There are two widely used formats .dsf and .dff. .dff is not compressible and not tag-able... equivalent to a .wav file. .dsf is compressible and is tag-able... equivalent to a .flac file.
-
After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.
This sounds somewhat proprietary. Is there DRM to be dealt with (cracked) as well?
phillyundead
Well-Known Member
I was checking out the 32 bit audio on the v20 and am very unimpressed. It sounds like it slightly boost the treble. Very very weak and falsely advertised.
Do you know anything about the provenance of the recordings that you are testing? Can you supply a sample so that we can test it on our V20 and our other DACs to provide feedback? Have you opened it up in any software that can tell you if it is clipping or really uses the 32 bit dynamic range?
Napalm
Android Expert
one thing to remember is that the V20 also sports a higher amplification circuit on the headphone jack. When active it puts out a good bit more power than other mobiles - or even portable digital players (ipod nano etc)
as such it will highlight weaknesses in your headphones. Cheap cans are going to sound tinny and weak or boomy and muddled on the v20 vs other devices with lesser supplied power output.
Also if you don't see the hifi symbol in your notification pane then it's not actually active.
but yes souce file - player settings - cans used, etc can all lead to crappy sound.
as such it will highlight weaknesses in your headphones. Cheap cans are going to sound tinny and weak or boomy and muddled on the v20 vs other devices with lesser supplied power output.
Also if you don't see the hifi symbol in your notification pane then it's not actually active.
but yes souce file - player settings - cans used, etc can all lead to crappy sound.
phillyundead
Well-Known Member
That's irrelevant. LG advertised that it makes music sound better in general. It doesn't have enough of a good impact to justify $800. This phone is a big phony. They lied about the camera performance too.
The recordings of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Adele are going to sound crappy on everything because they are lousy recordings. Limited dynamic range and limited frequency range insures that even on an $80,000 DAC they would not sound good. If you were to buy a similar external DAC (that worked correctly) it would cost about $300. http://www.oppodigital.com/headphone-amplifier-ha-2SE/ This alone would justify the price to someone that would normally buy two devices to get both quality portable audio and a decent phone.
I wish I was an audiophile.
No, you don't. It's a curse and expensive.
sreum
Android Enthusiast
I would have to say your incorrect on both.
Putting the V20 next to other phones, a person with an ear for listening will pick up on a world of difference in the audio play back when Hi-Fi is active versus when it is turned off. Not all people have the hearing capabilities to pick up on the difference either. Which that must be kept in mind when the buyer jumps into it. Also different headphones will give you a different experience. In my opinion, my cheaper $10 headphones sound much better and louder than my $50 set. Still waiting on my B&O's to arrive though.
As for the camera, it does live up to its expectations. There are those moments when it seems it doesn't, but what camera phone does? Also just like other makers cameras the V20 has its little qwerks, and once a user understands those the V20 can take flawless pictures each and every time.
Napalm
Android Expert
I was about to type the exact same thing.
It's like being a food/wine/drink snob - if you don't know ignorance is indeed bliss. But once you do something like take a wine tasting class - you're smurfed once you train the difference in your mind.
you can pick out the ______ vs ______ in a red and then you know what you want and look for. and guess what - it often costs more money.
matther22xdroid
Well-Known Member
I have a pair of Sony MDR-V55 headphones with an impedance of 40. I noticed someone said earlier that an impedance of 50-100 is needed to take advantage of the HIFI audio. I do notice a big difference when I crank those little dials up all the way though. Could someone explain "impedance" to me? My apologies if it was covered in one of the 30 something posts.
For this context, you can define impedance as how hard it is to drive a speaker/headphone/earphone. A large pair of headphones are generally harder to get volume out of than a pair of in-ear monitors (earphones). The V20 will detect the load (impedance) requirements of the connected device and either keep its standard voltage (low-gain) or apply more voltage (high gain).
If you apply high voltage (high gain) to efficient (low impedance) earphones, you would probably hear background hiss.
Some people (ill informed) associate high volume with good sound. The ES9218 (quad dac) is engaged as soon as you attach a device to the 3.5mm headphone jack. You can also toggle it off if desired. You get good sound as soon as it is engaged. The higher voltage is only engaged if the device that you insert needs it.
matther22xdroid
Well-Known Member
Ok now I understand.
holesinhead
Lurker
The DAC made me choose this phone over the others and like you, I'm pissed that LG did not bother to make it available to 3rd party developers. I don't much care for the stock app.
If you search the Reddit forum on V20, a user claims that Tmobile fixed this issue in their latest update. I have the international variant and cannot confirm it.
Napalm
Android Expert
I'm not 100% sure it was their fault. Reason I say this - when I play the LG source file (came with the phone) on the LG music player it's impressively clean - like it should be. I notice when I play this on Jet Audio - it's also impressively clean in such a way that it stands out beyond all the other files I have on the device.
To that end - Jet audio has a menu item that will report what it considers the played output to be - and when I use that LG file - it comes back as saying 192Khz, 32 bit stereo. All my other files are 44.1Khz, 32bit, stereo - which they should be because that's what I've put on the phone.
So I need to find/rehash some files at higher samples to see if the phone via Jet Audio or the LG music APP will notice this.
Google play music however - doesn't seem to care or take advantage of anything.
Any update on this? It's March 2017 and LG hasn't appeared to fix the problem yet. Anyone word on a firmware update at some point? Like others I bought the phone for the DAC capabilities and I'm not happy that the performance is being throttled because of bungled firmware.
Napalm
Android Expert
as far as I know it got fixed with a security patch probably the January one.
Reason I saw that - using Jet audio and playing the LG song that comes on the phone. it reports the output as 192Kbps vs the other files I have on the phone reporting 44100 or 48000 - which I know they are.
I put on another HQ flac file I have and it also reported it correctly as a 192Kbps output. SO I believe it's been fixed. Either by LG or by google as I'm not 100% sure where the hold up was
Reason I saw that - using Jet audio and playing the LG song that comes on the phone. it reports the output as 192Kbps vs the other files I have on the phone reporting 44100 or 48000 - which I know they are.
I put on another HQ flac file I have and it also reported it correctly as a 192Kbps output. SO I believe it's been fixed. Either by LG or by google as I'm not 100% sure where the hold up was
Not fixed on my device. Neutron Player shows the only frequency output option as 48000, even with high-impedance headphones plugged in. What carrier are you on? I'm on ATT and the last update I had was in January.
EDIT: note that I'm talking about actual output and whether or not the output is bit perfect. I'm not talking about any player app's ability to play the file. Foobar and Neutron will show 24/96 and 24/192 files as what they truly are and play them, but the output shows that they are being DOWNSAMPLED at output to 24/48...that is the firmware issue is that mlknez1 is talking about.
Napalm
Android Expert
Neutron player - I'll give it a try at some point and see if it does the same. Jet Audio reports out 192Khz, stereo, 32bit output. with the LG sample and my other FLAC rip from SACD.
For other stuff FLAC or MP3 - it reports 44100 or 48000, stereo, 32bit. (or 16 bit if really old)
For other stuff FLAC or MP3 - it reports 44100 or 48000, stereo, 32bit. (or 16 bit if really old)
I don't like the Jet Audio app at all, but I downloaded it for kicks. Even on my 24/96 files it is showing output at 24khz...so it can't even do 48khz, even though the other players can. This is on my ATT V20. Dunno if your phone has a different firmware package or if you are not reading the output correctly on this app. This is what I'm seeing on my phone. ATT uses a different Software Version naming convention than Verizon.
Napalm
Android Expert
If using Jet Audio you have to go to sound effects-show sound effects settings - and at the bottom is OUTPUT.
some files for me show up as 192kHz, stereo, 32bit. Others 48kHz,stereo 32 bit and others as 41.1kHz.
Make sure however you see what the file info says the encoding is. That's on the playlist menu - file info - for any selected file.
Example - Life_is_Good.flac (came with the phone) show up with.
Audio Info - FLAC 5.4Mbps, 192kHz, Stereo 24 bit
Output 192kHz, Stereo, 32 bit.
I should probably take a screen shot.
some files for me show up as 192kHz, stereo, 32bit. Others 48kHz,stereo 32 bit and others as 41.1kHz.
Make sure however you see what the file info says the encoding is. That's on the playlist menu - file info - for any selected file.
Example - Life_is_Good.flac (came with the phone) show up with.
Audio Info - FLAC 5.4Mbps, 192kHz, Stereo 24 bit
Output 192kHz, Stereo, 32 bit.
I should probably take a screen shot.