[thefallenangelx]

BT codec is indicated by LED color / pattern. It has nothing to do with what poweramp (or any music app) is saying on your smartphone. What poweramp is indicating is the bitdepth / bitrate that it is outputting to the BT adapter. It has nothing to do with what BT codec is used between the BT adapter and UTWS5.


For example, people thought because Apple uses mainly AAC as its preferred BT codec, so if you are playing AAC music files on Apple devices, then it will be sent completely intact to the BT receiver (*headphone, etc). That is however a completely incorrect understanding how BT works. The AAC music will first be decoded back to PCM stream, then sent to the BT adapter (or BT chip), re-encoded to AAC and send over via BT to the receiver, then re-decoded back to PCM and convert to analog sound. So even though AAC music is played over BT devices that used AAC as BT codec, the two processes really don't have much to do with each other. The same applies to any music files vs. whatever BT codec is used. Whatever the music app is outputting and whatever the BT adapter is outputting don't concern each other.

Ok. In short i should not care about what poweramp says?
But in this case, does it means that poweramp stream to the usb DAC in 16bit and then the DAC upstream via BT to the UTWS5 in 24bit?
Looks like there is a downscaling first and then upscaling, potentially degrading the sound stream?

 

[ClieOS]

Ok. In short i should not care about what poweramp says?
But in this case, does it means that poweramp stream to the usb DAC in 16bit and then the DAC upstream via BT to the UTWS5 in 24bit?
Looks like there is a downscaling first and then upscaling, potentially degrading the sound stream?

Depends on many other factor, result can be different - but if we to assume the process itself is clean, upsampling should not degrade SQ. Downscaling is more complex. but technically it can impact SQ though again, it depends on other factor as well. If downsampling is done well, any degradation is be minimum to none.

 

[thefallenangelx]

Depends on many other factor, result can be different - but if we to assume the process itself is clean, upsampling should not degrade SQ. Downscaling is more complex. but technically it can impact SQ though again, it depends on other factor as well. If downsampling is done well, any degradation is be minimum to none.

Ok.
Therefore i may be sure i am streaming in Aptx Adaptive but no one knows what bitrate/freq it is using?

 

[ClieOS]

Ok.
Therefore i may be sure i am streaming in Aptx Adaptive but no one knows what bitrate/freq it is using?

Aptx Adaptive on its own is auto-scaling with a max sampling rate of 24/48.

 

[helmutcheese]

Put in in a Windows PC and see what you can choose in Audio/Speakers Properties if Windows actually can see it without a dedicated driver or it may still see it but not see its full settings.

For example FiiO have a DAC driver for the BTA30 PRO to let Windows (Newer Beta driver for Win 10) see the full range of setting but in Windows 11 I did not need it.

 

[lascotro]

Is it worth the upgrade from the UTWS3 to UTWS5 for an iPhone user?

 

[helmutcheese]

Well your still only going to be using SBC/AAC, ok it may have improvements but its really about the new BT 5.2 and aptX Adaptive IMO so does your phone have BT 5.2 and if so is that with the upgrade to you?

I am skipping it as it does not have the older aptX-HD codec to fall back to for phones without aptX adaptive and the battery is not great today when you can get 12-15 hours on smaller buds added to I would need buy a 3rd set of earbuds to fit to them.

Next time around for me when the newer audio features/extensions are added to BT 5.2 (if the devices QC chipset supports it, the one after the QC3040) or probably BT 6.0 by then.

 

[lascotro]

Well your still only going to be using SBC/AAC, ok it may have improvements but its really about thew new BT 5.2 and aptX Adaptive IMO so does your phone have BT5.2 and if so is that with the upgrade to you?

I am skipping it as it does not have the older aptX-HD codec to fall back top for phones without aptX adaptive and the battery is not great today when you can get 12-15hours on smaller buds.

Yeap, that is true.

I just considered to buy it because I found a store selling for 95 dollars with a discount code

 

[drftr]

upsampling should not degrade SQ

You may want to check the Poweramp forum where upsampling haters have some interesting threads about this. The reason why many prefer UAPP is because it doesn't fall into this Android trap and completely bypasses any upsample tricks. I can't tell if that is the reason UAPP sounds better though.

drftr

 

[anethema]

Yeap, that is true.

I just considered to buy it because I found a store selling for 75 dollars with a discount code

Main upgrade for iPhone user is the much more powerful amp and wireless case charging.

 

[kadinh]

Anyone tried this with the Sony IER-Z1R?

 

[drftr]

Anyone tried this with the Sony IER-Z1R?

I haven't but I DO know it LOVES power to really show its strengths. Might be an underwhelming and lacklustre result but I'm just guessing here.

drftr

 

[thefallenangelx]

Aptx Adaptive on its own is auto-scaling with a max sampling rate of 24/48.

Clear.
Anyhow, this little DAC looks very nice. Small and i never had any shutter or lag, which i have instead sometimes when i directly pair my R6 2020 and the UTWS5.
I am only afraid that it will break sometime considering it protudes a bit from the DAP.

 

[FiiO]

FiiO UTWS5 is on the way to our worldwide sales agents!

Dear respected customers,

Thank you for your kind patience and constant attention for our UTWS5. Delivery of the UTWS5 has started from 7th, December. Please kindly check this post for a daily updated list of countries / regions and agents we have sent goods to.

Germany: NT Global Distribution GmbH

Thailand: Holysai

HongKong: Carve Link Company

TaiWan: Taiwan distributor

Japan: Emilai

Canada: Canadian distributor

Russia: Blade

Romanian distributor: AVstore

Hungary: KriptonIT Kft

Lithuania: UAB Audio guru

UAE: Smart Audio Electronics Trading L.L.C

(*The shipping to other regions will also follow soon, and we will keep updating this post)

In order to get prompt pre-sales and after-sales service, we strongly suggest you to buy FiiO products from our authorized sales agents (Where to buy).

By our estimate, it would take 5 to 7 working days for the parcels to reach our agents abroad, which means all of you can try contacting the local sales agents on about 14nd Dec.

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact us or directly contact our local agents.

Happy listening!

Best regards,
Guangzhou FiiO Electronics Technology Co., Ltd.

 

[kadinh]

Excited for US retailers to get it. Definitely going to try out the UTWS5.