bluetooth dac recommendation needed

[adscft]

hi, i am trying to get a not expansive bluetooth dac to cast cell phone/laptop music to stereo system.
thinking of the following choices,
audioengine b1, ifi zen blue, or raspberry + hifiberry dac

just wonder what is your top choice? not limited to the above three.

thank you very much

 

[dougi]

I use the ifi zen blue and recommend it! Nice that it tells you (literally in a female voice) what codec it is using upon connection. Plus ongoing sample rate and codec indicators. Sounds good too. I have had a few short dropouts on the super quality 990kbps LDAC but that could be down to the phone. I also have the oneforall SV1820 HD unit which supports basic Apt-X and has an optical digital out. Good value! Not to be confused with the SBC only SV1810.

 

[adscft]

thanks.

I use the ifi zen blue and recommend it! Nice that it tells you (literally in a female voice) what codec it is using upon connection. Plus ongoing sample rate and codec indicators. Sounds good too. I have had a few short dropouts on the super quality 990kbps LDAC but that could be down to the phone. I also have the oneforall SV1820 HD unit which supports basic Apt-X and has an optical digital out. Good value! Not to be confused with the SBC only SV1810.

 

[bobbooo]

hi, i am trying to get a not expansive bluetooth dac to cast cell phone/laptop music to stereo system.
thinking of the following choices,
audioengine b1, ifi zen blue, or raspberry + hifiberry dac

just wonder what is your top choice? not limited to the above three.

thank you very much

Your phone/laptop don't have Bluetooth?

 

[adscft]

phone/laptop have bluetooth, want to use them as source for supernait 3. supernait 3 doesn't take bluetooth input. so need a device with bluetooth input and rca output. thanks

Your phone/laptop don't have Bluetooth?

 

[bobbooo]

phone/laptop have bluetooth, want to use them as source for supernait 3. supernait 3 doesn't take bluetooth input. so need a device with bluetooth input and rca output. thanks

Ah I see. Well one option would be the Qudelix 5K at $109, which you could also use for mobile use. It supports aptX-HD and LDAC, and has an optional 10-band parametric EQ. You'd just need a 3.5mm to RCA cable for your stereo system.

 

[Aldoszx]

Topping D50s has bluetooth input.
Another option could be the new Topping BC3, but it has not been measured yet.

 

[Chrispy]

Why use bluetooth at all?

 

[adscft]

Why use bluetooth at all?

more convenient than playing a vinyl, and control everything from cell phone.

could one side focus on work, another side have some music.

 

[Chrispy]

more convenient than playing a vinyl, and control everything from cell phone.

could one side focus on work, another side have some music.

Wifi is just as easy....

ps And has range advantages, too, as well as just being generally higher fidelity than BT.

 

[bobbooo]

more convenient than playing a vinyl, and control everything from cell phone.

could one side focus on work, another side have some music.

@Chrispy is right, unless you need it to double as a portable wireless DAC, a WiFi rather than Bluetooth receiver would be a better option for home listening, allowing for lossless streaming of your music to your stereo system. Although officially discontinued, you should be able to find a Google Chromecast Audio for around $50 on eBay, which will do just that.

 

[adscft]

@Chrispy is right, unless you need it to double as a portable wireless DAC, a WiFi rather than Bluetooth receiver would be a better option for home listening, allowing for lossless streaming of your music to your stereo system. Although officially discontinued, you should be able to find a Google Chromecast Audio for around $50 on eBay, which will do just that.

thank you very much.

 

[MrPotatoHead]

What did you end up going with? I'm looking for something similar for my shop.

 

[Dilliw]

I use the Bludento HD receiver and it works great. I've A/B'd it against my LG G7 phone out (a very good DAC) and on my files (24/96 max) there is no penalty for the BT connection using AptX hd. I still hardwire the LG when I'm listening for a long period but that's probably just a "what's the best" thing.

The Bluedento uses the PCM5102A and supports 32 bit files.

 

[MrPotatoHead]

...there is no penalty for the BT connection using AptX hd.

Thanks. I won't be doing any critical listening in my shop but I wonder if it makes sense/any difference to go with a BT DAC that's capable of LDAC (YADA YADA).

I'm driving a Dragonfly DAC connected to my OnePlus 7Pro and it's super flakey using the USB Audio Player Pro. Functionality >> audio perfection.

 

[Dilliw]

For me that decision was made by my source and not the receiver. I bought the LG G7 because it has one of the better DACs in a phone, and since it supports the AptX hd in BT that's the receiver that I bought. All of the newer Droids support LDAC at some rate so if that's what I had that's the receiver I'd look for.

The AptX hd is scientifically inferior to the the LDAC but the LDAC is inferior to the wired LG G7 output. As I stated above, using 24/96 files there is no sound difference between my G7 wired and the AptX hd connection (that my old ears can perceive).