Quote:
Originally Posted by rsrguy
Am I missing something here? Doesn't running lossless through Bluetooth defeat the purpose?
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Yes and no -- this article does a good job of explaining Bluetooth limitations
https://www.howtogeek.com/338750/whats-the-difference-between-bluetooth-a2dp-and-aptx/
Bluetooth's basic protocol (A2DP) can only handle the bandwidth necessary to play mp3 (lossy) files compressed to a 256kb/s level -- significantly, if you're using an iPhone as your source, that's the best you can do via bluetooth, as the iPhone doesn't support the advanced / higher bitrate aptX bluetooth codec.
SO -- there's actually nothing to gain storing lossless files on an iPhone if bluetooth streaming is the SOLE output source for an iPhone - however, since I also stream my iPhone music via apple airplay (and airplay supports 48k lossless) and play via wired headphones, I keep my iPhone music in lossless format and let my iPhone transcode down to the 256kb/s lossy format for bluetooth playback.
From what I've read, one of the reasons bluetooth / lossy compression in general get a bad rap is the significant sound quality loss that results from MULTIPLE lossy transcoding -- put another way, if you store mp3s at a higher bitrate than supported by bluetooth and require another lossy conversion to play through the bluetooth interface, sound degradation can occur.
Similarly, low bitrate mp3 files (below, say, 128kb/s) are going to have audible degradation that will show up while played via bluetooth.
SO -- while my music collection is lossless (much preserved at 24/96, 24/192 or DSD) and I maintain a lossless signal chain for critical listening, I frankly cannot discern a difference in my 911 (with or without the engine running) between a well mastered recording played back via bluetooth (256 kb/s lossy) and the same recording in lossless format played back via a wired connection to my amp. YMMV, of course, but convenience in this compromised environment wins out for me
Another option to consider is the new Blaupunkt Bremen, which supports SD cards (and usb thumb drives) for playback (see,
https://www.blaupunkt.com/en/nc/products/car-multimedia/car-radio/products/single/19059/) -- note, however, that the Bremen only supports the lossy mp3 and (potentially lossless) WMA format -- which would require another layer of fiddling for me to use, as I've archived my music collection FLAC/apple lossless