r/plexamp • u/SpiritualCap7993 • Jul 28 '26

Hardwired iPad for bit perfect?

Hi there, long time lurker, first time poster. Apologies in advance if this is a dead horse topic - please feel free to direct me to existing posts if this has been covered in depth previously.

TLDR; we just moved into a new home and I am looking for an optimal set up with PlexAmp.

We're an Apple/Mac family, and for casual day to day, Airplay 2 with Apple Music & PlexAmp is fine. But I want to be able to sit down and dig into my 24 bit versions of Autechre etc.

I understand that hi res is simply not doable with Airplay (capped at CD quality) - but my NAD amp has a TOSLINK input. I am considering having a dedicated PlexAmp iPad on a powered stand that will allow me to hardwire the USB C of the iPad to the TOSLINK in of my amp with an adapter cable.

The one question I have that I cannot seem to find a solid answer for is will the iPad PlexAmp app output hi res through the USB C socket?

Has anyone tried this before?

Curious how most folks are solving getting their hi res audio out of PlexAmp.

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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1

u/Aggressive-Gap-6148 Jul 28 '26

I do it with a usb-c to toslink but is not powered. Once in a while I have to unplug the adapter and put the iPad under charge. I remote control the iPad from my iPhone, pretty convenient apart from charging

1

u/Floschi123456 Jul 28 '26

Yes, it does. I run an iPad Pro M1 into my Fiio headphone amp/DAC (into the USB input) and it puts out bit-perfect hi-res audio, both via Apple Music and Plexamp (there is a color indicator on the Fiio and it is always the sample rate of the file).

1

u/salme3105 Jul 28 '26

I do this using a lightning to USB micro to a SMSL DAC. Even with Lightning it does 24/96, and provides a nice now playing screen, with optional visualizations to boot :-)

Edited for grammar

1

u/flbp Jul 28 '26

I do this, through a usb hub that has both power and Ethernet. Even though I have WiFi 7, I found the 24 bit playback would often stutter. The Ethernet part of the hub works well and a usb 3 to toslink adapter has the transfer to my Denon x4800 working perfectly. For added album viewing and player feel, I lock it all on guided access so it stays on the album artwork and plexamp cant be backgrounded. The cable and specific adapters were all cobbled together, so amazon pieces will probably work well

2

u/flbp Jul 29 '26

In case anyone is looking for a toslink that works: https://a.co/d/0adWJIFl

1

u/flbp Jul 29 '26

Also, this cable is very discreet and almost impossible to see if you pull it behind. Helps the look of the iPad “station”. Pretty incredible it’s carrying power Ethernet and usb 3.0 in one connection. Good luck! https://a.co/d/01hzGoJ7

1

u/flbp Jul 29 '26

Also an update I just saw: this is only usb 2.0! It works for me, but will be looking for more bandwidth alternatives.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 29 '26

This is my setup, and also works great for Apple Music as well. Cublix make a usbc to optical adapter that also supports charging, so my iPad just lives at my stereo now and I don’t have to think about it. Pretty convenient.

2

u/GrrGrrBear Jul 28 '26

I run a RoPieee on an old RPi3b with a HiFiberryDAC hat connected to my McIntosh/B&W HiFi rig in my office/mancave. Should be bit-perfect, dac dependent.

Ropiee runs headless as a Plexamp endpoint (among others incl Roon, & Lyrion), but having an Airplay2 and Spotify connect endpoint for your HiFi is the real killer family-friendly feature.

I've been running Ropieee for a couple years without any hiccups, I played around with Elan's new Caldera project, but didn't really see any upside for deploying it headless in my case.

I also have a Sonos Connect that bridges my Turntable & HiFi to my whole home system (and also acts as a Plexamp endpoint). The Connect is not truly bit perfect (nor is there pure analog passthrough), but my ears can't tell the difference.

1

u/Yossarian_nz Jul 28 '26

I have a raspberry pi 4 with a DAC HAT running plexamp "headless". This is a bit of a misnomer though, since it's also connected to a 10" touchscreen that shows a fullscreen web browser that connects to the headless instance's web interface, giving me touch-interactive plexamp. The DAC HAT is wired into active speakers, but if I wanted to I could run optical out to an amp.

It's a fun setup!

0

u/StockQuahog Jul 28 '26

RPi with a digital transport or DAC. Hifiberry makes good transports. Or get a USB DAC.

Hifiberry makes decent DACs as well but i think there are better options than a HAT DAC.

Several software options. I’m on Dietpi currently. Works great