Upcycle your mobile as a DAP

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by Keithrt, Aug 13, 2022.

  1. Keithrt

    Keithrt

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    I first heard of this a good while ago and seeing as I've now fully but ever so reluctantly converted to file format music (After wearing out my last and final CD Player) I thought I'd try it out. Any old smartphone, above Android 4, or thereabouts, if you want gapless, but that's the only requirement for compatibility.
    All that's required is the phone and a music player app of your choice. Great freebies are Blackplayer, Pulsar and Foldplay. These are all free and support gapless playback and flac.
    So once installed, link it to any Bluetooth Speaker of your choice and away you go.
    I would add that I have a selection of dedicated DAP players that boast gapless playback, but I've found this feature to be a bit picky with some albums on these players.
    The advantage of using an old smartphone is that you get to choose your music player via an app and you also get full gapless with no playback issues. Smartphones have a lot of power with regards to RAM so you can expect great performance.
    Also worth mentioning is the fact that this is a great way of getting the most mileage out of something that you've paid a lot of money for. I upgrade my phone every 2 to 3 years (like most probably do), so if I can then squeeze the remaining life out of it as a media player then that's brilliant. Also a great saving as Sony media players are based on the Android system, with a few tweeks, so basically your paying a lot of money for something that's really very similar to a mobile phone. My friend paid nearly £500 for a Sony DAP, when we compared the performance neither of us could really hear a difference...well not anything that was blatantly obvious. If you're on a budget and want a media player then give it a go......anyone else got any thoughts on this ?
     
    Keithrt, Aug 13, 2022
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    Sergeauckland likes this.
  2. Keithrt

    Sergeauckland

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    Excellent idea. You can also use it as a network player using Squeezebox emulation software and LMS server, both free.
    The technical specs of any reasonably recent mobile 'phone or tablet are comfortably audibly transparent, so perfectly usable.

    S
     
    Sergeauckland, Aug 13, 2022
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  3. Keithrt

    Keithrt

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    Nice to know others are also thinking along the same lines. I wish I knew then what I know now as I would never have purchased a single dedicated DAP player as the software and performance of mobile phone music player apps is superb. I really do think that they are superior in many ways.
    As I previously mentioned the only limitations are older mobiles (Android 4 and below) will not support gapless, even if the app supports it. I have encountered this issue with my old Samsung S5 which I've basically loaded with all my studio albums thereby circumventing the issue. I find "Foldplay" app particularly good as it prioritises your files in a simple but effective way....just literally click on an album title in alphabetical list and it opens and plays that album perfectly.
    It's strange how technology has changed how we listen to music...I've gone from having a big separates system with massive bulky speakers to using mobile phones and a soundbar with a surprisingly nice sound.
     
    Keithrt, Aug 14, 2022
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