[richardloh]

Hi All,

Anyone can advise sampling/bit

I think ZEN Blue won't upsample digital output, you can check this by setting Bits Per Sample & Sample Rate in Android's Developer options then watch your external DAC's input info if available.

Hi Ouyang,

Thanks and had thought it is usual that digital output of most component if not all have fixed default rate which unfortunately remains elusive to me for the ifi zen blue .. can you advise ?

Else will check on the light display of my Terminator dac when back home with toggling of phone sample rate to check if ifi zen blue simply output thr same bitrate/sampling whatever we BT to it.

Cheers.

Richard

 

[daytrader]

Is it 24/192 and ifi zen blue's stated BT 24/96 gets upsampled to 24/192 in its digital output ?
Correction... I’ve seen only 24/96 stated in literature from iFi not 192 as I previously thought(which I read in some YouTube review). Sorry for the confusion.

 

[iFi audio]

I’ve seen only 24/96 stated in literature from iFi not 192

Yup, but thanks for your clarification!

 

[richardloh]

I think ZEN Blue won't upsample digital output, you can check this by setting Bits Per Sample & Sample Rate in Android's Developer options then watch your external DAC's input info if available.

Hi Ouyang,

Once connected and when you go to connection .. you will see LDAC option defaulted on. Toggle it on/off and my Terminator will indicate incoming sample rates of 44.1/96khz which I believe it means the zen blue basically output whatever that it is fed .. 96khz being the max sampling rate of LDAC.

This default LDAC when connected with my LDAC capable Samsung phone works well and its does sound great. Only shortcoming is that as some shared before, my Samsung phone default to adaptive which I then do not know if max 990kbps transfer rate unless I force optimised for sound quality .. unlike some LG V20/30/40 phones that default to 990kbps.

Oh, one thing is that I do not know is why the below screenshot shows 32 bits and not 24bit and if indeed playing at 32 bits as my Terminator cannot tell but is capable of.

Cheers.

Richard

 

[OuYang]

Oh, one thing is that I do not know is why the below screenshot shows 32 bits and not 24bit and if indeed playing at 32 bits as my Terminator cannot tell but is capable of.

Cheers.

Richard

Yes, my Pixel 4 also have 32 bits option, I usually let Bluetooth bits/sample rate setting matching source content to avoid additional SRC in phone.

 

[richardloh]

Yes, my Pixel 4 also have 32 bits option, I usually let Bluetooth bits/sample rate setting matching source content to avoid additional SRC in phone.

Hi OuYang,

I was playing from Tunein radio which is certainly not 32bits and without changing anything i.e. default on my Samsung, 32 bits shows up in Developer option page .. but ifi zen blue is mentioned as 24bits/96khz and I can see 96khz on my Terminator but not the bitrate if it is 24bits or 32bits actually received by thr Terminator.

Can you dac see the bitrate when your phone shows 32bits ?

Cheers.

Richard

 

[OuYang]

Can you dac see the bitrate when your phone shows 32bits ?

I can play 32/96 LDAC from Pixel 4 through ZEN Blue to DAC (Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital). It shows 96Khz correctly but it can not show bits depth information.

 

[richardloh]

I can play 32/96 LDAC from Pixel 4 through ZEN Blue to DAC (Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital). It shows 96Khz correctly but it can not show bits depth information.

Hi Ouyang,

Thanks .. project box does not show bits info also then .. tks.

Cheers.

Richard

 

[TheoS53]

 

[iFi audio]

Thanks for the link! That's a really cool vid!

 

[daytrader]

Zen Blue help please...

If used solely for the purpose BT, which digital connection is better, coaxial or optical output to an external DAC?

 

[richardloh]

Zen Blue help please...

If used solely for the purpose BT, which digital connection is better, coaxial or optical output to an external DAC?

Hi daytrader,

If you are going spend more on a good coaxial cable, coaxial will be the way to go since it may be used to tune the sound to your liking.

If you are using any optical cable that comes as stock with some consumer appliance or already available in your drawer and not going to spend more, just use it since difference in resulting sound quality from different optical cables is very small unlike coaxial cables.

Either way, I do not believe BT sound quality from the ifi zen blue will differs very much. Output from the ifi zen blue is a mere 96khz and not some dsd audio that coaxial may be needed for dsd capable dac.

You may even try analog output with your "best" interconnect to use the internal dac of the ifi zen blue to bypass your external dac if you are using a preamp just to compare if to your liking since interconnects do sound different.

For me, I just use its optical output to my denafrips Terminator dac since its 2 available coaxial inputs are already used up by my bel canto fm tuner and cambridge audio cxuhd 4k player. My more serious listening is via usb from the allo usb bridge signature or via i2s from the Jay Audio cdt2 transport and the ifi zen blue is a standby option for visitors or my children playing kpop via their phones.

Cheers.

Richard

 

[iFi audio]

If used solely for the purpose BT, which digital connection is better, coaxial or optical output to an external DAC?

I'd use coaxial over optical to pass signal to an external DAC.

 

[daytrader]

deleted

 

[daytrader]

Hi daytrader,

If you are going spend more on a good coaxial cable, coaxial will be the way to go since it may be used to tune the sound to your liking.

If you are using any optical cable that comes as stock with some consumer appliance or already available in your drawer and not going to spend more, just use it since difference in resulting sound quality from different optical cables is very small unlike coaxial cables.

Either way, I do not believe BT sound quality from the ifi zen blue will differs very much. Output from the ifi zen blue is a mere 96khz and not some dsd audio that coaxial may be needed for dsd capable dac.

You may even try analog output with your "best" interconnect to use the internal dac of the ifi zen blue to bypass your external dac if you are using a preamp just to compare if to your liking since interconnects do sound different.

For me, I just use its optical output to my denafrips Terminator dac since its 2 available coaxial inputs are already used up by my bel canto fm tuner and cambridge audio cxuhd 4k player. My more serious listening is via usb from the allo usb bridge signature or via i2s from the Jay Audio cdt2 transport and the ifi zen blue is a standby option for visitors or my children playing kpop via their phones.

Cheers.

Richard

Agreed...Only used for its convenience into my Ares II and sourced from my iPhone(worst possible resolution) but still somehow managing to sound good with my Tidal Subscription. As for optimal hi rez reproduction, i believe nothing beats usb currently, maybe iS2 but have no real experience with that connection so not sure. So a Terminator, right on!!