Helix HEC - Bluetooth or USB?

[chilly]

Would there be a significant and noticeable improvement in sound quality changing from Bluetooth (aptX) to wired USB connection?

I'm thinking of swapping out the Bluetooth HEC card in my Helix DSP for a USB HEC input card. I only play Tidal from my phone (Samsung S20) direct to the DSP. I gather I would also need a USB OTG cable.

Bluetooth is really convenient, but I'm thinking I'm probably loosing some quality. Would it make much difference and would it be worth it?

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

[BigAl205]

I've been wondering that myself, I have the USB HEC installed, but very rarely use it since I switched from iPhone to Android. I bought a Bluetooth HEC, but haven't installed it yet.

[nadams5755]

you could leave the BT module in there and use either the spdif/toslink or spdif/coax connection on your dsp. there's a few usb-dacs which can act as usb-to-spdif bridges, like the topping d10/d10s (toslink+coax), optoma nuforce udac3 (coax), or optoma nuforce udac5 (coax) to connect from your phone to your dsp's digital inputs. i'm sure there's others but i have experience with these ones.

or put in a usb-hec and grab something like an arc btd (new) or mosconi amas to go from BT to spdif/toslink into your dsp.

https://www.arcaudio.com/store?p=228845
https://mosconi-america.com/portfolio/amas-96k/

[nadams5755]

i like the usb-spdif bridges/converters because it keeps the usb runs short. powering a usb device 10-15' away can be a challenge and requires special cabling. however coax and toslink spdif work well over longer distances like that.