System: Denon 900HNE; 2 of Polk Polk Signature Elite ES50 Tower speakers. Apple iPhone and Apple Music: standard to Lossless, and lossless Hi-Res Component In Question: DAC

Would anyone with average hearing actually hear the difference between standard AAC compression of Apple Music that I currently play through my system versus using a DAC between my iPhone and system streaming Lossless or Lossless Hi-Res?

Bonus question - is there any difference in quality between using Bluetooth and AppleAir to stream to my system?

  • IXpectU2die@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Why not use the streaming functionality of the Denon? Using a lossy bluetooth codec to listen to lossless music kind of defeats the purpose. An external DAC won’t improve the sound over the built-in DAC of the Denon IMO.

  • KezzardTheWizzard@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    There is a difference in quality between bluetooth and lossless.

    It takes a bit of doing to stream lossless through AirPlay (which is what I think you meant instead of AppleAir). So you would have to choose your DAC wisely.

    Can you hear a difference between AAC and lossless via Airplay? Meh, the master that is chosen is more important.

    Can you hear a difference between bluetooth and AAC streaming? A lot of people say they can.