cheap way to bluetooth enable my dac that wont ruin quality

[Kosta]

anybody have any experience with using those cheap CSR8675 bluetooth receivers from aliexpress to stream to a dac.

Since they support optical out does this mean it will be my desktop dac that will do the decoding ? i.e does optical out always bypass the onbaord dac.?

I dont really want to have some crappy little receiver doing the decoding when I have a nice desktop dac for this.

 

[Vincent Kars]

Yes, your desktop DAC will do the conversion to analog
As it is Bluetooth, the standard codec used by BT sender and sink (SBC) will be lossy (kind of high bit rate MP3)
There are codecs allowing for a higher bit rate but they are lossy too
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/Bluetooth.htm

 

[Berwhale]

What DAC have out got? I have a Topping D50s and I can connect to this over Bluetooth using the LDAC codec (lossy, but up to 990Kbps) from my Android phone.

 

[Kosta]

It's a fiio k5 pro doesn't have Bluetooth. I can stream now via phone dnla to Xbox one to optical out to dac. But I noticed that you can apply eq via the Xbox which got me suspicious as to what was doing the decoding or that Xbox was manipulating the sound. Also when I stream hi res files the dac only shows 48khz being played. Which is not the case if I hook up my phone directly via usb

 

[Berwhale]

I have one of these...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07RPV5MXD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll plug it into my D50s and let you know if it works.

*edit* It works...

I connecting to 'Boiros' from my phone; I can't get it to transmit at any higher than 16bit - 44.1Khz, but it sounds OK to me (my phone is a Galaxy Note 9 with USB Audio Player Pro which is usually connected to an Radsone Earstudio ES100 at much higher quality using LDAC).

When I connected directly to the D50s from my phone using LDAC, I can play the same track at 96kHz.

I don't think you're going to get any better than 16-44, unless you can find a stand alone receiver than supports the LDAC codec and the last time I looked, they didn't exist.

Here's a picture of the box that 'Boiros' came in for reference...

 

[LTig]

anybody have any experience with using those cheap CSR8675 bluetooth receivers from aliexpress to stream to a dac.

Since they support optical out does this mean it will be my desktop dac that will do the decoding ? i.e does optical out always bypass the onbaord dac.?

I dont really want to have some crappy little receiver doing the decoding when I have a nice desktop dac for this.

Yes, the DAC does the decoding. But the BT receiver should support the aptX standard for better SQ. I have bought one 2 years ago for 50 € but it's no longer available. This one is probably just as well.

 

[BillG]

I don't think you're going to get any better than 16-44, unless you can find a stand alone receiver than supports the LDAC codec and the last time I looked, they didn't exist.

They do, but may cost more than the OP wishes to spent at ~$130 USD:

https://ifi-audio.com/products/zen-blue/

 

[Berwhale]

They do, but may cost more than the OP wishes to spent at ~$130 USD:

https://ifi-audio.com/products/zen-blue/

That's a DAC with Bluetooth input capabilities, so essentially equivalent to my D50s. That's why I said 'stand alone receiver' as Kosta already has a reasonable/decent DAC/Amp.

If you want a high quality Bluetooth connection with a decent DAC and Amp, then the DX3 Pro or D50s + JDS Atom combo are going to be the cheapest entry point However, both these options are at least 50% more expensive than the Fiio K5 Pro. Looking at it another way, an LDAC capable Bluetooth receiver would need to be less than $70 for it to be worth adding to the K5 Pro instead of replacing the K5 Pro with a Dx3 Pro.

 

[Kosta]

I have one of these...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07RPV5MXD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll plug it into my D50s and let you know if it works.

*edit* It works...

I connecting to 'Boiros' from my phone; I can't get it to transmit at any higher than 16bit - 44.1Khz, but it sounds OK to me (my phone is a Galaxy Note 9 with USB Audio Player Pro which is usually connected to an Radsone Earstudio ES100 at much higher quality using LDAC).

When I connected directly to the D50s from my phone using LDAC, I can play the same track at 96kHz.

I don't think you're going to get any better than 16-44, unless you can find a stand alone receiver than supports the LDAC codec and the last time I looked, they didn't exist.

Here's a picture of the box that 'Boiros' came in for reference...

Ok Thanks. That receiver looks like it supports aptx HD which in theory should get you 24/48 streaming . https://www.aptx.com/aptx-hd
If you can only get 16/44 then I might as well stick to streaming to my XBOX as thats what I am geting now anyways

 

[BillG]

That's a DAC with Bluetooth input capabilities

All Bluetooth receivers with an analog output are essentially the same, as they have a DAC to accommodate said output. I don't really see the point of the schematic argument. This device can't be used as a DAC for anything other than Bluetooth.

You wrote that stand-alone LDAC receivers don't exist, they do...

 

[westyjeff]

I have this one, works well,,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F6ZP5W...e Amplifier & External DAC&sb-ci-a=B07F6ZP5WF

 

[Berwhale]

Ok Thanks. That receiver looks like it supports aptx HD which in theory should get you 24/48 streaming . https://www.aptx.com/aptx-hd
If you can only get 16/44 then I might as well stick to streaming to my XBOX as thats what I am geting now anyways

I couldn't get my phone to connect using AptX HD, it wasn't in the list of available codecs in the Bluetooth section of Developer settings. I don't think 'Boiros' is very good at advertising it's capabilies, I had similar problems trying to connect a Fiio BTR3 to it with AptX LL when trying to use it as a transmitter to TV audio.

 

[Berwhale]

All Bluetooth receivers with an analog output are essentially the same, as they have a DAC to accommodate said output. I don't really see the point of the schematic argument. This device can't be used as a DAC for anything other than Bluetooth.

You wrote that stand-alone LDAC receivers don't exist, they do...

OP requested Bluetooth receiver with an digital optical connection to his DAC. An analogue output, and the associated internal DAC, was not a requirement.

I wrote 'the last time I looked, they didn't exist' The IFI Zen Blue was released less than a week ago.

 

[maxxevv]

I actually have a BT 5.0 receiver that outputs to a DAC via coaxial or optical.

Its a brand called 'misson' that I got from Taobao a year back. Haven't used it much but I don't see it being obviously bad if background music is the desired application.

I have seen it on Aliexpress before too.