Related
Finally gave up the ol iPhone 3G and "upgraded" to an SGSII. I paid a lot of money and figured it'd work, but there are two extremely niggling problems that I cannot fix.
1. No one calling me can hear me unless I use speakerphone. I did successfully fix that once with some settings accessed by typing in a number and changing a few things, but that reset when I reset my phone...I've yet to be able to fix this.
2. When listening to music on my massive Sennheiser headphones I can't hear much at all. On the iPhone if I'd even approached full volume, I woulda blown my head off, on the SGSII, even on full, Metallica sounds like a soothing lullaby.
Are there any fixes for these issues? Or are these things that perhaps are fixed simply from having a different firmware? An almost 800 dollar phone, it'd be nice if it did two basic functions without flopping.
All help is appreciated.
EDIT: Oh and forgot to mention, I know the mic works thanks to speaker phone making me heard and I know headphones/sound output can be louder because the app Volume+ or whatever boosts it fine. I just don't want to use a seperate app each time, I want a more permanant fix.
EDIT2: Okay, Poweramp works fine, and I also see types of headphones are to blame. Like the earphones that came with the phone are fine. They have 3 notches on the plug as opposed to 2. I'd say that's a fair indication. Anyway, can consider this problem solved.
Also I've been told my warranty was indeed automatic, so if I truly cannot fix the mic problem again, apparently I can send it away to get fixed. Although I guess I'll have to reset and all, hide root and all that. Don't even know how, nor do I want to be phone-less, so help will still be very appreciated.
Rizaria said:
1. No one calling me can hear me unless I use speakerphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a defect to me ... I would try to get an exchange. Maybe first compre with another SGS2 in a shop.
2. When listening to music on my massive Sennheiser headphones I can't hear much at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty normal with mobile devices, which usually have an output impedance of 32 Ohm. Large HiFi headphones are optimized for much more powerfull amplifiers and so have an impedance of 250 Ohm or even more. This results in much lower volume, if high impedance headphones are used on mobile devices like phones, notebooks or MP3 players.
A further reason is, that the SGS2 has lower maximum volume, than several competitors ... seems to be limited by software.
Download Poweramp from the market ... it's worth every cent, but there's also a time limited demo. This app has a nice preamp, which allows you to raise the overall volume and it's equalizer is also very good.
I use Ogg Vorbis (224 bitrate) songs with this app combined with an AKG K319, the best mobile headphones I ever tried ... much better than even most big Sennheisers ... that being said from a former Sennheiser fan For home HiFi I recommend Beyerdynamic DT880 or DT990. Try these headphones and you'll sell your Sennheiser
The combination of Ogg Vorbis (MP3 sucks in comparison), AKG and Poweramp give me fantastic sound quality!
And don't use Metallica for testing ... their records are highly compressed ... complete junk from an accustically perspective, because all dynamics are compressed away. Google for "audio compressor" and you'll understand.
i use a combination of poweramp with a 'smiley face' or 'rocl' equalizer setting and volume+ with +3 and good quality equalizer settings.
makes my koss portapros truly shine in terms of volume and clarity.
First off, lemme say thanks for the replies. 'Preciate it.
Aymara said:
Sounds like a defect to me ... I would try to get an exchange. Maybe first compre with another SGS2 in a shop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly, it's been awhile since I got it though and I dunno where I put my receipt so I sort of doubt the shop will care. And defect or not, I feel it's more a software/firmware issue as I truly was able to fix it at some point.
That's pretty normal with mobile devices, which usually have an output impedance of 32 Ohm. Large HiFi headphones are optimized for much more powerfull amplifiers and so have an impedance of 250 Ohm or even more. This results in much lower volume, if high impedance headphones are used on mobile devices like phones, notebooks or MP3 players.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, didn't know that. Still doesn't explain why my headphones worked amazingly with my old iPhone but terrible with this. :c Not that I bought these headphones for taking out and about, rather bulky. Might hafta buy some others..
A further reason is, that the SGS2 has lower maximum volume, than several competitors ... seems to be limited by software.
Download Poweramp from the market ... it's worth every cent, but there's also a time limited demo. This app has a nice preamp, which allows you to raise the overall volume and it's equalizer is also very good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I gathered as when I used a similar app called Volume+ I found it quite capable of better sound. That's why I'd like some help with changing the Samsung audio settings. I know my way around them, but there's so many opions and changeable things I'm not sure what to do. I'll give Poweramp a look.
I use Ogg Vorbis (224 bitrate) songs with this app combined with an AKG K319, the best mobile headphones I ever tried ... much better than even most big Sennheisers ... that being said from a former Sennheiser fan For home HiFi I recommend Beyerdynamic DT880 or DT990. Try these headphones and you'll sell your Sennheiser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So cannot be arsed getting OGG versions ofall my music. xD And having to re-tag it all. If OGGs can even be tagged and have art. But yeah, way too much effort but I don't doubt you.
And don't use Metallica for testing ... their records are highly compressed ... complete junk from an accustically perspective, because all dynamics are compressed away. Google for "audio compressor" and you'll understand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps. But they're loud songs nonetheless, particularly the live ones. I can certainly hear the difference. Way too quiet on the SGS2. :c
rab1412000 said:
i use a combination of poweramp with a 'smiley face' or 'rocl' equalizer setting and volume+ with +3 and good quality equalizer settings.
makes my koss portapros truly shine in terms of volume and clarity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using more than one app is even more than my not wanting to use one in the first place. Certainly wouldn't help battery life, as this all only matters when I'm travelling long distance and need music.
There are 2 microphones on the sgs2. One is on the bottom edge and one is on the top edge. The bottom one is for regular calls and is broken on your phone. The top one is for speakerphone, which is obviously working.
I suggest returning your phone under warranty as the volume issue is not normal either.
Sent from my GT-I9100M
Electroz said:
There are 2 microphones on the sgs2. One is on the bottom edge and one is on the top edge. The bottom one is for regular calls and is broken on your phone. The top one is for speakerphone, which is obviously working.
I suggest returning your phone under warranty as the volume issue is not normal either.
Sent from my GT-I9100M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're not broken as such because as stated I was able to fiddle with some settings and get normal calls working fine, it just lost those settings after a reset. Some sort of firmware fault, I've heard of cases where people had the same issue back on the original SGS.
I could never get the warranty going. Samsung's website wouldn't recognise it at all. Never got around to trying to start the warranty manually. Probably too late now.
Also, to those who recommended Poweramp; I'm impressed. that's not a bad work around actually. Shame it doesn't have playlist support though.
EDIT: Oh, it does! perfect little app, thanks guys. Now I just need to find settings to fix my in-call volume issue then I'm all set.
Rizaria said:
Using more than one app is even more than my not wanting to use one in the first place. Certainly wouldn't help battery life, as this all only matters when I'm travelling long distance and need music.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
volume+ has no perceptible hit on battery life fyi
edit:
why dont you give it a try first. you could always kill it or uninstall it if it doesnt work out for you. it has a v small memory footprint btw.
rab1412000 said:
volume+ has no perceptible hit on battery life fyi
edit:
why dont you give it a try first. you could always kill it or uninstall it if it doesnt work out for you. it has a v small memory footprint btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah alright, I might've imagined it. I'll use it if need-be, at least Poweramp seems to do the job as-is but thanks for the recommendation.
Rizaria said:
Hmm, didn't know that. Still doesn't explain why my headphones worked amazingly with my old iPhone but terrible with this. :c Not that I bought these headphones for taking out and about, rather bulky. Might hafta buy some others..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats what you call impedance mismatch.
for example, my woodees in-ear sound excellent on an iphone/ipod. in fact, it is a match to a bose QC15 any day. however it sounds muffled on my laptop and sgs2.
its the complete opposite with my koss portapros which sound amazing on my laptops and sgs2 and sound just ok on the ipod.
there is most probably nothing wrong with both your headphones and phone, but just keep this in mind. it is one reason why certain audiophiles have more than one iem.
edit:
forgot about your in-call issues, yes that could be a hardware problem.
rab1412000 said:
thats what you call impedance mismatch.
for example, my woodees in-ear sound excellent on an iphone/ipod. in fact, it is a match to a bose QC15 any day. however it sounds muffled on my laptop and sgs2.
its the complete opposite with my koss portapros which sound amazing on my laptops and sgs2 and sound just ok on the ipod.
there is most probably nothing wrong with both your headphones and phone, but just keep this in mind. it is one reason why certain audiophiles have more than one iem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a pain in the arse. :c Had no idea audio could be so damn complicated.
At least Poweramp seems to make things loud enough. Might have to invest in some more portable headphones in the future though.
personally, id try to get your in-call volume issues sorted out first.
that just isnt right and could indeed point to a h/w defect.
rab1412000 said:
personally, id try to get your in-call volume issues sorted out first.
that just isnt right and could indeed point to a h/w defect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That basically is all I need sorting now. The underlying problem of the music volume may not be fixed, but the apps suggested here get around it fine.
I still don't think it was a hardware defect as I really did have it fixed at one point. Stupid reset. I think it's some semi-unique firm/software issue I have.
Rizaria said:
Had no idea audio could be so damn complicated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the downside of the MP3 age ... most people don't know nothing about audio quality and what's worse, they don't know what they missed so far.
There are several lessons to learn:
1. MP3 sucks even at highest bitrate, because frequencies above 15 KHz are cut off and basses are always distorted if the music is a bit louder. If you have good audio hardware, MP3 sounds much worse than a good Audio CD.
2. Ogg Vorbis is a good compromise for mobile use compared to Flac with it's extremly large files. If you rip a CD with quality setting Q=7 (224 kbit) you won't hear a difference to the CD except when using a DDD recording on a high end HiFi home sytem and having yourself very trained ears And what's also nice is, the file size is similar to MP3.
And yes, you can use album art with Ogg ... embed it with Media Monkey on PC or if you rip a complete album to a folder, just place a JPG in that folder which has the same file name as the album title. Both Media Monkey and the SGS2 will show it (no matter if stock player or Poweramp). No need to mention, that all MP3 tags also can be embedded in Ogg.
3. Good audio hardware is needed ... and though the stock volume is a bit low on the SGS2, it's Yamaha audio engine is quite good. But the stock audio player is crap. It's impossible to get good equalization without distortion in the bass bands. But Poweramp solves this problem, if you set it up correctly.
So all that is missing now is a good headphone. The best mobile headphone with correct impedance you can get below 100$ nowadays is the AKG K319 ... though it ships with a hardcase and has fantastic sound, it's not very popular or let's say not well known, so you can get it really cheap ... got it for only 25 Euros
But if you are a bass junkie, the Koss Porta Pro might be the better choice. It has a little bit more bass response as the AKG, but is more bulky and can't compete with the AKG's sound "crispness" in middle and high frequency bands.
Conclusion: After already switching to Poweramp, Ogg and a good mobile headphone will give give you a second WOW effect
Aymara said:
Conclusion: After already switching to Poweramp, Ogg and a good mobile headphone will give give you a second WOW effect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very interesting. I knew some of that, but not quite to that extent. Regardless though, the sheer time it'd take me to replace my songs..ugh, I shudder at the thought. Also I prefer mp3 and m4a for cross-system compatibility and iTunes use. Still my fave way of organising and listening to music I'm almost ashamed to say.
That being said, I installed Winamp just for transferring my music and playlists onto my SGS2 properly.
I'll keep the headphones in mind, but Poweramp itself solves the bulk of that problem. x3 Now if only I could fix my major problem.
Rizaria said:
Also I prefer mp3 and m4a for cross-system compatibility and iTunes use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MP3 will die over time, not only because it sounds horrible. The main reason are the licence fees, devs and manufacturers have to pay ... Ogg on the other hand is free ... did you notice, that nearly all newer devices suport Ogg?
It can understand, that switching a large archive to Ogg can be a lot of work, but it's zero hassle to use Ogg for new material.
I highly recommend to compare the sound quality.
Now if only I could fix my major problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mentioned, that you found a fix, but a reboot resets it. Do you use the latest firmware or a custom ROM?
Aymara said:
MP3 will die over time, not only because it sounds horrible. The main reason are the licence fees, devs and manufacturers have to pay ... Ogg on the other hand is free ... did you notice, that nearly all newer devices suport Ogg?
It can understand, that switching a large archive to Ogg can be a lot of work, but it's zero hassle to use Ogg for new material.
I highly recommend to compare the sound quality.
You mentioned, that you found a fix, but a reboot resets it. Do you use the latest firmware or a custom ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I don't doubt it. Gotta love that open source. I might investigate more into ogg files when I have more spare time.
As for the firmware, I believe I updated to a latest one. At least I don't think it was custom, looked the same as the stock, stupid TouchWiz and all. Only updated to root it basically. 'Cause I think my stock rom was an Optus mutated version basically, so couldn't root it. Something like that.
Lets check the settings..hmm...Android Version: 2.3.3, Baseband Version: I9100XXKDJ, Kernel Version: 2.6.35.7-I9100XWEK2-CL187606 [email protected] #2, Build Number: GINGERBREAD.XWKE2.
That's all I know.
Rizaria said:
I might investigate more into ogg files when I have more spare time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One last word about Ogg ... it's only superior to MP3 at 224 KBit and above!
At least I don't think it was custom, ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You think? Where did you get it from? I only updated by OTA ... staying stock so far.
maybe 2.3.5 will fix that
Aymara said:
One last word about Ogg ... it's only superior to MP3 at 224 KBit and above!
You think? Where did you get it from? I only updated by OTA ... staying stock so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to only have MP3s above 192kbps, mostly higher, so I guess I'll know to keep the trend for oggs.
And yes, I believe so. The OTA updating thing didn't work. Again, I believe, because it was an Optus-edited firmware.
tuvi123 said:
maybe 2.3.5 will fix that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps. If I update again does it keep my root or will I have to do that again?
EDIT: Okay, Poweramp works fine, and I also see types of headphones are to blame. Like the earphones that came with the phone are fine. They have 3 notches on the plug as opposed to 2. I'd say that's a fair indication. Anyway, can consider this problem solved.
Also I've been told my warranty was indeed automatic, so if I truly cannot fix the mic problem again, apparently I can send it away to get fixed. Although I guess I'll have to reset and all, hide root and all that. Don't even know how, nor do I want to be phone-less, so help will still be very appreciated.
Aymara said:
But if you are a bass junkie, the Koss Porta Pro might be the better choice. It has a little bit more bass response as the AKG, but is more bulky and can't compete with the AKG's sound "crispness" in middle and high frequency bands.
Conclusion: After already switching to Poweramp, Ogg and a good mobile headphone will give give you a second WOW effect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with most everything you said except your comments on the koss portapros.
Unlike most iem's, the koss us not bass heavy and in fact shines in separation, natural sound reproduction and over all warness and crispness. It is definitely not a headphone for bass heads.
I like listening to modern music with a lot of strings and I get a lot of separation in the high frequencies.
Like i said I've compared it to a Boss quiet comfort 15 and senn 555's.
Your akg is very good too, but at a third of the price less, i personally feel the koss is a better buy.
And that's why it's design has been the same for the past 25 years
sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk
I've been considering for a while to buy a good headphones and I've decided to buy an audio technica ath-m50. The only thing that is bothering me is the yamaha audio chip. If I buy those headphones, I'll be using them most of the time on my sgs2.
Will the yamaha chip make the ath-m50 sound like a cheap low-end headphone?
If you happen to own an ath-m50 I wold really appreciate it if you could measure the hollow of the earth cups, diagonally and horizontally maybe. I've read that people with large ears may find them uncomfortable. The length of my ears are just below 7cm(I don't care, they are small, my mum told me that)
I've read supercurio's analysis of the audio chip but my question still remains.
Waiting eagerly for any response.
Get an iPod nano- excellent sound quality and a great price. I hate using my GSII for music though Poweramp is a great app
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
WagTwo said:
I've been considering for a while to buy a good headphones and I've decided to buy an audio technica ath-m50. The only thing that is bothering me is the yamaha audio chip. If I buy those headphones, I'll be using them most of the time on my sgs2.
Will the yamaha chip make the ath-m50 sound like a cheap low-end headphone?
If you happen to own an ath-m50 I wold really appreciate it if you could measure the hollow of the earth cups, diagonally and horizontally maybe. I've read that people with large ears may find them uncomfortable. The length of my ears are just below 7cm(I don't care, they are small, my mum told me that)
I've read supercurio's analysis of the audio chip but my question still remains.
Waiting eagerly for any response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if you really want to use a pair of high end headphones with the galaxy sII, get a portable amp like i did. I got a fiio e7, and it powers the ath-m50just fine. Listening to them straight out of the GSII audio jack wont let them utilise their full power. And dont get an iPod if you want really high quality audio. :-/ (Just a suggestion )
Sent from my GT-P7500 using XDA App
@OP go head and also look at this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1405840
Nyssa1104 said:
@OP go head and also look at this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1405840
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have bought that app even though I rarely use it because for me the s2 is loud enough. I'm more worried about the quality of the sound.
WagTwo said:
I have bought that app even though I rarely use it because for me the s2 is loud enough. I'm more worried about the quality of the sound.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It simple buddy take your handset into a store that sells these headsets and test the thing in house.
From there your should be able to make up your mind.
Nyssa1104 said:
It simple buddy take your handset into a store that sells these headsets and test the thing in house.
From there your should be able to make up your mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've thought of this, the only problem is finding a store that sells the audio technica ath-m50. I live in London I'm sure there is plenty of stores.
However this would not be much help because I'm not very experienced with high end headphones, so probably almost anything will sound good to me.
If you want to listen to boom boom music with heavy bass then the SGS2 is inadequate .Expensive headphones are not going to do that much .
However as a user who does not have any boom boom music i find stock player headphones or slightly upmarket low end Sennheiser headphones fine .
Power Amp for me strangely lowers sound output level .
jje
I've the same experience as JJEgan with Power Amp. It seems to boost dynamic range at the sacrifice of overall volume.
For getting the best out of high-end headphones, you could always try Neutron Music Player from Android Market. It claims to use its own "32-bit audio music rendering core", although it's debatable whether this makes a difference, given that uncompressed CDs only have 16-bits per sample. People seem to like it, though.
Just recently I noticed something when listening to music using Poweramp with a headphone.
When you click on something such as the app drawer, the volume of the music that you are listening to increases for fraction of a second then it goes back to normal.
It can be very annoying when you are using the phone while listening.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Thanks for all the replies.
I've started to change my mind about buying an audio technica ath-m50, maybe I should stick with the headphones from poundland.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Tephlon said:
I've the same experience as JJEgan with Power Amp. It seems to boost dynamic range at the sacrifice of overall volume.
For getting the best out of high-end headphones, you could always try Neutron Music Player from Android Market. It claims to use its own "32-bit audio music rendering core", although it's debatable whether this makes a difference, given that uncompressed CDs only have 16-bits per sample. People seem to like it, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried Neutron at the weekend, and these old ears couldn't see - OK, hear - what the fuss is about. No difference from Poweramp with a very unscientific ABX on my Sennheiser IE8s.
Definitely the worst UI I've seen on any music player though - so hideous that it should win awards.
Get rockbox.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
I use studio beats by dre, they have an amp built into them and they kick bass hard, hi fi quality audio! I work in poundland and trust me their headphones don't work well with the sg2, i hope this helps
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
I'm going to buy AKG K240 mk II.
I will buy a FiiO E6 with the AKG. The last tweaks will be done with DSP.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Senn HD25-1s and Ety ER4-Ps both sound fine straight out of the headphone socket.
Using poweramp, without any eq or tone control tweaks, just ~30% crossfeed.
I read all the reports of crappy audio on the GS2, so when I got mine and tried it I was very pleasantly suprised.
Whereabouts in Poweramp settings is crossfeed...Didn't realise Poweramp supported it ?
bejay said:
Senn HD25-1s and Ety ER4-Ps both sound fine straight out of the headphone socket.
Using poweramp, without any eq or tone control tweaks, just ~30% crossfeed.
I read all the reports of crappy audio on the GS2, so when I got mine and tried it I was very pleasantly suprised.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the tone/vol/bal page, next to the volume control. It's labeled stereo x.
Ahhhh. So that's what Poweramp calls crossfeed. Gotcha Yeah I normally have that on around 35% with Brainwavz M3's.
Thanks for that bit of info
Edit to add - Out of thanks for the day, will hit you up later.
bejay said:
On the tone/vol/bal page, next to the volume control. It's labeled stereo x.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem
Hi there,
I'm about (prolly) to buy a LG G2 in the next incomming days.
I was wondering what you guys were thinking about the Sound Quality of the G2, whichever variant you got, and how loud/quiet you think it is, from headphones, earpiece, or external speaker.
Lets hear your thoughts !
Paradoxxx said:
Hi there,
I'm about (prolly) to buy a LG G2 in the next incomming days.
I was wondering what you guys were thinking about the Sound Quality of the G2, whichever variant you got, and how loud/quiet you think it is, from headphones, earpiece, or external speaker.
Lets hear your thoughts !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'l say this, the G2 uses aptX, so I went to go find an aptX compatible headset. I purchased the LG HBS730 bt stereo headset... It'll be hard to top that in my mind.
The audio quality is really good. But then I rooted and installed viper4android and now, my audio is easily much better than on my s4
Stock, untweaked, the loudspeakers are adequate for only typical indoor (office/home) use, IMO. I was on a speakerphone call outside and found the speaker had too little volume to compete against the urban background noise (trucks and such passing by at idle speeds). I opted to put in my headphones instead.
Ringers and notifications seemed to be adequate, again, for typical office and domestic settings. No way could I hear them driving down the highway with the windows down.
After installing Malladus, which includes volume tweaks, the notifications are significantly louder such that I've been able to set those sliders at mid position for my daily needs. The alarm has no problem waking me in the morning.
As far as line out and BT A2DP quality, I'd say it's very good but not quite up to the hype. Caveat, I have not yet tried any 24/192 source material. I mostly listen to 320k or better MP3 and FLAC music thru Neutron. For BT, it streams thru a Clarion FZ501 head unit. The headphone out drives a pair of Shure SE535s with Head-Fi-derived EQ tweaks. No outboard DAC or amp. I hate carrying more than absolutely necessary.
My research has concluded that Viper and Neutron are mutually exclusive and most head-fi'ers seem to prefer Neutron. I haven't tried Viper. I may one day, but haven't yet heard heard an informed, compelling argument to switch.
Line-out audio performance was in my Top-3 for priorities. I'm not disappointed or blown away. It's more than adequate for a quality mobile audio source, IMO.
cggorman said:
Stock, untweaked, the loudspeakers are adequate for only typical indoor (office/home) use, IMO. I was on a speakerphone call outside and found the speaker had too little volume to compete against the urban background noise (trucks and such passing by at idle speeds). I opted to put in my headphones instead.
Ringers and notifications seemed to be adequate, again, for typical office and domestic settings. No way could I hear them driving down the highway with the windows down.
After installing Malladus, which includes volume tweaks, the notifications are significantly louder such that I've been able to set those sliders at mid position for my daily needs. The alarm has no problem waking me in the morning.
As far as line out and BT A2DP quality, I'd say it's very good but not quite up to the hype. Caveat, I have not yet tried any 24/192 source material. I mostly listen to 320k or better MP3 and FLAC music thru Neutron. For BT, it streams thru a Clarion FZ501 head unit. The headphone out drives a pair of Shure SE535s with Head-Fi-derived EQ tweaks. No outboard DAC or amp. I hate carrying more than absolutely necessary.
My research has concluded that Viper and Neutron are mutually exclusive and most head-fi'ers seem to prefer Neutron. I haven't tried Viper. I may one day, but haven't yet heard heard an informed, compelling argument to switch.
Line-out audio performance was in my Top-3 for priorities. I'm not disappointed or blown away. It's more than adequate for a quality mobile audio source, IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good.
I've been using viper since ages now, and it got really the thing that other eq/audio mods don't have, but I couldn't tell you what it is.
You should give it a go sometimes.
Do you find the headphones loud enough?
Sounds really good also went ahead and installed Viper4Android to tweak up the sound my favorite EQ/Sound mod of them all.
On my Jaybirds BlueBuds X (bluetooth) they sound great!
With malladus ROM now my headphones are almost uncomfortable at max vol. I use vmoda crossfades can't beat cans ?
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
jrgilbert79 said:
With malladus ROM now my headphones are almost uncomfortable at max vol. I use vmoda crossfades can't beat cans ?
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, sounds good if it comes too loud. Since I just use in ear headphones, it might be loud enough at the end !
I have used this volume boost mod to improve the audio output levels on the g2:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2482750
I prefer to keep things stock as possible (neutral sounding) as far as audio signal processing is concerned when listening to my audio.
I run sennheiser ie-80 in-ears currently (16 ohms) and they pair really well with the dac in this phone.
The stock music player is quite capable on this phone, and Neutron has seen minimal use in the time I've had it, although it is installed.
I owned the note 3 for a week before returning it for the lg g2.
I came from the Samsung note 2 before that which I also initially bought for the audio capabilities and ended up using the same volume boosting technique for the same reasons, the g2 audio does surpass the note 2 audio quality with the stock lg audio player, voume boost mod, and proper audio source files.
Paradoxxx said:
Sounds good.
I've been using viper since ages now, and it got really the thing that other eq/audio mods don't have, but I couldn't tell you what it is.
You should give it a go sometimes.
Do you find the headphones loud enough?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I seldom run more than about 70%, but most IEMs aren't hard to drive.
---------- Post added 25th October 2013 at 12:03 AM ---------- Previous post was 24th October 2013 at 11:59 PM ----------
sil0 said:
I have used the volume boost mod here to improve the audio output levels on the g2: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2482750
I prefer to keep things as stock as possible as far as audio signal processing is concerned in terms of this party applications.
The stock music player is quite capable on this phone, and Neutron has seen minimal use in the time I've had it, although it is installed.
I owned the note 3 for a week before returning it for the lg g2.
I came from the Samsung note 2 before that which I also initially bought for the audio capabilities and ended up using the same volume boosting technique for the same reasons, the g2 audio does surpass the note 2 audio quality with the stock lg audio player, voume boost mod, and proper audio source files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree the stock sounds good. It just doesn't offer the EQ quality I want.
Can u guys confirm which DAC carries?
Read it´s the latest Wolfson WM5110 while also read it carries the Qualcomm WCD9320.
Also would like to know your impressions on sound quality when listening music with earphones.
Takes that Hi-Fi Audio and Quad DAC to another level... Check out PowerAMP if you have not already tune the Bass and such accordingly but damn 10% Audio for me and I hear everything like it at 35% AMAZING! Plugged into my 5 Speaker Audio System with my SubWoofer AMAZING! TRY THIS APP FOR THE ULTIMATE AUDIO EXPERIENCE ON YOUR V20!
Ive been using poweramp for 4 years. Its pretty much the ONLY good music player app. The only one that comes close to it is player pro. Def worth the 5$ for the pro version.
i bought poweramp like 4 years ago, but i never use it anymore bc of google music. maybe i should just put all my music on my card again and use it. i don't have any headphones that would trigger high impedence mode though
I used to use PowerAmp all the time on my other phones but stopped in the V20 because gapless playback doesn't work for me.
Mikekelso421 said:
Ive been using poweramp for 4 years. Its pretty much the ONLY good music player app. The only one that comes close to it is player pro. Def worth the 5$ for the pro version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah I downloaded it for like 5 minutes then bought pro LMAO after messing around with the controls for a few minutes A fell in love with it lol
jayochs said:
i bought poweramp like 4 years ago, but i never use it anymore bc of google music. maybe i should just put all my music on my card again and use it. i don't have any headphones that would trigger high impedence mode though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would I'm loving it!
@TheDantee, what poweramp build are you using and what are your audio settings?
vibrantliker said:
@TheDantee, what poweramp build are you using and what are your audio settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 3.0 beta and a custom one everything maxed really cause I listen to lots of bass and stuff
vibrantliker said:
@TheDantee, what poweramp build are you using and what are your audio settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My test song for audio is Cloud City by Headphone Activist really captures bass and audio very well all my audio files are converted to high quality flac here are some images of my settings I'm running
I.bought it and neutron and prefer neutron, try it.
TheDantee said:
My test song for audio is Cloud City by Headphone Activist really captures bass and audio very well all my audio files are converted to high quality flac here are some images of my settings I'm running
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
didn't realize you're using an external DAC.
lgkahn said:
I.bought it and neutron and prefer neutron, try it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give it a shot!
vibrantliker said:
didn't realize you're using an external DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was connected to my 5 Speaker setup and the Sub I usually use headphones with the same config and it works fine however I recommend no higher than 15% volume or your ears will explode lol
I used the power amp with my 598 se and holy hell its like night and day. If I push the bass to 75 you can feel the air pushing from the drivers. I run at 50 for bass and treble and the sound is awesome. Thanks for suggesting power amp with this phone.
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
Dark Jedi said:
I used the power amp with my 598 se and holy hell its like night and day. If I push the bass to 75 you can feel the air pushing from the drivers. I run at 50 for bass and treble and the sound is awesome. Thanks for suggesting power amp with this phone.
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a Problem just picked it up myself a few days ago after messing with it for a couple of mins I bought it and It has change my Audio Experience with this phone like you would not believe... Makes the V20 feel like a Dream!
my coworker got me this little 5 dollar Bluetooth speaker from 5 below for Xmas and using it with Poweramp, it surprisingly sounds good. EQ to add some bass and it really pumps. pretty cool for a little gift.
Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk
This may be a dumb question, but is there a way to use Poweramp's EQ and audio settings for Spotify? I love the sound of Poweramp but all my tunes are on spotify :/
TheDantee said:
My test song for audio is Cloud City by Headphone Activist really captures bass and audio very well all my audio files are converted to high quality flac here are some images of my settings I'm running
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Christ, that can't sound good. Those EQ settings? Bass all the way up?
shaimedio said:
This may be a dumb question, but is there a way to use Poweramp's EQ and audio settings for Spotify? I love the sound of Poweramp but all my tunes are on spotify :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't know man just started using it a few days ago
Logantbrown said:
Christ, that can't sound good. Those EQ settings? Bass all the way up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually sounds surprisingly well on 2 Sets of headphones and my speaker set
Poweramp can give 24bit output, but when Viper is activated then it's always 16bit. I have tried 24/32bit .irs files too, but no luck.
DooMLoRD77 said:
Poweramp can give 24bit output, but when Viper is activated then it's always 16bit. I have tried 24/32bit .irs files too, but no luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you use V4A with LG? Makes no sense. It's 16bit due to the fact you aren't using the quad dac. The drivers for V4A are closed source. While the app may get updated, the drivers never will.
Sent from my LG-H932 using XDA Labs
BROKEN1981 said:
Why would you use V4A with LG? Makes no sense. It's 16bit due to the fact you aren't using the quad dac. The drivers for V4A are closed source. While the app may get updated, the drivers never will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right.
With Viper you're making the onboard Snapdragon 835 DAC sound differently, not the already excellent V30 Quad DAC.
BROKEN1981 said:
Why would you use V4A with LG? Makes no sense. It's 16bit due to the fact you aren't using the quad dac. The drivers for V4A are closed source. While the app may get updated, the drivers never will.
Sent from my LG-H932 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would use convolver in Viper which makes my earphones sound more natural. Although It uses the quad dac the same way as Poweramp and it's 16bit because it is the preferred sample rate by Viper. So it's not possible to increase it . Anyway, thank you!
ChazzMatt said:
Right.
With Viper you're making the onboard Snapdragon 835 DAC sound differently, not the already excellent V30 Quad DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It actually sounds exactly the same when Viper is active. The specific EQ (convolver) is the only reason I would use it.
DooMLoRD77 said:
Although It uses the quad dac the same way as Poweramp and it's 16bit because it is the preferred sample rate by Viper. So it's not possible to increase it . Anyway, thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not true. V4A DOESN'T use the quad dac. 16bit is NOT the preferred rate. The driver is 16bit and that will never change. The dev of V4A left before any other bit rate became a thing on Android. The dev never responded to request for the code.
Sent from my LG-H932 using XDA Labs
BROKEN1981 said:
This is not true. V4A DOESN'T use the quad dac. 16bit is NOT the preferred rate. The driver is 16bit and that will never change. The dev of V4A left before any other bit rate became a thing on Android. The dev never responded to request for the code.
Sent from my LG-H932 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't notice any difference with Viper, but OK I get it. So it's bypassing the LG quad dac function. I won't use Viper, I want 24bit to avoid losses from digital volume controlling. Thanks the help!
DooMLoRD77 said:
I can't notice any difference with Viper, but OK I get it. So it's bypassing the LG quad dac function. I won't use Viper, I want 24bit to avoid losses from digital volume controlling. Thanks the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v30/themes/magisk-bring-24-bit-output-aosp-pie-t3900863
Our ES9218p (Quad DAC) has an integrated amplifier (so-called OpAmp) using Analog Volume Control (AVC). You're not losing any resolution due to digital volume control, as long as you use a player app that knows how to play bit-perfect: Such apps will send all bits straight to the DAC (essentially keeping digital volume at max) and leave volume control to the DAC. When you turn volume up/down with the volume keys (or the Hi-Fi Quad DAC settings page) you're controlling that analog amp.
The moment you add EQ or DTS or other digital processing you already lose bit perfect. But as long as the app doesn't use digital volume control (keeps it at max) at least you will still have the full resolution during and after that processing.
You should be more concerned about the upsamling done by the Android Mixer when playing 16/44 music (anything CD quality, whether compressed or not). See this for details.
All player apps (including LG Music) will suffer this up-sampling unless they specifically work around it. UAPP and Neutron work around it by converting 16/44 to 24/44 on the fly. PowerAmp CAN work around it if you configure it to re-sample 16/44 to 24/44 -- but you then have to change that setting when playing HiRes music (anything 24-bit or higher than 44.1KHz) so it isn't down-sampled to 24/44.
HiRes music generally plays correctly from most apps (not re-sampled) unless they specifically mess it up (which is the case with Qobuz last I heard) or they deliberately re-sample it (like Amazon HD Music which re-samples everything to 48KHz on Android devices).
I never used Viper4Android. I don't see how it can cause audio to bypass the Quad DAC (when Quad DAC is enabled) but I'm not ruling it out. And certainly there is no way Viper4Android can understand or take advantage of the Quad DAC given how old it is.
TheDannemand said:
The moment you add EQ or DTS or other digital processing you already lose bit perfect. But as long as the app doesn't use digital volume control (keeps it at max) at least you will still have the full resolution during and after that processing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DTS no longer works in pie for PowerAmp. I don't know why. When I need to unwind, I would sip on vodka straight on the rocks. Put on PowerAmp, turn on DTS wide setting and listen to Pink Floyd.
TheDannemand said:
I never used Viper4Android. I don't see how it can cause audio to bypass the Quad DAC (when Quad DAC is enabled) but I'm not ruling it out. And certainly there is no way Viper4Android can understand or take advantage of the Quad DAC given how old it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Few devs who did audio mods said this back in the V20 days.
Sent from my LG-H932 using XDA Labs
Edit, I'm sure @ChazzMatt can find it. He can find anything. LMFAO
BROKEN1981 said:
DTS no longer works in pie for PowerAmp. I don't know why. When I need to unwind, I would sip on vodka straight on the rocks. Put on PowerAmp, turn on DTS wide setting and listen to Pink Floyd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL thank you for that image :laugh:
BROKEN1981 said:
Few devs who did audio mods said this back in the V20 days.
Edit, I'm sure @ChazzMatt can find it. He can find anything. LMFAO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need, I believe you. I just don't know how it is possible to avoid the Quad DAC when it's enabled. As in *I* don't know how, not that it isn't possible :cyclops:
TheDannemand said:
Our ES9218p (Quad DAC) has an integrated amplifier (so-called OpAmp) using Analog Volume Control (AVC). You're not losing any resolution due to digital volume control, as long as you use a player app that knows how to play bit-perfect: Such apps will send all bits straight to the DAC (essentially keeping digital volume at max) and leave volume control to the DAC. When you turn volume up/down with the volume keys (or the Hi-Fi Quad DAC settings page) you're controlling that analog amp.
The moment you add EQ or DTS or other digital processing you already lose bit perfect. But as long as the app doesn't use digital volume control (keeps it at max) at least you will still have the full resolution during and after that processing.
You should be more concerned about the upsamling done by the Android Mixer when playing 16/44 music (anything CD quality, whether compressed or not). See this for details.
All player apps (including LG Music) will suffer this up-sampling unless they specifically work around it. UAPP and Neutron work around it by converting 16/44 to 24/44 on the fly. PowerAmp CAN work around it if you configure it to re-sample 16/44 to 24/44 -- but you then have to change that setting when playing HiRes music (anything 24-bit or higher than 44.1KHz) so it isn't down-sampled to 24/44.
HiRes music generally plays correctly from most apps (not re-sampled) unless they specifically mess it up (which is the case with Qobuz last I heard) or they deliberately re-sample it (like Amazon HD Music which re-samples everything to 48KHz on Android devices).
I never used Viper4Android. I don't see how it can cause audio to bypass the Quad DAC (when Quad DAC is enabled) but I'm not ruling it out. And certainly there is no way Viper4Android can understand or take advantage of the Quad DAC given how old it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting. When I set to 16bit in poweramp then I hear noise at the end of some tracks when the volume slowly decreases in the song. That's happens also with LG music app. But when I choose 24bit in poweramp then the noise disappears and I hear more details. This noise can be noticed at enough low volume. So is this means that poweramp and LG music uses DVC and not letting the DAC to do the job?
As for the interpolation I don't care, I don't have high sensitivity device and poweramp gives fix 24/44.1.
DooMLoRD77 said:
That's interesting. When I set to 16bit in poweramp then I hear noise at the end of some tracks when the volume slowly decreases in the song. That's happens also with LG music app. But when I choose 24bit in poweramp then the noise disappears and I hear more details. This noise can be noticed at enough low volume. So is this means that poweramp and LG music uses DVC and not letting the DAC to do the job?
As for the interpolation I don't care, I don't have high sensitivity device and poweramp gives fix 24/44.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LG Music doesn't use DVC. From what I can tell, it plays everything correctly, including HiRes, so long as you keep effects and EQ disabled. Its only problem is that it doesn't bypass the Mixer on 16/44.
And I can almost guarantee that you DO care about the interpolation: That noise you hear at low amplitude (volume) levels is typical of the upsampling performed by the Android Mixer. Once you configure PowerAmp to output as 24-bit, AudioFlinger will use the DIRECT path instead of the MIXER path, which will bypass the Mixer and send music straight to the DAC, without upsampling. That's why the noise goes away when you select 24-bit, not because of DVC bit-loss at 16-bit.
DooMLoRD77 said:
snip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol no need to quote the entire post
TheDannemand said:
snip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is aimed at you and the op.
From the V20 to the V30 on 7, 8 and now 9.0, people have complained about hissing. I always thought it was audio mods but I'm sure DooM isn't using any.
I don't see how, but maybe a dirty connection? Or possibly the headphones? Damaged speaker?
I've used the stock app with DTS. No hissing. Tho kinda sounds bad. Something really changed with 9.0.
Even with DTS off, no hissing and the music sounds good.
PowerAmp, no hissing, can't use DTS. UAPP, no hissing.
@DooMLoRD77, do you have a different pair of headphones?
Sent from my LG-H932 using XDA Labs
TheDannemand said:
quote
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't actually hearing the interpolation noise, however It was because of dithering was turned off by default. When I apply any kind of dithering then noise disappears on 16bit. 24 bit doesn't require dithering as I hear. So I found the solution and it's good to learn new stuffs, thanks. Although I don't get it why it happens. The dithering should add noise to reduce distorsion as I think.
BROKEN1981 said:
quote
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good I just learned how to reply.
I tested it with my budget MH1C and the hissing was just a very small amount apparently due to turned off dithering as I wrote above. It now sounds fine Plus that DTS seems also bad to me, it's kinda aggressive.
....
DooMLoRD77 said:
I wasn't actually hearing the interpolation noise, however It was because of dithering was turned off by default. When I apply any kind of dithering then noise disappears on 16bit. 24 bit doesn't require dithering as I hear. So I found the solution and it's good to learn new stuffs, thanks. Although I don't get it why it happens. The dithering should add noise to reduce distorsion as I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you know it isn't the upsampling that's causing the noise? Your description fits exactly the symptoms of it. Particularly if it goes away when you switch to 24-bit output.
It doesn't make sense that you need to turn on dithering or otherwise process the audio source in order to avoid noise: The ESS DAC has incredibly low noise levels, and as long as the source is left unprocessed and played through the DIRECT path, you should be hearing nothing but black background. Of course assuming a clean recording. (Some of my best recordings are old analog ones, but of course they have noise.)
I apologize for being pushy about this, but I keep seeing myths surrounding this Quad DAC, and users focusing on things that aren't problems while overlooking the real problems that actually exist.
I'll leave you to it
@BROKEN1981: I want to make sure I understand you correctly: Are you saying you experienced hissing on both V20 and V30, but once you got Pie, it went away?
That's interesting (if I understand you correctly). I wonder if LG fixed the re-sampling in their later Pie releases after all: Long before Pie came out on any LG phones I had a bet with csglinux (over on head-fi) where I optimistically/naively said I had a feeling they might address it in Pie, and he thought they wouldn't. Of course when Pie finally came (to his V40 at first) the problems had turned even worse, now with both up-sampling and down-sampling, and a bunch of other issues too. Took much work by Davy to fix UAPP, and I understand the same with Neutron.
I am now tempted to upgrade my H932 after all just to test this. But first I need confirmation that lafsploit isn't broken when rolling back from Pie (I think you saw this over in the H932 root thread.)
But like you mentioned, most of the reports of hissing in the past seemed to traceable back to audio mods or EQ or other processing by player apps. With a good DAC like ours and decent IEMs, it doesn't take much messing around with a 16/44 stream before you can hear it.
Edit: Have you done an audio_flinger dump during 16/44 playback since updating to Pie?
You really got me thinking, but I have so much work to do, gotta get this out of my head for now :silly:
@TheDannemand
I got confused with this much testing. I believe what you say and I'm already happy with this thing. Sorry for this unimportant problem I don't know about the real issues. :laugh:
DooMLoRD77 said:
@TheDannemand
I got confused with this much testing. I believe what you say and I'm already happy with this thing. Sorry for this unimportant problem I don't know about the real issues. :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough LOL
I didn't mean to be tactless, but I can see how that came across. Actually I DO consider your problem important. Otherwise I wouldn't keep responding to it. And besides, it's your thread!
What I meant was myths such as "you must use 50ohm headphones to activate the DAC", or "music gets better and better as more of the Quad DAC cores are activated", or "up-sampling music to 352KHz in PowerAmp will improve its quality". Just to mention a few.
Truths are (1) the ES9218P is a genuine audiophile DAC which performs the best when NOTHING is done to the source. (2) It CAN drive planars and other hard-to-drive headphones, but sounds blissful too on highly sensitive balanced armatures. (3) It uses multiple DAC units to increase amplification, not to "improve" the music. (4) HIM is NOT required for it to perform optimally.
The "real problem" is the upsampling of 16/44 music, which isn't inherent to the DAC itself, but is a massive oversight in LG's implementation, diminishing sound quality for the vast majority of music played on a phone. While not everybody can hear it (depending on hearing, earphones/headphones used, and the music source) many people CAN, particularly on sensitive IEMs -- including many moderately priced and popular earphones. And since many users don't realize that the hiss/noise they're hearing is re-sampling artifacts, they pursue fixes that further process the music stream, which sometimes may drown out the noise, but also further diminishes sound quality.
This upsampling is by far the biggest problem with LG's Quad DAC from an audiophile perspective.
(I should add that configuring PowerAmp to re-sample to 352KHz actually isn't the worst choice, since it does this without the artifacts of the Android Mixer's 44 > 48KHz upsampling, and it will play the result through the DIRECT path. Of course "re-sampling" 16/44 to 24/44 (just adding the zero bits) is even better, but requires changing every time HiRes music is played to avoid down-sampling it.)
TheDannemand said:
@BROKEN1981: I want to make sure I understand you correctly: Are you saying you experienced hissing on both V20 and V30, but once you got Pie, it went away?
:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not me, I'm just saying I've seen people having issues with hissing going all the way back to the V20. Though I don't know what they were doing. I can count on 1 hand of how many times I've seen it posted.
Sent from my LG-H932 using XDA Labs
---------- Post added at 02:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:23 AM ----------
DooMLoRD77;80574395 [user=832590 said:
@TheDannemand[/user]
I got confused with this much testing. I believe what you say and I'm already happy with this thing. Sorry for this unimportant problem I don't know about the real issues. :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me, you aren't bothering anyone man! @TheDannemand is happy to shed some light on the dac. There is a lot of misinformation on it and I partly blame LG.
When the V20 came out, LG said at 50 ohms or more, the sound gets better.
While this may be correct, it's very misleading. If using something more than 50 ohms, you are probably using cans designed for audiophiles.
There aren't many earphones that hit 50 ohms. I bought a pair of audio-technica's that are 50 ohms earphones. Over $100 as well.
I went to Ali Express, bought CCA C10 earphones that are 30 ohms that blow my audio-technica's out of the water.
Do they hold up to cans? NO! Cans will give the best sound experience while being more than 50 ohms.
Sent from my LG-H932 using XDA Labs