I’ve recently switched from Spotify to Tidal, and I really can hear the difference between Spotify AAC and Tidal CD quality (at least when streaming from MacBook).

However, I want more. I want to hear HD. My primary devices are iPhone as input and B&W PX7 S2 headphones as output. My current understanding is that I need a DAC for my phone to transfer anything better than AAC. My headphones support aptX HD, which I think would be enough, at 24bit 48kHz. Does something like a BT DAC that would transfer iPhone signal to aptX HD exist, or should I buy a standard DAC to connect with wire and sacrifice the comfort?

Also, am I really hearing the max quality at least when connected straight to MacBook Pro? They say that the headphone jack supports 24bit/96kHz, but isn’t there more into it?

Thanks for any opinions, I’m new in this and really want to learn how does it all work.

  • razvanciuy@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    AptxHD is not CD quality. Max is 500 or so bit rate, close but not enough for lossless. Your cans have aptx adaptive which is a bit better but not much and is backwards compatible with older aptX bt codecs. Just not enough bandwidth. You need a better codec headphone+Dac for pure CD, only one being Ldac Sony cans+android or Dac, or straight up cable. For HiFi forget about it over bluetooth.