I'm not even quite sure how to phrase my question, but here it goes...


So my DAC has LED's for 44, 96, 176 and so forth. I tried to get an understanding on how the different bit rates affect quality, but quickly became confused with bit depth, Flac files, Redbook and other terminology which all plays into the equation.
Can anyone point me to a dumb-down, digital for dummies kind of resource?
Thank you.
128x12861falcon
61falcon,

I use QoBuz for streaming on my Aurender N10. The Aurender’s Conductor app shows each track / album resolution.

I did a trial of Amazon HD and it’s app interface and content were quite disappointing. They have a long ways to go. Since Deezer max out at 16bit/44.1kHz resolution, you can’t really compare unless you do a trial run with QoBuz. Tidal will only give you higher than 16bit/44.1 resolution if your DAC is capable of decoding MQA files.

If you choose do a trial run with QoBuz, you can then do a A/B comparison and decide for yourself if high resolution streaming is worth shelling out extra money.
In my system, QoBuz is the only streaming service that allows me to fully appreciate the high resolution content.
Jond:
I am streaming via Bluesound vault so I guess there is no way to see the bit count. 
Perhaps after I quit Amazon HD I'll try the free month subscription to Qobuz and see if I can detect the difference. 
Op
If you are streaming via the Vault you MUST be using some mobile app interface either on,phone or tablet, iPad etc.
Right there it should tell you the streaming information, i owned the Vault2 for a long time and it would tell me right on the Bluos app what the streaming quality was/is.

I do not remember if it was only displayed on the individual track info while it was playing but it should be there somewhere.
Eric gave a good a concise description.  I'll add that the LEDs you see include both actual sampling rates (44.1 and 48k samples/sec) but also a multiple (176k) Multiples are for when the source (CD player, streamer, really fast typer) "up-samples" the music.  This does not increase information, but rather is a trick to move noise out of band and make it easier to design linear, good sounding filters.  You may hear of 2x, 4x, 8x oversampling.  That's what gets you from 44.1 to 176.4.
I'll weigh in on "44/16 is really very good" though.  The problem is often the recording engineer, mastering process etc.  I can make a strong case for 24/192 in a studio - it allows for slop in level setting, and for losses while digitally mastering, yet still retains full fidelity. In the home playback equipment it is far less clear.
Typically more up/oversampling is better, but only integer multiples.
I'd spend more time on a good low-noise, low jitter USB/network feed than on bit depth games.
As Eric the pool guy says, digital music is basically a bar chart where the bars are the samples and the smoothed line connecting them is the music. With enough samples its really good!
Njoy
61falcon,

The Bluesound Vault app on tablet or mobile phone does not display streaming resolution. Your DAC LED light is a good indicator of that minus the bits info.

To elaborate ‘itjustnotme’ point, one mustn’t confuse the native high resolution file vs upsampled file from a low resolution. I would also check Vault audio settings and tweak the sound to your liking. I have my Vault’s tone controls turned off cause I only use Vault for its ripping capabilities.