Chain of command


Greetings,
     I have an ongoing lack of understanding about what piece of equipment in the following system, actually gives the music it's final quality out to my speakers.
  
**Thumb-drive with 48000Hz, 24-bit .wav music---to Samsung Android phone---analogue out of phone's earphone jack---to input on amp---to 16 ohm speakers.**

      Will a quality amp, tube or other, influence the quality, or is it already set by the phone's DAC?
      I only want to use the phone for it's interface to select my files to play.  I have read that any DAC connected to the phone's analogue earphone jack, ...will by-pass the phone's DAC?  This comment has been both substantiated and ridiculed, so I'm at a loss here.
      Seems to me that the earliest the quality is set, that anything after will just be upsampling.  
Is my most logical route to buy a DAC with a visual screen for file selection?

Any help here....would.....ah, ....help!
Thanks.
sound22card

Showing 1 response by millercarbon

I have an ongoing lack of understanding about what piece of equipment in the following system, actually gives the music it’s final quality out to my speakers.

Right. Well let me set you straight then. Every piece of equipment. Its that simple. Every single piece gives the music its final quality out to your speakers.
Will a quality amp, tube or other, influence the quality, or is it already set by the phone’s DAC?

Of course the amp has an influence on the quality- and regardless of the DAC.
Same goes for the wires connecting them.
Every. Single. Piece.