Simplest media player that can output hidef flac as LPCM over hdmi.

[Captain Ron]

I’m looking for a very simple media player that can handle up to 24/96 flac and output as stereo LPCM over hdmi. My new cars stereo does not have an aux port so I can’t plug in my Astell & Kern AK jr which is my primary portable for hidef. I tried Bluetooth but the connection can only handle 24 bit up to 48kHz over Bluetooth.

The car head unit does however have an HDMI input. So a small form factor media player with low powered (5 or 12v dc) with either decent onboard expandable flash memory or a USB input to take an external thumb drive would be a viable solution.

 

[next010]

Unsure maybe other music parts of the forum may know better.

What might work is getting an Android phone with SD card storage and HDMI-HML support which allows you to send the video/audio output to a HDMI display. An example of which is the Samsung A32 5G.

If that works with your HDMI input you could then try using a hi-res audio player for Android.

Maybe you already have a phone that can do this.

The other thing is to find a hires portable media player with optical/hdmi output, no idea if such a thing exists there are a bunch of MQA players here.

Raspberry Pi 4 would also work but would involve a lot of DIY, moodaudio could work but RPi's need controlled power on/off otherwise it can corrupt the SD card.

 

[noiseboy72]

Will you actually hear any difference between 24/48 and 24/96 - particularly in an environment as compromised as a car interior?

Accepted that Bluetooth is not totally transparent - even with the latest codecs and tech, but I would honestly consider if you are going to hear any difference before spending a bunch of cash.

 

[Captain Ron]

Will you actually hear any difference between 24/48 and 24/96 - particularly in an environment as compromised as a car interior?

Accepted that Bluetooth is not totally transparent - even with the latest codecs and tech, but I would honestly consider if you are going to hear any difference before spending a bunch of cash.

On the move no. Sitting parked in the car with the engine off yes. Transients in particular like piano strikes, cymbal hits and general percussive sounds in general are better resolved at 96 than 48. Admittedly more noticeable in good headphones or on the home hifi than in the car. There's also the pain of having to resample all my 96 to 48 to get it to work and.. scratch that, 48 doesn't work properly over bluetooth either. Tops out at CD quality. i just want it to work with my files without having to go to the hassle of providing a dedicated resampled directory for car use.

 

[noiseboy72]

On the move no. Sitting parked in the car with the engine off yes. Transients in particular like piano strikes, cymbal hits and general percussive sounds in general are better resolved at 96 than 48. Admittedly more noticeable in good headphones or on the home hifi than in the car. There's also the pain of having to resample all my 96 to 48 to get it to work and.. scratch that, 48 doesn't work properly over bluetooth either. Tops out at CD quality. i just want it to work with my files without having to go to the hassle of providing a dedicated resampled directory for car use.

Does the player not down convert high sample rates when playing over Bluetooth?

I guess an Android tablet with hdmi output will otherwise be the solution.

 

[Captain Ron]

Does the player not down convert high sample rates when playing over Bluetooth?

I guess an Android tablet with hdmi output will otherwise be the solution.

Not sure what's going on with the chain when playing hidef over bluetooth. Problem could be at transmitting or receiving end. All I know is that playback breaks up and stutters with 24 bit with anything over 44.1kHz. Simplest solution is probably as you suggest. A simple media player with HDMI output that can handle hidef flac gapless playback and output as lossless LPCM over HDMI.

 

[Captain Ron]

Took a punt on one of these on a Prime day deal. (£25.89) Will report how it handles flac files. Amazon product

 

[Captain Ron]

Sent the AGPTEK media player back. Initially I thought i'd bagged a bargain winner when I hooked it up to a TV via HDMI and fired a USB with a cd music album folder into the AGPTEK. Navigated to the folder and hit play on the first flac file in the folder. Player interface came up and music started playing through the TV. Hoorah! FF, RW, track advance and previous track on remote work as expected. Unfortunately playback stopped at the end of the first track and would not advance automatically to the next track in the folder no matter what setting I chose in the play mode. Spent over an hour trying to get this basic functionality to work but no joy. Also tried to play a folder of jpeg files with the Photo mode. Complete fail. Selecting a jpg file for viewing shows a black screen and then bombs out to the file selection menu. Tried a simple video file and while it played it made no attempt to scale the video to the screen resolution so it looked terrible. Device returned for refund. Half baked Garbageware.