How to get the best sound from Tidal

[Darkimag22]

What is going to give me the best sound from my Samsung Note 10+ streaming Tidal? I normally plug my phone into the USB hub in my '18 F150 XLT...but will that give me the best sound??? When I connect via Bluetooth, the music is slightly louder but I can't really tell if it sounds better than when plugged in. I've had a couple guys recommend to use an external DAC and the Audioquest Cobalt has been brought up a couple times (if this is the route I should take, is there a more budget friendly option???). If I where to go with the Dragonfly, how would I go about getting the signal to my Audison Forza 8.9 Bit as my truck does not have a 3.5mm input?

Thanks guys!

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[goatpanda]

How is your truck's Head Unit audio getting to the Forza? Speaker level?

If we're talking maximum sound-quality: Many people choose to run a hi-res audio player or external DAC straight into their DSP's digital input and bypass the factory head-unit altogether (using a remote control on their DSP for volume control). The fewer digital/analog conversions taking place, the better. Your Forza has an optical input, if you get an external DAC with a digital optical output you could run it straight to the Forza. You would need an Audison DRC unit to be able to control volume.

If you're sticking with input options on the factory head-unit, I would assume that your USB input should be better quality than Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a lossy format that compresses the audio to transmit it wirelessly. USB should at least maintain the Tidal audio format/bitrate, with the weak-link being the DAC in the head-unit. If your head-unit doesn't have an analog line-input, USB is probably the best way to go, but I don't think there's any way to use a higher-quality DAC with it.

I used to use the speaker level outputs from my factory headunit to a dsp, but discovered that the head unit was adding a lot of distortion. I got a cheap Fiio hi-res player and ran it straight into my Dayton dsp's analog input (with a Fostex passive analog volume controller), only using the factory head unit for phone calls or FM radio. That was a massive sq improvement, at the cost of convenience. I now have a Helix dsp which has a USB input card, so my Fiio or phone can connect straight into the dsp via USB, with only one digital-analog conversion taking place in the dsp. This has resulted in another step up in sound quality.

[Darkimag22]

Yes I am using speaker level into the Audison and I just installed the DRC this summer so I would like to take advantage of it.

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[goatpanda]

If you already have a DRC, I'd try out a direct connection from your phone to the optical input on the Forza.

I'm not too familiar with Android-compatible DACs, but I have seen this unit from HiFime pop up in some google searches https://hifimediy.com/product/hifime...9018k2msa9023/ It has an optical output, I think via an adapter that goes into the 3.5mm jack.

[dumdum]

If the audison has optical input I can wholeheartedly recommend the topping D10s with a usb pass through charging hub via optical

i am hoping you stream everything though through usb audio player pro, otherwise anything you play from tidal will be up or down sampled to 48khz regardless of its original bitrate, that’s why android is awful for tidal if you use downloaded tracks, you can’t then use usb audio player pro with the downloaded content

[Darkimag22]

If the audison has optical input I can wholeheartedly recommend the topping D10s with a usb pass through charging hub via optical

i am hoping you stream everything though through usb audio player pro, otherwise anything you play from tidal will be up or down sampled to 48khz regardless of its original bitrate, that’s why android is awful for tidal if you use downloaded tracks, you can’t then use usb audio player pro with the downloaded content

Kk...I found the Topping D10s but what is a "usb pass through charging hub via optical"???

I am finding I need to do a lot more research about hi res audio, dacs, etc.

Good to know about Tidal but do you mean I won't be able to play any of my Tidal downloads through USB audio pro???


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[dumdum]

To get usb from the android device you need an otg adaptor... you could in theory use the proximity charging with a simple otg lead supplied with the phone, but I got a usb C hub which allowed me to add a usb stick and also plug the topping D10 in, it also had a usb c socket on the hub which allows you to charge the phone (tablet in my case)

optical was how I fed the dsp from the topping, nothing to do with the hub

[Darkimag22]

Well life decided to throw me a curveball. Have to sell my truck now because my ex is finally going through with our divorce. Will be removing ALL my stereo out of my truck for my next build....whenever that may be.

Thanks for the info guys.

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[dumdum]

Well life decided to throw me a curveball. Have to sell my truck now because my ex is finally going through with our divorce. Will be removing ALL my stereo out of my truck for my next build....whenever that may be.

Thanks for the info guys.

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That sucks

[goatpanda]

Well life decided to throw me a curveball. Have to sell my truck now because my ex is finally going through with our divorce. Will be removing ALL my stereo out of my truck for my next build....whenever that may be.

Thanks for the info guys.

Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk

Aw hell, sorry to hear that man. You'll get through it and be able to return to audio nirvana one day.