Do Audirvana 3.5.50 and Origin stream lossy or lossless to JBL Charge 5 Wi-Fi / AirPlay 2 receivers?

Howdy,

I’ve been using Audirvana 3.5.50 for some time for AirPlay 1 connection via a prehistoric 1. gen Apple AirportExpress A1264. That meant that the audio stream sent from Audirvana to AE has been lossless (16-bit / 44.1 kHz, near-CD audio quality) for 100%.

I only play local files, not through external streaming apps such as Qobuz or Tidal.

I recently bought a shitty JBL Charge 5 Wi-Fi speaker that as a receiver uses AirPlay 2. My MacBook Air M1 (transmitter) also uses AirPlay 2, which means that the audio stream is most likely being compressed to 256 lossy AAC.

However, it all depends on the AirPlay version that the app supports.

  1. v1 app + v2 transmitter + v2 receiver = lossless audio
  2. v2 app + v2 transmitter + v2 receiver = lossy audio

Is it v1 app or v2 app for Audirvana 3.5.50 and Origin? If it’s v2 by default, is there any way to switch to / force use of v1?

Could the Audirvana devs shed some light, please?

Thanks!
TO

Welcome…
Just connect the speaker at the highest possible connection format as possible… You are not the only Audirvāna user with an AirPlay 2 device… JBL does not describe the supported sample-rates, whether they be lossless or lossy… If the box supports AirPlay 2 you will be able to transmit music files via Audirvāna using this protocol at whatever sample-rate the JBL box supports… You will see the JBL capabilities in Audio MIDI Setup configuration.

:notes: :eye: :headphones: :eye: :notes:

@Agoldnear Thanks for the insight!

However, I don’t follow the part about the JBL audio capabilities.

Here are some print screens and the log.



Log: log.pdf - pCloud

Would you be able to tell if the stream sent is lossless and if the JBL speaker happens to compress it to lossy at its end? I’m playing FLAC files from my MacBook straight to JBL via Audirvana.

I’m connected to this device:
UPnP devices found : 1
Device #0: ID 0x0 : JBL Charge 5 Wi-Fi
UID: uuid:FFB8F005-5DE4-0CE5-D99F-15DBFFB8F005
Location: http://192.168.1.22:49152/description.xml
Manufacturer: Harman International Industries Inc
Model name:
4A424C2043686172676520352057692D46692E64323830

EDIT: I just found out I can connect the speaker either as UPnP device or Airplay.
What’s the difference?


Thanks!

It looks to me that with UPnP the JBL’s support higher resolutions. 44.1 kHz and above. So true hi-res. If that connection is stable then I would be using that over AirPlay.

The numbers which are marked in blue are supported resolutions. In your case PCM up to 192 kHz.

My WiiM Ultra for example supports PCM up to 192 kHz and DSD up to 128.

@sandsOfArrakis Thanks for the explanation!

So what you’re trying to say is that when audio is streamed to JBL via UPnP or Chromecast (the speaker also supports that protocol), it doesn’t get compressed at the final endpoint meaning that the speaker spits out uncompressed audio?

Am I getting things right? It’s not what Audirvana sends to the speaker, but what comes out from the speaker as outcome.

That is correct. This is what Audirvana plays to my WiiM at the moment. I’m feeding the WiiM into the Loxjie which produces the sound. 24/192 FLAC file that plays as a 24/192. It doesn’t get downsampled like what happens when you are using AirPlay.

@sandsOfArrakis Brilliant! That’s a game changer: f*** AirPlay2 when you can use UPnP or Chromecast.

Do you happen to have any idea how to force streaming via UPnP or at least Chromecast from an iPhone? By default, iOS forces connection via AirPlay 2 so there’s not much choice :cry:

I reckon you’ll need a 3rd party app for that as iOS doesn’t have build in support for either Chromecast or UPnP. Apple being Apple only supports AirPlay. This goes for iPads and Mac’s as well.

I guess the same goes for Google. Google has Chromecast but no support for AirPlay.

Edit:

When it comes to which resolutions Chromecast supports depends on the hardware being used. For example my Android based smart TV supports Chromecast up to 48 kHz. While my Cambridge streamer supports up to 96 kHz.

UPnP will be your best bet to use.

1 Like

More-likely-than-not the JBL system doesn’t do anything to the signal it receives and delivers to the DAC, which appears capable of up-to 192kHz playback… Whether or not you will be able to discern appreciable elements of sound-quality from this system, is the primary factor in the assessment of the final audition of any given file playback, and any given bit-depth and sample-rate.

:notes: :eye: :headphones: :eye: :notes:

According to what I have found on the JBL website, it supports Chromecast. If you use Chromecast (Audirvana should recognise it as a Chromecast output) it can play up to 24 bit / 96 kHz lossless audio.

If you actually will hear a difference compared to CD quality is another question.

Not true. If the app you use supports Chromecast, like the iOS Tidal app and iOS Qobuz apps do, you can use Chromecast.

Except the speaker doesn’t list UPnP as a supported protocol on the JBL website,

However, we see that it does support Wi-Fi and is reporting back to Audirvāna that it is capable of 192kHz playback via UPnP protocol… If it works, it works… The question about the appreciable sound-quality capability of this system is a valid one and any evaluation must be tempered by the design and the QoS of the Wi-Fi network connectivity…
:notes: :eye: :headphones: :eye: :notes: