Auralic’s new gadget fixes the one thing Android totally botched

The post Auralic’s new gadget fixes the one thing Android totally botched appeared first on Android Headlines.

May 8, 2025 - 20:15

Most people wouldn’t bat an eye when streaming content using an Android phone. However, the platform has some limitations when it comes to audio performance. This makes Android an audiophile’s worst nightmare. Enter Auralic with the newly announced Lightningcast Android. This is an audio streamer that will make streaming with an Android device exponentially better.

Why does streaming with an Android device suck?

For some reason, Android resamples all of the audio on the platform to 48kHz. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re listening to uncompressed FLAC or MQA files; you’ll still hear a compressed sound. This is a system-wide thing, so no matter what headphones or streaming devices you use, you’ll still hear 48,000 samples each second.

There are a few apps that can get past this limitation, like Tidal and QOBUZ. However, iOS doesn’t have this annoying limitation, so people prefer to use iPhones to listen to their music.

The Auralic Lightningcast Android will solve this little issue

Since Android resamples all of the audio on the system to 48kHz, it will still affect audio sent to a streamer. However, what if there was a streamer that could stream bit-perfect music from your Android phone? It sounds too good to be true, but it’s not. Auralic just took the wraps off of the new Lightningcast Android.

As the name suggests, this is a device designed for Android phones and tablets. It uses a streaming technology different from Apple AirPlay and Chromecast, which don’t send an uncompressed signal. Auralic’s technology allows the phone to send a signal as high as 192kHz with a bit rate as high as 32 bits. This means that you’ll be able to listen to crystal clear audio.

Auralic achieves this by bypassing the Android device and processing the audio on the actual streamer. This way, Android doesn’t have the chance to resample the audio. You’ll get sound that is bit-perfect flowing through your speakers. Auralic’s software is based on LineageOS 21 and 22.

At this point, we don’t know too much about this device, so we don’t know what sort of price to expect. Auralic sells some pretty pricey devices, so don’t be surprised if it costs a pretty penny. The company is planning on showing this device off during High End Munich next week. So, we’ll be able to get more information then.

The post Auralic’s new gadget fixes the one thing Android totally botched appeared first on Android Headlines.