LuvMusic
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I'll be able to share my experience in a few hours, picking up a V10 later this morning. One of the first tests I will be performing after initial setup is PowerAmp versus the stock V10 player.
V10 Audio Powerhouse: 32 bit Hi-Fi DAC by ESS Technology
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I'll be able to share my experience in a few hours, picking up a V10 later this morning. One of the first tests I will be performing after initial setup is PowerAmp versus the stock V10 player.
- Nov 1, 2011
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LuvMusic
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Awesome! You love music so I assume you have good headphones to test.
This is what I used for the test, Klipsch S4's....my favorite everyday drivers, medium - high quality MP3's and of course my sparkly, new V10. So nothing way overboard for this test, pretty common stuff. Listened to a wide range of rock music (traditional, funk, alternative, blues, etc.).
Based on my initial experience, this is a good news and bad news story..........................
First the good news, the ESS DAC is awesome! I compared the stock player and DAC to the stock player with the ESS DAC. There is a noticeable improvement in sound quality. The sound stage was better defined, the highs regained some sparkle, the mids were clearer and the bass was fuller. Basically this is what I would expect from a better quality DAC. So if you enjoy LISTENING to music versus using music as background noise, you will really enjoy the improvement.
The bad news, the ESS DAC only works with the stock player, it had NO EFFECT when I used PowerAmp. How do I know (besides the lack of expected sound improvement). On the menu panel that turns the ESS DAC on/off there are also two controls to individually control the volume on the left and right headphone channels. With stock player using the ESS DAC, when I turned the left channel down, the sound from that side went "dead," as you would expect. When I used PowerAmp there was no change indicating to me that PowerAmp was not using the ESS DAC.
What is confusing is that the Hi-Fi icon remained on in the notification bar when using PowerAmp (indicating that the ESS DAC was active) even though it clearly was having no effect. This is where I believe the false positives are coming from.
Now for an observation........PowerAmp sounded almost as good by itself as the stock player using the ESS DAC. I can only imagine what PowerAmp would sound like if it could access the ESS DAC.
I did not test streaming or Bluetooth, but I don't expect the ESS DAC to be active in these applications. I would expect that in the future somebody will find the application code that allows the stock player to use the ESS DAC and find a way to use it with other media players.
Sorry for the bad part, seems like you have to use the stock player and the headphone jack to enable the ESS DAC. Another quick observation, if you are using over-ear cans that require big ohms to drive, you won't be giving up your outboard DAC and power amp. While the V10 puts out plenty of volume, you'll still need more power for those audiophile, big ohm cans.
Final word, the stock player with the ESS DAC sounds awesome. Later when I can have some quality listening time, I'll pull out my B&W P7's and provide another report.
- Nov 1, 2011
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Thanks for the review!
So far we have confirmed two other music apps that will work with the ESS DAC/Amp (make sure other music apps are closed):
1. Google Music (cloud stored music + local files)
2. Tidal Streaming
Hopefully we can find more 3rd party apps that work with more testing. But it's a good sign that some work because that means it might be possible we can get apps like PowerAmp and others to work with the DAC with software patches.
So far we have confirmed two other music apps that will work with the ESS DAC/Amp (make sure other music apps are closed):
1. Google Music (cloud stored music + local files)
2. Tidal Streaming
Hopefully we can find more 3rd party apps that work with more testing. But it's a good sign that some work because that means it might be possible we can get apps like PowerAmp and others to work with the DAC with software patches.
LuvMusic
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I'm sure this is true. The Sony Z3 I traded-in for my V10 had Sony's up-scaling capability that originally only worked with the Sony music player app. It didn't take long for skins to appear that provided access to the capability. The PowerAmp community and support is great.
LuvMusic
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I don't use Tidal, so I can't speak to that app and service but I noticed something tonight as I was digging around in various audio settings.
First, when I was looking through PowerAmp settings I noticed that the "Enable Special FX" selection was grayed out. This is the selection I ticked when I used my Z3 to access special audio features on that device. And.....there was a message that said "Not supported by ROM."
Next, when I tapped the music player window in the second screen I was asked which music player I would like to use for default and I was given two selections, the stock LG music player app and Google Music. PowerAmp was not an option even though it is installed on my V10.
Conclusion, LG has "hard programmed" into the ROM which music players it recognizes and can access the ESS DAC.
One other discovery, the stock music player does have a 7 band equalizer, not just predefined sound profiles. If you are on the screen with sound profiles and tap "Custom" you will be presented with the equalizer.
That is all....
I can confirm it works with of course the stock music app, also works with music on the SD card through Google Play music, and it works 100% of the time with Tidal. I'm fine with the stock music app for local files, and for streaming I simply switched from Google Play music to Tidal. Tidal has the option to stream flac and download flac for offline as well. Putting the crazy amount of storage space to good use.
In terms of sound quality, the hifi dac and amp sound amazing, and is very powerful.
In terms of sound quality, the hifi dac and amp sound amazing, and is very powerful.
One more note. All of my headphones sound how I want them without any EQ, so using the stock music app does not bother me at all. It lets me use the hifi dac and amp which is all I need to get the best sound. I'm just happy that Tidal is supported. As long as I have an option to stream music I'm happy, and there is no better sounding choice than Tidal.
tardus
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This is good news - the first I've heard that the stock music player has an equalizer. I can live with that!
MittenSportsFan
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- Mar 26, 2011
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I don't believe any of the US carriers are providing headphones.
That's probably a whopping $5 extra they save on cost. Cheap bastards.
Then they can sell you a set from their accessories.
It bothers me more that they disable the FM Radio so you can use more data streaming.
I loved the FM tuner on my old HTC Thunderbolt and used it everyday.
LuvMusic
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Update on the equalizer.....it kills the sound quality of the ESS DAC....use with caution. I really would like to use PowerAmp with the ESS DAC! I really hope Max (the developer) finds a work-around or a way to make it work.
Also, just checked the PowerAmp forum and it doesn't look like anyone has reported this "bug." I created a post, we'll see if something happens.
Also, just checked the PowerAmp forum and it doesn't look like anyone has reported this "bug." I created a post, we'll see if something happens.
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Best phone I've ever had for audiophile music listening. My last phone was the HTC One M9, which was good, but this is clearly better when plugging in high end headphones.
MittenSportsFan
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The HTC One M9 definitely has better speakers but who wants to listen to good music through speakers on your phone.
Any audiophile will have good headphones and that is where the V10 shines.
LuvMusic
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If any of you are PowerAmp users, an FYI. I have submitted a Bug report in the PowerAmp forums on PowerAmp not being able to use the ESS DAC. If you would like to see PowerAmp and the ESS DAC on our V10's work together, you may want to post. Here is the link:
New LG V10 - Not able to access ESS DAC - Bugs - Poweramp
New LG V10 - Not able to access ESS DAC - Bugs - Poweramp
The M9 speakers sounded better, but the V10 speaker definitely seems louder.
Can you activate Hi Fi when connected to wireless headphones? Or only when speakers are plugged in using audio jack?
LuvMusic
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So does it mean that if I use bluetooth headphones I wont get the benefit of the DAC?
LuvMusic
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