I finally found a DAC which can output LDAC stream

I recently purchased HiBy R2 and noticed it can output Bluetooth stream with LDAC Codec while in DAC Mode.
With this device, and USB-C to Lightning cable sold by HiBy or LT-LT1 from FiiO, HiBy R2 can be used as an external USB-DAC and output LDAC Bluetooth stream.
Also, of course, you can use this device for PC/Mac to output LDAC signal from desktop/laptop or Macbooks
There are several limitations and problems user has to be aware:

  1. Display always say 24-bit at DAC mode, even the input to the DAC is 16, 24, or 32. I confirmed with HiBy and they said bit-depth information display is hard-coded, at “24”, but doesn’t affect what is being decoded.
  2. In USB-DAC mode, NO Bluetooth signal if the input is in DSD format (or playing DSD file directly from this portable player), therefore I configured Roon does the DSD to PCM conversion.
  3. If you use LDAC, you HAVE TO TURN OFF WIFI. If you stream from Tidal or Qobuz using the build in app (NOT USB-DAC) with LDAC, the LDAC stream is very unstable from the WiFi interference. IMO, the streaming feature with this Portable Player is pretty much unusable if you are using LDAC codec.
  4. This DAC is very prone to wireless signal interference when using LDAC Codec, especially if you use it near a router or very close to a wireless mouse or keyboard

Note: Made sure to select LDAC (audio quality) for Bluetooth Codec so it will force to device to stream at highest 990kbps
Yes, I know it is not true hi-res, compressed, lossy…etc… but still better than Apple’s AAC, 990kbps LDAC > 320kbps AAC.
Also, iPhone/iPad user NEED TO turn on “USB Current Limited” under Settings BEFORE connect this DAC to the iDevice, to prevent “This Accessory requires too much power” error.

I understand there are some limitations with this, but I think for the price, it is a good option of you want LDAC streaming from computers or “iDevices”

Roon recognizes its capable bitrate max at 192/32.
Here is an example of screenshot of signal path
image

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