Keeping it as simple as possible, it's possible to play the various 2L Files [including the MQA versions] thru a Phone and out thru the Explorer, thus bypassing the internal DAC of the phone... as well as the known OS limitations on resampling and max sample rates etc.

I've used an Android phone connected to a USB OTG cable to Explorer 2 to headphones [Shure SE535, SE846 and Sennheiser HD650's].

I also used an app called USB Audio Player Pro, which enables the bypass of the OS and Device DAC.

Another advantage of the above App is that it allows you to stream Tidal thru the App... thus also allowing you to bypass the OS and internal DAC... Tidal is the only app that it does this with.

And using this combo, I've played locally stored 2L Test Files of various Bit Depths and Sample rates, including MQA.

While playing the 2L files of 44, 96 and 192, I got the expected 1, 2 and 3 lights on the Explorer 2... and certainly the sound was much better than playing the same files thru e.g. PowerAmp thru the standard Headphone output... it certainly sounded like I was bypassing a lot of the hardware and software limitations.

It also sounded like the Apodizing was being properly engaged in the Explorer 2.

However, when playing the MQA files, I could not get the Blue light to turn on!! I tried several things and combinations, as well as maximising volume etc., etc. but I could not get it to light the Blue light... so I was obviously not bit-perfect... nor achieving the unfolding of the MQA files... but these MQA files still sounded very nice indeed. I need to spend more time experimenting to see if I can get full MQA playback and unfolding thru the above combo.

I also streamed Tidal tracks thru the above app... and again the sound was better than the native Tidal app to Headphone output.

I also played the Tidal app to the Explorer 2 [i.e. not using the USB Audio Pro Player]... and surprisingly, the Tidal app played thru the Explorer, when several other music apps would not even recognize the USB DAC.

However, when playing the obvious 16/44 files from Tidal, I was seeing all three lights of the Explorer 2 light up... indicating a 4x Output, which is possible on the phones I tried it with, but I will need to investigate more thoroughly... but the sound was certainly better than Tidal direct to Headphone output.

One downside to all of this is that powering the Explorer eats the phone's battery... and about 3-4 hours of playback will see a battery depleted... obviously a lot less than phone to headphone direct... but spare batteries and portable battery chargers are an easy way around this.

I didn't experiment on iPhones as I don't hold out much hope for the above work-arounds and apps working within the walled garden that is iOS... but I'd encourage others to try.

I realize that there is a lot of info in the above... and I just don't have the time to arrange it all more logically.

I just wanted to highlight that using the Explorer is possible with certain phones... as is bypassing the OS and Internal DAC's... and those interested should at least try it for themselves.

Any questions, please ask.

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