Thanks. I'd like to find one that is known to work with Tidal on Android first. To try and positively determine if it's the dragon tail causing the problem.
The Tidal version on my Samsung S20 Ultra is 2.43.0.1039.2979, Android 11
Well, sometimes you need to venture out and buy a bunch of cables and learn how to make it work on your own through trial and error. You can't always depend on others to do your exploring and pioneering for you, you may be at the cutting edge and need a "stable" of cables to swap around to get your new acquisition working.
I only have non-MQA portable DAC's. A few BTR5's, a couple of BTR3k's, a Hidizs S9, and all of them work with my Samsung S20 Ultra - with all 3 of the cables I have on hand, they all work with Tidal, UAPP, BubbleUPnP, but don't have all the Apps installed at once...app conflicts showed up during my testing.
I haven't used my BTR5/BTR3k for a while mobile with my phone, I've been using TWS's via BT.
So when I tried to use my BTR5 with my S20 Ultra, it didn't immediately work. I had to go in and enable Notifications for Tidal, uninstall UAPP because it kept popping up over Tidal when I plugged in my BTR5, then after I uninstalled UAPP and plugged in my BTR5 (while Tidal was running) BubbleUPnP popped up and took over!
After I uninstalled UAPP and BubbleUPnP+License, Toggled off Developer Tools Setting "Disable USB Audio Routing", and plugged in my BTR5, Tidal was playing through my BTR5 out the 3.5mm port wired to my Beats Wireless Studio 3 - I'm using the Flight Mode Noise Canceling to kill Fan Noise - finally I heard sweet music, playing MQA tracks and non-MQA tracks from Tidal.
So, there can be software / OS configuration problems that can keep the DAC from working, besides the cable connecting them.
The only cable I have from that list I posted is the FiiO LT-TC1, which I bought from Hifigo.com
FiiO LT-TC1 TypeC to TypeC Audio Decoding Cable for K3/M9/M11/M5/BTR5 — HiFiGo
The other cables I have are a Hidizs S9 cable not available separately and a DD Hifi labeled TC05 cable I bought on Amazon - but it is no longer listed.
The list of cables I looked for for you are the newest cables of the same design/configuration designed for either Android or PC/Laptop to DAC connections. I also included a couple of Apple iPhone/iPad cables with Lightening to USB-C connectors.
You could look for forums that support your specific devices and hope to find details about the cables they used successfully, or buy some cables that may or may not work - you won't know for sure until you try them. Then you can post what you find that works on forums so people can find your test results, and benefit from your time and effort.
Even though I verified on my S20 Ultra + BTR5 that the FiiO LT-TC1 cable works for Tidal MQA/non-MQA playback - the BTR5 doesn't decode MQA, I'm pretty sure it will work fine - the BTR5 showed 192k on it's display while playing Tidal, but YMMV.
When my Hidizs S3 Pro comes in I'll test MQA with that and update here...I look forward to seeing your test results too
S3 Pro MQA Streaming DAC Dongle | Hidizs
Hidizs S3PRO Next Generation Ultra Portable HiRes DAC Dongle by Hidizs — Kickstarter
FYI, I received the notice that the S3 Pro is Live on Kickstarter a few hours ago, and the first 1000 backers get:
Big Surprise!! - The first 1,000 backers will get a HiBy Music Membership (valued $9.99), valid for lifetime.