Which DAP to buy?!

I have not found one either, but I suppose I am more hesitant to declare it done and dusted. How do you know fur sur?

If it is RAAT compatible then it uses the standard roon client, which only uses the Android system audio.
You could have a client that goes beyond the standard bitrate but that wouldnā€™t use RAAT.
At this point in time I believe you can have one or the other.

No there is nothing on the market. Unless one of the Chinese makers such as Shanling or Hiby develop Roon for their own OS as they have a number of DAPs that dont use Android but this also limits them all to online playback for streaming services which is the advantage Android brings. Roon really need to sort their Android playback out then it would likely run bit perfect on most of the current Android DAPs that bypass the Android audio stack. But I imagibe this would be a support nightmare due to the different hardware and variations each manufacturer does to bypass it. Not all do it system wide for all apps.

The two play back programs for Android I am aware of and have used that do this, USB Audio Pro and Neutron do it. I wonder if it is really a support issue for them, or is it more just a matter of putting in the effort to program something. In any case your point about non Android manufacturers like Shanling or Hiby is a good one.

I was referring to DAPs not the software. Hiby, Fiio, iBasso and Shanling all modify their Android base to bypass system resampling. Qobuz and Tidal apps will just pass through as they donā€™t resample natively they let the os do it, so will work bitperfect. Roon does not do this as it resamples in Android by design rather than leave it up to the OS to do it like other apps. UAPP and Neutron do things differently again and this does not always work successfully. I had constant issues with UAPP, Dragonfly DACs and my phone. Both sides have their issues. UAPP is constantly being updated to add some support to nee DACs and devices not all successfully. If Roon had to deal with same amount of hardware variations, plus how each DAP manufacturer bypasses things itā€™s starts to become a real nightmare. UAPP is a small use base all things considered and is one thing on one platform. Roon is way more complex and multiplatform. I imagine it would cause way more support issues trying to allow bit perfect across so many variables. Be great if they did as I would love me R5 DAP to be bitperfect. It stills sounds great without it though.

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I am here trying to find a bit-perfect DAP to buy. Understand the support issues, so how about supporting just 3 DAPs. A low end, mid range and a high end model. I am one of those sad people who was promised Roon on my AK SE100 ā€œsoonā€ when I purchased it a couple of years back and still no joy. Iā€™d love to be listening on something a bit better than an old iPhone SE when away from my desktop amp.

Well, picked up an iPad Air recently and thought Iā€™d try my Zorloo Zstella with it. Bit perfect on the iPad but not on Androids I had been using it on. Hmm looks like iOS works better than Android for bit perfect playback. Hunting through a draw I find my Apple CCK and test iPhone -> CCK -> Zorloo Ztellaā€¦ also bit perfect! Tried MQA 44.1, 96, 192, FLAC 44.1, 96, DSD64, all purple. Pretty ugly cable solution, but should keep me going until Android DAPs work one day, hopefully. Probably works with Dragon Flys etc too.

Tested iPhone and a 6th gen iPod Touch and both work well, bit perfect with Ztella and Dragonfly Red. The Red is a bit more tidy with the CCK. Might have to pick up a 7th Gen iPod Touch given my testing. Wish I could find some rumors on 8th gen Touch, as 7th gen is getting old. Still 7th gen is probably faster than any current Android DAP lol.