Making use of quad DAC

[AARON BRYANT2]

So how do I make use of this feature? Do I need a certain high quality headphones? Download music from a certain app? Suggestions? Thanks!

 

[eric12341]

You just activate it in the notification center, pick your favorite digital filter setting (I chose slow) and you're good to go. The higher the bitrate the greater the sound. Spotify has up to 448kbps ogg while Tidal streams MQA so that would be the best experience as far as streaming audio goes.

 

[AARON BRYANT2]

I just tried Tidal and GPM and I honestly couldnt tell the difference between them. I must be too noobish to tell without analyzing them inbsegments.

 

[flyingkytez]

So how do I make use of this feature? Do I need a certain high quality headphones? Download music from a certain app? Suggestions? Thanks!

You just need to plug in any headphone and it'll be activated. You can use a high quality headphone like Audio Technica m40x (costs between $70-$90) or cheap $15 Sony MDRs (which sounds incredible for the price). The Quad DAC is enabled by default, and works when you plug in a 3.5mm plug. You can enable and disable the DAC and you'll hear the difference in quality, it's a big difference.

 

[AARON BRYANT2]

You just need to plug in any headphone and it'll be activated. You can use a high quality headphone like Audio Technica m40x (costs between $70-$90) or cheap $15 Sony MDRs (which sounds incredible for the price). The Quad DAC is enabled by default, and works when you plug in a 3.5mm plug. You can enable and disable the DAC and you'll hear the difference in quality, it's a big difference.

I do notice without it it sounds more tinny. So I am impressed.

 

[B0WIE]

If you want the best experience, use the best music files possible, as well as decent headphones. I buy HD audio and also convert my CDs to FLAC for listening to them on my phone.
Good headphones start around $50 and are worthwhile if you care about audio. Going to the $100 range gets you stuff that will start taking advantage of the DAC. Music lovers who enjoy hearing the nuances and are using quality files usually find headphones in the $200 range to make a nice difference and give them an immersive experience.

 

[AARON BRYANT2]

If you want the best experience, use the best music files possible, as well as decent headphones. I buy HD audio and also convert my CDs to FLAC for listening to them on my phone.
Good headphones start around $50 and are worthwhile if you care about audio. Going to the $100 range gets you stuff that will start taking advantage of the DAC. Music lovers who enjoy hearing the nuances and are using quality files usually find headphones in the $200 range to make a nice difference and give them an immersive experience.

So you mean headphones but not earbuds right? Will I notice a difference with good earbuds?

 

[chanchan05]

I think earbuds impedance is too low to trigger the DAC.

So you mean headphones but not earbuds right? Will I notice a difference with good earbuds?

 

[B0WIE]

So you mean headphones but not earbuds right? Will I notice a difference with good earbuds?

Both. Dollar for dollar, headphones will sound better than earbuds. The physical restrictions of earbuds limits the quality so you have to spend a lot more for comparable quality. $200 earbuds sound about at good as $100 headphones. But, I have spent good money on earbuds and have been happy. I usually use earbuds when traveling or when in bed, and headphones otherwise.

Just be sure your source material (music) is a quality file, or you won't be able to hear the difference. If the quality is there, the DAC will bring it out and even cheap earbuds will have some improvement. Though this isn't a linear analogy, you can think of it as the equivalent of watching a youtube video in 240p, then bumping it up to 4k. Even devices that aren't high quality will show an improvement because there is more detail.

When shopping headphones, consider semi-open designs, which sound very natural and spacious because the sound isn't bouncing around in the small cups.

I think earbuds impedance is too low to trigger the DAC.

I believe what you're referring to is the high-output mode that the amp switches to when it sees over 50ohms or so. This is just to drive heavier loads but, no matter what is used, the audio must pass through a DAC in order to reach our ears as audio because it's just 1's and 0's otherwise. It should be fine, no matter what the user owns. The benefit of high output mode is that people who have hungry (high ohm) headphones won't have such starved volumes as they would normally have with a phone.

 

[RaRa85]

Thank me later! You will not believe the quality you get from these and I really didn't believe they were really high impedance until I plugged them into one of those full size adapters that plugs into a keyboard amp. With these I got such a rich sound in stereo from both sides compared to my other decent over the ear headphones, which I prefer over ear buds. But these fit great in the ear. The packaging is compact and portable. Best of all the price! I think I paid $37 for mine but either way despite the price these are great for sound quality. Here's the link.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...pre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/323124986603

 

[wynand32]

I believe what you're referring to is the high-output mode that the amp switches to when it sees over 50ohms or so. This is just to drive heavier loads but, no matter what is used, the audio must pass through a DAC in order to reach our ears as audio because it's just 1's and 0's otherwise. It should be fine, no matter what the user owns. The benefit of high output mode is that people who have hungry (high ohm) headphones won't have such starved volumes as they would normally have with a phone.

Definitely this. The Quad DAC (specifically, ESS Sabre ES9218P) is utilized as long as it's turned on. If you use headphones with 50 ohms or higher impedance, then the power is increased to accomodate.

What's interesting is that my Audio-Technica ATH-M50x don't go terribly loud, because at 38 ohms they require more power than truly low-impedance headphones but they don't trigger the high output mode. They get plenty loud enough for me (and sound great), but people who like really high volume might find them too quiet.

There are adapters you can plug in that will trigger the high output mode and provide more volume, but I haven't seen a need to use anything like that. If anyone is concerned, the information's out there via a quick search.

 

[B0WIE]

I've been really knocked out by this DAC BTW. I use a $2,000 DAC in my studio, so I know how good a quality converter can be. This one is really impressive, even more so when you consider it's in a phone. Anyone who cares about audio should consider the G7. I like the ESS Sabre so much that I just bought a motherboard for my gaming PC that has the same DAC so that I can enjoy that quality while gaming.

 

[Mike Dee]

I think earbuds impedance is too low to trigger the DAC.

You don't need high impedance to trigger the HIFI DAC. You only need high impedance to get full output out of the DAC.

 

[Mike Dee]

Definitely this. The Quad DAC (specifically, ESS Sabre ES9218P) is utilized as long as it's turned on. If you use headphones with 50 ohms or higher impedance, then the power is increased to accomodate.

What's interesting is that my Audio-Technica ATH-M50x don't go terribly loud, because at 38 ohms they require more power than truly low-impedance headphones but they don't trigger the high output mode. They get plenty loud enough for me (and sound great), but people who like really high volume might find them too quiet.

There are adapters you can plug in that will trigger the high output mode and provide more volume, but I haven't seen a need to use anything like that. If anyone is concerned, the information's out there via a quick search.

Most low impedance headphones don't need the extra power as long as they are high efficiency. In fact most of the low end stuff can't handle full output. The Audio Technicas don't need a lot of power but can also handle it well.
I have the ATH MSR7 NC which are low impedance, how with NC active the impedance is higher so it kicks in the high output. Honestly, using impedance as the means to measure output control is a pretty poor way of doing it because not all high impendance headphones are low efficiency and need all that power.

 

[Mike Dee]

Thank me later! You will not believe the quality you get from these and I really didn't believe they were really high impedance until I plugged them into one of those full size adapters that plugs into a keyboard amp. With these I got such a rich sound in stereo from both sides compared to my other decent over the ear headphones, which I prefer over ear buds. But these fit great in the ear. The packaging is compact and portable. Best of all the price! I think I paid $37 for mine but either way despite the price these are great for sound quality. Here's the link.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...pre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/323124986603

Probably just extra resistance in the circuit so that they can call them high impendance. As long as you are happy with the sound though is all that counts and it proves that sometimes less expensive isn't bad. I have a cheap pair of Sony noise cancelling on ear that sound pretty great....though I don't think the noise cancelling is that great.

 

[chanchan05]

You don't need high impedance to trigger the HIFI DAC. You only need high impedance to get full output out of the DAC.

Yeah that's what I meant.

 

[RaRa85]

Probably just extra resistance in the circuit so that they can call them high impendance. As long as you are happy with the sound though is all that counts and it proves that sometimes less expensive isn't bad. I have a cheap pair of Sony noise cancelling on ear that sound pretty great....though I don't think the noise cancelling is that great.

Might be but like I said I didn't really believe that there was much difference until I plugged them into something my other headphones didn't have enough power to deliver stereo sound from both ear pieces. Then I was like wow. This is really nice.

 

[Mike Dee]

Might be but like I said I didn't really believe that there was much difference until I plugged them into something my other headphones didn't have enough power to deliver stereo sound from both ear pieces. Then I was like wow. This is really nice.

You might disagree but the promo B&O earbuds that were bundled with the V20 are pretty damn good after burning them in. In the beginning they were a little tight.

 

[RaRa85]

You might disagree but the promo B&O earbuds that were bundled with the V20 are pretty damn good after burning them in. In the beginning they were a little tight.

That's what I heard but I didn't get them with mine so I never got a chance to try them out.

 

[Mike Dee]

That's what I heard but I didn't get them with mine so I never got a chance to try them out.

Some didn't like them... especially bass heads and I certainly wouldn't pay 150 for them but they are pretty good. I normally prefer my over the ear phones but sometimes they are just too big.