Hello to everyone,first post.
I am stuck with a very peculiar problem, I hope somebody can help me here.
I have the v20 (my daughter inherited it), the v30 (as backup), my wife has the v50 and I just bought a v60. The musical experience is a key feature for us.
Now, I have a maddening issue with it. After setting it up, i immediately noticed that it sounded distorted when playing certain songs from tidal.
I have a pair of etymotic research er2xr iems and a custom made ciem pair (75 ohm impedance) that literally blows the er2xr out of the water.
However, I started listening to classical music, it began to drive me nuts. There is constant distortion when playing high frequency piano parts (Chopin for example). I have tried different sources (tidal, my own collection in various resolutions) and they all produce the same distortion.
Other than that the sound quality is awesome. That is the strangest thing.
With the er2xr it is less pronounced but with the more revealing ciems it is simply not enjoyable.
I have done my fair bit of research (read about tidal watermarks etc. ) , I have tried the ciems with the v50 and the others, they sound fantastic playing Chopin. I even tried them with my desktop dac without issues.
My conclusion is:
- the dac has a problem (that's strange because only one frequency range is problematic)
- the dac has been tuned like this by the factory - that would also be strange as obviously other people would listen to classical music on it and they would definitely hear it.
I would really appreciate it if someone could add their opinions and tips.
I bought the phone from Germany and it's covered by warranty but it would be a hassle to send it back, let alone explaining the problem to them as with the oem iems nothing is audible.
Other than this and the occasional dual screen flickering issue (that has to do something with UAPP player) In love this phone and would like to stick with it.
The V50 sounds very different (darker I would say) and it is better tuned in my opinion. All other things, however, are better on the v60.
Thanks for every suggestion.
Adam
adamcs said:
Hello to everyone,first post.
I am stuck with a very peculiar problem, I hope somebody can help me here.
I have the v20 (my daughter inherited it), the v30 (as backup), my wife has the v50 and I just bought a v60. The musical experience is a key feature for us.
Now, I have a maddening issue with it. After setting it up, i immediately noticed that it sounded distorted when playing certain songs from tidal.
I have a pair of etymotic research er2xr iems and a custom made ciem pair (75 ohm impedance) that literally blows the er2xr out of the water.
However, I started listening to classical music, it began to drive me nuts. There is constant distortion when playing high frequency piano parts (Chopin for example). I have tried different sources (tidal, my own collection in various resolutions) and they all produce the same distortion.
Other than that the sound quality is awesome. That is the strangest thing.
With the er2xr it is less pronounced but with the more revealing ciems it is simply not enjoyable.
I have done my fair bit of research (read about tidal watermarks etc. ) , I have tried the ciems with the v50 and the others, they sound fantastic playing Chopin. I even tried them with my desktop dac without issues.
My conclusion is:
- the dac has a problem (that's strange because only one frequency range is problematic)
- the dac has been tuned like this by the factory - that would also be strange as obviously other people would listen to classical music on it and they would definitely hear it.
I would really appreciate it if someone could add their opinions and tips.
I bought the phone from Germany and it's covered by warranty but it would be a hassle to send it back, let alone explaining the problem to them as with the oem iems nothing is audible.
Other than this and the occasional dual screen flickering issue (that has to do something with UAPP player) In love this phone and would like to stick with it.
The V50 sounds very different (darker I would say) and it is better tuned in my opinion. All other things, however, are better on the v60.
Thanks for every suggestion.
Adam
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have Tidal but I can test the tracks on my V60 and G8 through Deezer (lossless CD quality). I'd be using the Focal Clear and HD800s. I don't really have IEMs other than a pair of Klipsch X10.
adamcs said:
Hello to everyone,first post.
I am stuck with a very peculiar problem, I hope somebody can help me here.
I have the v20 (my daughter inherited it), the v30 (as backup), my wife has the v50 and I just bought a v60. The musical experience is a key feature for us.
Now, I have a maddening issue with it. After setting it up, i immediately noticed that it sounded distorted when playing certain songs from tidal.
I have a pair of etymotic research er2xr iems and a custom made ciem pair (75 ohm impedance) that literally blows the er2xr out of the water.
However, I started listening to classical music, it began to drive me nuts. There is constant distortion when playing high frequency piano parts (Chopin for example). I have tried different sources (tidal, my own collection in various resolutions) and they all produce the same distortion.
Other than that the sound quality is awesome. That is the strangest thing.
With the er2xr it is less pronounced but with the more revealing ciems it is simply not enjoyable.
I have done my fair bit of research (read about tidal watermarks etc. ) , I have tried the ciems with the v50 and the others, they sound fantastic playing Chopin. I even tried them with my desktop dac without issues.
My conclusion is:
- the dac has a problem (that's strange because only one frequency range is problematic)
- the dac has been tuned like this by the factory - that would also be strange as obviously other people would listen to classical music on it and they would definitely hear it.
I would really appreciate it if someone could add their opinions and tips.
I bought the phone from Germany and it's covered by warranty but it would be a hassle to send it back, let alone explaining the problem to them as with the oem iems nothing is audible.
Other than this and the occasional dual screen flickering issue (that has to do something with UAPP player) In love this phone and would like to stick with it.
The V50 sounds very different (darker I would say) and it is better tuned in my opinion. All other things, however, are better on the v60.
Thanks for every suggestion.
Adam
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have some experience in this same subject but I would rather talk about it on the LG discord. To make it short, I have had 3 different V60 units and can confirm 1 sounded very distinctly different the the other two. All 3 units had the same distortion (usually on lower freq's in my case) you are referring to that I could confirm with my pair of IEM Audiosense T800. I also have had every V series device including 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and G7 and G8. I agree the V50 sounded darker bolder, more closed in and personal to my ears at times, the V60 seems a bit more detailed and brighter. I can expand in more detail of my findings and I still have my G7 to compare to back and fourth.
Thanks for the replies. I have taken the phone to an audio engineer and had it checked by oscilloscope. It seems to be working fine, no clipping. However, when connected to an external sound generator the noise was clearly audible, which would lead me to think that the iems have a problem. Btw, I modify my earlier assessment, it happens when there is an attack, for example, and low and high frequencies are played together. The sound generator showed that it's almost always there but clearly audible from 200 Hz to 600Hz.
Then I went back to the guy who made the custom iem.
Findings are the followings:
- the noise is definitely audible when using the v60 with the ciems.
- no noise is audible when I listen to the v60 with other professional grade iems
- no noise is audible when using the ciems with a cayin n8 dap or other players
The above seem to contradict each other.
The ciem developer says that the ciem and phone are just not compatible. I tend to believe him, if such a thing exists, at all.
Hi, before I saw your post I made a thread about what seems like the same issue on my Bell Canada V60. I first noticed it playing Chopin piano, lol. It's very clear playing piano tracks. I have a binuaral beats app that can generate a signal and I can hear it as well. It's only there Somewhere between minimum and maximum volume and only when HIFI Quad DAC is enabled. I was begining to think I have a single hardware defect associated with the Quad DAC until I saw your post. What firmware are you on? I'm on V600TM10q
Here is my post: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/lg-v60-quad-dac-issues-with-noise-and-distortion.4227291/
jblparisi said:
I have some experience in this same subject but I would rather talk about it on the LG discord. To make it short, I have had 3 different V60 units and can confirm 1 sounded very distinctly different the the other two. All 3 units had the same distortion (usually on lower freq's in my case) you are referring to that I could confirm with my pair of IEM Audiosense T800. I also have had every V series device including 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and G7 and G8. I agree the V50 sounded darker bolder, more closed in and personal to my ears at times, the V60 seems a bit more detailed and brighter. I can expand in more detail of my findings and I still have my G7 to compare to back and fourth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi I'm also experiencing this with a Canadian Bell V60. Where can I find your LG discord discussion on this? Thanks
Himediadroid said:
Hi I'm also experiencing this with a Canadian Bell V60. Where can I find your LG discord discussion on this? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
This thing is really driving me nuts. I had the V60 measured with an oscilloscope by an expert. He didn't find any distortions or irregularities. I have replaced the ciems with a more expensive pair. The high noise floor (or background noise has disappeared) but it has developed a new problem since then. It started to randomly give a mechanical popping sound which is not consistent (doesn't always happen in the same tracks). The developer of the ciem is certain that the problem is the V60. I am not convinced about it.
Nevertheless, yesterday I went and sat down with the developer of the ciem to show him the problem. Guess what! I sat there for an hour and no matter what I did I couldn't reproduce the problem. Then on the way home in the car, it reappeared again. It is audible if you turn the iem around and only listen to the faceplate from the outside it sounds something like a cricket (only slightly mechanical) . Then the same problem occured with my wife's V50., too.
So, I think the problem is with the ciem not the V60. On the other hand, the first pair of ciems definitely worked and listening with my wife's er2xr I heard the same problems (high background noise) only less audibly.
Basically, I am stuck between the V60 and the ciems. I could return the V60 under warranty, but I am afraid I would only make a fool of myself as they would not be able to hear the problem. It is like chasing ghosts.
To sum it up, I am leaning towards the opinion that there are certain iems that have an incompatible frequency response curve with the LG V60 (it is important to note that the V50 doesn't have the same issue).
adamcs said:
Hi,
This thing is really driving me nuts. I had the V60 measured with an oscilloscope by an expert. He didn't find any distortions or irregularities. I have replaced the ciems with a more expensive pair. The high noise floor (or background noise has disappeared) but it has developed a new problem since then. It started to randomly give a mechanical popping sound which is not consistent (doesn't always happen in the same tracks). The developer of the ciem is certain that the problem is the V60. I am not convinced about it.
Nevertheless, yesterday I went and sat down with the developer of the ciem to show him the problem. Guess what! I sat there for an hour and no matter what I did I couldn't reproduce the problem. Then on the way home in the car, it reappeared again. It is audible if you turn the iem around and only listen to the faceplate from the outside it sounds something like a cricket (only slightly mechanical) . Then the same problem occured with my wife's V50., too.
So, I think the problem is with the ciem not the V60. On the other hand, the first pair of ciems definitely worked and listening with my wife's er2xr I heard the same problems (high background noise) only less audibly.
Basically, I am stuck between the V60 and the ciems. I could return the V60 under warranty, but I am afraid I would only make a fool of myself as they would not be able to hear the problem. It is like chasing ghosts.
To sum it up, I am leaning towards the opinion that there are certain iems that have an incompatible frequency response curve with the LG V60 (it is important to note that the V50 doesn't have the same issue).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Adamcs,
I have an USB external dac "Topping NX4 DSD" and other devices as well. Ive compared the v60 with 4 different headphones with different impedances. The issues are not present when I use an external usb dac with the v60, I dont hear them with the internal Quad Dac turned off. For me the issue is the way LG decided to auto unable the Quad Dac for different headphone impedances. (Above 50ohm I assume).. And the way they tuned the v60 dac to handle them. It seems with certain headphones, more sensitive ones, the issue is more obvious. Painfully obvious with Quad Dac on and Sony Mdr-7506 and solo piano tracks, Chopin for example. I still like this device even though Android 10 has its issues. UAPP is a big help there even if not perfect. In my opinion, its not the headphones and not the v60 all the time, seems like the combination of its Quad Dac and some headphones. I'm still a little confused but im starting to get a more clear picture of the situation after a lot of troubleshooting and reading other posts. Hope it helps you.
I wish I was there when your expert measured it with the scope, wish I owned one tbh. I know how to produce the conditions for the noise distortion to appear every time using a signal generated wave. Measuring it would be really interesting.
PS. I just played a random track with UAPP and Tidal, Olivia Dear - Halfway, and the distortion is immediately noticeable from the start. Its like the bass crossover leaks into the treble and its incredibly noticeable with Sony Mdr-7506( kind of bright pro headphones I use for audio editing, mixing etc..) Turn Quad dac off and theres zero distortion present.
I have experienced this issue as well, and have taken some measurements. This is the first 10 seconds of 'The Last Geisha' by Isidor. Top in both pics is Quad DAC on, lower is DAC off. Obvious, measurable issues with this phone. I'm rather upset by this, as unless my device is defective (or should I say, OUR devices) then either ESS or LG screwed something up, and this phone has zero right to be considered 'audiophile' at all. Considering trying to use my warranty to get a refund, or hopefully a replacement without the issue.
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Have you guys tried to confirm whether your V60 identifies the earphones as audio devices or just "external device" and see if it makes a difference? You can tell the connection type by the app Hifi Status (LG).
23velyn said:
Have you guys tried to confirm whether your V60 identifies the earphones as audio devices or just "external device" and see if it makes a difference? You can tell the connection type by the app Hifi Status (LG).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My V60 is always in high-impedance mode with my headphones, and that's when I notice distortion. I recall doing my distortion test on a pair of Carbo Tenore IEMs. Gain was not in high-impedance mode (normal audio device). Didn't hear the distortion. I'm not sure how to make it go into external device mode.
By the way, if we want to be sure that we're talking about the same issue, I can only hear distortion when the volume is between 30-50 and the Quad DAC is in high-impedance mode. The distortion affects the left ear much worse than the right, but right still has a little bit going on. Distortion only seems to happen on specific tracks that rub it the wrong way, like The Last Geisha, as I mentioned above.
What format is the sample file in?
blackhawk said:
What format is the sample file in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I streamed the song using TIDAL, Soundcloud, and Youtube. Same distortion every time. I tried using UAPP with the direct driver but also made no difference.
TheV60Doc said:
I streamed the song using TIDAL, Soundcloud, and Youtube. Same distortion every time. I tried using UAPP with the direct driver but also made no difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using a recording, wav, HDCD or a higher resolution lossless file type through Poweramp and see if you can dial the DAC in with many audio processing options. All DSP engines are not create equal.
Might be some sort of artifact present in the TIDAL music not your hardware.
With piano and especially harpsichord music artifacts are easier to detect.
Ideally you should use a stereo open air driver system ie a set of monitor speakers in a acoustically suitable listening area in order to fully reproduce the soundstage... or hear the lack of it.
blackhawk said:
Try using a recording, wav, HDCD or a higher resolution lossless file type through Poweramp and see if you can dial the DAC in with many audio processing options. All DSP engines are not create equal.
Might be some sort of artifact present in the TIDAL music not your hardware.
With piano and especially harpsichord music artifacts are easier to detect.
Ideally you should use a stereo open air driver system ie a set of monitor speakers in a acoustically suitable listening area in order to fully reproduce the soundstage... or hear the lack of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That the artifacts disappear when the Quad DAC is turned off leads me to believe that TIDAL isn't the issue, plus the other streaming services I tried. Believe me, the distortion artifacts are very audible with headphones. I'm using Clears and HD 650s. Soundstage was never an issue, just the crackling sounds that come from the peculiar crossover distortion.
TheV60Doc said:
That the artifacts disappear when the Quad DAC is turned off leads me to believe that TIDAL isn't the issue, plus the other streaming services I tried. Believe me, the distortion artifacts are very audible with headphones. I'm using Clears and HD 650s. Soundstage was never an issue, just the crackling sounds that come from the peculiar crossover distortion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that doesn't sound good. If you have Developer options you could look at what audio options are available. Double check the settings.
Since you want to listen to music and know the difference... it will only grate on your nerves more as times passes. I toss it back.
Sorry you're having so much trouble.
TheV60Doc said:
That the artifacts disappear when the Quad DAC is turned off leads me to believe that TIDAL isn't the issue, plus the other streaming services I tried. Believe me, the distortion artifacts are very audible with headphones. I'm using Clears and HD 650s. Soundstage was never an issue, just the crackling sounds that come from the peculiar crossover distortion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd return the phone to the merchant if you're still in the return window or initiate a warranty exchange with LG.
Related
Usually I carry a FiiO amp (I have three different models). I use them with my Note 3 and have various headphones ( Audio Technica ATH M50, V-Moda M100 and V-Moda XS, Beats Solo 2). On full amplification via the FiiO and depending on genre, I like the V-Moda XS and FiiO E18 the best. I would rate it a 9 for clarity and depth on portable device (I'm not huge into Ibiza levels of bass). So i walk into the T-Mobile store and hook up the V-Moda XS right to the phone and set the amplification to the highest setting. I would rate it a solid 8.5 (again for portable application). Although to a newbie not typically used to listening on good headphones they would probably rate it a 20.
Basically as is, the V10 makes carrying a headphone AMP a bit unnecessary now. By the way, I paid $160 for that FiiO E18 headphone amp a year ago but the going rate was over $200. The big selling point was that it was made for Android and you could switch to different tracks using the side mounted buttons on the FiiO instead of having to take the phone out, unlock the screen and move to a different track. For whatever reasons, all headphone cords don't work with all music apps on Android.
All that being said, is the V10 the best in class phone for not just camera functionality but audio playback?
I know the new HTC and Samsung Note 5 have a few advantages of their own. I'm curious to see if anyone thinks these are better on audio than the V10 based on experience.
I gave the Note 5 a quick listen, and V10 beats it IMHO. Had a fiio e18 too, good little amp.
Sent from my LG-H901 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2
The V10 will hands-down have the best audio performance of any phone to date. However, the question has been raised as to whether or not the ESS DAC/amp are active 24/7. It seems some apps use the standard Snapdragon DAC instead (typically streaming apps). Local content works fine as far as I can tell, and I may have found a workaround to force the ESS DAC on a session-by-session basis, but it might be something that can also be forced via software modifications produced by developers later on.
Well that's good to hear since I won't be going back to Samsung since they ditched SD card and removable battery.
One thing I thought of, the V-Moda XS is known for having a compact folding design that has "military" grade impact resistance and all around durable build quality. Which are similar selling points for the V10. Right out of the box, this is a great sound pairing. Some say the Beats Solo2 is on par with V-Moda XS on sound, but given the plastic build quality it's not really the same value for the money.
Yes, some apps aren't working. Tidal is gtg fortunately. Sounds pretty damn good too.
Sent from my LG-H901 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2
Nitemare3219 said:
The V10 will hands-down have the best audio performance of any phone to date. However, the question has been raised as to whether or not the ESS DAC/amp are active 24/7. It seems some apps use the standard Snapdragon DAC instead (typically streaming apps). Local content works fine as far as I can tell, and I may have found a workaround to force the ESS DAC on a session-by-session basis, but it might be something that can also be forced via software modifications produced by developers later on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering about that too. Let me touch on my experience a bit.
A couple of things for reference: I briefly tested the DAC with my Sennheiser Momentum, and then with my HD 650 without any intermediary signal processing. Also, I believe that the 32 bit is an overkill, so signal-wise I don't consider this better than a 16-bit DAC for practical purposes. Still, I like having it just because it's there. My comparison is between the V10 and a Nexus 4, as well as a FiiO E07K + Little Dot Mark III at times.
So, the Momentum: of course the Momentum run well and loud, since they are easily run. DAC-wise, I do notice some added clarity and soundstage with Hi Fi on using FLACS and 320 kbps files (nothing major, but it's there, as expected). All good.
Now, for the HD 650: the V10 with Hi Fi on will do an automatic impedance/power match, which is really nice for volume control normalization. In the end, the V10 makes the FiiO e07k useless, because the HD 650 sound fine, loud, and equally clear on the phone. Now here is the thing: we know that Spotify is not affected by the Hi Fi toggle, yet the sound is equally loud and clear on the HD 650 than with Hi Fi on using local files. When I turn Hi Fi off, the amp can't power the headphones nearly as well (or at all), impedance match ends, and the volume and clarity go down.
In short, Spotify with Hi Fi off = Local files with Hi Fi on, even though it's supposedly not affected by it.
What that means to me is that they could be doing a Beats maneuver, and lowering audio quality on Hi Fi off on local files to really give people the feel that turning it on affects music. On the other hand, it could mean that Spotify (or other 3rd party, streaming apps) simply bypass the toggle and just run on the amp/dac's full power regardless. Proof of the latter would be that my Nexus 4 (and some other phones I've tested) simply cannot drive the HD 650 at the level that the V10 does on Spotify. I mean, I can barely reach a mediocre volume on the Nexus 4 maxed out.
Keep in mind that this is my initial impression, and I haven't done an in-depth sound test yet. That said, I'm very happy with the V10 regardless, since it can effortlessly power my HD 650 without having to carry an external amp/dac combo.
Kakuz said:
I
What that means to me is that they could be doing a Beats maneuver, and lowering audio quality on Hi Fi off on local files to really give people the feel that turning it on affects music. On the other hand, it could mean that Spotify (or other 3rd party, streaming apps) simply bypass the toggle and just run on the amp/dac's full power regardless. Proof of the latter would be that my Nexus 4 (and some other phones I've tested) simply cannot drive the HD 650 at the level that the V10 does on Spotify. I mean, I can barely reach a mediocre volume on the Nexus 4 maxed out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think they lower quality for hi-fi off. It simply uses a completely different DAC. It defaults to the Qualcomm Snapdragon DAC... which is low quality.
jamor414 said:
I don't think they lower quality for hi-fi off. It simply uses a completely different DAC. It defaults to the Qualcomm Snapdragon DAC... which is low quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what it's supposed to be like, so I'm inclined to believe it. My question is whether Spotify is really using the ESS, even if it was not supposed to. More of a curiosity than anything.
Kakuz said:
That's what it's supposed to be like, so I'm inclined to believe it. My question is whether Spotify is really using the ESS, even if it was not supposed to. More of a curiosity than anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Inclined to believe what?
Someone reported getting 3rd party apps like spotify to use the ESS dac with toggling tricks so it's definitely possible that it was using the ESS dac.
jamor414 said:
Inclined to believe what?
Someone reported getting 3rd party apps like spotify to use the ESS dac with toggling tricks so it's definitely possible that it was using the ESS dac.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it's possible, but I have yet to find a 100% sure response. Not that it's a big deal anyways, since the audio is fine regardless.
By the way, can you send a link to the report? I want to test it.
Kakuz said:
Of course it's possible, but I have yet to find a 100% sure response. Not that it's a big deal anyways, since the audio is fine regardless.
By the way, can you send a link to the report? I want to test it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.head-fi.org/t/782706/lg-...gship-android-phone-from-lg/465#post_12047691
post 470
jamor414 said:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/782706/lg-...gship-android-phone-from-lg/465#post_12047691
post 470
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. That guy is saying something similar to what I said. Difference is, I didn't even have to overlap local file playing to trigger the amp/dac with Spotify. It just goes and it can't be turned off in any way, which is fine with me. But without any more information of course I was going to have initial doubts about it.
Can the v10 replace a standalone music player?
Kakuz said:
I was wondering about that too. Let me touch on my experience a bit.
A couple of things for reference: I briefly tested the DAC with my Sennheiser Momentum, and then with my HD 650 without any intermediary signal processing. Also, I believe that the 32 bit is an overkill, so signal-wise I don't consider this better than a 16-bit DAC for practical purposes. Still, I like having it just because it's there. My comparison is between the V10 and a Nexus 4, as well as a FiiO E07K + Little Dot Mark III at times.
So, the Momentum: of course the Momentum run well and loud, since they are easily run. DAC-wise, I do notice some added clarity and soundstage with Hi Fi on using FLACS and 320 kbps files (nothing major, but it's there, as expected). All good.
Now, for the HD 650: the V10 with Hi Fi on will do an automatic impedance/power match, which is really nice for volume control normalization. In the end, the V10 makes the FiiO e07k useless, because the HD 650 sound fine, loud, and equally clear on the phone. Now here is the thing: we know that Spotify is not affected by the Hi Fi toggle, yet the sound is equally loud and clear on the HD 650 than with Hi Fi on using local files. When I turn Hi Fi off, the amp can't power the headphones nearly as well (or at all), impedance match ends, and the volume and clarity go down.
In short, Spotify with Hi Fi off = Local files with Hi Fi on, even though it's supposedly not affected by it.
What that means to me is that they could be doing a Beats maneuver, and lowering audio quality on Hi Fi off on local files to really give people the feel that turning it on affects music. On the other hand, it could mean that Spotify (or other 3rd party, streaming apps) simply bypass the toggle and just run on the amp/dac's full power regardless. Proof of the latter would be that my Nexus 4 (and some other phones I've tested) simply cannot drive the HD 650 at the level that the V10 does on Spotify. I mean, I can barely reach a mediocre volume on the Nexus 4 maxed out.
Keep in mind that this is my initial impression, and I haven't done an in-depth sound test yet. That said, I'm very happy with the V10 regardless, since it can effortlessly power my HD 650 without having to carry an external amp/dac combo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think the v10 can match something like a Fiio X3? I normally have to carry my phone and the Fiio X3. It'd be great to be able to carry just one device and not have to sacrifice decent sound quality.
3165dwayne said:
Do you think the v10 can match something like a Fiio X3? I normally have to carry my phone and the Fiio X3. It'd be great to be able to carry just one device and not have to sacrifice decent sound quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this in another forum:
"I have had about 2 days to seriously listen to the V10 with a variety of different headphones and I've continued to be blown away. It puts the iPhone 6/6s to shame and even embarrasses (what I thought to be excellent) Samsung GS6E+/Note 5. I'm typing this in my bed listening to London Grammar's "Flickers" with my LCD-3 and V10. I'm amazed that a) a phone could power these cans as well as the V10 does and b) that there is such excellent instrument separation, transparency, soundstage, and quickness from a smartphone DAC/amp combo. I'd choose this over a FiiO X1/X3/(even) an X5. Until you get into the Questyle/AK territory, this thing is just as competent as any DAP. With TIDAL!"
And with that, I'm in
jamor414 said:
I found this in another forum:
"I have had about 2 days to seriously listen to the V10 with a variety of different headphones and I've continued to be blown away. It puts the iPhone 6/6s to shame and even embarrasses (what I thought to be excellent) Samsung GS6E+/Note 5. I'm typing this in my bed listening to London Grammar's "Flickers" with my LCD-3 and V10. I'm amazed that a) a phone could power these cans as well as the V10 does and b) that there is such excellent instrument separation, transparency, soundstage, and quickness from a smartphone DAC/amp combo. I'd choose this over a FiiO X1/X3/(even) an X5. Until you get into the Questyle/AK territory, this thing is just as competent as any DAP. With TIDAL!"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll see if I can get one tomorrow and test for myself.
3165dwayne said:
Do you think the v10 can match something like a Fiio X3? I normally have to carry my phone and the Fiio X3. It'd be great to be able to carry just one device and not have to sacrifice decent sound quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Fiio e07K that I used to use on the go. The V10 does just as well, or maybe even better, than the Fiio. Assuming the X3 is comparable to the e07k (haven't tested it), I would just stick to the V10 and reduce bulk.
I think I'll sell the e07K now.
Kakuz said:
I have a Fiio e07K that I used to use on the go. The V10 do just as well, or maybe even better, than the Fiio. Assuming the X3 is comparable to the e07k (haven't tested it), I would just stick to the V10 and reduce bulk.
I think I'll sell the e07K now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I'll sell my x3 as well.
Maybe it's possible that the V10 uses the ESS amplifier not matter what DAC is used. I've never noticed a difference between DACs for the most part... my PC sound card (Xonar Essence STX), Schiit Uber stack, and V10 all sound the same. Note5 honestly sounded about the same too. Maybe I just have insensitive ears or can't pick out the differences yet, but my AKG K812's are clearly the best sounding audio equipment I've ever heard, and I try to be critical in details of just about anything I hear sound through (apart from the source components). 320kbps .mp3's suit me just fine too.
Nitemare3219 said:
Maybe it's possible that the V10 uses the ESS amplifier not matter what DAC is used. I've never noticed a difference between DACs for the most part... my PC sound card (Xonar Essence STX), Schiit Uber stack, and V10 all sound the same. Note5 honestly sounded about the same too. Maybe I just have insensitive ears or can't pick out the differences yet, but my AKG K812's are clearly the best sounding audio equipment I've ever heard, and I try to be critical in details of just about anything I hear sound through (apart from the source components). 320kbps .mp3's suit me just fine too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mp3 normally sounds a bit more noisy and a lot of the details i look for are normally not present. then again, my hearing is pretty good. so I do notice the diffrence between mp3 at 320kbps and flac. At most times I don't listen to my music at high volumes either and then the missing stuff becomes more apparent.
I can tell the difference using Koss Portapro with 192kbps ogg.
The sound is more transparent than G4.
Alright so far this device have been undoubtedly the most perfect for it's price, however it's still has some parts that need upgrading, and one of those sections is the audio recording (and camera, although they made huge advancing from the axon pro and the camera is pretty awesome, but if they started with the right sensor, the axon would be the best cameraphone)
I convinced myself that manufacturers don't even care about audio recording DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY ADVERTISE THEIR DEVICES AS HIFI DEVICES
I mean only the v20 is doing great on that section, 24 bit 192khz FLAC omni-dimensional audio recording with audio recorder app that has features like audio focus and 24bit 96khz lpcm for videos but at the cost of 700-800 dollars for a new one, it is far from what people like me consider for a smartphone.
As for the rest, it's a disaster, lg v10?? it records 44kbps (YES because that's what hifi sounds like, perfect sampling rate! bravo! ironically it records better with video with a samplingrate of 156kbps max and has audio focus) I don't know about other hifi devices, my axon 7 records 352kbps pcm when you set it to WAV (which is the only available setting there, lol), that's.... just ok, still way behind the v20.
Let's get to the spicypart, video recording, your device can record 352kbps pcm but you choose to put a cheapo codec that doesn't support that, instead it is 96kbps, even worse, when you try cinemafv5 you'll find that it can record 156kbps with AAC-LC, that's fine, but the output would be MONO!!!
Wth was zte thinking when they did this?? seriously? why you give me 156kbps...but make it mono, why??
Please note that I'm not saying axon 7 recording is bad (although some people here who tested htc 10 would say due to bass clipping issues, whatever) but it could've been miles better!
for that price I am still convinced that recording is good, but if ZTE happen to make another Axon, they better take care of that.
NOW let's move on to my most important critic from this post:
there are 2 cases to this situation
Case1:
ALL OF WHAT HAVE BEEN SAID WAS A STORY, AND ZTE ADVERTISING WAS ANOTHER WHOLE STORY! ZTE FALSE-ADVERTISED THE AXON 7!!
As you can see from the picture below Zte advertised their device can record "32 bit depth with 96khz sampling frequency" which is not the 44.1khz sampling frequency and the 16 bit 352kbps sample rate, Just compare it to the upper statements of vidoe and audio, I'd definitely call that false advertising , if there is one thing I hate it is false advertising and it's unforgivable, even for a great quality product like the Axon 7 I am rolling my eyes at what Zte have done, first was the battery capacity (although battery life is great) then this!? Audio?? it's the reason I bought it in the first place, do they realize that they can get sued for false advertising?
Case2:
MAYBE the Axon 7 can actually record like that but lacks the codes to do it, like how it turned out that aptx-hd can be ported in this forum, so can we get a genius dev who can figure it out (for both video and standalone recorder) with a codec or something??! any volunteers?
Let's hope we get a response from ZTE officials to clarify if Axon 7 meets what they advertised or not.
I guess you don't want to hear that the sound output is truncated to 16 bit no matter what you play. I have no idea if that's just the music app which does that (the only app which I know definitely uses the Hi-Fi DAC despite other claims here), or if it's somewhere in the firmware. I contacted PocketNow (since they pointed it out) through several mediums to ask and I never got a response. Real professional.
Cyrus D. said:
I guess you don't want to hear that the sound output is truncated to 16 bit no matter what you play. I have no idea if that's just the music app which does that (the only app which I know definitely uses the Hi-Fi DAC despite other claims here), or if it's somewhere in the firmware. I contacted PocketNow (since they pointed it out) through several mediums to ask and I never got a response. Real professional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely not, I disagree, there is something called the quantization noise and it would be present for higher bit depth as it is for lower bit depth, secondly, no, it uses the dac on most music players (hence switching between standard and super audio quality gives the same factor on most music players like poweramp, and super audio quality option gives equal output on poweramp to my trained ears, otherwise the difference would be obvious)
Over the past months I've seen a lot of clueless people who claim "my hifi device only uses the dac on the stock music player and snapdragon dac for others" all over xda, and same for the axon 7 we see these people on ztecommunity, just because the v10 did with lollipop the past year, on the v10 people could figure that out due to them instantly observing the difference, but if there is no difference, why you have to create one? maybe because people disliked the device (which is subjective).
EDIT: Ok you're partially right, I figured that ages ago when I used neutron, what they meant is the speaker output, for some reason it is limited to 16 bit 44.1Khz, FOR SOME REASON, yes thanks I wanted to point that out, it is kinda forgivable due to small speakers, we are talking about a smartphone speaker lol
.but with headphones the dac works perfectly
I'm not sure if you misread what I wrote or if I don't understand what you're saying. The first part has nothing to disagree with. It has been tested and for a fact sound output is truncated to 16 bit.
PowerAmp 100% does NOT use the AKM DAC. Selecting 24 bit output on that uses the SD 820's DAC, which contrary to what some people here believe, is not magically missing from the SoC. It's there. Not to mention it sounds distinctly different (worse) than the AKM DAC. You can go to the PowerAmp forum and ask the creator himself and he'll tell you it doesn't make use of the AKM DAC. Or you know, you could use your ears. It clearly sounds different, if you can't tell then you're using poor headphones or have some level of hearing impairment (which is natural with age).
Overall I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say, you need to fix your post, I'm assuming English is not your first language.
Cyrus D. said:
I'm not sure if you misread what I wrote or if I don't understand what you're saying. The first part has nothing to disagree with. It has been tested and for a fact sound output is truncated to 16 bit.
PowerAmp 100% does NOT use the AKM DAC. Selecting 24 bit output on that uses the SD 820's DAC, which contrary to what some people here believe, is not magically missing from the SoC. It's there. Not to mention it sounds distinctly different (worse) than the AKM DAC. You can go to the PowerAmp forum and ask the creator himself and he'll tell you it doesn't make use of the AKM DAC. Or you know, you could use your ears. It clearly sounds different, if you can't tell then you're using poor headphones or have some level of hearing impairment (which is natural with age).
Overall I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say, you need to fix your post, I'm assuming English is not your first language.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offense but I'd like to point out that you're so misinformed about : Axon 7 and audio in general.
I just watched the whole video of Pocketnow, there was no method to confirm that it was truncated, he only showed the frequency spectrum, please read on bit depth here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_bit_depth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(signal_processing)
the human ears can hear up to 22hz, thus manufacturers cap their headphones lower than 22khz to limit the rest which is noise most of the time, it's called ultrasonic filtering. bit depth has nothing to do with the frequency spectrum, instead it's about data, number of values to be exact, referred as resolution sometimes. infact sampling frequency does effect the frequency response but that's not even what sampling frequency is all about, for example the device can have an ultrasonic filter while still having high resolution audio setup. modern headphones still do it actually. long story short: sampling frequency and bit depth have 0 things to do with the bandwidth/frequency range.
"Poweramp does not" I am not sure what poweramp does, what you're referring too was an issue of 701 alpha, if you download this version on a dac-fixed lg v10 (lg v10 lollipop with dac fix app or simply lg v10 running mm) it would show the same thing, that it uses "Variant: 24 bit snapdragon" my friend tested that out himself.
the newer alphas have options for the output showing the sampling frequency only. I don't use poweramp tbh and I don't know why people pick poweramp over Neutron which has freescale EQ.
As for high res support for poweramp, this might be true, I guess.
As a guy who performed abx, yes, the super quality switch still works, meaning the dac is working.
"Overall I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say, you need to fix your post, I'm assuming English is not your first language"
even though I didn't make such crude mistakes as you mentioned, this was very irrelevant considering that you tried to dismantle each point I mentioned, I was just helping. I'd say that was a bit rude.
Sebastian Fox said:
No offense but I'd like to point out that you're so misinformed about : Axon 7 and audio in general.
I just watched the whole video of Pocketnow, there was no method to confirm that it was truncated, he only showed the frequency spectrum, please read on bit depth here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_bit_depth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(signal_processing)
the human ears can hear up to 22hz, thus manufacturers cap their headphones lower than 22khz to limit the rest which is noise most of the time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They quite literally said in that video that it's truncated to 16 bits, their exact words, whether or not they're wrong, and they're not clowns to have the sound output limited by headphones. I seriously doubt they recorded the sound coming out of headphones for the test. Even if they did, most headphones go well past human hearing. And for the record almost no one, except for very few extremely young children, can hear up to 22KHz. Most people by their 20s can't hear past 17-18KHz, less if they've been to concerts which are dangerously loud or worked in loud environments. I've been careful with my hearing and I hear almost nothing past 18KHz.
Sebastian Fox said:
As a guy who performed abx, yes, the super quality switch still works, meaning the dac is working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what you mean by this. ABX? But PowerAmp, even in the latest alpha, is most definitely not using the AKM DAC. It sounds very different. Are you sure this Neutron player is using the DAC?
Sorry to break in, but I'm pretty sure that the latest beta of Poweramp actually used the DAC on marshmallow. I own an A2017G and I think I could get 192KHz on B05.
Now I'm on 7.0 and i can't get past 48 kHz. Where does it say which DAC is in use? (the Variant: Snapdragon thing)
EDIT: ignore everything said before, after long investigation and flashing, the stock firmware plays HIFI correctly, Using audio_flinger to check, the resolution was correct, however with a custom ROM it gets harder.
As for Pocketnow spectrum analysis, it makes no sense at all since audio_flinger doesn't lie, and all audio players are pointing that our device can play 192khz without downsampling with the Dac patch.
Choose an username... said:
Sorry to break in, but I'm pretty sure that the latest beta of Poweramp actually used the DAC on marshmallow. I own an A2017G and I think I could get 192KHz on B05.
Now I'm on 7.0 and i can't get past 48 kHz. Where does it say which DAC is in use? (the Variant: Snapdragon thing)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wasn't our device, max simply didn't make poweramp support our audio libs.
As for neutron, it's working fine
Same for usb audio player pro
And bothnare imo way better than poweramp.
Ghostface009 said:
It wasn't our device, max simply didn't make poweramp support our audio libs.
As for neutron, it's working fine
Same for usb audio player pro
And bothnare imo way better than poweramp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
huge bump lol. Well since the new beta it works with 192KHz and all. (i have to add, proven with media.audio_flinger). And honestly I believe Poweramp's sound engine is way superior to Neutron's, but you know, that's just opinion
Choose an username... said:
huge bump lol. Well since the new beta it works with 192KHz and all. (i have to add, proven with media.audio_flinger). And honestly I believe Poweramp's sound engine is way superior to Neutron's, but you know, that's just opinion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, you need to consider neutron despite it's ugly ui, that thing has freescale eq, low latency settings and amazing dither, with dither neutron sounded better than poweramp and usb audio pro imo.
Ghostface009 said:
Maybe, you need to consider neutron despite it's ugly ui, that thing has freescale eq, low latency settings and amazing dither, with dither neutron sounded better than poweramp and usb audio pro imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, you said it: imo.
The V20 has a directional setting for the sound when recording video. You can bias the recording to sounds coming from either the lens side or the screen side of the phone. The former is great for when you are recording people or events, the latter has been fantastic when the shooter is commenting on what is being videoed. Does the V30 still have this front-to-back mic bias selector?
The V30 does not have that slider. Not exactly sure why but the guess is due to the mic arrangement.
The V20 had three mics that were constant and could be switched between. (Although, to this day I still can't find anything that shows where the third mic was.) The V30 has two mics and the RAM (Receiver As Mic) when the decibels get high enough. You don't get to control that last one, it just comes on when the volume of what you're recording hits an ear splitting level. So there's really only two mics recording the rest of the time.
Any time I've been out trying to record with the V20, the slider only made a minor difference. I'd still pick up ambient noise from behind me. So my second guess is that LG decided the slider wasn't doing enough to justify its inclusion this round. Reality is that there's a reason you run separate soundtrack recording from video if you're really doing sound sensitive recordings. (That's part of the reason you see that clapboard at the beginning of filming for movies and videos. It gives an audio and visual alignment point for mixing the two later.)
CHH2 said:
The V30 does not have that slider. Not exactly sure why but the guess is due to the mic arrangement.
The V20 had three mics that were constant and could be switched between. (Although, to this day I still can't find anything that shows where the third mic was.) The V30 has two mics and the RAM (Receiver As Mic) when the decibels get high enough. You don't get to control that last one, it just comes on when the volume of what you're recording hits an ear splitting level. So there's really only two mics recording the rest of the time.
Any time I've been out trying to record with the V20, the slider only made a minor difference. I'd still pick up ambient noise from behind me. So my second guess is that LG decided the slider wasn't doing enough to justify its inclusion this round. Reality is that there's a reason you run separate soundtrack recording from video if you're really doing sound sensitive recordings. (That's part of the reason you see that clapboard at the beginning of filming for movies and videos. It gives an audio and visual alignment point for mixing the two later.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your detailed answer! Have you tried that RAM solution in a noisy environment or have some link for an audio test? In fact I can't find much audio recording tests online for the V30 despite its growing popularity as if no one cares about it ...
Oh yeah, I definitely had it kick in on me Wednesday night. I was standing in front of a speaker stack at a concert. A message pops-up when you start recording and it senses you're in such an environment. You probably won't see many tests of the RAM as it takes something around 120 decibels to kick in. My left ear is still ringing from Wednesday night and yesterday I was dizzy.
That said, how does it sound? As long as what you're recording stays constant, it sounds pretty good. If there's changes, specifically loud to extremely loud, you hear a change that makes you realize it's just applying a simple filter to the audio. Which is to be expected. To pull off the miracle of having the sound keep a constant in such a situation would require a much larger recording operation than will fit in a phone. (My audio geek friends are still surprised at what control you can get with the V series.)
Once I know I can hear what I recorded the other night, I'll load some up to YouTube and link back on one of the threads here.
CHH2 said:
Oh yeah, I definitely had it kick in on me Wednesday night. I was standing in front of a speaker stack at a concert. A message pops-up when you start recording and it senses you're in such an environment. You probably won't see many tests of the RAM as it takes something around 120 decibels to kick in. My left ear is still ringing from Wednesday night and yesterday I was dizzy.
That said, how does it sound? As long as what you're recording stays constant, it sounds pretty good. If there's changes, specifically loud to extremely loud, you hear a change that makes you realize it's just applying a simple filter to the audio. Which is to be expected. To pull off the miracle of having the sound keep a constant in such a situation would require a much larger recording operation than will fit in a phone. (My audio geek friends are still surprised at what control you can get with the V series.)
Once I know I can hear what I recorded the other night, I'll load some up to YouTube and link back on one of the threads here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eagerly awaiting to hear your recordings! Thank you so much!
Hello All. This is my first Sony phone and the volume output is abysmal on this thing. Even in a quiet empty room it seems you can hardly hear anything useful until the volume bar is at halfway. Is there a fix for this to increase the total output of the speakers? (Also seems to have low volume with wired headphones)
well, sony certainly is not among the louder ones, think that this goes a waaaaaaaay back when EU put some regulation on how loud portable devices can be. Back then it was really terrible, NC phones were nonexistent, just like chinese IEMs. Not much to chose from and to pick something with higher sensitivity. Mine sound OK with the earphones I have, even with XM2 on cable. Could it be louder? Yes. Does it need to be? Probably not. So try some more sensitive headphones or try some DAC, those are cheap and really portable this days. If you have a decent headphones, it might even improve the sound.
And the phone itself.......don't have anything in the same class and age to compare with. Seems OK or as crappy as any other phone TBH. BT speakers are dirty cheap today and any single one will outperform a phone, just like a soundbars and TVs, so I never really use phone speakers when I wanna listen something. For messages and useless videos is fine
Very good suggestions. Just seems odd that a flagship phone is this low. Even old phones I have laying around are louder. Its about as odd as the flashlight brightness. SMH lol
well, wifey has a poco f2 pro. And that one can be heard on the other floor of the house. And while certainly louder then xperia it is also certainly way worse sound the higher you go. I mean, there is only so much you can do with speakers and enclosure of that size. Clearly, bass is not something that is expected so forget that. But highs on poco getting terrible after some 75% volume, you just want it to go silent. I can tolerate the noise from xperia at max level but can't the one from poco. SONY was all about sound quality on promo materials so that might be the reason. lower volume but "better" sound quality.
Back in the days I had N900, that was a thick brick, also with stereo speakers and remember it as one of the better sounding phones.
No issue with mine for bluetooth headphones, never listen to videos/music direct on the phone so not something that concerns me at all, I always have headphones nearby. Having said that, just tested it listening to music and volume seems in line with expectations and my other phones....sorry
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change the samsung equaliser to these settings for real good bass! Really makes a difference!! Also the adapt sound 60+ boosts all frequencies and makes everything way more louder, complete difference on ear buds 2 pro, and obs change ear buds themselves to bass, didn't realise how much samsung built in equaliser can make such a change
Try to test your hearing.... It makes change also...
I'm on dynamic eq and it's the best of both worlds.
Dear lord that is an aggressive v-Curve (plus bass boost?!) for earbuds. I love bass but I'm imaging that sounding like the two 1200w RMS subwoofers which I enjoy in my car but not so much in headphones.
Are you a bass head or the the Bud2 Pros that lacking in bass?
SyCoREAPER said:
Dear lord that is an aggressive v-Curve (plus bass boost?!) for earbuds. I love bass but I'm imaging that sounding like the two 1200w RMS subwoofers which I enjoy in my car but not so much in headphones.
Are you a bass head or the the Bud2 Pros that lacking in bass?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience using the regular buds2 not pro, they really lack bass, especially with active noise cancelling turned off
spart0n said:
In my experience using the regular buds2 not pro, they really lack bass, especially with active noise cancelling turned off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd suggest investing in Comply foam tips for this tws and changing the eq to dynamic. This is what worked for me both in the noise cancellation and sound departments.
amirage said:
I'd suggest investing in Comply foam tips for this tws and changing the eq to dynamic. This is what worked for me both in the noise cancellation and sound departments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give that a test
SyCoREAPER said:
Dear lord that is an aggressive v-Curve (plus bass boost?!) for earbuds. I love bass but I'm imaging that sounding like the two 1200w RMS subwoofers which I enjoy in my car but not so much in headphones.
Are you a bass head or the the Bud2 Pros that lacking in bass?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I no lol but the buds do lack bass! That curve really does give best bass boost, we'll for me anyways but then when a song comes on that doesn't have much bass it's pretty poor lol, I canny win
I guess this comes to personal preference, but buds2 pro really don't lack bass IMO.
The bass is balanced and spatial, really sounds like you are in a room with a great woofer active.
I use dynamic preset and it's really good both in terms of bass and other frequencies.
Well it depends a lot on what to listen. On some music there's no perceivable difference, but on other there's very obvious difference if noise canceling or ambient mode is on vs neither one is on - with some music one can notice that enabling noise canceling or ambient mode brings out some of most lower frequencies that are much more subdued when neither of modes is enabled.
It was even more pronounced on first generation Buds Pro, but it is still there with Buds 2 Pro.
It is reasonable to assume that some of music even does not have these frequencies present to be able to notice that.
Wow lots of responses in the meantime.
So I just got the regular Buds2's an hour ago and am on Normal Preset. Unless they are drastically different from the 2Pro's, I think your ears might be broken (joking).
The bass is a massive step up from the Buds+ and even more so than what I'm used to. My primary cans are neutral AF, so maybe just to me there's a lot of bass.
SyCoREAPER said:
Wow lots of responses in the meantime.
So I just got the regular Buds2's on Normal Preset. Unless they are drastically different from the 2Pro's, I think your ears might be broken (joking).
The bass is a massive step up from the Buds+ and even more so than what I'm used to. My primary cans are neutral AF, so maybe just to me there's a lot of bass.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That V curve is way too aggressive, I think.
This is the equalizer curve I use with Poweramp for my Buds+, plenty of bass like this. Some of the curves I use are less aggressive depending on the music.
The last Buds+ firmware update screwed up the sound bad and trashed that pair (I have several pairs). Do Not update their firmware if you have Buds+. The factory loaded version works fine.
Rolling back a firmware update is a real pain with these...
According to sound guys, what we are hearing should be similar, just offset but a bit but bass is stronger on the 2 Pros. Anyway, I know we can't really compare the 2's to 2 Pros but my experience in some initial testing:
Bass - Further Testing, the bass on Normal to me is impressive for earbuds, there is at least decent perceived bass extension (using my old favorite from 15 years ago (Bass 305) to test pure bass.
EDM-Style - Pendulum sounds perfect on Normal to me also (a bit heavy maybe but again, not used to rumbly bass on headphones)
Rock/Orchestral :
VonLichten We will Rock You - Tiny Bit off
Trans-Siberian Orchestra Wizards of Winter - Interesting one, parts sound incredible, others wrong.
Old School Rock:
Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter - A little flat.
Kansas - Wayward Son, also a bit flat.
Rap: Not something I listen to but (yes laugh, I'm old AF)
Coolio – Gangsta's Paradise sounds right.
Pop/Rock:
Phil Collins sounds off, very off.
Michael Jackson sounds right but maybe just a tiny bit lacking in bass.
Kenny Loggins is off, very harsh.
Harold Faltermyer is a bit off but has a fun sound.
(Using FLACs)
Others (NOT FLAC, not sure how objective I can be, compressed music sounds different)
MMPR - harsh but correct
Ducktales - actually sounds ok
Berlin Orchestra/Scorpions - Hurricane 2000, not bad
MASH (TV) - poop
@blackhawk
I wasn't looking for this but rather stumbled across it during a Google search. Is this what you were talking about in regards to the update to the Plus'?
Your Post Here?
SyCoREAPER said:
According to sound guys, what we are hearing should be similar, just offset but a bit but bass is stronger on the 2 Pros. Anyway, I know we can't really compare the 2's to 2 Pros but my experience in some initial testing:
Bass - Further Testing, the bass on Normal to me is impressive for earbuds, there is at least decent perceived bass extension (using my old favorite from 15 years ago (Bass 305) to test pure bass.
EDM-Style - Pendulum sounds perfect on Normal to me also (a bit heavy maybe but again, not used to rumbly bass on headphones)
Rock/Orchestral :
VonLichten We will Rock You - Tiny Bit off
Trans-Siberian Orchestra Wizards of Winter - Interesting one, parts sound incredible, others wrong.
Old School Rock:
Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter - A little flat.
Kansas - Wayward Son, also a bit flat.
Rap: Not something I listen to but (yes laugh, I'm old AF)
Coolio – Gangsta's Paradise sounds right.
Pop/Rock:
Phil Collins sounds off, very off.
Michael Jackson sounds right but maybe just a tiny bit lacking in bass.
Kenny Loggins is off, very harsh.
Harold Faltermyer is a bit off but has a fun sound.
(Using FLACs)
Others (NOT FLAC, not sure how objective I can be, compressed music sounds different)
MMPR - harsh but correct
Ducktales - actually sounds ok
Berlin Orchestra/Scorpions - Hurricane 2000, not bad
MASH (TV) - poop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One little thing to notice for everybody - for being able to adequately compare the experience we should note if Atmos is on or off while testing, because it can change some music quite noticeably (and not for better sometimes).
SyCoREAPER said:
@blackhawk
I wasn't looking for this but rather stumbled across it during a Google search. Is this what you were talking about in regards to the update to the Plus'?
Your Post Here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No that's the Wearables app update* bs. This is much worse as it's firmware flash for the Buds+ hardware, post 41.
I still need to deal with the pair that the firmware flash screwed up. See if Samsung put out a fix for it. Just it. My other pairs will never be flash upgraded... grrrrr.
* this is what the older Buds Wearable version looks like. Much more usable...
I have it off. Buds+ it sometimes sounded better, so far everything sounds awful with the 2's with Atmos
Edit: ^opinion
SyCoREAPER said:
I have it off. Buds+ it sometimes sounded better, so far everything sounds awful with the 2's with Atmos
Edit: ^opinion
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Click to collapse
Try dialing it in with Poweramp if you use that.
It's still the best stand alone music player but it won't play vids (will be play the audio). It's complicated to first set up, but works like a charm once configured.
Group folder/album folders/songs
Settings and playlists can be completely backed up... tested, fully recreatable in a minute or two.
blackhawk said:
Try dialing it in with Poweramp if you use that.
It's still the best stand alone music player but it won't play vids (will be play the audio). It's complicated to first set up, but works like a charm once configured.
Group folder/album folders/songs
Settings and playlists can be completely backed up... tested, fully recreatable in a minute or two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Poweramp... Not going to get into the detail on my history there but noticed a few months back that a standalone EQ was finally created. Well, it doesn't work correctly. Most apps that I use won't EQ.
I (occasionally) use Wavelet which has a 'Legacy Mode' that works with every app.
SyCoREAPER said:
Poweramp... Not going to get into the detail on my history there but noticed a few months back that a standalone EQ was finally created. Well, it doesn't work correctly. Most apps that I use won't EQ.
I (occasionally) use Wavelet which has a 'Legacy Mode' that works with every app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeap. Not really a big issue with the Buds+ for me. They sound good with movies, etc. For music though I default to Poweramp as a player.
Android has always been a pain in this respect.
Because of all this and the lack of wings to stabilize the Buds2 I decided to stay with the Buds+. I also like noise isolation better than losing that for noise cancelation. The battery runtime longevity is another issue with the Buds2.