[pablobaluba]

Hi all,

Old user, but took a break of a few years and a lot has changed since then. I need some beginner advice if possible:

• I now mainly (95%) use YouTube Music (Premium) for listening music (but i also want to bring my Flac collection back on my phone). I listen both from laptop (at work) and mobile (outside).
• My phone does have a 3.5mm jack (Android)
• I currently have Blon Bl-03 - I listen mainly to hip hop and electronic.

Questions:

1. Would a Fiio KA5 or BTR7 improve the sounds quality of a streaming service (ie. YouTube music) or it's better just to forget it? I read some articles where a DAC wouldn't help at all the streaming services due to their quality.
2. If I want to listen to my old Flac collection I must get a secondary player (like UAPP) I understood. Is it possible to connect with this one also to YouTube Music or basically I will have to use two players? (YTM for streaming and UAPP for my Flacs)? Any other advice here?
3. What would be a better investment at this stage. A better set of IEMs or a DAC? I'm looking at something like 7hz Timeless or ER2XR. It's better to buy first the IEMs or the DAC?

Thanks in advance!

 

[baskingshark]

Hi all,

Old user, but took a break of a few years and a lot has changed since then. I need some beginner advice if possible:

• I now mainly (95%) use YouTube Music for listening music (but i also want to bring my Flac collection back on my phone). I listen both from laptop (at work) and mobile (outside).
• My phone does have a 3.5mm jack
• I currently have Blon Bl-03 - I listen mainly to hip hop and electronic.

Questions:

1. Would a Fiio KA5 or BTR7 improve the sounds quality of a streaming service (ie. YouTube music) or it's better just to forget it? I read some articles where a DAC wouldn't help at all the streaming services due to their quality.
2. If I want to listen to my old Flac collection I must get a secondary player (like UAPP) I understood. Is it possible to connect with this one also to YouTube Music or basically I will have to use two players? (YTM for streaming and UAPP for my Flacs)? Any other advice here?
3. What would be a better investment at this stage. A better set of IEMs or a DAC? I'm looking at something like 7hz Timeless or ER2XR. It's better to buy first the IEMs or the DAC?

Thanks in advance!

General rule of thumb is to upgrade the transducer (ie headphone/IEM) first, that's where the best bang for buck is.

After upgrading the transducer and being satisfied with it, perhaps you can then look at eartips/earpads, source file (eg Mp3 123 versus lossless), Amp, DAC +/- cables in descending order for lower diminishing returns.




For streaming it depends. Stuff like general youtube files is not of very high quality. If you are using a higher quality streamer like Qobuz HiRes, then perhaps that may be audible to you.

If your phone is an Android phone, you might need a software like Hiby Music player (which is free) to unlock bit perfect mode to make use of higher bitrate files under the settings of the music player, to get the most out of the higher res files if you have it.

 

[pablobaluba]

Thanks for the answer! Should i understand from your answer that file quality/source file is above the Dac/amp ? (we are excluding now really crappy formats like 96kbps...)
Would changing YTM to Tidal would make a bigger difference vs phone dac/dedicated dac?

 

[baskingshark]

Thanks for the answer! Should i understand from your answer that file quality/source file is above the Dac/amp ? (we are excluding now really crappy formats like 96kbps...)
Would changing YTM to Tidal would make a bigger difference vs phone dac/dedicated dac?

Generally, mp3 192 and below is quite audibly different from mp3 320. Mp3 320 and FLAC/WAV is hard to tell apart on blind A/B tests actually.

If you are already using Mp3 320, then I would suggest to upgrade the transducer first, then later eartips, then amp, then DAC, and lastly cables.

 

[Tiax]

Should i understand from your answer that file quality/source file is above the Dac/amp ? (we are excluding now really crappy formats like 96kbps...)
Would changing YTM to Tidal would make a bigger difference vs phone dac/dedicated dac?

For me, any lossy with high enough bitrate is fine, and changing it to lossless or high-res improves nothing.
Ear-/Headphones first, then you can try some cheap DAC/AMP (apple dongle is unbeatable for the money) and decide if you even notice much difference.

 

[earmonger]

"Normal" on YouTube Music is 128kbps which is still noticeably low quality. Downloads at "low" -- 48kbps -- are a crime against music.

If you can change the options on YTM to higher quality on your setup, you should.
https://support.google.com/youtubemusic/answer/9076559


Audio quality on the main YouTube site itself, with the videos, is often really atrocious. I regularly hear a noticeable difference on many tracks between YT and Spotify or Tidal. I'd suggest trying a trial offer on Tidal or Spotify vs. your YTM and see if you hear an improvement. (Make sure to match the volume as best you can; Tidal often comes through louder.)

Qobuz has the best sound quality, though with a slightly smaller catalog (particularly niche tastes like avant-garde jazz) than Spotify or Tidal. You probably wouldn't miss anything you're looking for if you're not poking around the margins.

 

[pablobaluba]

I see. I forgot to mention, i am talking about YTM Premium (not the regular version), so I assume the quality is higher, i understood something like 256kbps AAC, which should be quite decent.

 

[earmonger]

Ah, right, you did say Premium in the beginning. That's probably comparable to any of the other services except Qobuz or Tidal Masters.

The IEM upgrade definitely comes first. There are a lot of under-$100 contenders that have arrived since your Blon-03 -- maybe even under $50. Look at some of the roundups of best IEMs under $100.

 

[pablobaluba]

I was thinking to jump directly into the 200-300$ range. No matter how good the IEMs have become today in the sub 100$ bracket, i think the difference vs Blon-03 cannot be too noticeable. I would rather go with something like 7Hz Timeless AE or something similar as l can afford it. i'm afraid i risk buying another "decent 100$" iem which will not be too much different from what i currently have.

 

[baskingshark]

I was thinking to jump directly into the 200-300$ range. No matter how good the IEMs have become today in the sub 100$ bracket, i think the difference vs Blon-03 cannot be too noticeable. I would rather go with something like 7Hz Timeless AE or something similar as l can afford it. i'm afraid i risk buying another "decent 100$" iem which will not be too much different from what i currently have.

I would agree with that actually.

The midFI region is where the sweet spot is for sonic fidelity IMHO. When you go to TOTL pricing, you get maybe 10 - 20% improvement from the midFI range, but u pay 10x more (ie diminishing returns hit hard).