V10 Audio Powerhouse: 32 bit Hi-Fi DAC by ESS Technology

[gerald1979]

Please try the "DAC Fix for LG V10" on play store. HiFi DAC would work on 3rd party apps

 

[johnson_patrickw]

It would be phenomenal if we could trigger this on an app by app basis.

 

[Jakob Isindahowz]

It was this feature alone that I bought the LG V10. I was gutted when LG informed me they had no intention of releasing this in Canada but I chose to eliminate any possibility of a discount through my carrier and paid full price of over $900 for this... And couldn't be happier, it's that good.
With the great little app fix, playing music via Power Amp through my Sennheiser Urbanites is easily the best audio I have experienced. Just incredible. The ESS Saber DAC and amp are definitely worthy of their great reviews. I understand these are similar to what is in the highly rated Dragonfly USB dac. I know the latter has a reputation for being on the brighter, detailed or analytical side of the sound signature which suits my relatively dark Urbanites fine.
I am listening to a flac version of the Glitch Mobs latest and the sound is best described as immersive. I am swimming in the ocean of blissful music. The bass is just incredible, hard hits of firm tight bass with accurate decay. Sound stage and imaging are great, big and airy. My headphones had good side to side sound stage but not much depth or up and down however, through this player I don't notice that weakness. Such clean sound even when loud.
Speaking of "loud" I did have issues getting it to play with the gain not set low but I use the trick of plugging in just the cable first then attaching the cable to my headphones which tricks the amp to believe it's a line out and high gain. Now this things has oodles of clean power driving hard hitting bass for those of you bass freaks. If you have bass heads headphones you are in for a treat.
I bought this phone for the music and was rewarded well but I am spoiled by all the other features such as a camera I could not have imagined would be so capable plus the second screen that, for me, has been really useful and far more than the gimmick many claim.
This has been perhaps the most rewarding purchase I have experienced.
After my horrible experience with an HTC One m7 and it's crap camera and lagging keyboard this thing has been a dream. Love the V10.

 

[J_appoll]

It was this feature alone that I bought the LG V10. I was gutted when LG informed me they had no intention of releasing this in Canada but I chose to eliminate any possibility of a discount through my carrier and paid full price of over $900 for this... And couldn't be happier, it's that good.
With the great little app fix, playing music via Power Amp through my Sennheiser Urbanites is easily the best audio I have experienced. Just incredible. The ESS Saber DAC and amp are definitely worthy of their great reviews. I understand these are similar to what is in the highly rated Dragonfly USB dac. I know the latter has a reputation for being on the brighter, detailed or analytical side of the sound signature which suits my relatively dark Urbanites fine.
I am listening to a flac version of the Glitch Mobs latest and the sound is best described as immersive. I am swimming in the ocean of blissful music. The bass is just incredible, hard hits of firm tight bass with accurate decay. Sound stage and imaging are great, big and airy. My headphones had good side to side sound stage but not much depth or up and down however, through this player I don't notice that weakness. Such clean sound even when loud.
Speaking of "loud" I did have issues getting it to play with the gain not set low but I use the trick of plugging in just the cable first then attaching the cable to my headphones which tricks the amp to believe it's a line out and high gain. Now this things has oodles of clean power driving hard hitting bass for those of you bass freaks. If you have bass heads headphones you are in for a treat.
I bought this phone for the music and was rewarded well but I am spoiled by all the other features such as a camera I could not have imagined would be so capable plus the second screen that, for me, has been really useful and far more than the gimmick many claim.
This has been perhaps the most rewarding purchase I have experienced.
After my horrible experience with an HTC One m7 and it's crap camera and lagging keyboard this thing has been a dream. Love the V10.

Totally agree with you..v10 is a revelation...an audiophile here

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[J_appoll]

Poweramp + hi-fi dac = audio out of this world.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[alonbl]

Poweramp + hi-fi dac = audio out of this world.

Posted via the Android Central App

What is the difference between Poweramp to the stock player?

 

[kramer5150]

What is the difference between Poweramp to the stock player?

Poweramp will play my .m4a ALAC lossless library, and in general it is a very universal translating player between "traditional" MAC and PC lossless audio files. The stock player can't do that, and IMHO the OEM player seems more greared for the PC user. Poweramp also has a very good EQ and tone-shaping features. it has a crossfeed function too, but I honestly have not used it. You can set preamp gain to boost or cut. It has some advanced settings too, most notably the DVC setting to really capitalize on its vast EQ capabilities.

Poweramp runs rogue in the background and theres no way to stop it within the app. I communicated with the apps developer on his forum and he says thats just the way it is. This pretty much is my only gripe (a minor one no less) about it. I use shutapp to terminate it, along with the other apps that do the same thing. I don't believe the stock player does this... someone else correct me if I am wrong.

 

[LuvMusic]

Poweramp will play my .m4a ALAC lossless library, and in general it is a very universal translating player between MAC and PC ripped audio files. The stock player can't do that. Poweramp also has a very good EQ and tone-shaping features. it has a crossfeed function too, but I honestly have not used it.

In addition to the features described here, Poweramp is one of the most mature music players in Play Store. I have been using Poweramp since my original Droid. It is one of the first apps I install when changing devices. In terms of sound quality, I have not heard a player that is better, some are as good, but not better. The stock player in the V10 doesn't come close.

Other features that can be useful, is there is a very active community that results in things like many different skins, If you are into customizing the look and feel of your device, you can probably find a player skin that will match your design. Also the developer is very active in the community. If you are interested in exploring, here is a link to the Poweramp website: Poweramp – Music Player for Android

There are so many features in Poweramp from how you view your music files to customizing how you interact with the player it is difficult to describe them all. Bottom line is that it just sounds better than any other music player I have tried and allows me to manage my music library the way I want. If your into the technical pieces, hit up the website.

I hope this helps.

 

[alonbl]

Anyone knows what sound chip is better the v10 or g5?

 

[kramer5150]

Anyone knows what sound chip is better the v10 or g5?

The V10 is technically better with the ESS 32 bit DAC and ESS headphone amp, whether or not the ESS is "user preferable" over the ones built into the Snapdragon processors completely depends on user preferences. Since we all hear and perceiver things differently. It should also be pointed out that the G5 and V10 do not use the exact same microprocessor CPU, so its not exactly an apples-apples comparison. So it would not be correct to say something like... "the V10 24 bit DAC sounds dull-flat so therefore the G5 24 bit sounds dull-flat." I am not sure if the SD 808 and 820 employ the exact same DAC process functionality.

 

[alonbl]

Sorry I ment the addon of b&o vs the v10

 

[hpham72]

The Hifi module uses the 32bit Sabre ES9028C2M DAC (digital to analog converter) and its Sabre9602c amplifier. The v10 uses the same amplifier chip but an older dac chip, the ES9018C2M. In my experience, the amp makes more of a difference than the DAC. But the implementation of the module, to prevent noise from cramped electronics, is important as well. In the end, perhaps the separation with the Hifi module may result in better sound, but only a comparison will tell you what you like better.
For what it's worth, I have a Soundblaster E3 portable DAC/amp and I can't tell the difference with that and my v10. Both will be leaps and bounds better than what's in most phones.

 

[LuvMusic]

Sorry I ment the addon of b&o vs the v10

I'm not sure anybody can share experience about the B&O add-on module for the G5, the G5 hasn't been released yet (only announced) and I haven't seen anybody talking about the availability of the B&O G5 module yet. I have seen announcements about the G5 and camera module becoming available
but nothing about the B&O audio module.

So, until the G5 with the B&O module become available "in the wild" it will be impossible to make this comparison. However, the audio on my V10 with the ESS DAC and amp sounds GREAT!