iFi Zen Blue v3 incoming...

[PortableMusic]

Dear All:

i am about to buy the iFi Zen Blue v3. may i please ask a few questions please, in case the good folks here might already know the answer?

1) has anyone tried to use another antenna that might offer superior range please (on their v1 or v2)? i.e. one of those antennas with a long cable so one may place the antenna in a good location slightly away from the Zen Blue unit itself, and it may offer superior range performance?

2) the v1 Zen Blue uses a round antenna. the v2 Zen Blue uses an IMPROVED round antenna with a FLATTENED portion and it improves range significantly (they claim 80% better). oddly now, with v3 of the Zen Blue, they have REVERTED back to the v1 lower range antenna(!) which is beyond any logical reasoning!! the v3 costs $299 and there's no reason to skimp on a $3 antenna!

look forward to hearing. thank you all in advance.

 

[Yasuo]

I bet that's pure marketing.

 

[PortableMusic]

@Yasuo : you bet what is pure marketing?

i'm sorry, i don't know what you're referring to.

i was hoping that someone knowledgeable here might have used a separately purchased antenna with a long cable so the antenna may be located in a better location for superior range. still hoping!!

 

[MaxwellsEq]

There's a great deal more to radio frequency working than antenna physical structure, especially when data protocols and national RF regulations are accounted for.

Why do you need to change the antenna.

 

[PortableMusic]

@MaxwellsEq :

hello! thank you kindly for your thoughtful and knowledgeable reply. very much appreciated.

my goal is to ensure that this Zen Blue v3 will allow me to stream LDAC without interference/interruptions from my listening chair with my Samsung android tablet at roughly 50 feet distance.

my audio visual equipment are all co-located in one media closet (with a door) on metal racks about 7 feet tall. currently, i have a Node X in there for my main system's use. the Node X is connected to my Anthem AVR, which is outputting to GoldenEar speakers in the living room, where my listening chair is about 50 feet (approx) from the media closet/Node X/Anthem AVR.

for the past 5 years, i've only used Tidal via Tidal Connect and it has been satisfactory. however, as a classical music lover (80% classical, 20% pop/rock), i've always been tempted to see what Primephonic was like as it was known to be the very best classical streaming option, with the best classical-specific, well designed search function. Apple Music bought Primephonic and rebranded it as Apple Music Classical (AMC). i wanted to try out AMC to see how deep a library of recordings they have, and how great their search function is. i used a Samsung android tablet (current top of the line model) and bluetooth connected it to my Node X in my media closet's rack roughly 50 feet away. Kindly note that in this ~50 feet, there's a corner of a room in the way so effectively, the small corner is two walls, both sheetrock.

i love the search capabilities of AMC/ne Primephonic, and the depth and quantity/quality of the number of recordings they have. however, i have interference in the streaming every minute or so roughly, or every 2-3 minutes. so for a short 35-minute symphony, for example, there would be many interruptions. these are short, often less than 1 second interruptions, but they disrupt the mood of calmly listening and enjoying the music. i tested the set up with my Samsung tablet sitting on the floor merely 10 feet away from the media closet and i was able to finish a Beethoven Symphony #7 which i am guessing is no more than 40 minutes long without any interruption! this likely shows that should the distance of the Samsung tablet be closer to the media closet/Node X, these interruptions should be gone. not 100% certain, but likely.

so...i am going to buy the iFi Zen Blue v3 as soon as it comes out, and place it on my rack co-located with all my other audio visual devices. i noticed that the included antenna is NOT the v2 antenna with a flat portion, but instead, they went back to v1's standard, unimproved all round antenna. they claimed for the v2 that the flattened antenna for the v2 to be 80% greater range in their literature.

since it appears that RP-SMA is needed for the antenna connector, i ordered a high gain antenna and a base so it may sit either on the floor OR on the metal rack itself. while the antenna maker claims 22 dBi gain, of course i don't take their word for this specification, but rather, maybe it will have ~5 to 10 dBi gain? regardless, as this will be located outside of the rack, there is less chance of all the metal of the rack making it a bit of a Faraday cage, so hoping that these simple antenna and base items would allow superior capture of the Bluetooth signal at my rack's location for the Zen Blue v3.

kindly note that the antenna chosen (see below please) is a 2.4 GHz specific antenna, so it won't be efficient in pulling 5GHz signals which are NOT wanted by us as the Zen Blue v3 is strictly bluetooth so all within the 2.4GHz range.

antenna: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LPPML46/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

antenna base: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CHHYW24N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

my goal is to ensure that this Zen Blue v3 will allow me to stream LDAC without interference/interruptions from my listening chair with my Samsung android tablet at roughly 50 feet distance.

might this idea work please? hope to hear from you soon @MaxwellsEq et al.
thank you so much in advance.

 

[tjf]

So -- all of this RF work to get a good AptX / LDAC / Bluetooth reception capability for the iFi DAC to get Apple Music Classical (AMC) imported from your Samsung tablet into your Anthem AVR???

I think you'd be better off moving away from the iFi Zen Blue / Samsung tablet Bluetooth plan and replace your Node X with an Eversolo DMP unit to get native Apple Music thru the Android OS the Eversolo uses -- same ESS DAC as in your Node X -- and no worry about bluetooth compression/lossless/bit perfect issues and RF reception issues -- as far as I know the Android based streamers (Eversolo and Fiio R7/9) are the best way to get Apple Music into your system natively at full resolution - aside from using a Mac via USB....

Something to consider...

 

[PortableMusic]

PS: also, how would one select LDAC streaming on my Samsung android tablet please?

i am trying it out now between my Samsung tablet and my current Node X and while they are connected and streaming music from Apple Music Classical, there is no way to select WHICH CODEC is being used in the bluetooth streaming! there is no dropdown menu or anyway to select.

hope someone might pitch in to let me know how. thank you.

 

[PortableMusic]

So -- all of this RF work to get a good AptX / LDAC / Bluetooth reception capability for the iFi DAC to get Apple Music Classical (AMC) imported from your Samsung tablet into your Anthem AVR???

I think you'd be better off moving away from the iFi Zen Blue / Samsung tablet Bluetooth plan and replace your Node X with an Eversolo DMP unit to get native Apple Music thru the Android OS the Eversolo uses -- same ESS DAC as in your Node X -- and no worry about bluetooth compression/lossless/bit perfect issues and RF reception issues -- as far as I know the Android based streamers (Eversolo and Fiio R7/9) are the best way to get Apple Music into your system natively at full resolution - aside from using a Mac via USB....

Something to consider...

@tjf :

thank you for your reply/comment.

you're right, sound quality-wise, yes. my first choice was the A8 Eversolo.

however, after much research, i discovered that using either the Apple Music app or the Apple Music Classical app would result in a LOT of scrolling around on the tablet as the display is a "CAST" from the Eversolo's 6" display. the result is like looking at Apple Music or Apple Music Classical through blinders, and would require a LOT of scrolling left and right, up and down, just to see the entire page of Apple Music or AMC!

after much thought and discussion, i came to the conclusion that i would get greater enjoyment and satisfaction from the visual aspects of being able to browse as intended, select and view the recordings options as intended, in Apple Music Classical, than the satisfaction of 196 kHz once in a while on certain recordings only. sure, there is a range between LDAC and 196 kHz, but it's not with all the recordings and there is only a limited number of recordings that are as high as 196 kHz. so ultimately, it was a decision on whether the Apple Music Classical's, ne Primephonic, interface, search functions, presentation, ability to choose from numerous performances, etc, is going to provide greater enjoyment, or whether one could tolerate the non-stop scrolling just to see the page while using the CAST function on Eversolos just to be able to view the whole page.

it wasn't an easy decision, but i think i'd be annoyed very quickly to have to scroll that much just to be able to view the page!

thank you for your thoughts and comment though.

 

[tjf]

@tjf :

thank you for your reply/comment.

you're right, sound quality-wise, yes. my first choice was the A8 Eversolo.

however, after much research, i discovered that using either the Apple Music app or the Apple Music Classical app would result in a LOT of scrolling around on the tablet as the display is a "CAST" from the Eversolo's 6" display. the result is like looking at Apple Music or Apple Music Classical through blinders, and would require a LOT of scrolling left and right, up and down, just to see the entire page of Apple Music or AMC!

after much thought and discussion, i came to the conclusion that i would get greater enjoyment and satisfaction from the visual aspects of being able to browse as intended, select and view the recordings options as intended, in Apple Music Classical, than the satisfaction of 196 kHz once in a while on certain recordings only. sure, there is a range between LDAC and 196 kHz, but it's not with all the recordings and there is only a limited number of recordings that are as high as 196 kHz. so ultimately, it was a decision on whether the Apple Music Classical's, ne Primephonic, interface, search functions, presentation, ability to choose from numerous performances, etc, is going to provide greater enjoyment, or whether one could tolerate the non-stop scrolling just to see the page while using the CAST function on Eversolos just to be able to view the whole page.

it wasn't an easy decision, but i think i'd be annoyed very quickly to have to scroll that much just to be able to view the page!

thank you for your thoughts and comment though.

Understood re: Eversolo DMP display vs. distance away from the touchscreen...

Since you're not too concerned about resampling/conversion via LDAC thru the iFi Zen --

How about an AppleTV + HDMI/SPDIF decoder to get a Toslink or coax SPDIF digital signal into the digital inputs of your Anthem -- letting the AKM DAC in the Anthem take care of D-to-A conversion?

Or just rely on the HDMI audio path from the AppleTV into an HDMI input on your AVR???

You'll have to live with the 48 Khz resampling of the AppleTV -- BUT -- you'd resolve Bluetooth RF antenna issues, Samsung tablet LDAC capability/configuration issues, and the user interface issues -- still using your Samsung tablet as the U.I. touchscreen using the native Apple Music App?

I'd prefer this path over the "Samsung tablet/bluetooth/LDAC-to-iFi Zen-to-Anthem" path

 

[KaeliKoo]

PS: also, how would one select LDAC streaming on my Samsung android tablet please?

i am trying it out now between my Samsung tablet and my current Node X and while they are connected and streaming music from Apple Music Classical, there is no way to select WHICH CODEC is being used in the bluetooth streaming! there is no dropdown menu or anyway to select.

hope someone might pitch in to let me know how. thank you.

If your Samsung tablet is newer the LDAC transmit will look for an LDAC receiver which would show up & connect under the Bluetooth Tab in settings. If older tablet (or Android version) then you can access LDAC thru Developer options in system settings.

 

[PortableMusic]

@KaeliKoo :

thanks for your reply. my samsung tablet is the Galaxy Tab S9 wifi version. it is a very new tablet, from last summer, so one year old and i believe it is still the current top of the line model (except for size).

i can't seem to find whether it supports LDAC or not! googling it, there is conflicting information!! very confused now.

how would i find out for certain whether my Galaxy Tab S9 wifi version supports LDAC or not please?


@tjf :

you wrote: "Since you're not too concerned about resampling/conversion via LDAC thru the iFi Zen --

How about an AppleTV + HDMI/SPDIF decoder to get a Toslink or coax SPDIF digital signal into the digital inputs of your Anthem -- letting the AKM DAC in the Anthem take care of D-to-A conversion?

Or just rely on the HDMI audio path from the AppleTV into an HDMI input on your AVR???

You'll have to live with the 48 Khz resampling of the AppleTV -- BUT -- you'd resolve Bluetooth RF antenna issues, Samsung tablet LDAC capability/configuration issues, and the user interface issues -- still using your Samsung tablet as the U.I. touchscreen using the native Apple Music App?"

i got confused, sorry! may i please ask for some education on this please?

currently, i have an Apple TV 4K Ethernet model. it is connected to my Anthem AVR so i may stream using it. i did try to use the Tidal app on it to listen to music, but i don't want to keep my TV on all the time whenever i listen to music, which is a good part of the day as i work from home.

your suggestion -- must i keep the TV on in order to navigate? you mentioned that i can still use my samsung tablet with the Apple Music/Apple Music Classical apps to navigate. i don't understand how this would work. wouldn't i have to keep the tv on as that is how to see the user interface of apple music? how would my samsung tablet be able to control the music coming from an apple TV please?

sorry, i don't quite understand this. look forward to hearing and learning!

thank you both in advance!

PS: as per the sammobile.com site, it says that the Tab S9 supports LDAC though on Samsung's own site, it doesn't list all the codecs for some odd reason --

https://www.

sammobile.com/news/best-galaxy-tab-s9-ultra-features-list/
"All three tablets in the Galaxy Tab S9 lineup have a quad-speaker setup tuned by Samsung's AKG Audio. The company claims the speakers on the Galaxy Tab S9 series are 20% larger than the ones on the Galaxy Tab S8 series. They also support Dolby Atmos for Spatial Audio. The tablets also support all the popular high-quality wireless audio codecs, including AAC, aptX, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, Samsung Seamless Hi-Fi, and LDAC. So, along with immersive screens, the Galaxy Tab S9 also offers immersive audio."

https://www.

samsung.com/us/tablets/galaxy-tab-s9/buy/galaxy-tab-s9-256gb-graphite-wi-fi-sm-x710nzaexar/?utm_campaign=email_sessionrecap_1_of_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=wunderkind&utm_term=triggered&ibx_source=cq4ceog27gdc738evqp0&cid=eml-abdn-prod-ncme-t1&ueh=725ab68c11b7027c3279b05c714a4dfa63353bbab4fbcc49d12e419fef3bbecb&wk_display_order=0&wk_id=SM-X710NZEEXAR&wk_item_type=interaction&wk_recommendation_source=eligibility-worker

"Bluetooth v5.3 - Bluetooth® Profiles A2DP,AVRCP,DI,HID,HOGP,OPP,PAN,PBP,TMAP"

 

[tjf]

@KaeliKoo :

thanks for your reply. my samsung tablet is the Galaxy Tab S9 wifi version. it is a very new tablet, from last summer, so one year old and i believe it is still the current top of the line model (except for size).

i can't seem to find whether it supports LDAC or not! googling it, there is conflicting information!! very confused now.

how would i find out for certain whether my Galaxy Tab S9 wifi version supports LDAC or not please?


@tjf :

you wrote: "Since you're not too concerned about resampling/conversion via LDAC thru the iFi Zen --

How about an AppleTV + HDMI/SPDIF decoder to get a Toslink or coax SPDIF digital signal into the digital inputs of your Anthem -- letting the AKM DAC in the Anthem take care of D-to-A conversion?

Or just rely on the HDMI audio path from the AppleTV into an HDMI input on your AVR???

You'll have to live with the 48 Khz resampling of the AppleTV -- BUT -- you'd resolve Bluetooth RF antenna issues, Samsung tablet LDAC capability/configuration issues, and the user interface issues -- still using your Samsung tablet as the U.I. touchscreen using the native Apple Music App?"

i got confused, sorry! may i please ask for some education on this please?

currently, i have an Apple TV 4K Ethernet model. it is connected to my Anthem AVR so i may stream using it. i did try to use the Tidal app on it to listen to music, but i don't want to keep my TV on all the time whenever i listen to music, which is a good part of the day as i work from home.

your suggestion -- must i keep the TV on in order to navigate? you mentioned that i can still use my samsung tablet with the Apple Music/Apple Music Classical apps to navigate. i don't understand how this would work. wouldn't i have to keep the tv on as that is how to see the user interface of apple music? how would my samsung tablet be able to control the music coming from an apple TV please?

sorry, i don't quite understand this. look forward to hearing and learning!

thank you both in advance!

PS: as per the sammobile.com site, it says that the Tab S9 supports LDAC though on Samsung's own site, it doesn't list all the codecs for some odd reason --

https://www.

sammobile.com/news/best-galaxy-tab-s9-ultra-features-list/
"All three tablets in the Galaxy Tab S9 lineup have a quad-speaker setup tuned by Samsung's AKG Audio. The company claims the speakers on the Galaxy Tab S9 series are 20% larger than the ones on the Galaxy Tab S8 series. They also support Dolby Atmos for Spatial Audio. The tablets also support all the popular high-quality wireless audio codecs, including AAC, aptX, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, Samsung Seamless Hi-Fi, and LDAC. So, along with immersive screens, the Galaxy Tab S9 also offers immersive audio."

https://www.

samsung.com/us/tablets/galaxy-tab-s9/buy/galaxy-tab-s9-256gb-graphite-wi-fi-sm-x710nzaexar/?utm_campaign=email_sessionrecap_1_of_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=wunderkind&utm_term=triggered&ibx_source=cq4ceog27gdc738evqp0&cid=eml-abdn-prod-ncme-t1&ueh=725ab68c11b7027c3279b05c714a4dfa63353bbab4fbcc49d12e419fef3bbecb&wk_display_order=0&wk_id=SM-X710NZEEXAR&wk_item_type=interaction&wk_recommendation_source=eligibility-worker

"Bluetooth v5.3 - Bluetooth® Profiles A2DP,AVRCP,DI,HID,HOGP,OPP,PAN,PBP,TMAP"

Good question re: whether TV needs to be on or not....

I suspect that the App and it's playback functionality should work via the tablet using the AppleTV App, so your Samsung tablet AppleTV App should still function and select + play Apple Music app content with your Anthem AVR on the AppleTV HDMI input selected - and I'd think that the AppleTV App on the tablet should function as if the TV was on - but...

Hopefully a member with this specific experience can check in to confirm this possibility - as I'm not an AppleTV user.

Perhaps you should go ahead and try using the AppleTV to play Apple Classical music without the TV on?

Let us know the results!

 

[staticV3]

PS: also, how would one select LDAC streaming on my Samsung android tablet please?

i am trying it out now between my Samsung tablet and my current Node X and while they are connected and streaming music from Apple Music Classical, there is no way to select WHICH CODEC is being used in the bluetooth streaming! there is no dropdown menu or anyway to select.

hope someone might pitch in to let me know how. thank you.

You can choose the Bluetooth codec in the Bluetooth Menu:


More settings are available in the Developer Options:


Do not select 96kHz just because it's the highest number. Doing so will reduce sound quality.

 

[PortableMusic]

@staticV3 :

i sent you a private message here on audiosciencereview.com with screenshots as well. thanks for your screenshots. my screenshots are very different from yours in that you have many more options(!) than i do! i wonder why? could it be that one MUST be in PAIRING MODE before those options show up? i don't have my Zen Blue v3 yet today, but they are supposed to be shipped out during this coming week.

i can't find a single place on my tablet where i can ask it to "show more options"! any advice would be most appreciated. i'm so lost!

i don't know how to get to the developer options. any help would be most appreciated. why would one need to get to developer options please? since i'm a basic user, wouldn't it seem more typical to be able to find everything one would need in regular menus please? thank you!

@tjf :

thank you for your follow up comment. i can't follow about which app you're referring to. may i please request kindly clarification please?

i cannot find in the android store any apps called "Apple TV app". as far as i can tell, the ONLY way to control anything to do with the Apple TV 4K Ethernet model box is to turn on the tv, select the input on my Anthem AVR to my tv, and then i can control the apple tv streaming device. if the tv were off, there's nothing that can control it as far as i can tell, since i cannot find any apple tv apps in the android store.

may i ask what i'm missing? thank you!

 

[staticV3]

@staticV3 :

i sent you a private message here on audiosciencereview.com with screenshots as well. thanks for your screenshots. my screenshots are very different from yours in that you have many more options(!) than i do! i wonder why? could it be that one MUST be in PAIRING MODE before those options show up? i don't have my Zen Blue v3 yet today, but they are supposed to be shipped out during this coming week.

i can't find a single place on my tablet where i can ask it to "show more options"! any advice would be most appreciated. i'm so lost!

i don't know how to get to the developer options. any help would be most appreciated. why would one need to get to developer options please? since i'm a basic user, wouldn't it seem more typical to be able to find everything one would need in regular menus please? thank you!

Answered in private messages.

 

[tjf]

@staticV3 :

i sent you a private message here on audiosciencereview.com with screenshots as well. thanks for your screenshots. my screenshots are very different from yours in that you have many more options(!) than i do! i wonder why? could it be that one MUST be in PAIRING MODE before those options show up? i don't have my Zen Blue v3 yet today, but they are supposed to be shipped out during this coming week.

i can't find a single place on my tablet where i can ask it to "show more options"! any advice would be most appreciated. i'm so lost!

i don't know how to get to the developer options. any help would be most appreciated. why would one need to get to developer options please? since i'm a basic user, wouldn't it seem more typical to be able to find everything one would need in regular menus please? thank you!

@tjf :

thank you for your follow up comment. i can't follow about which app you're referring to. may i please request kindly clarification please?

i cannot find in the android store any apps called "Apple TV app". as far as i can tell, the ONLY way to control anything to do with the Apple TV 4K Ethernet model box is to turn on the tv, select the input on my Anthem AVR to my tv, and then i can control the apple tv streaming device. if the tv were off, there's nothing that can control it as far as i can tell, since i cannot find any apple tv apps in the android store.

may i ask what i'm missing? thank you!

Perhaps my ignorance about the AppleTV is showing, but there is an Android Apple Music App in the Google play store - but the Apple Music App for Android may require the TV screen as the visual U.I. whilst you're using the Apple Music App to select content - I'm a Roku user and it's possible to use a music service App on Roku without a TV and play content using the Roku App to select and start music - then the HDMI output sends the content to an AVR even though I'm not using the video portion of the HDMI signal.

Apologies if the AppleTV and it's Android App on your Samsung tablet won't give you the visual user interface to be able to find music and select play (what used to be called "Transport" functions: Play, Pause, Skip Track +/-, FF/REW, Stop - etc.) to use the AppleTV without seeing an image on your TV screen

Since Apple seems to only be concerned with users of Apple products for use of Apple Music as a music streaming platform -- for music listeners who're concerned with better sound quality, AM really isn't really usable unless you're an iOS or MacOS hardware user...

The Sonos App has a native Apple Music function - maybe consider using a Sonos Port and the Sonos App to listen to Apple Music thru your system via the Port's Coax SPDIF digital output connected to a Coax digital input on your Anthem? The Port does offer up to 48khz/24Bit...

And even this IMHO would be preferable to the iFi Zen Bluetooth scenario...

This is of course assuming the Apple Music Classical option is available via the Sonos version of the Apple Music App?

 

[tjf]

Hi again, here's another scenario for you that I believe would be better than the iFi zen Bluetooth LDAC scenario....

Use the Apple Music App on your Android tablet to stream (via your wifi network) to a Chromecast device - from a sound quality perspective a Wiim pro plus - and then into an analog stereo input on your Anthem AVR....


No worries about Bluetooth RF antenna issues due to your distance from the iFi device, and you use the U.I.of the Apple Music app on your tablet, no worries about LDAC quality, etc...

Use Apple Music with your Android devices - Apple Support

Subscribe to Apple Music to stream millions of songs. Stream music to your TV with Chromecast. Listen to your favorite music in your car with Android Auto. And so much more — all with Apple Music on Android.

support.apple.com

Pay attention to the paragraph about "casting" from your Android device using the Apple music app to a Chromecast enabled end point device (Wiim)

 

[PortableMusic]

@tjf :

thank you so much for your new idea!! if my android tablet can cast/stream via WIFI to a Wiim Pro Plus, then that would be amazing. may i please ask if you have any idea as to what bitrate or streaming quality this casting from an android tablet to a Wiim Pro Plus might be please? would it be superior or inferior to a LDAC from an android tablet to a iFi Zen Blue v3 device please?

iirc, the LDAC from my Samsung Tab S9 wifi tablet to the Zen Blue v3 device would be at around 900 kbps, is that right?

i wonder what rate or streaming quality the chromecasting will be please?

very exciting!

how certain, may i ask, do you think this will really work?

 

[tjf]

I believe Chromecast is capable of full 16 bit / 1400 kbs data rate, so full lossless, and I think it's capable of 96/24 as a max decode rate, but at least the "casting" scenario should give you full CD resolution

So, I'd trust The Chromecast option before I'd trust the RF/Bluetooth / LDAC path

One more possible option via the Chromecast / Wiim pro plus path is the possibility of using the PEQ (if Wiim allows this via Chromecast path), as this could improve the "in room" sound quality of your Golden Ear speakers, but if you use the Anthem ARC room correction EQ then the Wiim PEQ will be redundant - are you using the ARC room correction for your Golden Ear speakers?

 

[tjf]

@tjf :

thank you so much for your new idea!! if my android tablet can cast/stream via WIFI to a Wiim Pro Plus, then that would be amazing. may i please ask if you have any idea as to what bitrate or streaming quality this casting from an android tablet to a Wiim Pro Plus might be please? would it be superior or inferior to a LDAC from an android tablet to a iFi Zen Blue v3 device please?

iirc, the LDAC from my Samsung Tab S9 wifi tablet to the Zen Blue v3 device would be at around 900 kbps, is that right?

i wonder what rate or streaming quality the chromecasting will be please?

very exciting!

how certain, may i ask, do you think this will really work?

Here's some more background re: Chromecasting Apple Music from your Android tablet (from Darko Audio - a controversial source of info here @ ASR due to his "subjective" instead of purely "objective" approach to sound and reviewing products...

"What about Android? Recent experiments with Android smartphones (a Sony and a Pixel) revealed that 24bit/192kHz and 24bit/96kHz content ‘sent’ wirelessly to Google’s Chromecast Audio from the Apple Music app were down-converted to 24bit/48kHz by the Chromecast puck before being fed to the downstream DAC. The WiiM Pro Plus’s built-in Chromecast support takes this down conversion a step further: to 16bit/44.1kHz. I had to double-check that the WiiM’s digital outputs were set (in the WiiM Home app) to 24bit/192kHz. They were."

From this link:

Apple Music’s hi-res plumbing is still leaky | Darko.Audio

The FiiO R7 and Eversolo DMP-A6 are here to save us.

darko.audio

If Chromecast's version of "casting" Apple Music does result in using Apple's AAC (lossy) codec instead of the lossless "ALAC" codec that you're hoping to get from your Apple Music streams - then perhaps consider using the Sonos PORT device and Sonos' native Apple Music capability from their App...