ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Last week I got myself a treat and bought a navi blue colored H95. Very nice!
After having used the series H9's and the HX I am still impressed that this one sounds different (again) then all others before. But after spending some time with the H95 with Deezer (HiFi) and Spotify, the idea and curiosity arrised on how the H95 sounds when I want to listen my old digitalized music on my NAS.I ripped more than a decade ago my complete cd collection into wma-lossless. A format that also was supported by B&O at that time. I think I converted the same collection also to Flac.
The question is: How or which proper device or way should I use to listen to my ripped cd collection without the minimum amount of loss?
It's a tricky question.
The H95 internal DAC doesn't support HD audio. And the aux-in is actually a line-in port with ADC, so even if you play the lossless WMA/FLAC files with an Hi-Res Audio DAC and connect it via 3.5mm cable to the H95, the signal won't remain analogue - it will be digitalised and processed by the H95 internal's DSP/ADC. Then it will be again reconverted to analogue by the built-in non-Hi Res Audio DAC and sent to the titanium drivers in analogue.
matteventu: The H95 internal DAC doesn't support HD audio. And the aux-in is actually a line-in port with ADC, so even if you play the lossless WMA/FLAC files with an Hi-Res Audio DAC and connect it via 3.5mm cable to the H95, the signal won't remain analogue - it will be digitalised and processed by the H95 internal's DSP/ADC. Then it will be again reconverted to analogue by the built-in non-Hi Res Audio DAC and sent to the titanium drivers in Analysis.
The H95 internal DAC doesn't support HD audio. And the aux-in is actually a line-in port with ADC, so even if you play the lossless WMA/FLAC files with an Hi-Res Audio DAC and connect it via 3.5mm cable to the H95, the signal won't remain analogue - it will be digitalised and processed by the H95 internal's DSP/ADC. Then it will be again reconverted to analogue by the built-in non-Hi Res Audio DAC and sent to the titanium drivers in Analysis.
Im somewhat confused with this statement. I may be incorrect but I was thinking the H95 does not have a DAC in the direct sense in so far it can take a digital source and convert it to analogue?? Yes the H95 will have a Bluetooth module which I will enable the reception of short range digital signals and that Bluetooth is in itself not high def and convert it post DSP/ANC to sound impulses.
However, this should not distract from what I think the OP is asking? Simply, the OP should reformat his WMA to FLAC. At the very best, I can’t see this exceeding 44.1\16, CD bluebook and will remain standard def at best. There mat be converters out there that can re-rip to higher than 44.1\16 but in this application (and not upsampling for filtering), no extra information will be stored.
The OP should be able to listen to his new FLAC files on the H95 with no loss or degradation because of the Bluetooth standard.
Beobuddy:The question is: How or which proper device or way should I use to listen to my ripped cd collection without the minimum amount of loss?
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You drive your Bang & Olufsen Headset with a proper Bang & Olufsen source which is a stylish Beosound 6or Beosound 2 through a reliable wire connection (dothe H95 have that ?)And forget about "loss": B&O do not loose anything!
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Appart from that, I find the answers above quite freaking:
Didnt even know that listening music through an headphone would involbeso much knowledge on digital signal/transfer/conversion/DAC/CAD, etc shenanigans.
Moderators, please feel free to delete…
My personal solution to the “ripped music from CD’s” problem was to buy a Sony Walkman ZX300 and pair it to my speakers and headphones with Bluetooth. The reason I went with this specific Walkman is two-fold: (a) it still uses Sony’s own OS, so no bloated Android nonsense (seriously I don’t need a web browser or app support on my Walkman), and; (b) copying music to it is as simple as plugging the SD card into my PC and copy-and-pasting my entire music directory over.
The second point was crucial because I have my own folder structure which is superior to MP3 tags in every way. Managing music and playlists on iTunes can be a colossal nightmare and that’s why I don’t use my iPhone.
I just treat the Walkman as a glorified remote control; granted I need to bring it around but it works for me since it’s quite small.
I also have some of my stuff just paired directly to my PC via Bluetooth, works well enough these days. I wouldn’t worry too much about the Bluetooth codec since the overwhelming majority of the time you’re not going to be able to tell a difference. This is just one of those times where ignorance is bliss and as long as I have access to my entire music collection I’m golden.
Mr 10Percent: matteventu: The H95 internal DAC doesn't support HD audio. And the aux-in is actually a line-in port with ADC, so even if you play the lossless WMA/FLAC files with an Hi-Res Audio DAC and connect it via 3.5mm cable to the H95, the signal won't remain analogue - it will be digitalised and processed by the H95 internal's DSP/ADC. Then it will be again reconverted to analogue by the built-in non-Hi Res Audio DAC and sent to the titanium drivers in Analysis. Im somewhat confused with this statement. I may be incorrect but I was thinking the H95 does not have a DAC in the direct sense in so far it can take a digital source and convert it to analogue?? Yes the H95 will have a Bluetooth module which I will enable the reception of short range digital signals and that Bluetooth is in itself not high def and convert it post DSP/ANC to sound impulses.
Sorry, would you please rephrase that?
matteventu: Sorry, would you please rephrase that?
Sorry, let me try again. Not an expert but giving a view which hopefully makes sense?
1. First part of the post seems to me to indicate you have a concern for converting WMA to FLAC and whether the H95 DAC can play that. My answer would be that WMA to FLAC is likely not to go into hi-RES quality and will more than likely still be CD Bluebook - i.e. 44.1/16
2. Most DACs will operate in hi-Res. Most modern DACs have a sweet spot of around DSD256-512 bitrate. DSD512 IIRC is 384k/24 in PCM.
3. The data transfer in H95 is not dictated by the file bit rate but by the limits in the Bluetooth protocols and hardware transmitting and receiving the data.
Is that clearer or do I have the wrong end of the point you were wanting answering?
Thank you for the comments and information so far.
I still not have a solution for listening my collection.
So far I thought about the idea to get a Bluesound Node 2(i) which would have some kind of 2 way Bluetooth. You can connect a tablet or phone to it to stream content to the Bluesound and you are able to connect a headphone via bluetooth for listening. I that case I probably need to use Bluesound's software to search and play the content.
As the B&O app isn't a music player on itself, then it would be handy that for instance a Core or any other Beosound would have (2-way) Bluetooth for connecting a headphone. In that case you need to use the B&O app for browsing through your content. But as I already mentioned, the B&O app doesn't have a charming way of showing and searching through your albums and artists. It's just plan text and swiping takes ages.
Another solution was handed to use a Core, use the powerlink on a fixed level and then feed the H95 with it. But that would be also be a rather expensive way. As you are not able to use the Core in combination with beolabs anymore. And again you have to use the B&O app.
As for the proper way, I ment that I would rather not use any cheapish mediaplayer, connect that to for instance a Ouverture or any other Beosound with a socket for a headphone. I'm trying to keep the chain as short as possible.
Mr 10Percent: Sorry, let me try again. Not an expert but giving a view which hopefully makes sense? 1. First part of the post seems to me to indicate you have a concern for converting WMA to FLAC and whether the H95 DAC can play that. My answer would be that WMA to FLAC is likely not to go into hi-RES quality and will more than likely still be CD Bluebook - i.e. 44.1/16 2. Most DACs will operate in hi-Res. Most modern DACs have a sweet spot of around DSD256-512 bitrate. DSD512 IIRC is 384k/24 in PCM. 3. The data transfer in H95 is not dictated by the file bit rate but by the limits in the Bluetooth protocols and hardware transmitting and receiving the data. Is that clearer or do I have the wrong end of the point you were wanting answering?
Clear, thanks :)
Given the wording in the first post, I (wrongly?) assumed that Beoboddy wanted to use the H95 wired either via 3.5mm jack or USB-C input and not via Bluetooth.
Beobuddy: Thank you for the comments and information so far. I still not have a solution for listening my collection. So far I thought about the idea to get a Bluesound Node 2(i) which would have some kind of 2 way Bluetooth. You can connect a tablet or phone to it to stream content to the Bluesound and you are able to connect a headphone via bluetooth for listening. I that case I probably need to use Bluesound's software to search and play the content. As the B&O app isn't a music player on itself, then it would be handy that for instance a Core or any other Beosound would have (2-way) Bluetooth for connecting a headphone. In that case you need to use the B&O app for browsing through your content. But as I already mentioned, the B&O app doesn't have a charming way of showing and searching through your albums and artists. It's just plan text and swiping takes ages. Another solution was handed to use a Core, use the powerlink on a fixed level and then feed the H95 with it. But that would be also be a rather expensive way. As you are not able to use the Core in combination with beolabs anymore. And again you have to use the B&O app. As for the proper way, I ment that I would rather not use any cheapish mediaplayer, connect that to for instance a Ouverture or any other Beosound with a socket for a headphone. I'm trying to keep the chain as short as possible.
Beobuddy: The question is: How or which proper device or way should I use to listen to my ripped cd collection without the minimum amount of loss?
I assume that you mean "with" the minimum amount of loss. There are lots of ways to do it "without" the minimum amount of loss... ;-)
Believe it or not, this is a simple question with an impossible answer.
Looking at it from the perspective of the headphones in isolation, you have 3 input options:
Either way in, all three of these will hit the Digital Signal Processing within the headphones, which is required.
So, the simple part of the answer is probably to use a USB-Audio connection from a player. I say "probably" here, because there's no guarantee about the audio signal treatment within a given player. Many players (both sw or hw based) do not necessarily just spit out the bits that you have stored in your files. And, just because a player doesn't just spit out the bits doesn't make it a bad player. I have seen strange cases where a player's digital output is "worse" than the analogue output (although this definition of "worse" may be dependent on your priorities and preferences...)
So, the remainder of the answer to the question is highly dependent on the specifics of your hardware and software options - and even then, may be dependent on the specific software/firmware version that you're using.
However, if you have a player that can be set send the audio over a USB-Audio connection to your H95s, and that player is smart enough to negotiate the sampling rate to the right choice based on the file itself, then this is probably the cleanest path.
Cheers-geoff
* please do not interpret this sentence as meaning that sampling rate conversion is bad. There are lots of good sampling rate converters in the world - but there are bad ones too...
oops... please ignore the "PS" above about the SRCs. It was attached to a sentence that I deleted when I was cleaning up my posting. I stand by the statement - it just doesn't make sense with respect to the rest of what I wrote there.
I tried to edit this out, but it seems that Beoworld and Mac+Safari still aren't the best of friends...
Geoff Martin: I tried to edit this out, but it seems that Beoworld and Mac+Safari still aren't the best of friends...
I use Safari, too.
When I want to/have to edit my posts, I use Firefox (that I have installed just for that).
It works well there.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
matteventu: Two fundamental questions (in addition to: Bluetooth or wired?): What phone (maker and model) do you have? What NAS (maker and model) do you have?
Two fundamental questions (in addition to: Bluetooth or wired?):
Thank you for asking.
Currently using an iPhone XR.
I've setup a pool with 2x 2T SSD in JBOD in a Qnap TS-453D. Currently (again) converting albums (cd-rips) from wma-lossless to flac into the same CD quality (44.100hz,16bits) . I use AVS for converting and Mp3tag to check the result whether the files are complete with cover and tracknumber etc.
I want to keep the library as close as possible to the original and am not trying to upscale as I think that is pointless.
Geoff Martin: So, the remainder of the answer to the question is highly dependent on the specifics of your hardware and software options - and even then, may be dependent on the specific software/firmware version that you're using.
Thank you Geoff for your valuable and appreciated information, as always.I'm currently happy enough with the quality using the iPhone's bluetooth (5.x) connection and Deezer Hifi subscribtion. I think that a wireless connection wins over a wired one, just for convenience. I will try a wired one, but it's just a matter of time that the wire becomes to short.
Still, the question remains. Which hub or player would be convenient/sufficient? Would that be a mediaplayer with aptX-HD or just some kind of Raspberry Pi based server with Roon and some kind of quality HAT (PSU and/or DAC) on it?
Any suggestions and experiences would be gratefully appreciated.
I have an Encore, which has a headphone socket and should (partly) do the job. But it is still choking in the amount of (different type of) files on another NAS for several days now.
Hi,
Sorry, but I'm afraid that I can't answer this question.
I have seen so many different behaviours caused by combinations of different NAS drives, audio distribution software applications on the NAS, players, and output choices that I've decided to never make any assumptions or recommendations about what to use.
However, since you're choosing to use Bluetooth in the interest of not using a wire, then I would suggest that you continue with this logic and choose whatever hardware and software is most convenient.
For example, you mention that you have an iPhone and Deezer HiFi. The only thing missing is the connection to your NAS, correct? There may be an iPhone application from your NAS manufacturer that allows you to do this (for example, Synology has a "DS-Audio" application), then you can transmit using AAC encoding (since it's an iPhone) to the H95s.
Thanks Geoff for the tip! I didn't know the existence of this.
I did find an application in Qnap's App Store. With "music station" installed on the NAS and the app "QMusic" added on the iPhone, you indeed can stream your content to your headphone or airplay it to any other capable device in your network. It works smooth and has easy search options.
For me, this will do the trick right now. Thank you for the hint!