Tablet & DAC & Streaming Music Listening Questions

[Kalamata Kid]

I produce ambient music, time permitting. I enjoy listening to Ambient and Classical music primarily when driving and at bedtime.

Subscription
I am considering subscribing to Apple Music or Spotify or Pandora. Which service has the best classical music and ambient selection? Apple Music does not seem to have an Ambient category. So I need help deciding which to subscribe to.

Tablet – For bedroom listening
I will be buying a tablet for my bedroom music listening. Likely Android but will consider a used iPad. If iPad what is the oldest generation that will work with Apple Music. The only reason I will get an iPad is that I hope in the future the Classical Music app will be available for the iPad. Should I hope? I have been told if I use a USB DAC the cheapest tablet will do the job.

Car Listening
I have a Galaxy cell phone and my car already has a mini input jack for the audio. Works fine. I suppose the subscription services allow several devices to be used. I will use one of four devices that are available.

DAC For a Better Quality Audio
I will be buying a USB DAC for this setup. Stay under $100 but may consider spending up to $200.
Headphone jack and RCA to go the audio amp. I am considering the Fosi Q4 and the Q5. https://www.fosiaudio.com/dac/ Wonder if the Q4 or Q5 can power the tablet.

Tablet Overhead Bed Holder
viewtopic.php?p=8602152#p8602152
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224533999120?_ ... 1506.m1851

Summary: Please help me decide on the Music subscription service, Tablet and DAC.

[Kalamata Kid]

I wanted to simplify my setup so I did additional research. Found this DAC, Dayton-Audio-DAC01 for $40. Has many five star reviews.

Will connect the DAC01 USB to the tablet with a very short cable. I will need to run an 8 foot cable from the DAC01 to the amp/receiver. My amp/receiver has a headphone out.
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Au ... quantity=1

How do I keep the Tablet charged?
Some tablets have two USB ports, one of which is for charging the tablet. It seems there are only a few tablets that have two USB ports. They are expensive or very old models.
The other alternative and currently the one I will likely use is to find a USB hub that can charge the tablet while it is being used.

Uni USB C to USB Hub
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SVZFFPP/
Some of these USB hubs can keep the tablet charged:
https://www.tomshardware.com/best-picks/best-usb-hubs

If I find an economical tablet with two USB ports I will like go that way. Also am willing to spend more on a DAC for a better audio quality.

Question
It seems that I will need an OTG capable tablet. Is this capability common on tablets?
They recommend 100W USB charger which is expensive. In my case will a 65W be ok as it is substantially le$$.

[Kalamata Kid]

duplicate deleted

[BONES]

Seems like a lot of effort to go to. Why not just buy a Walkman with a decent built-in DAC? Something like this Sony -
https://www.sony.com.au/walkman/products/nw-a306 - it's Au$500 so you'll probably pick up a new one for around US$300 in the US. It runs Android and has wi-fi built-in, so all you'd need is an audio cable to your amp. The battery life should be long enough that you can charge it up when needed, rather than having it plugged in 24/7.

[Kalamata Kid]

Bones, thanks for chiming in. The Walkman is a good suggestion. I however like the bigger screen of a tablet and the cost is lower.

I would plugin my suggested music listening setup into the switched outlet of the receiver/amp. If that did not work yes it would be on 24/7. Or I can also disconnect the the power to the hub when I am done. In any case would turn off the tablet when not in use.

[BertKoor]

So you wanna go Tablet -> DAC -> Amp/Receiver -> Headphone?
That's plain silly. Just plug the headphones directly into the tablet.
Quality of built-in DAC and headphone amp is decent enough.
Unless your headphone is very high impedance and not so efficient...

[Kalamata Kid]

The way I understand from the reviews I have read is any external USB DAC will be better than the tablet DAC. In my case I also need RCA to connect to my receiver/amp. So if I connect to my receiver/amp then I might as well plugin in my headphones into it.

I currently plugin my headphones to a tablet and get descent audio. What I am trying to get the best audio quality with not too much expen$e.

The Hurricane Idalia is heading my way. Not at all looking forward to this.

[BertKoor]

I currently plugin my headphones to a tablet and get descent audio. What I am trying to get the best audio quality with not too much expen$e.

My definition of "decent" is that it is good enough: fairly flat frequency response, hardly any background noise, can be driven loud enough.

So you don't have any complaints? The pitfall of "hifi" is where you go into "audiophile" territory: throwing in more and more money for diminishing returns.

With a separate DAC it will be a bit of a gamble whether you really get better objective quality, where price of the DAC is a big factor in that. I suspect a cheap (sub $100) DAC will give equal quality as what the tablet already delivers.

Also the headphone amp of the tablet can be the weakest link now. Have you already tested whether running a cable from headphone-out of the tablet into your receiver line-in (yes, that is usually a perfectly valid connection in technical terms) gives better or worse quality?

[Kalamata Kid]

I have an old iPad Air I am testing with headphones. I will not however keep the iPad in the bedroom. I will buy a cheap tablet under $100 for that purpose.

Currently I listen to Classical from CD's. Happy with the quality. But you are right I should test the iPad going into he receiver line in. That is after Idalia which has been upgraded to a Major hurricane hits late Tuesday early Wednesday.

[BONES]

The way I understand from the reviews I have read is any external USB DAC will be better than the tablet DAC. In my case I also need RCA to connect to my receiver/amp. So if I connect to my receiver/amp then I might as well plugin in my headphones into it.

I currently plugin my headphones to a tablet and get descent audio. What I am trying to get the best audio quality with not too much expen$e.

I think a lot of those guys who review that stuff are clueless idiots. They mark a DAC down for sounding neutral, FFS, when neutral should be the goal of a good DAC, surely?

After replying yesterday, I did a bit of looking around and ended up buying this -
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09PTVSK2N ... _dt_1&th=1



It was criticised in several online reviews for sounding "too neutral" so I figured it was a good choice. It would be way too tiny for you, though, but I'm quite excited to give it a whirl. My only concern is how easy it will be to find what I want to listen to but I am hoping the physical knob might make that easy enough. If it turns out to be too annoying, I can always return it.

[Kalamata Kid]

Let us knowhow you like it.
I was unaware of the existence of such devices.

[Kalamata Kid]

I currently plugin my headphones to a tablet and get descent audio. What I am trying to get the best audio quality with not too much expen$e.

My definition of "decent" is that it is good enough: fairly flat frequency response, hardly any background noise, can be driven loud enough.

So you don't have any complaints? The pitfall of "hifi" is where you go into "audiophile" territory: throwing in more and more money for diminishing returns.

With a separate DAC it will be a bit of a gamble whether you really get better objective quality, where price of the DAC is a big factor in that. I suspect a cheap (sub $100) DAC will give equal quality as what the tablet already delivers.

Also the headphone amp of the tablet can be the weakest link now. Have you already tested whether running a cable from headphone-out of the tablet into your receiver line-in (yes, that is usually a perfectly valid connection in technical terms) gives better or worse quality?

As it turns out I found two sets of mini to RCA cable in the back of the receiver. Now I kind of remember that I tried the cell phone and likely the iPad Air to check the audio quality. Probably not happy with what I heard.

This time I played some ambient music and sounded good in my bedroom on the Kenwood > Infinity speakers (bed side). My MK speakers do not have a subwoofer so I did not even try them.

I have five sets of stereo's in the house, mostly 60' and 70's Marantz, Pioneer, Harman Kardon, Sansui receivers. As for speakers I have Advents, Infinities, Polk, MK and Ess. Bought all of them at garage sales for very low prices. Purchased the equipment before eBay and Craigslist got popular.

I spent years trying to match them. Very exhausting and difficult work but enjoyable when I got it right. I do not have the best ears in the world but I do have patience.

I will proceed with the tablet > USB DAC > Hub set up as it is not that expensive. I can always return the components if need be. My feeling based on reviews and user comments that I will be happy with the increased audio quality. I will post the results.

As for the music streaming service I will likely sign up with Apple Music but am also looking at Qobuz. I want lossless of CD quality or better.

[BertKoor]

All you need is some mini-TRS -> RCA cables (you can't have enough of these) one into each amp, ready to use.

I have a small affordable Marmitek bluetooth receiver for similar purpose (the 'BoomBoom 90' model, what a horrible product name) which definitely gives superior quality compared to my previous laptop's headphone out, which was good enough directly on headphones but surprisingly noisy when using that as line out. With other devices the headphone out used to be perfect, but it turns out there are exceptions.

Yeah, there's nothing wrong old hifi amps. Until there is something (unfixable) wrong with them
I've got a late 80ies Technics receiver here in my office room connected to fairly modern passive monitors. In the living room it's the reverse: a modern amp (currently a cheap NAD, before that a Marantz & Sony but these are pushing daisies) connected to vintage closed bookshelf speakers.

I'm not too fond of subwoofers myself, also not so fond of turning up the volume. No neighbour ever notices I play any music.

Hope all goes fine with that hurricane... Brace yourself!

[Kalamata Kid]

All you need is some mini-TRS -> RCA cables (you can't have enough of these) one into each amp, ready to use.
Hope all goes fine with that hurricane... Brace yourself!

Looks like hurricane Idalia will not hit my area. Lucky me! It's about time!

Yea, that's what I said I found in the back of the receiver, two sets of mini to RCA cables.
"(you can't have enough of these)" yea, I have another 10 which were accumulated through the years.
I listened again to the iPad last night and found the low end a bit muddy.

I lent a powered subwoofer to a friend to check out. Three years later he is still checking it out.
Looks like I will have to buy a used one from Craig's list. I love the low end as much as the mids and the highs.

[Kalamata Kid]

So the first decision to make is to purchase a tablet about 10" diagonal.
Will like one with two USB ports, one which will be for charging.
Will settle for an Android tablet with on USB port for under $100.
Must be OTG capable.
Will use wifi to connect to the internet.