1. Collection Philosophy & Folder Navigation
StriFonic Audio treats your music collection as an authentic physical record shelf. The album is defined by the folder structure on your storage—whether stored locally on your device, on a network share (SMB / SFTP / WebDAV), or on a UPnP / DLNA Audio server.
- Year and title — Taken from the album folder.
- Cover — Taken from the album folder. No internet art.
- CUE Sheets & SACD ISOs — External CUE sheets and SACD
.isodisc images are recognized and presented seamlessly as complete albums.
2. Output routes
StriFonic Audio supports four distinct playback destinations, each optimized for its specific hardware and network capability:
- USB Exclusive Mode — Direct output to an external USB DAC over an OTG cable. Bypasses the Android mixer.
- Phone Shared Audio — High-quality playback using the Android system audio mixer, ideal for internal phone/tablet speakers, wired headsets, and Bluetooth.
- Play to (UPnP / DLNA) — High-fidelity wireless streaming to supported UPnP renderers and Hi-Fi streamers (such as WiiM) over your local Wi-Fi network.
- Google Cast — TV, Chromecast, and Nest. The app skin is shown on the TV (Navy, Noir, Wine, Moss).
The player displays a real-time Signal Path Status in the Track Info panel:
- BIT-PERFECT ACTIVE — Untouched sample rate and bit depth to the USB DAC, with no Android mixer. Shown when Exclusive is claimed and ReplayGain and pregain are off. Volume for that path is on the DAC or amplifier.
- STANDARD AUDIO — High-quality playback where the sample rate matches the hardware capabilities.
- RESAMPLED — The sample rate is mathematically converted to match hardware limits (e.g., playing DSD or 384 kHz PCM on standard phone speakers or Cast endpoints).
3. USB Exclusive Mode & Hardware Guidelines
To use USB Exclusive mode, attach your USB DAC via a USB OTG cable and grant the Android USB permission prompt when requested by the app. A charge-only cable will not carry audio.
- Phone and DAC — PCM up to 768 kHz and Native DSD512 depend on the phone’s USB host and on the DAC.
Inside Settings → Output → DSD, while USB Exclusive is selected, choose how DSD files (DSF, DFF, SACD ISO) are sent to the DAC:
- Auto — Native DSD when the DAC has a raw USB rate, otherwise DoP.
- Native — Raw DSD, up to DSD512 when the DAC lists that rate. DSD512 does not fall back to DoP.
- DoP — DSD carried inside PCM. DSD64, DSD128, and DSD256. There is no DoP for DSD512.
- PCM — DSD converted to 24-bit PCM for a DAC without Native or DoP. The rate is chosen automatically: 176.4 kHz, then 88.2 kHz, then 44.1 kHz. 96 kHz or 48 kHz only if the DAC has no 44.1-family rate. There is no rate menu, and no 192 kHz or 384 kHz step.
4. Network Libraries & Internet Radio
Access your entire high-resolution archive without filling local device storage:
- Network shares (SMB / SFTP / WebDAV) — Open Audio server, then Add share. Enter the host, share or path, and login to browse a NAS or PC archive.
- Audio Server (UPnP / DLNA) — Discovers ContentDirectory servers on your Wi-Fi network and streams original audio files over HTTP.
- Global Internet Radio — Browse and stream thousands of live stations powered by the public radio-browser.info directory, featuring ICY title/artist metadata and automatic reconnects.
5. Equalizer and ReplayGain
- Graphic and parametric equalizer — Phone Shared only: speaker, wired headset, Bluetooth, and USB while Exclusive is off. Ten bands, with its own preamp. Exclusive, Play to, and Cast stay without EQ.
- ReplayGain — Track or album loudness from embedded tags, with pregain and prevent-clip. Turn it off on USB Exclusive when Track info should read BIT-PERFECT ACTIVE.
6. Buffer
Settings → Playback → Buffer is the Phone ring: Small, Normal, or Large. Large is the steadier choice for 192 kHz and 384 kHz on that path.
Settings → Output → Exclusive buffer is the USB ring, also Small, Normal, or Large. It changes the ring only below 600 kHz. At 705.6 kHz and 768 kHz the ring stays 10 seconds, so Large does not enlarge DSD512 or 768 kHz playback.