Best way to play music from my phone (for highest quality sound)?

[DavideBianchini]

Hello,
Disclaimer: I am a bit of an audiophile, and only listen to mp3s that are 320kbps because anything less sounds terrible to me.

I was wondering what is the best way to connect my Android to my car---for the best quality sound--and also what hardware/app recommendations you might have?

I currently use an app called "Player Pro, and connect via bluetooth. I am in looking for an aftermarket receiver (such as a Sony XVAC series) to replace my factory unit.

Currently, the biggest problem I'm having with the sound from my Android is that it distorts way too easily. I have to turn the pre-amps way down on my app (Player Pro) to avoid distortion.

Any tips would be appreciated,

Davide

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[ThxOne Premium Member]

Couple of things...

Head Unit - Make sure it can play HiRes Audio (via USB or Bluetooth) and can play WAV, Flac, DSD and so on.
App - I use Black Player as it plays HiRes audio files such as WAV and Flac along with others.
Phone - Does the phone have a DAC built in? (Digital Audio Converter) Modern LG phones have Quad DAC's built in.
Audio Files - If you want to "step your quality up" Use lossless files or WAV, Flac, DSD type files. 320kbps is about as good as you can get with mp3's.

Skipping the phone as a source. If you get the right head unit that accepts USB drives with NTFS formatting then you can simply purchase a large solid state external USB drive, format it to NTFS, fill that baby with HiRes audio files, connect it to the head units USB, hide the hard drive away and enjoy HiRes audio without fumbling with your phone and have access to all of your music.

 

[DavideBianchini]

So helpful thank you. I am open to bypassing my phone entirely and just playing from a USB thumb drive, if that is what it takes to get the best quality sound. I've been having so much difficulty with distortion on my Android, having to turn the pre-amps way down---which causes the bass to suffer.

I do like the "Player Pro" app, however, due to its 10-band EQ and DSP plugin. It is the only Android music player I've found that has decent signal processing. But I suppose if I get a receiver with a 10-band EQ, then I would not need the one on my Android player.

Question: Is there a noticeable difference in quality between 320kbps mp3, WAV, and FLAC? Can the human discern the difference?

Thank you,

Davide

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

So helpful thank you. I am open to bypassing my phone entirely and just playing from a USB thumb drive, if that is what it takes to get the best quality sound. I've been having so much difficulty with distortion on my Android, having to turn the pre-amps way down---which causes the bass to suffer.

Question: Is there a noticeable difference in quality between 320kbps mp3, WAV, and FLAC? Can the human discern the difference?

Thank you,

Davide

Some say yes some say not really. But in my opinion, yes. Your system matters. Head Unit, Speakers, How it's powered and what file types you play. I still have some mp3's and some are 128kbps. I did a side by side of a single song (an MP3 in 320kbps and a Flac file 192kHz • 24bit) and I could hear the difference on decent speakers with decent power. Remember, a CD is 44.1kHz • 16bit and I can say that a CD sounds better than a 320kbps MP3. Now jump to that Flac file that is even higher resolution than the CD. It's worth it if you love music to play the higher resolution files.

 

[Firewalker]

LG FYI Thxone is no longer making phones for sale here in the US. They quit making them about this year as that is all my mother would buy until her last one 2 years ago that was so bad it couldn't barely access anything. They lost around they claim 4.5 billion dollars in revenue and the last time it was profitable for them was over 6-7 years ago.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

LG FYI Thxone is no longer making phones for sale here in the US. They quit making them about this year as that is all my mother would buy until her last one 2 years ago that was so bad it couldn't barely access anything. They lost around they claim 4.5 billion dollars in revenue and the last time it was profitable for them was over 6-7 years ago.

Yeah, it's sad. I bought mine on Ebay. It was new but like two years old. Works great and is cheaper than a HiRes audio player and includes the Quad DAC. LG G7 ThinQ

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Hello,
Disclaimer: I am a bit of an audiophile, and only listen to mp3s that are 320kbps because anything less sounds terrible to me.

Same with me.

I recommend running everything hard-wired. I would use probably some USB connection to your phone or an audio device and plug that directly into your radio, and obviously get a radio that can be used like that. I am not a fan of BT. With BT, you have more quality factors: the quality of the phone's BT antenna, the BT signal has to travel through the air and hopefully doesn't get any distortion or interference, and then the quality of the radio's BT antenna. That's a lot more factors than just highly conductive wires that transfer the signal directly into the radio, then your RCA's transfer them directly to the amp.

I would also look into getting a high quality radio with 4v+ RCA outputs. I've installed a ton of radios, and when amplifying, I've grown to hate any radio under 4v. That's generally a quality factor that I don't want to go below. You want to eliminate every opportunity the signal has to distort or gain interference from any perspective. You would also want to use shielded RCA cables for amplification, that way environmental electromagnetic radiation can't induct itself into the RCA's and feed non-audio signals into the amp.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

what deck?

i use .wav files on cds

 

[DavideBianchini]

I would also look into getting a high quality radio with 4v+ RCA outputs. I've installed a ton of radios, and when amplifying, I've grown to hate any radio under 4v.

Can you elaborate on this? The Sony unit with 4v pre-out (XAV-AX5500) is a couple hundred dollars more expensive than the same model with 2v (XAV-AX150). Would 4v deliver that much better sound to justify the price tag?

Do you know of anyone who has run a side-by-side comparison test, to measure the difference?

-Davide

 

[DavideBianchini]

what deck?

i use .wav files on cds

I prefer Sony units. I'm looking at the XAV-AX150 (https://www.crutchfield.com/p_158XAV150/Sony-XAV-AX150.html)

 

[Firewalker]

I will always pay more for that 4v or 5v head unit vs something that is 2v. As you go up in price or models the quality of components in them also gets better as well. Most people won't run a head unit anymore unless it has at least 4v these days. Pioneer, Kenwood/JVC, Sony and Alpine are all good head units. So don't discount the others either. Sonic Electronix has a wide range as well. If you find something you like then take the make & model to Amazon or eBay both sell a lot of head units. I've bought head units over the years from a lot of different places, thankfully every one has been a good purchase. Right now there is a major shortage of head units across the globe so people are getting more for them normally even used ones are going at a much higher price these days. Do a search quite a few articles out there explaining the benefits to higher volt rca on a head unit.

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

I just run bluetooth from my S9+ with the Dolby Atmos on. Sounds fine to me. I just Google the song that I want to hear and send it.

 

[marc2112 10+ year member]

Some say yes some say not really. But in my opinion, yes. Your system matters. Head Unit, Speakers, How it's powered and what file types you play. I still have some mp3's and some are 128kbps. I did a side by side of a single song (an MP3 in 320kbps and a Flac file 192kHz • 24bit) and I could hear the difference on decent speakers with decent power. Remember, a CD is 44.1kHz • 16bit and I can say that a CD sounds better than a 320kbps MP3. Now jump to that Flac file that is even higher resolution than the CD. It's worth it if you love music to play the higher resolution files.

Flac is a terrible audio format. It was designed as a lossless file sharing format to save space and bandwidth (obsolete now).

Unpack those songs and start living bro!

 

[marc2112 10+ year member]

Nillkin Type-C to 3.5mm HD Music DAC

$14?

 

[DavideBianchini]

Flac is a terrible audio format. It was designed as a lossless file sharing format to save space and bandwidth (obsolete now).

Unpack those songs and start living bro!

Hi,
Can you explain why FLAC is a terrible format? I am thinking of switching my entire library from mp3 to FLAC for its 682kbps (vs. 320kbps mp3).