I definitely hear what you describe with the Pixel 2X, ES100 and LDAC. I like it, but I am listening to lossy mostly Spotify at the higher bit levels, so I don't consider that the best judge. I listen to a lot of hi-rez and DSD on my iBasso.
I totally agree im using a LGV20 which supports the AptXHD with Earstudio Es100 and a Samsung Note 8 which supports LDAC .AptxHD sounds more natural less electronically enhanced ..
Today i've tested a little bit different audio codecs and sampling rates.
First. You are right LDAC with 96khz/32or24 bit sounds more airy with more space, more room...
From my point of view, air, space and room which is not there. Inside the developer options of my phone i configure to use 48 khz/24 bit vi LDAC.
The sound is more "natural" with more punch and more warmth.
From my point of view, that is the same ugly effect what you always experience with upsampling DACs. Until today i prefer to hear redbook CD's with 44.1 khz DAC, not with 192 khz, because you have more unnatural space and air in your music with upsampling DAC's.
If i understand some pages correctly, ANDROID uses a 48/24 bit audio system as internal mixer. It means when i set the LDAC mode to 48 khz 24 bit, i am "bitperfect" with the ANDROID sound engine.
Is that correct?
If yes, how can i play high res files over bluetooth? (i have one Talking heads 96khz/24bit FLAC long player on the phone.)
If i configure my phone to play 48 khz/24 bit via LDAC, do i have a benefit over APTX HD/AAC? Is LDAC sendig 990 bit/s via LDAC in that configuration?