Dear friends,
I had posted earlier about the acquisition of Dynaudio active speakers with in-built DAC and Bluetooth.
They are nicely settling in and I hope they remain a longtime companion.
They have two analogue inputs, but undergo an ADC (Analogue to Digital conversion), so essentially, ultimately the in-built DAC of the Dynaudio is what is used for all inputs. Regarding digital, it has one toslink input (optical, restricted to 24bit/96khz) and one Bluetooth (Aptx, 16bit/44khz., at max 352kbps).
The sources I have in hand include Raspberry Pi based R2R DAC, Digione Signature (digital coax output), USBridge signature (USB output), Chromecast Audio (wifi streaming with both optical and analogue outputs) and couple other DIY transports and some Chinese boards.
Other than these I have two DIY Dacs and a Teac DAC. The final and the most simplest source is of course phone, PC or any such playback source connected via Bluetooth directly to the Dynaudio.
As, except for Chromecast Audio, none of the above sources have optical output, I had to either use a DAC in-between to connect between the source and the Dynaudio or use Raspberry pi based NAS or other network protocols to play local files from phone to the Dynaudio via Bluetooth.
My phone supports all the latest bluetooth codecs including AptxHD and LDAC, but I was restricted to Aptx owing to the limitation of the Dynaudio Bluetooth. This also restricted playback of all my local files above 96khz to down sampling.
Even as I was trying all permutations available, my hunt started for a device that supports all digital inputs and outputs and processes a full blown Bluetooth receiver.
There were quite a few Chinese variants on offer, but none were a complete package and the specifications were quite sketchy.
Some other branded options that were available included iFi Zen Blue V2, Auris BluMe pro and the FiiO BTA30 pro to name a few.
The iFi was a little most expensive than the rest, has very good reviews, but lacks USB input unlike Auris and FiiO.
The FiiO is a palm size & a unique devise, and I selected it for the following features:
1. Unlike the rest, it is a combination of DAC, Bluetooth receiver, Bluetooth transmitter and a pure digital transport.
2. Inputs: USB, Toslink, Coax and Bluetooth; Outputs: Digital: Toslink, coax and Bluetooth; Analogue Outputs: RCA pair. All highest Bluetooth codec including LDAC are supported with long range receiver and transmitter.
3. In-built zero gain ADC volume control.
4. Hi resolution playback support on USB and up to 192khz on coaxial and optical.
5. Digital conversion from input to output, meaning whatever is input on USB, Optical or Toslink is simultaneously output as Optical, Coaxial or Bluetooth (in transmitter mode).
6. Similarly, whatever Bluetooth signal is received in receiver mode, is output simultaneously as Toslink, Coax or Analogue signals.
7. It has a fully featured Android and IOS app which gives full control of the device.
8. ESS Sabre DAC, Qualcomm Bluetooth chip and Comtrue CT5302 Audio Bridge, OPA1662 OP amps.
At around Rs. 10,000, it is truly versatile offering all common digital inputs and outputs, hi-resolution playback, a well-implemented volume pot and top of the tier Bluetooth codec support in both receiver and transmitter mode.
Functionality
1. You can use it as a pure DAC if you have an integrated amplifier or a preamp by defeating the volume pot.
2. Use as a DAC-cum-preamp if you have a power amplifier.
3. Use directly with active speakers.
4. Purely as a digital transport with an external DAC.
5. As Bluetooth receiver with you phone, tablet, PC or any other Bluetooth playback device
6. As long-range Bluetooth transmitter with any Bluetooth-enabled headphone or earphone.
In conclusion, I can state from personal experience that it is a well-engineered and thought-out device with the end user in mind.
As DAC, Bluetooth or just digital transport, its performance is very good belies its size and price.
Questions are welcome
I had posted earlier about the acquisition of Dynaudio active speakers with in-built DAC and Bluetooth.
They are nicely settling in and I hope they remain a longtime companion.
They have two analogue inputs, but undergo an ADC (Analogue to Digital conversion), so essentially, ultimately the in-built DAC of the Dynaudio is what is used for all inputs. Regarding digital, it has one toslink input (optical, restricted to 24bit/96khz) and one Bluetooth (Aptx, 16bit/44khz., at max 352kbps).
The sources I have in hand include Raspberry Pi based R2R DAC, Digione Signature (digital coax output), USBridge signature (USB output), Chromecast Audio (wifi streaming with both optical and analogue outputs) and couple other DIY transports and some Chinese boards.
Other than these I have two DIY Dacs and a Teac DAC. The final and the most simplest source is of course phone, PC or any such playback source connected via Bluetooth directly to the Dynaudio.
As, except for Chromecast Audio, none of the above sources have optical output, I had to either use a DAC in-between to connect between the source and the Dynaudio or use Raspberry pi based NAS or other network protocols to play local files from phone to the Dynaudio via Bluetooth.
My phone supports all the latest bluetooth codecs including AptxHD and LDAC, but I was restricted to Aptx owing to the limitation of the Dynaudio Bluetooth. This also restricted playback of all my local files above 96khz to down sampling.
Even as I was trying all permutations available, my hunt started for a device that supports all digital inputs and outputs and processes a full blown Bluetooth receiver.
There were quite a few Chinese variants on offer, but none were a complete package and the specifications were quite sketchy.
Some other branded options that were available included iFi Zen Blue V2, Auris BluMe pro and the FiiO BTA30 pro to name a few.
The iFi was a little most expensive than the rest, has very good reviews, but lacks USB input unlike Auris and FiiO.
The FiiO is a palm size & a unique devise, and I selected it for the following features:
1. Unlike the rest, it is a combination of DAC, Bluetooth receiver, Bluetooth transmitter and a pure digital transport.
2. Inputs: USB, Toslink, Coax and Bluetooth; Outputs: Digital: Toslink, coax and Bluetooth; Analogue Outputs: RCA pair. All highest Bluetooth codec including LDAC are supported with long range receiver and transmitter.
3. In-built zero gain ADC volume control.
4. Hi resolution playback support on USB and up to 192khz on coaxial and optical.
5. Digital conversion from input to output, meaning whatever is input on USB, Optical or Toslink is simultaneously output as Optical, Coaxial or Bluetooth (in transmitter mode).
6. Similarly, whatever Bluetooth signal is received in receiver mode, is output simultaneously as Toslink, Coax or Analogue signals.
7. It has a fully featured Android and IOS app which gives full control of the device.
8. ESS Sabre DAC, Qualcomm Bluetooth chip and Comtrue CT5302 Audio Bridge, OPA1662 OP amps.
At around Rs. 10,000, it is truly versatile offering all common digital inputs and outputs, hi-resolution playback, a well-implemented volume pot and top of the tier Bluetooth codec support in both receiver and transmitter mode.
Functionality
1. You can use it as a pure DAC if you have an integrated amplifier or a preamp by defeating the volume pot.
2. Use as a DAC-cum-preamp if you have a power amplifier.
3. Use directly with active speakers.
4. Purely as a digital transport with an external DAC.
5. As Bluetooth receiver with you phone, tablet, PC or any other Bluetooth playback device
6. As long-range Bluetooth transmitter with any Bluetooth-enabled headphone or earphone.
In conclusion, I can state from personal experience that it is a well-engineered and thought-out device with the end user in mind.
As DAC, Bluetooth or just digital transport, its performance is very good belies its size and price.
Questions are welcome
