How to play test tones or content of known sample rate up to 192 kHz with a fire TV stick not using amazon music?

[MCH]

Hi, I would like to do some tests and to do so I need to play test tones of known sample rate (and ideally but not necessarily bit depth) from a fire stick. Even music or any content would do to start with, but I need to know what sample rate it is sending.

Using Amazon Music is not an option (long story behind...)

I will be using a sound extractor that is 192/24 capable (confirmed), but I have no means of knowing what it is outputting.

Any idea how can this be done? Is there any app or service in the fire stick known to output sound at known sample rates? Can maybe be done through its internet browser?
I have tried to google it with no success.

Thanks a lot for any clue or indication.

 

[Jimbob54]

Hi, I would like to do some tests and to do so I need to play test tones of known sample rate (and ideally but not necessarily bit depth) from a fire stick. Even music or any content would do to start with, but I need to know what sample rate it is sending.

Using Amazon Music is not an option (long story behind...)

I will be using a sound extractor that is 192/24 capable (confirmed), but I have no means of knowing what it is outputting.

Any idea how can this be done? Is there any app or service in the fire stick known to output sound at known sample rates? Can maybe be done through its internet browser?
I have tried to google it with no success.

Thanks a lot for any clue or indication.

Can you sideload one of the dlna capable android player apps (uapp for eg) then get it to see the files in a network drive?

I fear the fire stick will resample before outputting though

 

[MCH]

Can you sideload one of the dlna capable android player apps (uapp for eg) then get it to see the files in a network drive?

No clue, but will give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

I fear the fire stick will resample before outputting though

I remember when I was able to see the sample rate at the output it was a mess, with Amazon music upsampling everything to 192khz but other apps outputting other sample rates. Now I go blind, what makes it more difficult. This is in part why I am asking this

 

[Jimbob54]

No clue, but will give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

I remember when I was able to see the sample rate at the output it was a mess, with Amazon music upsampling everything to 192khz but other apps outputting other sample rates. Now I go blind, what makes it more difficult. This is in part why I am asking this

I can understand your frustration!

 

[MCH]

Ok, first part done. I installed a upnp app in the stick and now I can play my music to it, even when the TV is off. Actually this is already useful per se, thanks Jimbob.

Now the most difficult part. How do I know what it is getting out of there?
I have a minidsp 2x4 HD that I can use to capture the toslink from the HDMI audio extractor. Have asked here and in minidsp forum how to know the sample rate it is capturing. No answer yet. Crossing fingers

 

[Dunring]

First I'd get the sideloader so you can pick any APK to install on the Firetv stick. Then a place like APKMirror will have the APK files if you can find a player that has the features you want. I use it to load some apps that aren't on the Amazon store and it works fine. Wouldn't the APK version of Foobar2000 show you the rates as it's playing back? I'm pretty sure it does but might take checking. At least with the sideloader you'll have the pick of all the Google playstore players and audio apps to choose from. APKmirror has them all I think. It's also incredibly handy if you update an app and it breaks something. You can get the previous version and downgrade it from the APK file. After having to do it, I just manually update apps these days.

 

[mansr]

Alternatively, BubbleUPnP on an Android phone/tablet can play almost anything on a FireTV as is.

 

[MCH]

First I'd get the sideloader so you can pick any APK to install on the Firetv stick. Then a place like APKMirror will have the APK files if you can find a player that has the features you want. I use it to load some apps that aren't on the Amazon store and it works fine. Wouldn't the APK version of Foobar2000 show you the rates as it's playing back? I'm pretty sure it does but might take checking. At least with the sideloader you'll have the pick of all the Google playstore players and audio apps to choose from. APKmirror has them all I think. It's also incredibly handy if you update an app and it breaks something. You can get the previous version and downgrade it from the APK file. After having to do it, I just manually update apps these days.

Thanks During, all that is new for me (everything fire is new for me actually) but I will give it a try. The big question though is, even if foobar indicates that sample rate it is playing, is it the same that the stick is outputting or does it resample? Any direct experience with that? Thanks.

 

[MCH]

Alternatively, BubbleUPnP on an Android phone/tablet can play almost anything on a FireTV as is.

Yup. Well, with the stick (not the tv) I needed to install a upnp app as per posts 2 and 3 so that I my Android phone would see it.

 

[mansr]

Yup. Well, with the stick (not the tv) I needed to install a upnp app as per posts 2 and 3 so that I my Android phone would see it.

BubbleUPnP will talk to a stock FireTV using some other protocol, no sideloading necessary. There are presumable other apps that do the same, but that's the one I've used.

 

[Jimbob54]

Thanks During, all that is new for me (everything fire is new for me actually) but I will give it a try. The big question though is, even if foobar indicates that sample rate it is playing, is it the same that the stick is outputting or does it resample? Any direct experience with that? Thanks.

I think you would need a DAC that displayed sample rate to do that as a regular consumer. I would guess the firestick resamples everything out of the HDMI to a common sample rate though after the player software. That, or the extractor will.

 

[MCH]

BubbleUPnP will talk to a stock FireTV using some other protocol, no sideloading necessary. There are presumable other apps that do the same, but that's the one I've used.

You are correct sir, just installed bubbleupnp only to check that, and it is true, it sees the stick without the need of anything else installed on it

 

[MCH]

I think you would need a DAC that displayed sample rate to do that as a regular consumer. I would guess the firestick resamples everything out of the HDMI to a common sample rate though after the player software. That, or the extractor will.

Yes, I think I will need a DAC to tell me. Too many potential resampling steps. I didn't know extractors might resample too though.

 

[MCH]

Ok guys, it took me a few hours but i think i got to the bottom of it. I will post my findings in the unlikely case someone finds them useful in the future:

Using the fire stick as a music streamer:
- as @mansr rightly said, it is possible to use bubbleupnp in your android phone to stream to the fire stick without needing to install anything on it. However they don't play well together, sometimes the songs don't advance, sometimes bubbleupnp takes very long time to discover the stick in its list of streamers.... All this happened with the free version, i don't know if the paid version is better. There are other android apps that like bubbleupnp that allow to stream to the stick but have the same problems of tracks not advancing etc., so i desisted with this approach.
- I tested several apps in the fire stick that allow you to cast or stream to it. Most of them are not for free, but some are. Most of them have issues or limitations that make them unsuitable or inconvenient to use for music streaming. However i did find one that works good for me. It is called "Mirror for Fire TV". It is for free, once you installed it and set it up, all my streaming apps see the fire stick and allow me to stream to it without having to do anything else. Maybe the only issue of this app that some people won't like, is that when you are streaming to the stick and you have the tv connected, the screen goes black. For me it is more an advantage, as i can still check the info in my phone and i prefer that than having to see it on the screen...
- When plugged to my amazon basics HDMI extractor, i can stream to the fire stick without any need for the tv, it works even when the tv is off, or even when the hdmi to the tv is disconnected. The fire stick + audio extractor work as a stand alone streamer, what i find very neat (for instance, when my kid wants to watch telly and i want to listen to music).

Now, the resampling subject:
- I was finally able to check the sample rate that the amazon basics HDMI extractor was outputting via toslink using a soundblaster x-fi HD that has toslink input.
- Unfortunately (well, it isn't really an issue for me, but most people here aim for bit perfection) the extractor (or the stick, or the apps, who knows...) resamples everything to 48kHz. I tested files up to 192kHz, everything comes out as 48kHz.
- As mentioned before, somehow Amazon Music HD skips this resampling and the same extractor outputs everything at 192kHz, regardless of what was the original sample rate of the song.

This tells me, if Amazon Music can, there must be a way to make the stick+extractor to work at higher sample rates, but i have no idea how... Actually, if someone finds out how to make the combo bit perfect, this would be a terrific ultra low cost streamer, less than half the price of a wiim mini or a raspberry pi + spdif hat.

Comments suggestions or ideas are welcome, thanks!

 

[Leenaa]

Unfortunately, it is not possible to play test tones or content of known sample rate up to 192 kHz with a Fire TV Stick. Amazon Music does not support audio of this sample rate. You may want to consider using an external sound system that is capable of playing audio of this sample rate.