GoKawiilGuide details how Android's audio pipeline alters sound before playback
Android routes audio through a system service called AudioFlinger, which mixes, resamples, and processes sound at 32-bit floating point before outputting it at 48kHz with 16- or 24-bit depth, regardless of the source file's original format. The explainer describes how this default processing can prevent true 'bit-perfect' playback, where audio reaches the hardware mathematically unchanged from the source file.