Poweramp to add bit-perfect playback with no resampling mode soon

Poweramp will soon finally gain a mode to avoid resampling and enable bit-perfect transmission. This development was revealed on the official forum of the Android music player application. In the post, it was stated that most of the features listed for the upcoming update have already been implemented.

Major Poweramp update will enable bit-perfect audio

Poweramp Build 102x will introduce the “Follow Track Sample Rate” feature. This will make it possible to achieve bit-perfect audio transmission, which disables DSP (Digital Signal Processing), gain, and other processing applied by the music player application. In other words, playback will occur without potential interference caused by Poweramp settings or the Android operating system.

According to the developer, the “Follow Track Sample Rate” option will be available for AAudio, Hi-Res, and USB Exclusive outputs. However, it was noted that on Android smartphones, the system audio mixer (AAudio) will resample audio to 48 kHz.

The use of this new feature is therefore recommended primarily for Digital Audio Players (DAPs), which already include operating system modifications to avoid resampling. In addition, the functionality can also be used with USB DACs connected to smartphones, as in this case the USB Exclusive driver will be utilized.

Recommended article: USB Audio Player Pro (UAPP) on Android Phones and DAPs

The functions of the audio mixer

The Android audio mixer is designed to provide a smooth and consistent user experience during audio playback. To achieve this, it performs the following functions:

• Controls application volume levels to prevent interference between audio streams from different apps.
• Maintains a uniform sample rate and bit depth across all applications at the audio output by resampling to 48 kHz.
• Manages the selection of audio input and output devices.

Where to download the Poweramp app for Android

To download the Poweramp app for Android, simply click here.

Poweramp Build 102x changelog

Below is the list of changes implemented in Poweramp Build 102x:

• New “Follow Track Sample Rate” option: allows the application to follow the sample rate of audio tracks from 44.1 kHz to 768 kHz, dynamically adjusting in real time according to the file being played.
• New per-output “Reconfiguration Delay” option.
• New “USB Exclusive” audio output: provides exclusive access to the connected USB DAC, completely bypassing the Android audio mixer (AAudio).
• New Bit Perfect options: the “Perfect Bit Perfect” mode disables DSP, gain, and other Poweramp processing.
• 64-bit pipeline: enables transparent 32-bit processing without loss by utilizing the Float64 format.
• DSD Remastering mode: converts all audio (supported formats) into a 1-bit DSD64–DSD1024 stream for compatible devices, while preserving equalization, DSP, and volume control in the PCM domain.
• Hi-Res output now supports PCM 44.1 kHz–784 kHz and DSD64–DSD1024 (on compatible devices).
• Support for the webm format.
• Output settings improvements: hierarchy simplified from “Output APIs → Devices → Parameters” to “Devices → Parameters,” along with the addition of output profiles for named Bluetooth and USB devices.

Availability

On March 15, it was stated in the forum thread titled “A sneak peek at the next major Poweramp release” that most of the listed features have already been successfully implemented. However, the developer emphasized that “the final feature set for the next release [of the Poweramp app] is still being determined.” Accordingly, the following notice was provided:

“What will be included in the core application package versus additional features is still under consideration and may change.”