Database Users

What Dolby Mobile REALLY does!

Hey guys! I've found out what Dolby Mobile is really good at doing. So basically I have a Logitech X540 5.1 Surroud Sound System. As you may know, any 5.1 Surround System usually has 3 wires for input:
1)For Front Left and Right Speakers
2)For Center Speaker/Subwoofer
3)For Rear Left and Right Speakers
Of course, you can use the main (green) wire for Left and Right sound. Many Surround Sound Systems feature what is known as "Matrix Mode", where you press a button and the incoming audio from a device that has only Stereo Audio (Which in our is the Desire HD) is converted into 5.1 Channel Sound! But as those of you who've tried may know, it's not that great ¬_¬
Anyways, I don't really use my computer for JUST playing music, as it heats the whole room up in under 15 minutes
So I plug my Desire HD into my Surround Sound Sytem for music since it's a GOOD music player!
So anyways, when you use headphones, and select Dolby, the sound seems a little too "Seperated" and "Wide" and Bassy right? That's what they include SRS for, listening to music through headphones. Now, what is Dolby Mobile for, you may ask? Simple! When you use Matrix mode, it converts 2 Channel Sound so that audio is output through ALL speakers. Generally speaking, it works OK...
Try this! Plug in your Desire HD, don't put on Dolby Mobile just yet and select Matrix Mode on your sound system, or a similar feature. Listen to how it sounds. Now, try the same with SRS! Sounds better, but more bass. Now, try Dolby Mobile! Sound comes through all 5 speakers LOUD and CRYSTAL CLEAR. What Dolby Mobile does is it encodes music as it is playing so that it can be recieved by a Surround System with Matrix, and thus spreads the sound out, so different instruments etc go to different speakers. Creates a really nice Surround Sound System audio from "just" a mobile phone! Try it out, and tell me guys if you notice the difference as much as I did! Oh, and turn the bass and volume up a bit while you're at it

Will definitely try it out... Thats a Plus

Speakers
Wow! I bet that took a while to figure out.
I'll definitely try it out.
This just got me wondering.... if HTC did such a good job at at making the music app on the DHD so good , why.... Seriously why did they did they fall so miserably short of including decent speakers on the phone itself? Even the earphones included in the box can be used better as a shoelace.

This sounds interesting.. So you say that i will need to change some settings on my reciever also?

I bought DHD mainly for this reason when it was released. I have dolby in all my pcs, laptops and now in mobile. And for this reason am still neglecting in switching over to sense 3 ROM.

Or you could go to the Dolby website and actually read the data sheets about dolby mobile.
http://www.dolby.com/DocLibTechLanding.aspx?taxid=1488

ViousAD said:
Wow! I bet that took a while to figure out.
I'll definitely try it out.
This just got me wondering.... if HTC did such a good job at at making the music app on the DHD so good , why.... Seriously why did they did they fall so miserably short of including decent speakers on the phone itself? Even the earphones included in the box can be used better as a shoelace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The speakers aren't really that bad, it's just the defaults that HTC have set the output to that's crap. Look for a thread in the General section called 'actually make your speaker sound good', it shows you how to manually tweak the DSP settings. I found after playing around with it for a while, I could actually get my DHD sounding quite meaty.

How do you connect your DHD to your speakers?
I have gigaworks and would love to see how my DHD sounded on these.
Cheers.

{LCD}Stelios said:
How do you connect your DHD to your speakers?
I have gigaworks and would love to see how my DHD sounded on these.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Connect the audio input wire that goes into your pc, to your Desire HD's headphone jack instead

giusdk said:
This sounds interesting.. So you say that i will need to change some settings on my reciever also?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have to, or you might not. For my speakers I had to enable Matrix Mode. I'm certain all the good sound systems have that facility, or a feature similar to that.

Found out how to make the sound from your sound systems sound even better! Download PowerAmp, and select the Dolby Mobile option within Poweramp. Also you can change the equalizer and other settings so you can fine tune the sound

Elemental_Fire said:
Found out how to make the sound from your sound systems sound even better! Download PowerAmp, and select the Dolby Mobile option within Poweramp. Also you can change the equalizer and other settings so you can fine tune the sound
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worked well. Thanks

Elemental_Fire said:
Connect the audio input wire that goes into your pc, to your Desire HD's headphone jack instead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have three that go into the back of my sound card?

{LCD}Stelios said:
I have three that go into the back of my sound card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which colour is each one? The primary one is the green one

Best Music Player that you can recommend ?

Best Music Player u can suggest for A500?
Pls. specify if it's FREE or Paid....
categories,..great layout,ease of use,Best sound FX,
Thanks,.

hatyrei said:
Best Music Player u can suggest for A500?
Pls. specify if it's FREE or Paid....
categories,..great layout,ease of use,Best sound FX,
Thanks,.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
doubletwist
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.doubleTwist.androidPlayer

Power amp is my choice in any device for music player. Awesome player sound is so much better with this player. I use skull candy thrashers with a Pyle headphone amplifier and power amp and I am over joyed with the results give it a try.
Sent from my A500 using xda app-developers app

Personally...
Stock ICS Google Play Music app.
I use high end headphones connected to a true hardware EQ and preamp.
Last thing I want is some annoying software layer applying crappy preset software EQ levels to .FLAC audio.

I use Poweramp too, paid. It has issues with Dolby Mobile though. I have to toggle it (DM) off and on for it to not sound tinny and distant. I have to do it every few days, and every time I reboot my tablet. Not a big deal really.
I didn't think Play Music could do FLAC, maybe I'll check it out again. That's originally why I got Poweramp.

Just my $0.02 USD
Jeckler said:
I use Poweramp too, paid. It has issues with Dolby Mobile though. I have to toggle it (DM) off and on for it to not sound tinny and distant. I have to do it every few days, and every time I reboot my tablet. Not a big deal really.
I didn't think Play Music could do FLAC, maybe I'll check it out again. That's originally why I got Poweramp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Play Music has no problem playing FLAC (At least, on my a500 running Taboonay ICS ROM) - sounds great.
Combine that with a good set of headphones and turn off all that dolby crap (really, it destroys how music should sound).

Issues with Dolby Atoms EQ

Has anyone run into an issue with Dolby Atoms where the EQ changes presets on its own? I listen to podcasts and set the EQ to "Voice" but whenever the audio pauses (notification, voice-to-text, pausing the playback) it always switches back to "Music". It's even done it while I was on the app.
Edit:
I've also had the EQ shut itself off after no audio had been played for awhile. Is this a power saving "feature"?
The issue was caused by a conflict between the Dolby app and n7 music player which wad talked about in another thread.

A7 Dolby Atmos Speakers Hiss at Low Volume Only

First I need to add that I find the so much advertised two DACs of the Axon very highly exaggerated in terms of power. They are just too weak, even compared to my previous Note 3, both on headphones and speakers.
Second, they seem to not be able to be effectively used on almost any app since 98% of apps do not utilise them by default and one cannot change it.
If you tweak Dolby Atmos a bit you can get it to amplify the general audio output, both on speakers and headphones, and this is why I use it predominantly. I am on the B09 update on A2017G and it is still very buggy. No matter what setting I choose, i.e. Music, Voice, Game, Custom, when I leave the Dolby Atmos screen it drops sound for a second and always resets to Movie, no matter what. Also the sound regularly interrupts, especially when unlocking screen or doing things in the background, or just on its own.
What annoys me most however from when I bought the phone is that at very low or low volume (only on speakers), when there is speach or the music starts, there is some kind of hissing, ss/sh-ing sound corresponding to the words said or the tiny beats of the music played. It's like a background noise added on purpose simultaneously with special, mostly high frequencies, i.e. words, tiny/starting percussions or similar, no matter the Dolby Atmos setting. This noise stays apparently at all times, it just is not heard when more, mostly low and middle frequencies get in. This "noise" is not available when no Dolby Atmos is used, however the volume then drops by a few levels down. Good or bad, Atmos also adds some spatial effect to the sound, which is why I like it for...
Does anyone of you, an A2017G or A2017U user, observe similar behaviour on your device? Is Dolby Atmos working better for you, i.e. unconditionally steady settings, no low volume added speakers noise, no sound interruptions?
I also noticed browsers do not get use of the DACs/Dolby Atmos, i.e. YouTube, online videos, many video players. My favourite before Aimp was unable to do so also so I had to transfer to Jet Audio and PlayerPro, both of which can work with the Dolby.
Why did ZTE add (two) DACs when they couldn't be used by 95% of the apps and games by default and even manually, also there seems to be no gain in output at all? Was this the case with the Lenovo Phab2 Pro's Dolby Atmos? For the "regulated hiss" (not present on headphones at all) I cannot currently watch any movies on the phone with Dolby Atmos enabled, unless at very high speakers volume. It hisses so badly every time a word is pronounced or some subtle 'invisible' sound plays. The same is with playing music...

I dont use Dolby when I listen to music - it makes everything so much worse and much quieter. Listening to flacs on stock music player with Super HiFi on. No hisses on low or high sound levels. Silence is silent. as for speakers - no hiss also.
ZTE did not add 2 DACs for music, 1 is for music other one is for audio recording which is records at 128kbps. and quality.. I dunno it's quite clear, I had recorded a room full of people, with two girls singing and some people chatting in backgroud and I can hear everything. but sound itself if on the lower end, girls vocals are lower than they are, everything seems shifted to lower sound spectrum.
Tooks some time and checked spectrum of that sound file 50-2000Hz. everything over 2kHz is just a noise.
and a little edit: it records nothing less than 50Hz - total silence there.

The stock player is OK but it's lacking on features, also not sure if it can play video.
I have noticed the low volume speakers "noise" with Dolby on when watching movies using almost any player - VLC, BS, MX and more. If I go above 30-40% volume it seems to disappear, but more like you don't hear it and it stays. I say "noise" but it is like a hissing/ss-ing sound added to sole frequences only, i.e. speech only or single instruments. When more frequencies get in, you don't hear it. Weird these don't exist at all with the Snapdragon amplifier, i.e. when Dolby is off.
https://community.zteusa.com/thread/12853, here is a similar thread in the ZTE USA community. I believe it has something to do with the Axon's own amp or its software and happens at low volume only. There was a thread in Reddit exactly about what I am reporting but I can't find it now.
If you go to your phone's Music\Settings\Dolby Atmos app, then move all sliders up you will notice that it significantly increases the overall volume when Dolby is on. So it's not low, if you change it, it boosts up the volume by at least 30%. On another note, the Axon's mic recording quality is quite poor/muffled, even compared to the old Note 3, hopefully they will improve it at least a bit by some future update.
I bought the A7 exclusively for its audio capabilities so am disappointed that I have to report insufficiencies in this exact area.
Does your Dolby Atmos set itself to Movie only if you exit the Music app? Are there any drops in sound when it's on and you do something in the background?

There are two DACs. "AKM AK4961 DSP CODEC, which can be considered the primary chipset for Hi-Fi audio playback and recording. The AKM AK4490EN DAC is an independent Hi-Fi audio sampler". So AK4961 works in standard mode and AK4490EN in Super mode. ADC is only in AK4961.

You can consider rooting your device and install ViperFX or the whole A.R.I.S.E. sound system. That will solve all the problems with sound output. However the sound recording filtering is surprising, leaving only the vocal spectrum is not normal. There should be a setting somewhere.

I have the Chinese A2017 model running Oreo & have just noticed this hissing sound which can be heard at lower volumes when I keep speakers close to my ear. I don't hear any hissing sound using headphones. I wonder if it's always been there or it's a hardware/software issue. I'm probably gonna hard reset the phone to see if it goes away. Anyone could fix it?

Any news on non-stock music players utilizing AKM DAC?

Hi, I'm from Europe and yesterday I received my brand new A2017G. It's on B09 software version and OTA isnt finding anything newer. Sadly I read in many places (and tested it by myself) that only stock music player can output music to the AKM DAC. Are there any possibilities for me to achive desired result (I mean non-stock players do the same) on stock rom? I assume that I'd have to root and flash some custom rom but I would like to do it in the last resort (I use many banking apps which don't work that good with root and custom roms)
I can't hide the fact that this function is quite a dealbreaker for me. The phone is all great but if I can't use my favourite music player - for example PowerAmp, the what's the point. Stock music player is extremely lacking - and that is saying it lightly.

I have used many players which works fine (with Dolby Atmos) with the stock Rom..
Actually it's Pi music player. But you have Phonograph too and several others. Just give them a try too see it's what you want.
By the way, the last version of the stock Rom for G models is Nougat B10.
Envoyé de mon ZTE A2017G en utilisant Tapatalk

ma_ko said:
Hi, I'm from Europe and yesterday I received my brand new A2017G. It's on B09 software version and OTA isnt finding anything newer. Sadly I read in many places (and tested it by myself) that only stock music player can output music to the AKM DAC. Are there any possibilities for me to achive desired result (I mean non-stock players do the same) on stock rom? I assume that I'd have to root and flash some custom rom but I would like to do it in the last resort (I use many banking apps which don't work that good with root and custom roms)
I can't hide the fact that this function is quite a dealbreaker for me. The phone is all great but if I can't use my favourite music player - for example PowerAmp, the what's the point. Stock music player is extremely lacking - and that is saying it lightly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JLLE said:
I have used many players which works fine (with Dolby Atmos) with the stock Rom..
Actually it's Pi music player. But you have Phonograph too and several others. Just give them a try too see it's what you want.
By the way, the last version of the stock Rom for G models is Nougat B10.
Envoyé de mon ZTE A2017G en utilisant Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All apps can use the AKM DAC, actually. if you don't believe me go to the sound toggle and, well, toggle it a few times. Now hi-res is another matter, but I believe you are not talking about that specifically. if you are, then only Neutron and maybe those apps jlle mentioned work (i.e. not poweramp)
Just use Poweramp if you don't care about hi-res files and that stuff

The question is - I honestly don't know. I just wanted good audio quality. At first I installed poweramp, listened to some songs at the sound was decent. However when during playback I went to android settings -> sound -> headset hifi and switched between super and standard nothing happened. There was no change in music. I assume it's a setting for headphones only but I tested several pairs and nothing. But when I used stock music player I could toggle that setting with audible effect. Another thing (I guess) is Dolby icon visible when you pull down status bar. Is it the same as Dolby Atmos in sound settings? Does it works when using phone's speakers only or you can use it with headphones also? Anyway, on poweramp tapping it brings no change (it won't activate) whereas in stock player it works splendidly...

ma_ko said:
Is it the same as Dolby Atmos in sound settings? Does it works when using phone's speakers only or you can use it with headphones also? Anyway, on poweramp tapping it brings no change (it won't activate) whereas in stock player it works splendidly...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the same and it works with the speaker or headphons. In speaker I would leave Dolby on,does it's job quite well with it but for headphones I'm turning it off to take use of the AKM dac/super mode,but to really hear a difference you've got to have a pair of high impedance headphones.Also in Poweramp there should be a setting somewhere that makes Dolby work again,but may turn poweramps equalizer off, but I don't know where/what the setting is called since I'm only using spotify atm.

F.Y.I., Poweramp only works with HIFI if you use the beta, and include a couple work-arounds in your build.prop. Not the easiest thing in the world to get running, but it sounds great once you do.

Dolby and Hi-Fi audio quality are two totally different things. Dolby is the separate audio processing software that works on both speakers and headphones, but does not get too well with Poweramp, while Hi-Fi audio is a setting for choosing which audio processor outputs when using headphones ( the integrated Snapdragon audio proc or the AKM one).
On my A2017G there is a pretty subtle, but clear difference when using Poweramp, between the two Hi-Fi settings: the Super one is a bit louder, has more bass and better soundstage. This can be changed without problems when listening to music using Poweramp.
The Dolby software, though, sometimes can be activated, but then it cannot be deactivated until I stop the music and also the interface still shows that it's deactivated, even though the sound has changed.
My recommendation is to just use the Hi-Fi thing in Settings with the PowerAmp EQ because the Dolby software is not too versatile. This sounds really nice with my headphones.

pinkywinky said:
F.Y.I., Poweramp only works with HIFI if you use the beta, and include a couple work-arounds in your build.prop. Not the easiest thing in the world to get running, but it sounds great once you do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
naw. It doesn't work at all. The workaround I posted just reroutes the audio path in some obscure way, and it makes sound better out of it (for some reason the equalizer makes more difference) but the sound goes into a mixer path and gets downsampled to 48k. You get to use Viper4Android and Dolby with it though.
It also kills the camera

ma_ko said:
The question is - I honestly don't know. I just wanted good audio quality. At first I installed poweramp, listened to some songs at the sound was decent. However when during playback I went to android settings -> sound -> headset hifi and switched between super and standard nothing happened. There was no change in music. I assume it's a setting for headphones only but I tested several pairs and nothing. But when I used stock music player I could toggle that setting with audible effect. Another thing (I guess) is Dolby icon visible when you pull down status bar. Is it the same as Dolby Atmos in sound settings? Does it works when using phone's speakers only or you can use it with headphones also? Anyway, on poweramp tapping it brings no change (it won't activate) whereas in stock player it works splendidly...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it usually lets you change between super and standard . You should find a difference in the soundstage and better, more defined bass.
The "standard DAC" (also akm, seemingly, but powersaving-oriented) is used for the speakers, and Atmos is designed for phone speakers too. You CAN use it on headphones, but it'll give you a bunch of noise. It doesn't work with Poweramp unless you use 704 and follow my guide on how to "enable hi-fi" on it (the camera will break, you'll need to use another camera app). But it's not worth it unless you use Viper4Android
---------- Post added at 01:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:48 AM ----------
ma_ko said:
The question is - I honestly don't know. I just wanted good audio quality. At first I installed poweramp, listened to some songs at the sound was decent. However when during playback I went to android settings -> sound -> headset hifi and switched between super and standard nothing happened. There was no change in music. I assume it's a setting for headphones only but I tested several pairs and nothing. But when I used stock music player I could toggle that setting with audible effect. Another thing (I guess) is Dolby icon visible when you pull down status bar. Is it the same as Dolby Atmos in sound settings? Does it works when using phone's speakers only or you can use it with headphones also? Anyway, on poweramp tapping it brings no change (it won't activate) whereas in stock player it works splendidly...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it usually lets you change between super and standard . You should find a difference in the soundstage and better, more defined bass.
The "standard DAC" (also akm, seemingly, but powersaving-oriented) is used for the speakers, and Atmos is designed for phone speakers too. You CAN use it on headphones, but it'll give you a bunch of noise. It doesn't work with Poweramp unless you use 704 and follow my guide on how to "enable hi-fi" on it (the camera will break, you'll need to use another camera app). But it's not worth it unless you use Viper4Android

Choose an username... said:
naw. It doesn't work at all. The workaround I posted just reroutes the audio path in some obscure way, and it makes sound better out of it (for some reason the equalizer makes more difference) but the sound goes into a mixer path and gets downsampled to 48k. You get to use Viper4Android and Dolby with it though.
It also kills the camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I'm a little confused here. I've feel like I've had so many discussions on what actually uses the HIFI DAC on this forums (you seem to be one of the few that know we use 2 different AKMs). What procedure are you talking about though? Currently I use AINUR, which supposedly someone with an AXON worked with to get the audio down the right path, and I also use the work around to get Poweramp to use the HIFI mode. From what I heard this should output 24bit 96khz. Unless you are implying that poweramp downgrades audio then upsamples it?
In any case, all 3rd party ROMs use the HIFI DAC by default. Maybe not the full extent, but to be honest the most important thing for HIFI music is mastering. But even so, without full DAC control I still think the phone sounds much better than most others. I do want to try out that custom "ROM" though, see what the controls do.

For my ears, using the bare bones ZTE player produces better sound with headphones, but it just isn't worth dealing with the limits of that player.

pinkywinky said:
I guess I'm a little confused here. I've feel like I've had so many discussions on what actually uses the HIFI DAC on this forums (you seem to be one of the few that know we use 2 different AKMs). What procedure are you talking about though? Currently I use AINUR, which supposedly someone with an AXON worked with to get the audio down the right path, and I also use the work around to get Poweramp to use the HIFI mode. From what I heard this should output 24bit 96khz. Unless you are implying that poweramp downgrades audio then upsamples it?
In any case, all 3rd party ROMs use the HIFI DAC by default. Maybe not the full extent, but to be honest the most important thing for HIFI music is mastering. But even so, without full DAC control I still think the phone sounds much better than most others. I do want to try out that custom "ROM" though, see what the controls do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "procedure" is the workaround you use. It doesn't do what you believe. Poweramp seems to believe that it is offloading via a direct path but it is going through a mixer path. Therefore Poweramp (maybe) processes at high resolution, but it gets downgraded at the output, and you get 48kHz. If you don't believe me that the output is 48 use media.audio_flinger
Ainur has the AK4490 patch integrated. It's no use since a) stock ROMs use it (they have the switch) and b) since long ago all ROMs have integrated the AK4490 patch on them.
You can get Hi-Res on stock and custom M and N ROMs but you have to use Neutron which is horrible. Doesn't work in O ROMs at the moment
i think we had a big discussion with the 2 akm's thing before though, but someone asked ZTE and they replied that they also used the DAC that's inside the AK4961. so i dunno

All you need is this.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jetappfactory.jetaudioplus
And optionally get the AM3D plugin from within the player. It has everything you could need, even AGC. I've tried so many players and always come back to Jet. Neutron is more flawed from a user interaction perspective and I don't like it.
---------- Post added at 11:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:12 AM ----------
argblah said:
For my ears, using the bare bones ZTE player produces better sound with headphones, but it just isn't worth dealing with the limits of that player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I usually keep the stock music app disabled but every now and then Jet gets an update so I enable and listen to stock, then listen to Jet.
Every time, Jet sounds better and I disable stock app again.
I keep Dolby Atmos turned off using BT or 3.5 jack for music and have it on with the inbuilt speakers or if playing a video whatever the audio listening device.

I've been using Gone Mad player for a while now, quite happy with it. Works great with BT in car, headphones, hirez etc.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gonemad.gmmp

I just use the deep buffer remover mod from XDA to have the Super DAC setting working for all headphone output. I posted about it ages ago back here https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/list-music-players-outputting-to-akm-dac-t3695058
Sent from my ZTE Axon 7 using XDA Labs

https://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/hires-audio-driver
http://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/uapp-trial

aosp said:
https://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/hires-audio-driver
http://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/uapp-trial
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks a lot for the links. I just purchased the Pro from Play Store after I tested the same song versus neutron player on a pair of ath m50x.
the sound on USB audio is much much better.
I'm waiting to test it on my gf's htc 10 when she's home, should be even better
I highly recommend getting the trial guys