I pad as audiophile source.

[himadri]

Hi
Does anyone use apple I pad / i pad mini as digital audiophile source? Considering that sourcing favorite music on CD is a pain and i tunes being available all the time, can the i pad be used as an audiophile source?At present Im using the pad through the USB A port in the front of the marantz CD 6005 player ,and digital coaxial out through the metrum octave 2 DAC, but the quality is inferior to the CD play.Any way to improve the sound?The USB input in the metrum perhaps?
Thanks

 

[MaSh]

I am not sure, if its possible or not. I tried Airplay from an iPod and an iPhone and was not happy with then I compare it to HDD--> Raspberry Pi-->DAC--> Stereo Amp.

Maybe some Apple specific DACs might help.

MaSh

 

[zeta148]

I sometimes use my iphone along with my Cambridge stream-magic 6 when I want to play the music I've bought on itunes. It works quite well. All the music on my iphone is AAC 256 kbps so haven't tried it using apple lossless format. (I tried airplay but found that connection is not reliable.)

 

[himadri]

Thanks
Looks like I pad can only be used as a part time source with compromised quality.
cheers

 

[Audiodoc]

I have used both apple and android with external DACS. I prefer android as applications like usb audio player pro plays high bit rates files

 

[amit11]

Thanks
Looks like I pad can only be used as a part time source with compromised quality.
cheers

I am using apple ipad only. I use airplay and not usb out from ipad.
The important thing in this kind of setup is the transport which supports airplay and outputs either analog signal or either digital spdif signal.

Many people are disappointed by using airport express as the transport. This is true bcos the latest versions are not good. The oldest model of 2004 is the best... rather only good one. I have tried all models. I am using spdif out to connect to external dac.


Apple tv is another option but it resamples to 48 khz. Hence i stopped using it.

Another option is rasperry pi, which i have not used.
The convenience of using apple airplay as source is you are not limited to just stored music, rather you can listen to youtube and any other thing which outputs audio. There is no need for any app to support airplay, apple takes care of it automatically. I have gradually found myself listening to youtube more than stored songs hence i find ipad best to use with wireless airplay.

I have tried android with usb out and also with usb audio player pro. But did not like it.
I tried with laptop based setup aswell but it was not to my liking.

 

[bornfi]

I would highly recommend introducing a Schiit Eitr in between so, iPad to Eitr and coax out from Eitr to you DAC/AVR.

 

[adhingra]

Totally second that evens raspberry pi + Entry level dac like a fiiio is a better bet for audio than iPad. I sold my mini and don’t use my pro for serious audio. But do have some flacs that I play on the OPlayer once in a while