[ds9kicks]

I use Neutron. You can switch it to bit-perfect so no resampling.

OK, but we're talking about two different things here. If you delve into the inner-workings of your DAC, it is very likely using a conversion to PDM (pulse-density modulation) in order to produce the analog signal. Another way of expressing this is that, like virtually all DACs, from cheap to audiophile-grade, it uses delta-sigma modulation (conversion to PDM) to produce the analog signal. Not that that's BAD, as it can be done at insanely high sample rates. I just am one who has been won-over by Schiit Audio's "True Multibit" technology, which does away with delta-sigma modulation, using their "unique digital filter" and medical-grade Analog Devices chips. There are very few DACs out their which do not use delta-sigma.

Read about delta-sigma modulation here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-sigma_modulation

Read about Schiit's True Multibit technology here:
https://www.schiit.com/about
and also in the product descriptions for their DACs (not all of their DACs use the Multibit architecture, so look for one that does. The cheapest one is the Modi Multibit, not to be confused with the much cheaper Modi 3E, and it is currently back-ordered)

 

[ds9kicks]

Try switching to qobuz while your at it. It sounds better. No, I don't know why beside not caring for MQA but to me, it sounds better on every format.

I like Tidal because I can have my entire library downloaded on my phone (which fortunately has 128 GB internal storage) at Tidal's "high quality" which is what I consider to be quite good (44.1 kHz 16 bit). After all, this is the native format of CD audio, and as a result, the bulk of all recordings have been produced in this format (so there is no up-sampling, and I'm bit-perfect all the way to my Schiit Modi Multibit DAC (sorry, it looks like these are currently back-ordered until December if anyone is interested in this sweet DAC).

 

[Devodonaldson]

I like Tidal because I can have my entire library downloaded on my phone (which fortunately has 128 GB internal storage) at Tidal's "high quality" which is what I consider to be quite good (44.1 kHz 16 bit). After all, this is the native format of CD audio, and as a result, the bulk of all recordings have been produced in this format (so there is no up-sampling, and I'm bit-perfect all the way to my Schiit Modi Multibit DAC (sorry, it looks like these are currently back-ordered until December if anyone is interested in this sweet DAC).

UAPP doesn't play music downloaded from Tidal. It's streaming only. Also, regarding testing ro root your s21 to get the native sample rate isn't worth the trouble. The issue with the Android app isn't the resampling, it's the fact that audio runs through the Android audio stack regardless. Even if you were able to for sample rate, it's still going to run through Android audio stack which somewhat degrades the audio vs going straight from app to DAC. If you're going to be using the Samsung phone and are focused on downloaded music, just learn to live with the audio you are getting and be "happy" that you are at least running it through a good dac/amp

 

[ds9kicks]

UAPP doesn't play music downloaded from Tidal. It's streaming only. Also, regarding testing ro root your s21 to get the native sample rate isn't worth the trouble. The issue with the Android app isn't the resampling, it's the fact that audio runs through the Android audio stack regardless. Even if you were able to for sample rate, it's still going to run through Android audio stack which somewhat degrades the audio vs going straight from app to DAC. If you're going to be using the Samsung phone and are focused on downloaded music, just learn to live with the audio you are getting and be "happy" that you are at least running it through a good dac/amp

Good to know about UAPP only supporting streaming for Tidal. I hadn't gotten to trying it yet.

I do think that rooting could be worth it to set the sample rate to 44.1 kHz to match that of Tidal "high quality", even if it's going through the Android stack. At least then there shouldn't be any resampling to a different sample rate.

 

[zolkis]

Try switching to qobuz while your at it. It sounds better. No, I don't know why beside not caring for MQA but to me, it sounds better on every format.

I second that, is has been my experience, too. Let's see when Spotify Hifi will come, but at least trying Qobuz is recommended, for reference. I canceled Tidal after that.

 

[ds9kicks]

Follow-up: I cannot root my Samsung Galaxy S21 even after following all procedures, because there is some OEM option which must be switched on first, but it is disabled in the North American region. Also I don't want to connect my phone directly to my DAC, because I have tweaked some EQ settings in "Equalizer APO" on my computer, which I find to be desirable for my headphones (Sony MDR-V600), and I don't know of any other way to get this specific with EQ settings than routing the audio through my computer and using Equalizer APO. (13.5 kHz -3 dB with 0.46 octave bandwidth, 45 kHz +6 dB with .5 oct bw). I also like the "Windows Sonic for Headphones" enhancement (found in the preferences for the sound device) as it helps significantly (but subtly) with the harsh stereo imaging problem you get with headphones.

I have found options for connecting the USB audio from my phone to my computer (using Kodi, for example), but this requires rooting of the phone. So I have come up with the next-best thing, since I am totally happy with CD-quality sample rate and bit depth (44.1/16). It is to use a USB device I already have which converts USB audio to SP/DIF. And I have ordered a Sound Blaster X4 which will accept the SP/DIF audio for my computer.

However, until I get the Sound Blaster USB "card" and actually have time to set all of that up, I will be using Bluetooth in the mean time, using the USB Bluetooth dongle I have for my computer (and AD2P). This setup unfortunately cannot use any better codec than the Bluetooth SBC, due to the dongle not having support for any others, but I have heard that it isn't all that bad (if you're supplying it with TOTALLY UNCOMPRESSED audio as I will be doing using Tidal's "HiFi" setting, and the data rate is 328 - 345 kbps.

But here is the question that arises, because my phone has an option called "separate app sound". I will use this to keep the phone sounds on the speaker, and route Tidal directly to the Bluetooth connection. The question then, since Tidal will be playing all of my music at my selected "HiFi" setting, which is uncompressed 44.1 kHz 16-bit, will the Bluetooth still be playing from the Android stack (forcing an upsampling to 48 kHz), or will the phone software be smart enough to set the Bluetooth to the same sample rate? I'm guessing it will still be upsampled, but I wanted to see if anyone has a better answer, particularly so I can know which sample rate to set my DAC to.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Follow-up: I cannot root my Samsung Galaxy S21 even after following all procedures, because there is some OEM option which must be switched on first, but it is disabled in the North American region. Also I don't want to connect my phone directly to my DAC, because I have tweaked some EQ settings in "Equalizer APO" on my computer, which I find to be desirable for my headphones (Sony MDR-V600), and I don't know of any other way to get this specific with EQ settings than routing the audio through my computer and using Equalizer APO. (13.5 kHz -3 dB with 0.46 octave bandwidth, 45 kHz +6 dB with .5 oct bw). I also like the "Windows Sonic for Headphones" enhancement (found in the preferences for the sound device) as it helps significantly (but subtly) with the harsh stereo imaging problem you get with headphones.

I have found options for connecting the USB audio from my phone to my computer (using Kodi, for example), but this requires rooting of the phone. So I have come up with the next-best thing, since I am totally happy with CD-quality sample rate and bit depth (44.1/16). It is to use a USB device I already have which converts USB audio to SP/DIF. And I have ordered a Sound Blaster X4 which will accept the SP/DIF audio for my computer.

However, until I get the Sound Blaster USB "card" and actually have time to set all of that up, I will be using Bluetooth in the mean time, using the USB Bluetooth dongle I have for my computer (and AD2P). This setup unfortunately cannot use any better codec than the Bluetooth SBC, due to the dongle not having support for any others, but I have heard that it isn't all that bad (if you're supplying it with TOTALLY UNCOMPRESSED audio as I will be doing using Tidal's "HiFi" setting, and the data rate is 328 - 345 kbps.

But here is the question that arises, because my phone has an option called "separate app sound". I will use this to keep the phone sounds on the speaker, and route Tidal directly to the Bluetooth connection. The question then, since Tidal will be playing all of my music at my selected "HiFi" setting, which is uncompressed 44.1 kHz 16-bit, will the Bluetooth still be playing from the Android stack (forcing an upsampling to 48 kHz), or will the phone software be smart enough to set the Bluetooth to the same sample rate? I'm guessing it will still be upsampled, but I wanted to see if anyone has a better answer, particularly so I can know which sample rate to set my DAC to.

try wavelet the Android app

 

[ds9kicks]

try wavelet the Android app

It looks interesting but I still would lose the "Windows Sonic for Headphones" enhancement to help improve the headphone stereo imaging problem, and I also plan to use UAPP to route directly to my USB - SP/DIF device (which appears as a DAC). Though someone mentioned on here that the Tidal option in UAPP only supports streaming and not my downloaded tracks, but I want to see that for myself once I get this set up.

It looks like my SoundBlaster X4 will come in early enough today that I will have time to get it all set up and skip the Bluetooth option... (this is my only day off of the week)

 

[ds9kicks]

It looks interesting but I still would lose the "Windows Sonic for Headphones" enhancement to help improve the headphone stereo imaging problem, and I also plan to use UAPP to route directly to my USB - SP/DIF device (which appears as a DAC). Though someone mentioned on here that the Tidal option in UAPP only supports streaming and not my downloaded tracks, but I want to see that for myself once I get this set up.

It looks like my SoundBlaster X4 will come in early enough today that I will have time to get it all set up and skip the Bluetooth option... (this is my only day off of the week)

OK I have tried UAPP playing Tidal, and it is true what the other user said (it does not support downloaded tracks). I will just play through the Android stack unless I notice any sound quality issues with it. I mostly reside in my truck (semi), so I don't have unlimited broadband.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

It looks interesting but I still would lose the "Windows Sonic for Headphones" enhancement to help improve the headphone stereo imaging problem, and I also plan to use UAPP to route directly to my USB - SP/DIF device (which appears as a DAC). Though someone mentioned on here that the Tidal option in UAPP only supports streaming and not my downloaded tracks, but I want to see that for myself once I get this set up.

It looks like my SoundBlaster X4 will come in early enough today that I will have time to get it all set up and skip the Bluetooth option... (this is my only day off of the week)

How are you going to have "Windows Sonic for Headphones" on your smartphone in ANY setup?

 

[ds9kicks]

How are you going to have "Windows Sonic for Headphones" on your smartphone in ANY setup?

I have set up my SoundBlaster X4 and got everything working. I'm even able to use the bit-perfect option in UAPP to play 44.1 kHz straight through to my "Douc Audio U2" which is a little device which converts USB audio to SPDIF, and UAPP recognizes it as though it's a DAC. But since it also works with the Android stack, that's how I'll be using it because I can't access my growing collection of downloaded tracks in Tidal using the "Tidal" feature of UAPP, so I have to use the actual Tidal app (playing through the Android stack).

To answer your question, since the SoundBlaster X4 has an optical SP/DIF input, it plays into the Windows stack on my computer, for which the output is set for my Schiit Modi Multibit DAC (which I have set at 48 kHz 16-bit since SP/DIF supports this and I'm assuming that's what the Android stack has the U2 converter running at.

Equalizer APO is installed as an enhancement for the Schiit DAC, and Windows Sonic for Headphones, which I really like, is enabled in the properties dialog for the Schiit DAC in Windows (under "Sound" devices in the old-school control panel).

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I have set up my SoundBlaster X4 and got everything working. I'm even able to use the bit-perfect option in UAPP to play 44.1 kHz straight through to my "Douc Audio U2" which is a little device which converts USB audio to SPDIF, and UAPP recognizes it as though it's a DAC. But since it also works with the Android stack, that's how I'll be using it because I can't access my growing collection of downloaded tracks in Tidal using the "Tidal" feature of UAPP, so I have to use the actual Tidal app (playing through the Android stack).

To answer your question, since the SoundBlaster X4 has an optical SP/DIF input, it plays into the Windows stack on my computer, for which the output is set for my Schiit Modi Multibit DAC (which I have set at 48 kHz 16-bit since SP/DIF supports this and I'm assuming that's what the Android stack has the U2 converter running at.

Equalizer APO is installed as an enhancement for the Schiit DAC, and Windows Sonic for Headphones, which I really like, is enabled in the properties dialog for the Schiit DAC in Windows (under "Sound" devices in the old-school control panel).

But then why not just use your computer itself as the source?

 

[ds9kicks]

I have set up my SoundBlaster X4 and got everything working. I'm even able to use the bit-perfect option in UAPP to play 44.1 kHz straight through to my "Douc Audio U2" which is a little device which converts USB audio to SPDIF, and UAPP recognizes it as though it's a DAC. But since it also works with the Android stack, that's how I'll be using it because I can't access my growing collection of downloaded tracks in Tidal using the "Tidal" feature of UAPP, so I have to use the actual Tidal app (playing through the Android stack).

To answer your question, since the SoundBlaster X4 has an optical SP/DIF input, it plays into the Windows stack on my computer, for which the output is set for my Schiit Modi Multibit DAC (which I have set at 48 kHz 16-bit since SP/DIF supports this and I'm assuming that's what the Android stack has the U2 converter running at.

Equalizer APO is installed as an enhancement for the Schiit DAC, and Windows Sonic for Headphones, which I really like, is enabled in the properties dialog for the Schiit DAC in Windows (under "Sound" devices in the old-school control panel).

OK actually it's not quite working; I'm getting really choppy audio with a lot of pops from the SP/DIF optical, and I think the Android stack is running it at either 44.1 Khz or 96 (my 44.1 suspicion is because when I connect to it in UAPP it seems to be defaulted to this). Either one could be the source of the problem as the SoundBlaster X4 SP/DIF input only accepts multiples of 48, of which 96 would be but I believe that 96 is too high for the Douk Audio converter.

Anyone know of a better converter from USB audio to SP/DIF (optical)?

 

[ds9kicks]

But then why not just use your computer itself as the source?

I want to be able to play Tidal from my phone in bed while lying down (and I have my headphone amp conveniently mounted for this purpose). I'm in a semi truck sleeper, and I have my laptop mounted (on a rubber suspension) in a place where it is only meant to be used as an audio "head unit" (I can access it standing up, but not convenient for common use). I use my other (identical) laptop when I want to "use the computer", as it is not mounted. One thing I can do is play from Foobar and use the Foobarcon app on my phone to control it through the wifi, but I am limited to only my CD rips that way. And I am continuing to grow my downloaded collection in Tidal.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I want to be able to play Tidal from my phone in bed while lying down (and I have my headphone amp conveniently mounted for this purpose). I'm in a semi truck sleeper, and I have my laptop mounted (on a rubber suspension) in a place where it is only meant to be used as an audio "head unit" (I can access it standing up, but not convenient for common use). I use my other (identical) laptop when I want to "use the computer", as it is not mounted. One thing I can do is play from Foobar and use the Foobarcon app on my phone to control it through the wifi, but I am limited to only my CD rips that way. And I am continuing to grow my downloaded collection in Tidal.

TIDAL has a PC app too but ok