Database Users

How to test whether your Axon 7 (on custom ROM) actually uses the Hi-Fi DAC properly?

Hello,
I've had the following ROMS on my Axon 7:
MiFavor Stock OS (Android 6.0)
CyanogenMod OS (Android 6.0)
Lineage OS (Android 7.1.1)
Resurrection Remix OS (Android 7.1.2)
AEX OS (Android 8.1.0)
However, with all these ROMs I was never really able to tell whether audio is processed through the Snapdragon 820 DAC or the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
I've been active on XDA to follow updates on audio and ROMs.
With the stock ROM's I do think the 'super HiFi' option really made the phone use the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
Also the audio playback through the built-in phone speakers was amazing (but limited in loudness because European ROM)
On LOS 14.1, it was said that the ROM used the HiFi DAC but 'distorted audio playback' was still mentioned as a bug.
Audio playback through the built-in phone speakers was poor (especially mids would give a cracking noise)
On RR OS (Nougat), I basically has the same as on LOS 14.1 (mainly because RR OS used LOS as base).
Now I'm on AEX OS and I do think the audio sounds much better than before.
(I flashed the AK4490 patch (not sure if this does anything... I've also read that custom ROM's have the Hi-FI DAC enabled by default) and I also flashed Hell'sGate Kernel (which seems to contain the CAD Audio Driver).
Audio playback through the built-in phone speakers seems really good again.
However, I'm still actually confused whether my phone actually uses the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
I've read stuff in this forums about 48 kHz vs 192 kHz playback.
AK4490 patch is supposed to enable the AK4490 DAC but I'm still a bit skeptical whether it really does use the DAC properly.
CAD Audio Driver (included in Hell'sGate Kernel) oversamples to some maximum frequency or something.
And then there's this thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/stock-roms-best-dac-t3650231 , so yeah, skeptical.
So far, I do think the audio playback sounds good... but what if it could be better, right?
Is there a way to test whether the HiFi DAC is being used and being used properly?
Also, does Dolby Atmos and Viper4Android have a negative (or maybe positive?) impact on the output signal?
I thought Viper4Android had a max. processing frequency of 48 kHz..?
TL;DR: See the title of this thread
Cheers.

Dunno how to find out if its truly being used. But i got a question.
I read so many times now that the european version (A2017G) is lacking in terms of loudness for the speakers which i cannot really believe since my axon 7 (which is the G version) with stock rom (also G version) is the loudest phone i ever had. Its really loud. And also on maximum loudness the sound cracks a little depending on what you're playing (usually on high pitch sounds). So how can the us version be even louder? Wouldn't that break the speakers quite fast?
Sent from my ZTE A2017G running V1.2.0B08 using XDA Labs

Abiram26 said:
Hello,
I've had the following ROMS on my Axon 7:
MiFavor Stock OS (Android 6.0)
CyanogenMod OS (Android 6.0)
Lineage OS (Android 7.1.1)
Resurrection Remix OS (Android 7.1.2)
AEX OS (Android 8.1.0)
However, with all these ROMs I was never really able to tell whether audio is processed through the Snapdragon 820 DAC or the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
I've been active on XDA to follow updates on audio and ROMs.
With the stock ROM's I do think the 'super HiFi' option really made the phone use the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
Also the audio playback through the built-in phone speakers was amazing (but limited in loudness because European ROM)
On LOS 14.1, it was said that the ROM used the HiFi DAC but 'distorted audio playback' was still mentioned as a bug.
Audio playback through the built-in phone speakers was poor (especially mids would give a cracking noise)
On RR OS (Nougat), I basically has the same as on LOS 14.1 (mainly because RR OS used LOS as base).
Now I'm on AEX OS and I do think the audio sounds much better than before.
(I flashed the AK4490 patch (not sure if this does anything... I've also read that custom ROM's have the Hi-FI DAC enabled by default) and I also flashed Hell'sGate Kernel (which seems to contain the CAD Audio Driver).
Audio playback through the built-in phone speakers seems really good again.
However, I'm still actually confused whether my phone actually uses the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
I've read stuff in this forums about 48 kHz vs 192 kHz playback.
AK4490 patch is supposed to enable the AK4490 DAC but I'm still a bit skeptical whether it really does use the DAC properly.
CAD Audio Driver (included in Hell'sGate Kernel) oversamples to some maximum frequency or something.
And then there's this thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/stock-roms-best-dac-t3650231 , so yeah, skeptical.
So far, I do think the audio playback sounds good... but what if it could be better, right?
Is there a way to test whether the HiFi DAC is being used and being used properly?
Also, does Dolby Atmos and Viper4Android have a negative (or maybe positive?) impact on the output signal?
I thought Viper4Android had a max. processing frequency of 48 kHz..?
TL;DR: See the title of this thread
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a huge mess ?
Look, you're overreacting to the whole hi-res audio thing. I'll tell you what we know, what I think, and what we don't. After that you can simply draw your own conclusions.
First of all, ZTE told us that the DACs used in this phone are the AK4490, and a low power one inside the AK4961 (this one is a codec, but it has a DAC too for some reason). If the ROM is not well configured, it will default to the AK4961 in theory.
Now, you may or may not believe me, but there is an audible difference with soundstage and bass between the 4490 and 4961. Let's keep this away from the hi-res talk for now.
If you use MiFavor (6.0, 7.1, 8.0, doesn't matter) you'll have the audio switch. If you toggle it while listening to music (Not poweramp because it'll crap out and you'll have to reboot) you'll find a huge difference in soundstage, and the bass is much more defined on the 4490. You can listen to both DACs one after the other on stock only, but if you used this phone for a while, you'll know when the audio coming out of it is crap or not.
About the old AK4490 patch: It's only for Nougat ROMs, and it's been integrated in many ROMs since it came out.
"Distorted audio playback" was about the speakers and it was because the driver was badly implemented. On stock the AK4961 is used for the speakers always.
I'm not sure if the "CAD driver" is in Hellsgate, where did you read that? Last time I checked we were asking Kranoner to add it but idk. But it doesn't oversample. It simply modifies some filters on the DAC driver.
And Atmos is designed for the speakers, so while it actually does work on headphones, it'll add a crapton of noise - i'd say avoid if possible. also it obviously won't work with hi-res. Viper4Android will add some noise if you crank up the highs too much, otherwise it won't be that bad. Both of them at the same time will make a noisy mess but it's possible to do.
And why do you care about the 48KHz sampling rate? Are you using files with more than that? Oversampling is just worse.
So now the Hi-res talk: Unless you really hear a difference, and unless you actually have huge 192kHz files, you should not give a crap about it. It's not like "if it's there then sound has to get better with it".
To check hi-res you can use dumpsys media.audio_flinger while playing something via Neutron or a couple more players (Not poweramp, again).

GodOfPsychos said:
Dunno how to find out if its truly being used. But i got a question.
I read so many times now that the european version (A2017G) is lacking in terms of loudness for the speakers which i cannot really believe since my axon 7 (which is the G version) with stock rom (also G version) is the loudest phone i ever had. Its really loud. And also on maximum loudness the sound cracks a little depending on what you're playing (usually on high pitch sounds). So how can the us version be even louder? Wouldn't that break the speakers quite fast?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was on Marshmallow

GodOfPsychos said:
Dunno how to find out if its truly being used. But i got a question.
I read so many times now that the european version (A2017G) is lacking in terms of loudness for the speakers which i cannot really believe since my axon 7 (which is the G version) with stock rom (also G version) is the loudest phone i ever had. Its really loud. And also on maximum loudness the sound cracks a little depending on what you're playing (usually on high pitch sounds). So how can the us version be even louder? Wouldn't that break the speakers quite fast?
Sent from my ZTE A2017G running V1.2.0B08 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back in the Marshmellow days, I was told that loudness was limited on the G-device software-matically since EU laws don't allow too loud phones or something. (I'm not sure if Nougat removes this software-limit but hardware-wise the U-device and G-device version are the same). I doubt the speaker would break but I don't know...
Source: https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/eu-low-headphone-sound-problem-fix-t3470962
Choose an username... said:
This is a huge mess
Look, you're overreacting to the whole hi-res audio thing. I'll tell you what we know, what I think, and what we don't. After that you can simply draw your own conclusions.
First of all, ZTE told us that the DACs used in this phone are the AK4490, and a low power one inside the AK4961 (this one is a codec, but it has a DAC too for some reason). If the ROM is not well configured, it will default to the AK4961 in theory.
Now, you may or may not believe me, but there is an audible difference with soundstage and bass between the 4490 and 4961. Let's keep this away from the hi-res talk for now.
If you use MiFavor (6.0, 7.1, 8.0, doesn't matter) you'll have the audio switch. If you toggle it while listening to music (Not poweramp because it'll crap out and you'll have to reboot) you'll find a huge difference in soundstage, and the bass is much more defined on the 4490. You can listen to both DACs one after the other on stock only, but if you used this phone for a while, you'll know when the audio coming out of it is crap or not.
About the old AK4490 patch: It's only for Nougat ROMs, and it's been integrated in many ROMs since it came out.
"Distorted audio playback" was about the speakers and it was because the driver was badly implemented. On stock the AK4961 is used for the speakers always.
I'm not sure if the "CAD driver" is in Hellsgate, where did you read that? Last time I checked we were asking Kranoner to add it but idk. But it doesn't oversample. It simply modifies some filters on the DAC driver.
And Atmos is designed for the speakers, so while it actually does work on headphones, it'll add a crapton of noise - i'd say avoid if possible. also it obviously won't work with hi-res. Viper4Android will add some noise if you crank up the highs too much, otherwise it won't be that bad. Both of them at the same time will make a noisy mess but it's possible to do.
And why do you care about the 48KHz sampling rate? Are you using files with more than that? Oversampling is just worse.
So now the Hi-res talk: Unless you really hear a difference, and unless you actually have huge 192kHz files, you should not give a crap about it. It's not like "if it's there then sound has to get better with it".
To check hi-res you can use dumpsys media.audio_flinger while playing something via Neutron or a couple more players (Not poweramp, again).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahaha, yeah sorry, I guess I was kind of bored when I wrote this; but I'd like to thank you for your extensive reply!
Honestly though, there's so much confusion and contradiction around the forums when it comes to (Hi-Fi) audio playback.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/patch-enable-ak4490-hifi-dac-custom-rom-t3707738
That's the thread of the AK4490 patch, and initially I thought the same as the guy in post #2.
Soooo I never really understood the point of this patch...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ax...zte-axon-7-t3545679/post70971002#post70971002
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ax...zte-axon-7-t3545679/post71472324#post71472324
I mean here it's kind of said that 7.1.x ROMs already uses the AK4490 DAC, right?
And then there are multiple people flashing the AK4490 patch on an Oreo build, some even claiming they notice an improved soundstage..?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/kernel-t3664743/post76244484#post76244484
And here's Kranoner saying the CAD thing was added to Hell'sGate Kernel.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/cad-project-modified-audio-driver-axon7-t3761666
That's the thread of the CAD Project Kernel, option #1 in post #1 seems to say it oversamples..?
Nah, I don't use FLAC's or huge 192 kHz audio files (just simple Spotify premium actually...) but I was curious to know what these discussions on the forums on 48 kHz vs. 192 kHz were all about.
'dumpsys media.audio_flinger' reports 48.000 Hz for me.
EDIT: What about 16-bit vs. 24-bit?
I only upgraded to AEX Oreo yesterday but I do have to say I find the audio playback (through headphones) MUCH better than on any custom 7.1.x ROM I've had (with the same audio mods setup).
I actually already found audio playback really good on the 7.1.x ROMs (through headphone) but the improvement from 7.1.x to Oreo is just too noticable to let it slip by.
So it made me wonder if it can get even better than this

Choose an username... said:
That was on Marshmallow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh i see.well thanks for the answer ^^ Still weird that it was like that on marshmallow since the european law stuff about the maximum loudness is only meant for headphones, not for speakers
Sent from my ZTE A2017G running V1.2.0B08 using XDA Labs

GodOfPsychos said:
Oh i see.well thanks for the answer ^^ Still weird that it was like that on marshmallow since the european law stuff about the maximum loudness is only meant for headphones, not for speakers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well I'm not sure if that's the case, but I can assure you that the speakers got much louder after Nougat. Headphones have always been exceedingly loud, especially with the stock low impedance IEMs (with Poweramp I had to use them at volume 2 or maybe 3, so I just made it have about 50 volume steps to get at least a little granularity). Since Nougat I have been using the volume level at 1/3 with my 32 ohm over-ear headphones, so i'd say it's too freaking loud...
Now, I wouldn't be surprised if the volume limitation is just not working with Poweramp's sound engine, because everything else is much quieter. For example I have to crank the volume up to 2/3 on youtube to have comparable volume.
Supposedly if you installed US firmware back in the day you would get rid of the limitation. but installing firmware from another model was not that common, and i never tried it.
---------- Post added at 05:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:43 AM ----------
Abiram26 said:
Back in the Marshmellow days, I was told that loudness was limited on the G-device software-matically since EU laws don't allow too loud phones or something. (I'm not sure if Nougat removes this software-limit but hardware-wise the U-device and G-device version are the same). I doubt the speaker would break but I don't know...
Source: https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/eu-low-headphone-sound-problem-fix-t3470962
Hahaha, yeah sorry, I guess I was kind of bored when I wrote this; but I'd like to thank you for your extensive reply!
Honestly though, there's so much confusion and contradiction around the forums when it comes to (Hi-Fi) audio playback.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/patch-enable-ak4490-hifi-dac-custom-rom-t3707738
That's the thread of the AK4490 patch, and initially I thought the same as the guy in post #2.
Soooo I never really understood the point of this patch...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ax...zte-axon-7-t3545679/post70971002#post70971002
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ax...zte-axon-7-t3545679/post71472324#post71472324
I mean here it's kind of said that 7.1.x ROMs already uses the AK4490 DAC, right?
And then there are multiple people flashing the AK4490 patch on an Oreo build, some even claiming they notice an improved soundstage..?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/kernel-t3664743/post76244484#post76244484
And here's Kranoner saying the CAD thing was added to Hell'sGate Kernel.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/cad-project-modified-audio-driver-axon7-t3761666
That's the thread of the CAD Project Kernel, option #1 in post #1 seems to say it oversamples..?
Nah, I don't use FLAC's or huge 192 kHz audio files (just simple Spotify premium actually...) but I was curious to know what these discussions on the forums on 48 kHz vs. 192 kHz were all about.
'dumpsys media.audio_flinger' reports 48.000 Hz for me.
EDIT: What about 16-bit vs. 24-bit?
I only upgraded to AEX Oreo yesterday but I do have to say I find the audio playback (through headphones) MUCH better than on any custom 7.1.x ROM I've had (with the same audio mods setup).
I actually already found audio playback really good on the 7.1.x ROMs (through headphone) but the improvement from 7.1.x to Oreo is just too noticable to let it slip by.
So it made me wonder if it can get even better than this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back at it again:
1- nope, custom ROMs weren't using the AK4490 even after about a couple weeks or even a month of the creation of that post. Of course they weren't, otherwise why would the patch exist :silly:
2- It just didn't work. Now it would work even less since they should use the DAC properly.
I've used AEX from the build previous to the Oreo DAC fix (at least the first one, now there's another one seemingly) and the difference was there. AEX also has better sound than any other ROM overall (even stock mifavor).
3- Thanks, I didn't know. I mean I'm using hellsgate 2.0 right now xd
4- There's very little info about this. I guess it actually does oversample, but I was talking about upsampling on the music player app.
From what I've read around, most modern DACs oversample to a ridiculous frequency, in order to make output filters simpler and to have better highs (non-oversampling DACs have lots of harmonics on the highs). But it's not related to upsampling, say, an MP3 to 192kHz. Just take my word, doing that is bad.
5. Hi-res is discussed everywhere. I believe there's a noticeable improvement in the high frequencies but not important enough to use Neutron player.
16-bit vs 24-bit is actually quantifiable though. 24-bit audio has less noise than 16-bit.
And of course audio_flinger will report 48k ? you need to play special 192kHz FLAC files on a special Hi-Res player (e.g. neutron) with special configuration and on non-Oreo ROMs to be able to use hi-res

You'll need root and a terminal app.
Type:
su
tinymix
Now look at line 1912.
I need to know this result in two scenarios. Once when playing music (eg a YouTube video) with headphones plugged in and once with nothing plugged in.
When playing music we know our HiFi DAC is being used if the line reads "HiFi switch sel ak4490" and if it's using the standard DAC it shows "ak4961".

Dodgexander said:
You'll need root and a terminal app.
Type:
su
tinymix
Now look at line 1912.
I need to know this result in two scenarios. Once when playing music (eg a YouTube video) with headphones plugged in and once with nothing plugged in.
When playing music we know our HiFi DAC is being used if the line reads "HiFi switch sel ak4490" and if it's using the standard DAC it shows "ak4961".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
getting:
sh: tinymix not found

docentore said:
getting:
sh: tinymix not found
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ROM version, bootstack version and kernel?
Treble or gsi used at all?

Dodgexander said:
Which ROM version, bootstack version and kernel?
Treble or gsi used at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Havoc O GSI, vendor by Nfound 1.1, Shwifty V4, universal LOS bootstack

Dirac Audio Sound Enhancements Service

custom rom missing its charm without this, stock has it.....as well as snapdragon audio.
dont you guys think audio fx of any custom rom fails to deliver good output..?
audio fx is unnecessary without dirac audio service..audio fx is junk...dirac audio service needed..vanilla is always good when it is ice cream.

Arise System can be flashed with ported Dirac service on any custom rom.

hulicow said:
Arise System can be flashed with ported Dirac service on any custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can be flashed.....its all ri8....problem is not working on many custom rom bcz selinux is permissive...even after enforce it through buildprop.....if u have any workable arise with dirac...plz link below...and suggest flashing guide..

debsankar said:
can be flashed.....its all ri8....problem is not working on many custom rom bcz selinux is permissive...even after enforce it through buildprop.....if u have any workable arise with dirac...plz link below...and suggest flashing guide..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try arise aroma installer 2.94 choice install core system and repair sdcard... Viper4 or Dolby Digital Plus works fine on custom rom :good:

I agree... I've tried dolby but it breaks the music.. makes it **** (my opinion) and viper is okay but not good as stock.. we need dirac

debsankar said:
custom rom missing its charm without this, stock has it.....as well as snapdragon audio.
dont you guys think audio fx of any custom rom fails to deliver good output..?
audio fx is unnecessary without dirac audio service..audio fx is junk...dirac audio service needed..vanilla is always good when it is ice cream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The dac and the amp in this phone is very good you don't need Dirac.You can get perfect quality using audio players like USB audio player pro ,Poweramp etc that use hires audio drivers.i think the only thing that the phone misses in terms of audio is a line out mode to get bitperfect audio out if you want to use external amp

apexashwin said:
I agree... I've tried dolby but it breaks the music.. makes it **** (my opinion) and viper is okay but not good as stock.. we need dirac
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AudioFX in lineageos is doing very good job. You can also try ViperFX and configure it to your preference.
Wysłane z mojego Mi A1 przy użyciu Tapatalka

Mirdeusz said:
AudioFX in lineageos is doing very good job. You can also try ViperFX and configure it to your preference.
Wysłane z mojego Mi A1 przy użyciu Tapatalka
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i tried but in vain...viper suks if ur audiophile...

kutulu32 said:
The dac and the amp in this phone is very good you don't need Dirac.You can get perfect quality using audio players like USB audio player pro ,Poweramp etc that use hires audio drivers.i think the only thing that the phone misses in terms of audio is a line out mode to get bitperfect audio out if you want to use external amp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nutron player is the only one mp that is for audiophile...but not without dirac its nothing...trsut me...stock fx and dac is for bassheads...dirac produces proper high and mids and perfect lows..dac and fx produces only bass and treble..audio fx sucks u know that if u tuned that

debsankar said:
nutron player is the only one mp that is for audiophile...but not without dirac its nothing...trsut me...stock fx and dac is for bassheads...dirac produces proper high and mids and perfect lows..dac and fx produces only bass and treble..audio fx sucks u know that if u tuned that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of headphones do you use? The mi headphones in the Dirac profiles maybe get better audio quality. I am not against Dirac in my meizu mx4 pro that I still own (I use it as media player)It has profile for my ie8 also. I would say mi a1 sound quality is on the same level as mx4 pro .I even tested Dirac on my old iPhone 4s with Dirac player that supports apple headphones . But in general mi headphones and apple's are not very good .

debsankar said:
nutron player is the only one mp that is for audiophile...but not without dirac its nothing...trsut me...stock fx and dac is for bassheads...dirac produces proper high and mids and perfect lows..dac and fx produces only bass and treble..audio fx sucks u know that if u tuned that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yuuup agreed.. i vote; Dirac for cusrom

what is dirac is exactly?(haven't tested custom ROM, so don't know difference)
I use viper4Android in stock though. Does that disable dirac?
Any interface of dirac? or can be checked through audio quality?

kutulu32 said:
What kind of headphones do you use? The mi headphones in the Dirac profiles maybe get better audio quality. I am not against Dirac in my meizu mx4 pro that I still own (I use it as media player)It has profile for my ie8 also. I would say mi a1 sound quality is on the same level as mx4 pro .I even tested Dirac on my old iPhone 4s with Dirac player that supports apple headphones . But in general mi headphones and apple's are not very good .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u r on ri8 place to discus abput headphones...
i have used too many earphones..
each and everyone is great..i prefer audiophile earbuds...balanced audio with deep base..but not heavy bass that makes headache ri8?
1. house of marley(smile Jamaica, early bird etc)
2. Cowon(em1, ek2)
3. beats(any)
trust me use these....if ur not bassheads..i was Sennheiser fan until i met cowon specially....dont waste ur money on mi crappy headphones or apple earbuds...i am currently using cowon em1 , it outperformed beats earbuds(personal experience)...and if u r slightly prefer lows and highs better than mid as well as high base get a house of marley.. if ur true audiophile then go for cowon em1

debsankar said:
u r on ri8 place to discus abput headphones...
i have used too many earphones..
each and everyone is great..i prefer audiophile earbuds...balanced audio with deep base..but not heavy bass that makes headache ri8?
1. house of marley(smile Jamaica, early bird etc)
2. Cowon(em1, ek2)
3. beats(any)
trust me use these....if ur not bassheads..i was Sennheiser fan until i met cowon specially....dont waste ur money on mi crappy headphones or apple earbuds...i am currently using cowon em1 , it outperformed beats earbuds(personal experience)...and if u r slightly prefer lows and highs better than mid as well as high base get a house of marley.. if ur true audiophile then go for cowon em1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not a basshead too I listen to heavy metal ,hard rock I use ie8 and ie80 as portable headphones because of the good soundstage they have .at home I use hd600 . Surprisingly the mi a1 drives it quite well I think ,but I prefer my mx4 pro with fiio a5 or e12 .

ok. Understood about dirac.
But how to know if its processing or not. Does it have interface like dolby?
i see 1 apk with dirac name but no shortcut to open it or know if its working

.:Addicted:. said:
ok. Understood about dirac.
But how to know if its processing or not. Does it have interface like dolby?
i see 1 apk with dirac name but no shortcut to open it or know if its working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its background service only......no interface....but outperforms dolby or viper easily.... awesome detailed audio by dirac..must need a port this background service to custom roms.

Thats the Single Reason I left Custom ROMs,and reinstalled Stock. Dolby Atmos/Viper Trust me I dont like Personally ,don't know why the entire forum chased behind two applications ,God knows. Its my personal experience; opinion may vary person to person due to hearing/effect/choices. Currently I'm using stock with Poweramp+ Fiio Ex1 2nd gen headphone ..within 4.5k rs it produces boom sounds. High,mid everything is perfect also sound quality is much more with that price range. With Mi A1; I always advice people be on Stock ROM and buy a good quality of Headphone ...u do not need any kind of mods like viper/dolby/ainur etc...all of them are useless and tried before almost every custom ROMs.

Latest Pixel Experience (Extended and Official) both have Dirac built in now.

Internal Speaker Sound with Stock Rom and Lineage OS 15.1

I have two Le Pro 3 phones here, one has Lineage OS 15.1 and the other one is out of the box with stock rom. So it is very easy for me to test the sound for both roms at the same time.
I know already that stock rom offers the best audio quality with the built in internal spakers. Stock rom offers fuller and richer sound with also more bass with the internal speakers. There is no chance to have similar sound with the internal speakers using a custom rom without using any audio mods like dolby atmos or viper.
But even using these sound mods I was not able to tune the sound of the speakers similar to stock sound.
I made some longer sound tests with both phones and found that there is one big difference between stock and custom rom:
As the phone has Stereo speakers (upper one and lower one), the eqalization of both speakers is totally different with stock. While the upper speaker offers much more mid-range frequencies and nearly no highs the lower one is giving much more bass and high frequencies but nearly no mids. This effect is present with and without activated dolby atmos in stock rom.
So it seems to me that the stock rom uses different settings for left (upper) and right (lower) speakers. With headphones, both channels offer same sound, of course.
Using Lineage OS 15.1 without any sound mod, both speakers offer very similar sound characteristic. I am not able to hear different equalization between upper and lower speaker. The upper one has the same amount of highs, mids and lows like the lower one.
By using dolby atmos or viper, the sound quality improves impressingly but this effects both speakers in the same way.
Maybe becouse of this difference there is no chance to have the same sound characteristic with the speakers like in stock rom.
And maybe this info could help someone to imrove speaker-sound with lineage?

Hi @walking-desaster , maybe you can give the MIUI Ares ROMs a try and compare the sound quality.
This ROM are based on a clone of the X720 (Cool Changer S1 with JUI ROM) and should use similar or updated drivers with Nougat and MIUI 9 on top.
The ROM is posted both on 4PDA and by @tsongming in his Megadrive.
I am not sure why the version posted by Alex_Agir is different from Tsongmings megadrive, maybe he can explain.
Would be interesting to learn your experience.

Wortelstok said:
Hi @walking-desaster , maybe you can give the MIUI Ares ROMs a try and compare the sound quality.
This ROM are based on a clone of the X720 (Cool Changer S1 with JUI ROM) and should use similar or updated drivers with Nougat and MIUI 9 on top.
The ROM is posted both on 4PDA and by @tsongming in his Megadrive.
I am not sure why the version posted by Alex_Agir is different from Tsongmings megadrive, maybe he can explain.
Would be interesting to learn your experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no difference between the Rom Alex_Agir and the one on my Megadrive and I gave him credit.
I posted the file on the megadrive and will soon add it to AFH as well. Just to make it easier to get to. Alot of people use browser that do not translate sites as 4PDA very well. Plus, the Megadrive link includes additional addon, to enhance the MIUI Ares ROM, and to make installation quicker for someone new to Miui.
Like @walking-desaster, I am a big fan of audio.
In fact for me, as a hobbyist recording musician, its usually the most important aspect of my phone. But, I too have multiple Leeco's ( four) so its easy to tryout everything. Plus, I still have my old iPhone, which I use like an iPod for my car.
I agree that stock EUI sound is far superior, and modded EUI's out there seem to be just short of the stellar sound offered by stock. but its close. My issue with stock is that its using marshmallow, which I can't stand.
The Miui Ares rom has the best sound quality of any Rom that I have used since stock. To go on Stock sounds better with Dolby and custom Roms sound better with Dolby. Both sound better with Viper.
Viper is better than Dolby because it has all of the same tools. such as EQ and compression but takes it a step further with the option of being able to add profiles. The profiles include packets of .irs files. Which are convolution reverb impulses ( which are actual acoustic measurements of rooms or speakers) these convolution files allow you to simulate the sounds of room reverb and speaker acoustics. They are similar the impulse responses used in electric guitar amps and headphone emulators.
You can download profiles from my Google drive: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KtNtBOw1Hj7Rw4OVT2wWdE1ujDAZgo9x
or better yet use these instead
Use the profiles from my drive but use impulse files from sites such as these : https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2372750
Note, you have to manually add the profiles here: storage/Viper4Android/
BTW, were you aware the Leeco CDLA headphones has a DAC chip and use Dupont speakers?

Fix for sup-par sound quality

***(Update: I've found a fix! Being in stock room and installing Ainur Sauron mk ii.ii has improved the frequency response of the phone. The volume is same as before (but it's still adequate), so PowerAmp/Firefox/VLC is still much louder. But now the sound signature is similar. No more pathetically weak bass and overly bright sound!
BTW, Ainur Sauron doesn't work on LineageOS, RRemix, etc. I think Ron's made with Shivam Kumar Jha's trees are incompatible with Sauron. So I'm using stock 318)
I'm sure I'm not the only one that has noticed how badly Asus has tuned the audio of this phone (esp. through the 3.5mm jack).
The Snapdragon 636's SoC is capable of providing pretty decent audio quality. But in the ZMPM1 only the sound through a select few apps (Firefox, PowerAmp with hires 24bit + 88/176/352/384khz audio, VLC, etc) is good. The sound from almost all other apps and audio mods like V4a is pretty bad.
For example, the sound produced by Firefox when playing YT videos is quite full and rich and has a seemingly accurate and linear frequency response. The same video when played through the YT app not only has much less volume, but also has a completely different sound signature with reduced bass, harsh treble, and an overall tinny and compressed feeling. (BTW, it's definitely the phone and not my headphones/IEMs)
Now in previous phones I've experienced that Firefox's audio is not changed by mods such as V4a or other equalizers. This makes me believe that Asus has, for some reason, purposely worsened the sound (perhaps due to some issue with the amp? IDK)
So is there any way to revert/override/bypass the changes made by Asus in all apps? So far I've tried the following-
1. Used Lineage Os 15.1 by Shivam Kumar Jha. It boosts the volume so there's no difference in volume between the good and bad sound, but the sound is still bass-lacking and tinny in most apps while full and rich in Firefox.
2. Used Ainur Sauron mk ii - Didn't fix it.
3. Used V4a- Not only did it not fix it, but installing the V4a driver means audio is now capped at 48khz and 16bit, so even PowerAmp hires breaks.
4. Other equalizers- doesn't really remedy the problem, only masks it somewhat (that too pretty badly).
So is there some way to maybe modify the audio effects or mixer paths files to remove this? Or is this just baked into the device in such a way that it's not fixable? I hate being limited to Firefox for YouTube and PowerAmp hires for local audio, and not being able to use viperDDC/IRS for headphone compensation makes things worse. So any help would be very much appreciated.

For me with V4A sound is great by using Convoler/IRS mod, and some tweaks in compatible mode.

GryTEcHoG said:
For me with V4A sound is great by using Convoler/IRS mod, and some tweaks in compatible mode.
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Click to collapse
V4a just changes the sound, it doesn't improve it. And with it's 48khz 16bit limit even PowerAmp's hi res output becomes average quality.
Even if you neutralize the frequency curve with v4a, it can never improve the slightly garbled and compressed nature of the Zenphone's sound. Instrument separation cleraly suffers because of it.

SD008 said:
V4a just changes the sound, it doesn't improve it. And with it's 48khz 16bit limit even PowerAmp's hi res output becomes average quality.
Even if you neutralize the frequency curve with v4a, it can never improve the slightly garbled and compressed nature of the Zenphone's sound. Instrument separation cleraly suffers because of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Can you give me an audio sample file where you could see diff clearly ? So i can test it our myself with with and without v4a, and might be able to figure out.
Thanks

man thanks for this post, i am raising this issue in asus offical forum and xda alos, but mostly people are only worried about the camera quality and gaming perfomance, nobody even in youtube reviews talked abut worst sound quality of this phone, i dont know why.
i even raised service request with Asus but they did not provide any solution, more and more developer need to fix in future custom rom. other else this phone is total waste, i am movie and music loving guy, the movie sound is terrible from earpone jack, in night when i want to watch movie and listen to music , i cant do it, because its not pleasant,
the speaker is good, but 3.5 jack sound is very very bad, i request all rom developer please fix this in your custom rom, as asus is not listening
There are kernel avaible so may there is a way to enhance or tweak the sound from that level, please do it, if i had know that this is the issue, i would have gone for RN5 Pro phone, instead of this one, i need a great experience, even phone selling at 5000 have clear and loud sound i had Lenovo A6000 Plus, which was almost half of this phones price, but man the sound was so great
Asus Please fix this in updates, other else this is waste, not only sound, there are many more bugs in this phone, Asus just rushed this half backed phone to market, the phone should be balance of Hardware and Software, only having good hardware at competitive price is not enough, you need to have a great software to use the hardware properly, asus missed onthis one
even the LED notification and front flash is of cheap quality, even in dark night or dark room LED notification does not glow enough why Asus why
Camera software is patheric, but thanks to some mod, now we can use Google camera, i will use it for few months and then sell it, because its not pleasant to use due to many software issue and some cheap parts used by Asus.

Update: Using Ainur Sauron while on the stock room and enabling FMAS drivers using the Sauron useroptions file improved the sound (I think, or it just might be me slowly losing my mind, lol). I've also increased the volume of hphl and hphr in vendor/etc/mixer_paths.xml to 12, that may or may not have had something to do with it. The volume is still much lower than PowerAmp/Firefox, but the sound signature seems to be more neutral. Using splitscreen it seems that Firefox @ volume 6 and YouTube app @ volume 10 sound almost identical, and both of these sound pretty similar to an ancient s4 (which has a pretty linear frequency response).

I received my phone a about a week ago and I agree, coming from my old oneplus one the audio was lacking depth, it had recessed vocals with high interfering in between, and shrill highs. After carefully listening many flac and other audio files back and forth on my old phone and Asus, I came to the conclusion that the entire audio output spectrum of zenfone max pro m1 is shifted towards the right, which explains all the aforementioned issues. I have posted the same on zentalk and I really hope that this issue gets fixed soon. Too bad very few people look for decent audio quality in budget segment otherwise this wouldn't have been an issue at the first place.

Those that are still facing this problem, I stock room+Ainur Sauron. I've updated the OP with some relevant info.

This sounds great. Don't know why all people are complaining about 3.5 mm jack sound. I can hear each and every note of all songs same as I can on my pc. I've tried a lot of different earphones/headphones (2 sennheiser, 1 flipkart smart buy in ear, 1 Sony (over Ear) don't know the model was my friend's, 1 boat and 1 Philips. All sounded different but were very clear and fine.

SD008 said:
Update: Using Ainur Sauron while on the stock room and enabling FMAS drivers using the Sauron useroptions file improved the sound (I think, or it just might be me slowly losing my mind, lol). I've also increased the volume of hphl and hphr in vendor/etc/mixer_paths.xml to 12, that may or may not have had something to do with it. The volume is still much lower than PowerAmp/Firefox, but the sound signature seems to be more neutral. Using splitscreen it seems that Firefox @ volume 6 and YouTube app @ volume 10 sound almost identical, and both of these sound pretty similar to an ancient s4 (which has a pretty linear frequency response).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to enable 'FMAS drivers using sauron useroptions'... I have installed Ainur sauron

So after all these days I've found the perfect fix for speaker and headset audio quality improvement, install viper4android xHiFi from magisk and tweak the setting to your taste. the best part is all these changes are global, so unlike music FX or similar apps, these effects will not be limited to music players. I was also able to remove the sharp audio output from earphones and the loudspeaker using the EQ within viper. The addon also processed bluetooth audio but I haven't tested it yet.

Bro ,i am on the same boat ,but got good quality output using vlc player with audio output set to Open SL ES..Do it ,live with it till we get an update from ASUS.

Since i Love music i flashed a custom rom and now i'm enjoying music as i use to. Shane on Asus for ****ing up the audio on the device

Easiest way if you don't want to root
Just install vidmate and listen songs in it.
Try it just once.

Best ROMs for audio or stock is good help guys

Hey guys hope your zte axon 7 is still rocking ,well I am using my axon 7 for last 3 year and after a battery replacement it's now as good as new never tried custom ROMs coz of audio performance but now I want to try new ROMs for speed but can't compromise with audio quality can any one help me out choosing rit custom ROMs .thanx in advance

I don't know if there is a huge difference in sound between custom roms.
Mostly, it depends on equalizer like Dolby Atmos, V4A, JamesDSP, DTS:X etc.
But, there's a catch in custom rom, they use high quality dac on headphone and you can't switch it back to standard dac. I have one pair of headphone which sounds a little bit worse on High Quality mode than on Standard Quality. Don't know why and I really don't care that much.
Personally, I prefer Viper4Android to Dolby Atmos, due to many options in V4A, which let you fit - let's just say - to your sound preference.
I only miss surround virtualization from Dolby Atmos for movies.
I tried several Surround IRS but didn't found anything worth.
Using unofficial Lineage OS 15.1 (from Unjustified Dev), Bladder Kernel with Viper4Android 2.6.0.5 (using this version due to conflict between Selinux Enforced and Convolver).
Speaker Optimization sounds pretty bad, I recommend to try some of IRS for Convolver.
That one below, sounds pretty, it even gives nice bass but it didn't work on V4A 2.7.0.0 and doesn't sound same on JamesDSP like on older V4A.
Edit: Just be aware of volume, some of IRS may be louder than original volume and may damage your speakers.

klałn said:
I don't know if there is a huge difference in sound between custom roms.
Mostly, it depends on equalizer like Dolby Atmos, V4A, JamesDSP, DTS:X etc.
But, there's a catch in custom rom, they use high quality dac on headphone and you can't switch it back to standard dac. I have one pair of headphone which sounds a little bit worse on High Quality mode than on Standard Quality. Don't know why and I really don't care that much.
Personally, I prefer Viper4Android to Dolby Atmos, due to many options in V4A, which let you fit - let's just say - to your sound preference.
I only miss surround virtualization from Dolby Atmos for movies.
I tried several Surround IRS but didn't found anything worth.
Using unofficial Lineage OS 15.1 (from Unjustified Dev), Bladder Kernel with Viper4Android 2.6.0.5 (using this version due to conflict between Selinux Enforced and Convolver).
Speaker Optimization sounds pretty bad, I recommend to try some of IRS for Convolver.
That one below, sounds pretty, it even gives nice bass but it didn't work on V4A 2.7.0.0 and doesn't sound same on JamesDSP like on older V4A.
Edit: Just be aware of volume, some of IRS may be louder than original volume and may damage your speakers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have very similar set now with latest unoff. Lineage, with beta baddar kelner, viper fx with xhr soundplus convolver, musicfx + removed audiofx, gcam 6.1.021 and etc.
I am quite satisfied with the sound and experience which i have from adwanced tweaking