V20 H990DS Sound Quality vs LG G5 w/ HiFi Plus DAC - LG V20 Questions & Answers

Hi guys
I was wondering if anyone has used both handsets and can compare the audio quality?
I have a G5 H850 at the moment with the B&O HiFi Plus DAC, and I love the sound with my B&O H3 earphones. I understand the V20 has the same/similar DAC/Amp embedded. I am asking about the H990 version as I believe it has the B&O audio tuning whereas the US version has the audio tuned by LG, albeit using the same DAC.
Many thanks
R

No player is capable of fully utilizing the ESS Sabre DAC on the V20. The LG Stock player will allow you to send up to 192khz PCM to the Sabre DAC but it is the only one that will even do that. No DSD or PCM >192khz will currently play without either decimation, conversion or both.

Uhh, sorry I don't understand that technical audio jargon I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile but I do appreciate the better sound quality and wideness of the sound stage that the B&O Hifi Plus gives me. Even on Spotify with extreme quality I can hear a noticeable difference in quality when audio is played through the B&O DAC as opposed to the built-in audio jack on the G5.

For anyone who is interested - I bought a V20 H990DS with the b&o audio tuning, and compared it side-to-side with my G5 before selling my G5. I can confirm that there is no discernible difference between the two. Using the same audio tracks and the same headphones at the same volume, I could not tell any difference between the G5's hifi plus module and the V20's built-in DAC.
Loving the V20 so far!

Related

5.1 surround amazing

anyone watch a movie on the stock player??
I love the stock player since its got 5.1 surround. It makes a night and difference watching movies...even without headphones...I wish there was a way to implement that into other players such as mobo, vplayer, and rockplayer etc.
I'm sure with touchwiz UI their gonna really boost the multimedia aspect of this thing.
Can you post the specs (using something like MediaInfo) of the movie? My impression was that HC's stock player can't play 5.1 audio currently.
Will be trying it out on Sunday for my flight back East, looking forward to hearing it on my new Audio-Technica ATH M50's!
e.mote said:
Can you post the specs (using something like MediaInfo) of the movie? My impression was that HC's stock player can't play 5.1 audio currently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you start to play any movie in the stock player there's a button on the bottom left that says 5.1 srs click it and you'll hear the difference. I was playing a divx version of a movie called "girl who kicked the hornet's nest"
here are the info directly from vlc player
codec: MPEG audio layer 1/2/3 (mpga)
Channels: Stereo
Sample rate: 48000 Hz
Bitrate: 128 kb/s
I don't believe this is completely stock player. Samsung is always about good media and always trying to implement 5.1 into everything. My brother's Samsung vibrant has the same features on his stock audio and video players provided by samsung. the phone only has one speaker so when you press that button on his phone it says this mode only works with headphones. But for the Galaxy tab 10.1 we've got two great speakers on the right and left perfect for 5.1. Although its not true 5.1 it makes a huge difference. I've tried it even on things I recorded with my galaxy tab 10.1. I think it's a software modification of some sort done by samsung to make it sound very realistic.
Give it a try...let me know what you guys think.
e.mote said:
Can you post the specs (using something like MediaInfo) of the movie? My impression was that HC's stock player can't play 5.1 audio currently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a Samsung future that you can chose to have the tab make mono/stereo audio sound like its sorround.
Its like fake 5.1 from stereo speakers
-Creates an accurate 5.1 virtual surround sound experience over any stereo headphones
-Utilizes SRS Circle Surround decoder to generate the highest quality surround sound - placing left, right, center, surround left and surround right speakers accurately around the listener's head
-SRS Dialog Clarity boosts the frequency range of the human voice in a way that lifts the dialog above the audio effects, so you can clearly hear every word that's being spoken
-Improves overall bass response of the headphones
-SRS WOW HDimproves the dynamic audio performance of both compressed and uncompressed audio, by expanding the size of the audio image
Yup. I hate how they confuse people with that "5.1" button when it's really "Fake5.1"
Entropy512 said:
Yup. I hate how they confuse people with that "5.1" button when it's really "Fake5.1"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have to admit that it sounds pretty realistic when you turn it on...no tablet can do that right now...the xooms speakers are horrible way in the back and sound is muffled...and only high end laptops are able to only replicate a 5.1 surround, I wouldn't complain unless you want them to put a sub-woofer in there and two more speakers lol....

Will you be able to hear surround sound 5.1 DTS on the tab 7.7 ?

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 can play DTS .mkv movies using DicePlayer or MX Player.
However, I don't know if it will be able to output 5.1 sound quality using a 5.1 headphones. Will it give you a surround sound effects using 5.1 headphones?
I am currently using a good quality earphone to watch DTS .mkv movies but I will consider getting a good 5.1 surround sound headphone if it actually produce the surround 5.1 effect.
....or does the Tab 7.7 will downsample the 5.1 DTS coding to stereo sound. If this is the case, then getting a 5.1 DTS surround sound headphone is pointless.
Any input reguarding this?
I've noticed you have the option to select 5.1 surround sound and I did notice a change in sound output when selected, however I don't have a 5.1 system to test it
Sent from my GT-P6800 using Tapatalk
Nobody try it out with a 5.1 surround sound headphone?

Does the N10 support Apt-X?

Just wondering, does the N10 have APT-X support?
I am thinking about buying the LG HBS-730 Tone+ headset, and read about the APT-X codec.

Does the S4 LTE i9505 support apt-x bluetooth playback support

Currently on stock Kitkat (update 3).
I have just invested on some Creative soundblaster evo headphones which are csr apt-x certified.
The audio quality sounds very poor as if the bitrate is below 128kbps of typical "CD quality" sound.
The sound is the same across the Tab 2 and iPad Mini which has no support for apt-x as far as specifications are concerned.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2

Music player that can utilize DAC

Hi All,
Besides the LG own music player, are there any 3rd party music players that can support / utilize the Quad DAC in V20 ?
i tried PowerAmp, but the volume somehow becomes much lower, whether i set the tick to direct volume control or not.
Thanks for the help
I use Poweramp and it's plenty loud for me.
dbornack said:
I use Poweramp and it's plenty loud for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man. I mean it's always softer than the native player. Does this V20 has same problem as original V10 whereby 3rd party music app cannot utilize its DAC ?
bluelavender said:
Thanks man. I mean it's always softer than the native player. Does this V20 has same problem as original V10 whereby 3rd party music app cannot utilize its DAC ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works fine with Neutron
Google music works ,siriusxm app does also
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
Thanks all for feedback Glad to hear they don't have anymore issue like original V10 with 3rd party music app.
All music apps can output pcm audio via the ES9218 DAC. NONE of them can output native (unconverted) DSD audio via the DAC. Most of them cannot output PCM over 48khz via the DAC without decimation. The V20 can change the gain stage (loudness limits) based upon the impedance of the headphones/IEMs/speakers connected to them. In-ear monitors (IEMs), also known as earphones, earbuds, are generally more efficient and require less voltage to drive, whereas large diaphragm headphones are much more challenging of a load and will switch the V20 into a higher gain (more voltage). There is software that tricks the firmware into always seeing a harder to drive load and thus provides more voltage (louder).
Higher voltage is not always better. For example... if you are using a pair of efficient in-ear monitors and the gain stage is high, you will hear a hiss in between songs and during softer passages.
LG has hamstrung the V20 by providing software that cannot take full advantage of the ES9218 DAC and giving no way for 3rd party vendors to do so either. They indicate in spec sheets and advertising that they support DSD and high bitrate PCM, but they really only convert DSD to PCM and decimate the audio so that what was recorded is not exactly what you hear.
mlknez said:
All music apps can output pcm audio via the ES9218 DAC. NONE of them can output native (unconverted) DSD audio via the DAC. Most of them cannot output PCM over 48khz via the DAC without decimation. The V20 can change the gain stage (loudness limits) based upon the impedance of the headphones/IEMs/speakers connected to them. In-ear monitors (IEMs), also known as earphones, earbuds, are generally more efficient and require less voltage to drive, whereas large diaphragm headphones are much more challenging of a load and will switch the V20 into a higher gain (more voltage). There is software that tricks the firmware into always seeing a harder to drive load and thus provides more voltage (louder).
Higher voltage is not always better. For example... if you are using a pair of efficient in-ear monitors and the gain stage is high, you will hear a hiss in between songs and during softer passages.
LG has hamstrung the V20 by providing software that cannot take full advantage of the ES9218 DAC and giving no way for 3rd party vendors to do so either. They indicate in spec sheets and advertising that they support DSD and high bitrate PCM, but they really only convert to DSD to PCM and decimate the audio so that what was recorded is not exactly what you hear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man.. The reason i asked was because, when LG V10 (its old ancestor) was launched, there was issue whereby many music app cannot utilize the DAC inside the v10.
There is a app on Google play for the v10 that works on v20 search for dac fix
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
mlknez said:
All music apps can output pcm audio via the ES9218 DAC. NONE of them can output native (unconverted) DSD audio via the DAC. Most of them cannot output PCM over 48khz via the DAC without decimation. The V20 can change the gain stage (loudness limits) based upon the impedance of the headphones/IEMs/speakers connected to them. In-ear monitors (IEMs), also known as earphones, earbuds, are generally more efficient and require less voltage to drive, whereas large diaphragm headphones are much more challenging of a load and will switch the V20 into a higher gain (more voltage). There is software that tricks the firmware into always seeing a harder to drive load and thus provides more voltage (louder).
Higher voltage is not always better. For example... if you are using a pair of efficient in-ear monitors and the gain stage is high, you will hear a hiss in between songs and during softer passages.
LG has hamstrung the V20 by providing software that cannot take full advantage of the ES9218 DAC and giving no way for 3rd party vendors to do so either. They indicate in spec sheets and advertising that they support DSD and high bitrate PCM, but they really only convert DSD to PCM and decimate the audio so that what was recorded is not exactly what you hear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think root will overcome that and can tap into more features of the 9218?
mlknez said:
All music apps can output pcm audio via the ES9218 DAC. NONE of them can output native (unconverted) DSD audio via the DAC. Most of them cannot output PCM over 48khz via the DAC without decimation. The V20 can change the gain stage (loudness limits) based upon the impedance of the headphones/IEMs/speakers connected to them. In-ear monitors (IEMs), also known as earphones, earbuds, are generally more efficient and require less voltage to drive, whereas large diaphragm headphones are much more challenging of a load and will switch the V20 into a higher gain (more voltage). There is software that tricks the firmware into always seeing a harder to drive load and thus provides more voltage (louder).
Higher voltage is not always better. For example... if you are using a pair of efficient in-ear monitors and the gain stage is high, you will hear a hiss in between songs and during softer passages.
LG has hamstrung the V20 by providing software that cannot take full advantage of the ES9218 DAC and giving no way for 3rd party vendors to do so either. They indicate in spec sheets and advertising that they support DSD and high bitrate PCM, but they really only convert DSD to PCM and decimate the audio so that what was recorded is not exactly what you hear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this mean the V20 will automatically adjust impedance and/or gain stage when you plug in different headphones? Or is there configuration somewhere?
@rbiter said:
Think root will overcome that and can tap into more features of the 9218?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the answer to that.
bluelavender said:
Hi All,
Besides the LG own music player, are there any 3rd party music players that can support / utilize the Quad DAC in V20 ?
i tried PowerAmp, but the volume somehow becomes much lower, whether i set the tick to direct volume control or not.
Thanks for the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try going into the equalizer settings and playing with the preamp level.
I switched to Neutron yesterday mostly because it'll handle hi-res files. I think it taps into the DAC.
douger1957 said:
You can try going into the equalizer settings and playing with the preamp level.
I switched to Neutron yesterday mostly because it'll handle hi-res files. I think it taps into the DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man. I will try neutron
Neutron definitely uses the DAC. You can tell guys if one, you have it turned on and two, if you goto the setting for the hi Fi DAC settings it will say high impedance mode blah blah blah for 50-600 ohm impedance phones. I think it also says something for normal but not much. Just that it is on. Probably a high and low bias gain for what you're using is the difference.
I never used the built-in app. BlackPlayer and Spotify (as well as PocketCasts and Smart Audiobook Reader, which don't need it) use the Hi-Fi DAC.
All of these players "use" the DAC. NONE of them make full use of the built-in DAC.
mlknez said:
All of these players "use" the DAC. NONE of them make full use of the built-in DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are taking about the ESS9218. Not the Qualcomm DAC.
sheldonkreger said:
Does this mean the V20 will automatically adjust impedance and/or gain stage when you plug in different headphones? Or is there configuration somewhere?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does this automatically
@rbiter said:
Neutron definitely uses the DAC. You can tell guys if one, you have it turned on and two, if you goto the setting for the hi Fi DAC settings it will say high impedance mode blah blah blah for 50-600 ohm impedance phones. I think it also says something for normal but not much. Just that it is on. Probably a high and low bias gain for what you're using is the difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, Neutron and the DAC love my HD595s soo much it is almost funny....hell it even makes my el-cheapo noise-cancelling Philips cans sound decent.
Seriously, I'd never thought the day would occur when a phone would have an audio out that could trade punches with my desktop DAC.

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