Topic: Streaming 24/192 to Conventional Amp?

[jmz93]

Below is a question from a friend. Any replies to this post, including clarifying questions, will be forwarded his way, since he is not a member here.

"Tidal is streaming FLAC now providing 24/192 quality.  But I think if I use airplay from my iPhone this is dropped back to 48 kHz.  I am also not clear what rate I get if I use the Tidal app directly on my Samsung TV to send the audio to my amp over hdmi.  Maybe someone on the net knows the answers to this.  Do I need an outboard codec to get 24/192?  If I do, am I likely to buy some expensive hardware that is obsolete in a few years?   I am struggling to find these answers online anywhere!"

If I understand the question, what's the most direct way he can go Tidal's hi-res playback > AppleTV box > traditional amp plus Monitor Audio speakers?

All ideas gratefully received.

[Blakeq]

I have not used Tidal. But it looks like Wiim and Acrylic have some options. For example this:

https://www.arylic.com/products/lp10-music-streamer

[Thelonious]

Two important things to know here.

1) Apple TV supports a max of 48/24 (not that that’s a huge downgrade, but it will downsample anything higher than that)
2) Apple AirPlay is 256 AAC (basically lossy Bluetooth) regardless of the hardware you are using

If you install an app on an Apple TV you shouldn’t need to use AirPlay as the Apple TV is connected to your network and so you shouldn’t be able to control an app with your phone that is steaming music to the Apple TV. I don’t do this (see my note on the limitation of Apple TV above, but if you can download tidal to your Apple TV then that would be the way to do it.

I hope that this is helpful.

[scb]

Below is a question from a friend. Any replies to this post, including clarifying questions, will be forwarded his way, since he is not a member here.

"Tidal is streaming FLAC now providing 24/192 quality.  But I think if I use airplay from my iPhone this is dropped back to 48 kHz.  I am also not clear what rate I get if I use the Tidal app directly on my Samsung TV to send the audio to my amp over hdmi.  Maybe someone on the net knows the answers to this.  Do I need an outboard codec to get 24/192?  If I do, am I likely to buy some expensive hardware that is obsolete in a few years?   I am struggling to find these answers online anywhere!"

If I understand the question, what's the most direct way he can go Tidal's hi-res playback > AppleTV box > traditional amp plus Monitor Audio speakers?

All ideas gratefully received.

I don't have an answer to what rate is being output, but I will say that HDMI can definitely do the full 24/192. Whether the Tidal app on the Samsung TV is sending the full signal...I don't know. What amp is the hdmi going into? Is there a way for the amp to tell you the incoming signal format?

[BlueSky71]

I thought about using Tidal for the Hi res stuff, but there hardly is any on there, and what is, is not what I am looking for. Sticking with Spotify, which has almost any commercial recording that I can think of at anytime. To answer the OP's question, sounds like the friend should be looking for a DAC, or a dedicated streamer then maybe into a DAC.  Another way to go about this is to buy or use a cheap laptop, locally to the stereo that can be connected via USB, play it though that, and use the phone for song selection. That is how I am set up right now.

[Claude]

44.1Khz in PCM is above the limit if human hearing.
Men, in particular, don't hear much above 18Khz of audio wave, which in PCM, less overhead for quantization, is 36Khz of bitrate.
Allow for margins, and bit handling. 44.1 became the CD magic.
48Khz is well over 20Khz of musical resolution and everything above it is of debatable use.

Everyone wants to have magical golden ears.
I've never once seen anyone reliably, double-blind pick the 24/96 from the CD rate on the same DAC and playback system.

I like to read of such things, and if you have a reputable resource that offers differing outcomes, please post it.

"Neil Young's soundman swears he can differentiate" as far as I am aware has not been demonstrated.
By the way, more power to you if you want Hi-Res, storage is inexpensive these days.
I do it just because I can, as I watch the processing that shows me that I'm being excessive.

So, I wouldn't freak about Apple rate if it sounds good to you.
There have been changes and many ways around the limit in recent years.

[Claude]

Enter the questions on Dolby Atmos....     

[kindms]

rasberrypi >usb >dac of your choice.

there are several audio custom builds. i use Volumio but there are others. its inexpensive and small and rock solid. ive been using it for years with different dacs. DAC > Pre > AMP > Speakers.

you just pull up a local website on your on network and can control it from any device