Hello,
Let me start by congratulating you on the launch of ARC. I believe it was the next logical step for ROON and it adds lots of value to a ROON subscription. Once I had set up the port forwarding on my ROON Core, ARC worked perfectly. Now, you have to fix the bugs associated with deploying an application and making it better.
My problem is that ARC will not use my USB DAC on Android 13. I’m listing the specifics below. Please let me know if you intend to support USB DAC in the future.
My «mobile Hi-Fi» hardware
- Google Pixel 7
- Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt USB DAC
- Audeze LCD-2 headphones
- See attached «pic_01_system.jpg»
Software (everything up to date as of October 22)
- Android version 13, security update: October 5, 2022
- Tidal version 2.69.0.1082.8110
- USB Audio Player Pro version v6.0.9.0
- ARC 1.0.23, Build 100059
When I use either Tidal or USB Audio Player Pro, I get asked to grant applications access to the DAC. (See «pic_02_Tidal_access.jpg» and «pic_03_USB_Audio_Player_Pro_access.jpg.») Once I do grant access, both applications use the USB DAC to play audio. I attached a screenshot of Tidal playing a MQA file being decoded by the DAC and USB Audio Player Pro playing a DSD file stored on my phone using the DAC. (See «Pic_06_DAC_decoding_Tidal_MQA.jpg» and «pic_07_USB_Audio_Player_Pro_using_DAC.jpg»)
Unfortunately, ARC uses Android built in audio system, which resamples (up or down) everything to 48 kHz, 24 bits. My DAC is simply a «passthrough .» See attached screen shots showing the ARC audio chain : « Pic_05_ARC_using_Aaudio.jpg» and «Pic_04_Aaudio_upsample.jpg»
If the file quality and the recording are of average quality, there is not a noticeable difference between ARC, Tidal and USB Audio Pro Player. However, for higher quality files or better recordings, I could hear a significant difference between ARC and the other applications using the DAC. The fact that ARC doesn’t use my USB DAC greatly diminishes the usefulness and value of the application for me.
Please let me know if there is a workaround or if you intend to support USB DAC in the future.
Thanks for your help.
Best Regards,
Eric Beaudin
