daps with wifi...and choosing a tablet.

[canali]

a few questions from a newbie here please.

1/more and more i'm enjoying the freedom and variety of streaming in spotify on to my laptop or nexus phone ( vs apple itunes on my nano)....sure they say the quality of music with a dap is better than is streaming over what a good dap, but i've read mixed reviews on such.

just wondering why there aren't more daps on the market that can, like the apple ipod, offer wifi? to me that is just a more user friendly option.

trying to figure out if to keep my android phone and just stream with it, or other....i'm not into ripping music or transferring files...again I love the freedom and exposure to so many new artists, that a good streaming service can provide.

2 has anyone for their airpad or mini (or samsung s2) used a good dac/amp combo to enhance the sound? i'm also considering p/u a tablet
...there is something nice about being able to browse at a coffee shop online and listen to some good muisc....but i hear the soundcards in alot of these tablets is so so quality.

 

[regeHA]

Most of your problems will be solved with the addition of Chromecast Audio. It pretty much converts anything with digital input and/or 3.5 analog input into a DAP, and a wireless one at that.

The internal DAC of the Chromecast Audio is so-so, and I would definitely recommend using a digital connection to an external DAC for best results. Streaming over Wi-Fi also beats streaming over Bluetooth by a huge margin, I use both iTunes Music and Spotify and both have benefited with the addition of Chromecast Audio. Also, the added benefits of streaming wirelessly all over home from a PC or a NAS is pretty much unbeatable.

For $35 (you could get 2 for $50 during Thanksgiving, maybe those deals are still available) I would highly recommend it before trying anything else.

iTunes (and by definition all of Apple) is pretty much closed and not exactly easy to play on non-Apple devices unless it is via Bluetooth (which IMHO degrades audio quality). I am also not a fan of the Apple music format, way too much in terms of compression. Considering what you are starting with, a good external quality DAC will enhance quality, but YMMV. I have done a lot of testing, and Chromecast Audio via digital is my preference these days.

 

[canali]

Thanks I'll look into it.

 

[Marceli]

thanks for sharing

 

[Marceli]

today I also got a review of HiBy R6 https://headfonics.com/2017/12/hiby-music-r6-review/, wanna listen to opinions from you guys.

 

[tigerwag]

i am using fiio x5 iii gen. i also had a similar idea like OP of streaming over dap for better quality. x5 is android based. but operating system is too buggy. most of the time it gets hanged, crashes, doesn't play apps smoothly. so streaming over spotify or watching videos in mx player is really difficult. it runs smooth on only music player mode, where u cant access any other apps.
so my suggestion would be get a latest android mobile and a external Dac/amp like audioquest dragonfly. recently i acquired one from our FM and its working great with my s8 plus.