USB DAC with Pixel XL/Pixel 3 and PA

[speedingcheetah]

I have a Fiio Aplen 2 E17K USB DAC amplifier. 24bit/96Khz

Use it on my Pixel XL (1st Gen) and now my new Pixel 3.

When not connected to anything, it defaults to displaying 16bit/48Khz. when u connect it to a deice, I changes and you can hear a slight noise in the headphones when it does.

On the Pixel XL, the Fiio DAC lcd screen says when its connected, 24bit/96Khz, stays that way.

         Power Amp detects the DAC by name and says it is outputting 32bit/96Khz OpenSL ES High-Res.

On the new Pixel 3, the Fiio DAC lcd screen says when first connected 24/96, but as soon as any sound is made , it changes to 16bit/48Khz and stays at that. 

         Power Amp detects the DAC by name and says it is outputting  24bit/48Khz OpenSL ES High-Res.

What is going on here between these 2 phones?

I have used this DAC along with the current version of PA v3 on other phones, Nexus 5X, Moto X Pure, and those all behave identical to the 1st gen Pixel XL.

The audio, to me, sounds a bit better, more clarity and sound stage when on the Pixel XL, but I am a bit confused as to why PA is doing 32bit output in that use case. And now, of course, why the Pixel 3 isnt doing 96Khz when the DAC supports it, and why the DAC is reverting that is doing 24/28.  Maybe things is just not being reporting correctly and when PA says its doing 32bit, it actually is doing 24, and on the P3, it says 24, but it actually is 16???

Help? Any ideas?

 

[frogfoot]

I Have a Pixel3 and I'm using a Spectra X DAC,  I can select USB DAC in OpenSL ES Hi-Res Output, however the audio is always reported to be 16bit, 48KHz even though the source material is 192KHz 24bit,  and the difference in sound quality between Poweramp and USB Audio Player Pro is very noticable, with USBAPP correctly utilising the DAC