MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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So, as a non audio geek - Sony's LDAC. 990kb/s, sample rate of 96 kHz (yes I know not much point going over 44.1/48) and bits per sample of 32 (again, I know not much point going over 24 and CD is 16. This is what I've read and you only learn by reading/listening/watching....
At those BT streaming settings, listening to a Tidal Master in a mid range set of headphones (WH1000-XM3's) am I going to hear a discernable difference if it was a wired connection to rather than Bluetooth?
Possibly, I download lossless files and listen via wired headphones and earphones, including wired EarPods, which sound remarkably good for £20. I’ve also got some BT earphones and headphones, and they’re ok, but I find I get lots of dropouts irrespective of what ‘phones I use, which is irritating, plus I can listen for hours at a time, and not worry about the battery dying.
My favourite ’phones are a pair of Røde NTH-100’s, which are designed for studio work, and are very comfortable and sound fantastic, and are around half the price of quality BT ‘phones, £145 against £300-ish. I use a 3.5mm >Lightning adapter which is about 6cm long and acts both as a decent DAC and a flexible strain relieving part of the connection,
I just can’t see myself spending a lot of money on BT ‘phones when I can’t listen to lossless music due to the format limitations, plus most top-end BT headphones will be useless when the battery dies in three or four years because they won’t run in passive-mode with a wired connection. The Apple ones don’t even have the means, and some, like B&W have a connection, but it doesn’t work when the battery is flat!
am I going to hear a discernable difference if it was a wired connection to rather than Bluetooth?
No. I had similar concerns with a pair of BT headphones, but tests revealed no difference at all. If you're listening to audio output from a 'phone, then it doesn't really matter between wired and BT ime. Because the output, whilst decent, still isn't up to the same quality you'll get with a proper decent amplifier with a good headphone output, or a dedicated headphone adapter, from a high quality source. But that's about spending quite a lot of money. And not exactly portable. A portable DAC you can use with a 'phone might make a difference, but even then, you'll probably need to be pretty young to actually hear it. Middle aged ears are no longer sensitive enough to hear such subtle differences in sound. The output from a 'phone is still plenty good enough to be able to enjoy listening in to music at a decent level of quality. Modern BT codecs are much better than they used to be, so as long as your BT headphones support the newer APT/X or AAC type codecs, then you'll be fine.
A portable DAC you can use with a ‘phone might make a difference, but even then, you’ll probably need to be pretty young to actually hear it
I've tried my WH1000-XM3’s wired through a portable DAC and I thought they sounded better using BT. This is echoed by online comments
Another question - listening to a Tidal master via LDAC - does using ANC affect sound quality? Yes, I have ears, but from a technical point of view will/should it reduce quality?
I have tried several closed back headphones recently, I wanted wired but all the ones I tried failed to impress. I finally plumped for the new Sennheiser momentum 4 Bluetooth phones and WOW,they sound fantastic out of my amp headphone socket via a simple trond Bluetooth transmitter. The detail and particularly the sound stage is outstanding for a closed back headphone. Noise cancelling is not as good as Sony but perfectly adequate for general use. I’ve not tried them wired yet but see no immediate need to do that at the moment.