[JasonNYC]

Hi Jason,

Does this include for the side loaded Tidal APK app? Or only the Tidal app pre-installed? I'm talking about the Cube in this instance but I'm sure this will be the same across the product range.

Cheers.

Yes, that includes any side loaded apps that use MQA - Tidal, Nugs.net, Xiami Music.

 

[Tristy]

Yes, that includes any side loaded apps that use MQA - Tidal, Nugs.net, Xiami Music.

Thank you.

 

[supervisor]

Tidal does output the correct bit-rate based on the track provided. This is part of the testing and certification process by the MQA team before the device can be MQA certified that it is passing the correct bit rate and playing back at the full resolution.

This came up with the Sony ZX-507. The device is MQA certified, sure, but only for MQA downloaded files. Not via Tidal streaming app.

 

[supervisor]

Yes, that includes any side loaded apps that use MQA - Tidal, Nugs.net, Xiami Music.

Can you also please confirm which APK installer I should be using? Someone here said XAPK, then someone said don't use XAPK, so I want to make sure I am doing this right.

Thanks so much @JasonNYC

 

[stersa]

Mqa decoding only works with tidal app preinstalled. In Open service Tidal apk,Doesn t works..only shows master,not mqa

best regards

sisco

 

[JasonNYC]

Mqa only works with tidal app preinstalled. In Open service Tidal apk,Doesn t works..only shows master,not mqa

best regards

sisco

Master is MQA tracks in Tidal.

 

[powersfineart]

From what I was told by both our teams and other manufacturers, it is an Amazon app issue not recognizing the device capability correctly. The majority of manufacturers with Android-based devices that support 24/192 all have the app saying they only support 24/48. I know with Hiby, they also had the same issue, then released a "fix" and now it shows 24/192 capable.

Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate it!

 

[stersa]

Master is MQA tracks in Tidal.

yes,but don,t show mqa Codec and unfolded bitrate . All players non mqa certificated shows
master

this is a tidal preinstalled app



in tidal apk,only shows master in yellow colour,like all daps and smartphones non mqa certified

 

[supervisor]

Just because the preinstalled Tidal app says MQA and a bit rate still does not mean that's what being outputted by the player. I give up.

 

[monsieurfromag3]

No.

What makes you say the SR25 is not a good choice as a streaming solution?

I also feel that the reason to buy a DAP is primarily to play locally stored files. Getting to stream audio is simply an added bonus in the case of the A&K players.

I don’t share that sentiment really. Although I suppose you’d include files downloaded from streaming apps like Tidal.

Having spent thousands on Bandcamp for albums I often ended up listening to just once, sometimes not even the whole way through, before moving on, I now prefer to use Tidal, as well as Spotify who are unbeatable for taking me to new things relevant to my taste.

Actually I couldn’t invest in a DAP that doesn’t support BT receiver function, as this opens up streaming from a phone. Which lifts the limitation of Wifi coverage for streaming; as long as cellular data is 4G or more and you are using aptX HD or LDAC, CD-quality playback becomes a possibility anywhere, anytime, as I currently enjoy from my V30 (which even supports MQA).

To reiterate a question asked a few pages back, has anyone compared the SR25 to the V phones? My only experience with A&K is an audition of the Acro L1000, which was a bit of a train wreck and souded worse than the V30. But I really like the form factor of the SR15/25, its overall design both inside and out, the up-to-date Android system and Cirrus Logic chips.

 

[glitchdead]

Has anyone been able to get soundcloud working on SR25? It seems i can only find .xapk of this and it won't appear under "services". Spotify was able to load, but regular .apk.
Edit: to install xapk, download XAPK Installer - Rush Wars Installer from APKpure and then you can install xapk through there. Hope this is usefull to first time android users too.

 

[twister6]

Here is my take on SR25. As usual, review is long, but it is partitioned and indexed at the end of each page so you can jump to the section of your interest. Enjoy the read!

 

[NewEve]

What makes you say the SR25 is not a good choice as a streaming solution?

The original question was (emphasis added):

​

Would you guys recommend this if I only wanted to use streaming apps on it?​

​

Accordingly, I believe that if one is looking to use a DAP in order to "only" use streaming apps — there's perhaps better to recommend than A&K's and the SR25.

Why? Because the A&K premium (compared to, say, an iBasso DX160 which has the same DAC, has a bigger screen and is cheaper) resides also in their music-focused UI which I love as much as I loath DAPs with a quasi vanilla Android UI.

So, for someone who is looking to stream all of the time, smartphone-like features (excellent wireless connections, big screen and a familiar UI) simply might be better. You are going to browse, a lot, in order to discover music, like it, add it to playlists, etc. Yes, you'll browse as well with big local music libraries but you tend to know where to look.

With that said, IMO, if one is looking to only stream, the only way is a smartphone with a good DAC/Amp, period. Other will fool themselves—but this is personal, like everything posted here it is to be taken with a grain of salt

A bientôt

 

[NewEve]

Here is my take on SR25. As usual, review is long, but it is partitioned and indexed at the end of each page so you can jump to the section of your interest. Enjoy the read!

Excellent review and hard work, thanks!

 

[havagr8da]

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon - I did it again! Isn’t this a SR25 thread. Well, yes it is but we will get to that.

Imagine if you will 1973, new release by Pink Floyd. What do you go out and get? The album, of course your main rig is in your bedroom and the majority of your music collection is Albums. You are just a 14yr old kid that got a great tube amp console from your uncle, who, by the way discovered Sansui rack components while serving in Vietnam. He went to the dark side, electronics. Back to the music. Wow what a great album!

That album is listened to over and over. This is the way you listen to your music collection, album - console stereo and over and over again.

Fast forward 2020, Astell&Kern SR25, anywhere your are, favorite headphones/iems, HiDef awesomeness, either streaming or local storage. How does it get any better. (Insert your Income) Listening now with SR25 - Audeze iSine 20 to Dark Side Of The Moon and I know that this is much better than the artist intended or imagined. You can not take advancement in technology for granted. It is real there are advancements and that my friends is why this hobby (for me passion) is so interesting. We have far surpassed as the Artist intended. With the advent of the CD this has been the reality.

Flashback, with the release of CD quality audio. I remember plugging my first Transportable CD player into that old console. Wow! I thought, at the time, How can this get any better? I did not know the future.

IEMS, Wow, what is this? In Ear Monitors that excel in coherence and replication of (As the Artist Intended) but couldn’t even imagine at the time.

IMHO, The DAP is chasing this coherence and replication that the IEM brought on to the stage of the personal listening music experience. After all, it is personal, as you are the one experiencing it. Try explaining it to someone using an iPhone and AirPods.

As personal experiences go. We all have our preferences, as varied as they may be. But imagine, as you will, that we are not as indifferent as it may seem. Maybe, we all appreciate aspiration to excellence, as the artist intended (mute point) they couldn’t have imagined what the future might have brought, let alone how fantastic we experience it with the advancement in technology as we are privileged to ascertain.

‘Short of the story. SR25 - iSine20 - Black Dragon Cable - Amazon Music HD - Love It.

Just a bit of reality (As the Artist Intended) they couldn’t have imagined what the future held.

Beyond the IEM realm. Let’s explore one of my most favorable experiences with the SR25.

How better could it have been that one of your favorite headphones works so perfectly with the SR25. Grado RS1e - Moon Audio Black Dragon balanced cable. Big shout out to Moon Audio. Exceptional company, advancing the realms of possibility that the future beholds.