and be able to play those?
 
MP3 decoding is patented, so in AEMobile I give people the option to download the codec on their own 'risk', but this codec doesn't play mp4's which people seem to be doing more and more. What I can do is use the API introduced in ICS or JB (don't remember which) to let the system decode the stream to PCM (which gets rid of any patent problems), but it's going to take some work and won't work on Android 3.x devices.
 
I ask for a bit of patience though, getting 96kHz to play is my first priority. More on Friday.
 
Thanks for all responses by the way, I appreciate it!
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It would be nice to add the playlists we have created, but getting 96khz to play, should make my day.
Or enable us to create a root folder  (like the one for recording ) to play our songs (even in subfolders) , and a shuffle function should be prioritized.
 
Thank you for the great work.
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 1:23 PM Post #1,116 of 9,526
Quote:
toe tag said:
I can go along with you on this I suppose but really we should do A/B testing where we use a great amp and swap in and out different DACs. I guess that is happening.
 
Yeah I was afraid you were going to say that, I can believe that a solid battery would make a difference too. Now we're up to 4 devices. I'll need a bat-belt or a gadget bag...
 
So your reference (portable) setup is DACportLX + Triad L3? What else is in your chain?
Click to expand...


I have the DACport LX connected to a USB power hub to give it more consistent power and this leads to better sound. I also use cPlay as I find it to be the most open and detailed player (stores the file in WAV before music playback in memory cache). I generally use a silver cable LOD to my Triad (but also have used Copper LOD depending on my mood). My custom RCA to silver cable LOD should be coming in soon so I'll see how that does. I had to send it back for modification as the RCA jacks were too big for the Triads faceplate and one of the connectors came lose. I mainly use this setup with my Tralucent 1Plus2s and later will use my Heir 8As once I receive them. I've moved on from full size headphones some time ago. Won't go down that path for a while again. I'm not really sure I'd call this set up portable. It's more transportable. My DX100/T1 is more like my reference portable rig. Plus I really can't fault it on anything either, just pure musical goodness :).
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 3:27 PM Post #1,118 of 9,526
Ok guys, as I said, the 96kHz issue was just a small bug: some number did overflow which resulted in a wrong buffer size calculation. Playing fine now on 24-bit at 96kHz on my brand new FiiO E17 that came in today!
biggrin.gif

 
I also added the auto sample rate selection which tries to find a matching sample rate when you load a sample with a certain frequency.
 
I plan to make a new release on Friday, but don't hold me against it.
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 4:37 PM Post #1,119 of 9,526
Quote:
davy wentzler said:
Ok guys, as I said, the 96kHz issue was just a small bug: some number did overflow which resulted in a wrong buffer size calculation. Playing fine now on 24-bit at 96kHz on my brand new FiiO E17 that came in today!
biggrin.gif

 
I also added the auto sample rate selection which tries to find a matching sample rate when you load a sample with a certain frequency.
 
I plan to make a new release on Friday, but don't hold me against it.
Click to expand...

 
Will be waiting, thank you, and congratulation on your new purchase.
You can try some HD tracks from the https://www.hdtracks.com/ free samples
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 5:21 PM Post #1,120 of 9,526
Quote:
lee730 said:
I have the DACport LX connected to a USB power hub to give it more consistent power and this leads to better sound. I also use cPlay as I find it to be the most open and detailed player (stores the file in WAV before music playback in memory cache). I generally use a silver cable LOD to my Triad (but also have used Copper LOD depending on my mood). My custom RCA to silver cable LOD should be coming in soon so I'll see how that does. I had to send it back for modification as the RCA jacks were too big for the Triads faceplate and one of the connectors came lose. I mainly use this setup with my Tralucent 1Plus2s and later will use my Heir 8As once I receive them. I've moved on from full size headphones some time ago. Won't go down that path for a while again. I'm not really sure I'd call this set up portable. It's more transportable. My DX100/T1 is more like my reference portable rig. Plus I really can't fault it on anything either, just pure musical goodness :).
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I'm realizing something. Just because my phone is portable doesn't mean I need a portable DAC. I mean am I really going to wander around on noisy subways and buses with a $800 phone, €1000 CIEMs, $250 DAC and $800 amp. I just want to use the phone as a convenient remote control. Or more precisely, a convenient small computer with a nice display, that can pull in music from the NAS over wifi using DLNA, let me select songs, and then pipe them out the USB OTG. Into a desktop DAC/Amp next to my bed or La-Z-Boy. (or back out DLNA into standard speakers). 
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 8:28 PM Post #1,121 of 9,526
I just downloaded the USB Audio Recorder Pro to my new Nexus 10 tablet and it worked fine with the two DACs I have tried so far. One is the go-vibe usb DAC and the other is the DAC in my RSA Predator. I only listened for a minute or two but the SQ seemed remarkably good. I will post more impressions later.
 
I may have missed it in this thread, but is there currently a way to play more than one song at a time in this app? I seem to only be able to select a single song from my folders and then press play to hear that one song. That would get old pretty fast
confused.gif

 
Also just tried out the DAC in my Hifiman 801 and that works fine with the Nexus 10.
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 9:46 PM Post #1,122 of 9,526
Quote:
toe tag said:
I'm realizing something. Just because my phone is portable doesn't mean I need a portable DAC. I mean am I really going to wander around on noisy subways and buses with a $800 phone, €1000 CIEMs, $250 DAC and $800 amp. I just want to use the phone as a convenient remote control. Or more precisely, a convenient small computer with a nice display, that can pull in music from the NAS over wifi using DLNA, let me select songs, and then pipe them out the USB OTG. Into a desktop DAC/Amp next to my bed or La-Z-Boy. (or back out DLNA into standard speakers). 
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Yep you have a point. One reason why I'd opt for smaller solutions while on the go. But Custom IEMs are great for the isolation and sound quality you get. Not safe to use IMO when on foot moving in traffic areas or generally anywhere where you are not stationary and away from danger. But on a bus or subway maybe beneficial for the isolation. :) But regarding portability that is why I didn't limit myself to just a DX100 setup. I also have a Studio V which is very good for sound quality, durability, battery life and portability :).
 
Dec 19, 2012 at 10:08 PM Post #1,123 of 9,526
Trying to get your trial to work with my Galaxy Nexus. OTG cable connected to "Plugable 7 Port High Speed USB 2.0 Hub with 3A Power Adapter" with my Dacport LX plugged into that. Hub is plugged into the wall. Sometimes when I plug in the Dacport LX it makes a weird high pitched humming noise, other times there's no sound. The light on the Dacport LX isn't lighting up and your app isn't detecting it. :frowning2:
 
Android 4.2.1 + Cyanogenmod 10.1 with CM10.1 kernel.
 
Dec 20, 2012 at 1:30 AM Post #1,124 of 9,526
I know Danba keeps a very nice list of all devices that work with the S3 on post#919 (didn't want to quote and clutter everything up) and I was wondering if anyone's done a comparison of enough of them to recommend a "best of" that will pair nicely with a AT&T S3 running stock JB. (Reverted to stock after becoming rather lazy)
 
I've been leaning toward the Leckerton UHA-6S MkII mainly because supposedly it won't draw power from the phone while connected via usb, it's size makes it very portable, and other general positive reviews towards the unit. It's a shame they are on holiday vacation for a full month.
 
I'm also trying various over ear closed headphones that are portable but have not come across something that sticks yet. Any good choices out there other than bass heavy M-100's or the Momentum (cups were too small for me and the carrying case is too large)? I have a set of Skullcandy MMM's that are coming tomorrow that I bought for cheap but want to have other options lined up to try in case they don't perform up to my liking. Or should I just wait until I actually get a dac/amp and judge all the headphones again?
 
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
Dec 20, 2012 at 2:11 AM Post #1,125 of 9,526
Quote:
biocalves said:
I know Danba keeps a very nice list of all devices that work with the S3 on post#919 (didn't want to quote and clutter everything up) and I was wondering if anyone's done a comparison of enough of them to recommend a "best of" that will pair nicely with a AT&T S3 running stock JB. (Reverted to stock after becoming rather lazy)
 
I've been leaning toward the Leckerton UHA-6S MkII mainly because supposedly it won't draw power from the phone while connected via usb, it's size makes it very portable, and other general positive reviews towards the unit. It's a shame they are on holiday vacation for a full month.
 
I'm also trying various over ear closed headphones that are portable but have not come across something that sticks yet. Any good choices out there other than bass heavy M-100's or the Momentum (cups were too small for me and the carrying case is too large)? I have a set of Skullcandy MMM's that are coming tomorrow that I bought for cheap but want to have other options lined up to try in case they don't perform up to my liking. Or should I just wait until I actually get a dac/amp and judge all the headphones again?
 
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Yep the UHA6 is a very good amp. The DAC isn't as good as its amp section but then again the DAC is still better than any Apple product or any phone DAC for that matter.
 
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