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In Reply to: RE: Is Android a non option for a good streamer ? posted by beppe61 on May 17, 2015 at 02:43:38
The main issue with Android is that the OS typically mangles the data.
You'll have a hard time to get bit-transparent (sample rate and volume usually gets adjusted) out.
However. USB Audio Player Pro uses its own "infrastructure" and that includes its own USB driver. That's the app to go for if you look for a clean stream.
Class Compliant USB Audio is officially supported from Android 5.0 onwards. However I recall there were e.g. old Samsung devices with Android 3.0 that were supporting USB DACs.
BUT. Even Android 5.0 won't guarantee that all USB DACs will work.
E.g. My Fireface UCX is causing cyclic restarts on my LG G3 on Android 5.0.2. I'm pretty sure that more DACs are causing issues. "Class Compliant" can mean a lot.
You still need to try each and every DAC and mobile device and OS implementation (manufacturer) if it is properly working.
Beside that you can't tweak a phone OS like I can tweak e.g. my Raspberry Pi OS. If your DAC requires lot's of transport related optimizations for best sound, Android on a mobile device IMO won't be the last word.
However. With USB Audio player Pro and a working DAC you can end up with
decent system.
Have fun.
Follow Ups:
Hi and thanks a lot for your always kind and very valuable advice.
You state " With USB Audio player Pro and a working DAC you can end up with decent system "
this reflects my impression as well.
I have an opinion on OS ... if they work ok even with very limited HW they are potentially very ok for audio streaming.
And i also think that they could be made bit-trasparent very easily.
Main issue, as usual, are drivers.
The support for Android from high-end audio manufacturers is not existing. And i do not understan why.
Is it really so difficult to write a driver for Android ?
I have uploaded usb audio player pro on the Hi Media Q5 in the picture
I have to try again in the weekend ... but i heard interesting noises.
I have to try with more calm anyway.
Thanks again.
Kind regards,
bg
The driver is part of the kernel (OS) and usually not part of an app.
Writing a driver is a hell of a job.
Especially writing a generic USB audio driver.
Most audio device manufacturers still do not officially support Alsa (Linux/Android > 1billion devices!!). They just call the device "Class Compliant" to stay out of potential trouble and liability claims. This way they can't be nailed on any commitments and still grep a piece of the huge Linux/Android cake.
However. To make many so called "Class Compliant" dacs work, it requires intense troubleshooting and reverse engineering by the community. Class Compliancy does not always mean the device works under Linux/Android.
Usually so called "quirks" (small device specific adaptations) need to be added to the driver to get this or that DAC working.
In my case with the RME Fireface UCX and Android 5.0, I don't have any chance to get it working. RME doesn't consider themselves responsible, even though they claim "Class Compliancy". Android won't feel responsible either. A catch 22.
Bottom line. My advise: Before finally buying a DAC, make sure it is working on all operating systems. Otherwise stay away from it.
Cheers
Hi and thanks a lot again for the very helpful advice and interesting explanations.
"Class Compliancy" would be a very good feature for any dac indeed.
I looked at pc audio mainly because i like the opportunity to have all my collection on a NAS and stream it from there.
Actually a streamer could do the work more easily and the 1st good rule, i think, would be to dedicate a unit only to audio.
In order to bypass the dac drivers issue i would use a usb to spdif converter class compliant.
I understand it is another element in the chain, increasing the number of variables. I will try anyway. I am reading about these converters a lot because i have always in mind the dream for a good old vintage dac that never comes with usb of course.
So a converter is mandatory.
Thanks a lot again for the very precious advice.
Kind regards,
bg
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