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

[LuvMusic]

Update on using the Hi-Fi DAC with 3rd party music players, at least PowerAmp.

If you start playing music with the stock music player and, while the music is playing, switch to another player (like PowerAmp) the Hi-FI DAC will remain active. This supposedly works with Spotify also. I don't use Spotify so I can't confirm.

The downside of this work around is that if you get a notification while listening it will disengage the Hi-Fi DAC. Obviously this is not ideal, but it is a start.

Posted via the Android Central App with my LG V10

 

[Jesse Guthrie1]

Yes, the V10 beams the digital signal to the Bluetooth headset and the headset uses it's own DAC (probably ****ty) to do the conversion. The industry needs to make a headphone that has ESS technology built right in to the headphones.

 

[Zotz]

Amazon Music works flawlessly with the Hi-Fi DAC. I was listening to Adele's '25' last night, flipping the DAC off/on to compare. The V10 produces astoundingly good audio for a portable device.

 

[Jesse Guthrie]

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.

I believe Microsoft's "Groove Music" also uses the 32 bit DAC. Music interrupts when I toggle the DAC switch.

 

[LuvMusic]

Amazon Music works flawlessly with the Hi-Fi DAC. I was listening to Adele's '25' last night, flipping the DAC off/on to compare. The V10 produces astoundingly good audio for a portable device.

I don't usually use the Amazon player, but you are right, it does use the 32 bit DAC

 

[hpham72]

Just got my LG V10 and was excited to try Google Play Music with the hifi DAC. But nothing happens when I toggle the hifi checkbox. The music just keeps playing. That said, I'm still very happy with the power of the amp even without the hifi DAC. Am I doing anything wrong?

 

[hpham72]

After listening further to Google Play, I think that turning on the Hifi DAC does affect the music, it's just the stream doesn't drop for some reason, unlike the Amazon Music app. I do notice a deeper bass from my B&O H6's with the Hifi DAC turned on, like with the Amazon app.

Also, coming from the Onetouch Idol 3, which has Akamai DAC and amplifier, just thought I'd give my differences. The V10's amp is much more powerful, giving a much deeper bass. The Idol's amp produced much lower volume on my H6's, but I did notice nice crisp highs on the Idol 3, which may have been more pronounced due to the weaker bass as well. All in all, I really liked the sound of the Idol 3, possibly because it hid the weaker mids of the H6's, which seem more apparent now with the V10. I'm trying to resist the urge of trying other headphones with the V10...

 

[hpham72]

So I have since discovered that the Hifi DAC and amp only truly work with some services, such as the pre-installed Music player, Pandora and DS Audio (a player for my Synology NAS) streaming services. It does not work with Amazon Music or Google Play streaming services. I believe this is likely because of whatever digital rights protection Amazon and Google put on their streaming services.

I discovered this because I picked up a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 880 250 ohm headphones. These phones require a bit more juice to power, and had thought the V10 would be able to handle it. However, when using Google Play streaming, I discovered that the max volume was only moderately loud. Further, switching on and off the Hifi dac didn't really make a difference. I then switched over to DS Audio and later Pandora and discovered that, using those services, turning on the Hifi dac provided plenty of power to the Beyerdynamic. So it's pretty clear that, even though Hifi is on when streaming Google Play, the more powerful Hifi amp is not being used.

So I'm disappointed. Is the V10 passing raw data to the DAC and only does so with certain unprotected streams? Why can't the V10 convert the audio to say a raw WAV format and then send it to the DAC? In either case I thought I'd report my findings so others won't be surprised by this result.

 

[TunaSoda]

Just got my V10, listening to music for the first time, and it sounds great!
I can A/B the difference with the DAC's using the toggle button on the notification panel so I know it is working with my Shuttle Player app...
Sounds amazing so far, using a pair of Bose QC25's.

 

[GrooveRite]

I'm looking to pick up a pair of Sony MDR-1A. How would the V10 handle them?? Anyone using this set up?

 

[LuvMusic]

I'm looking to pick up a pair of Sony MDR-1A. How would the V10 handle them?? Anyone using this set up?

The Sony's you are looking at have an impedance of 24 ohms so the V10 should be able to drive them just fine with or without the ESS DAC.......unless you like your music REALLY loud.

 

[GrooveRite]

The Sony's you are looking at have an impedance of 24 ohms so the V10 should be able to drive them just fine with or without the ESS DAC.......unless you like your music REALLY loud.

Thanks for the info! I actually like to listen at moderate to low levels so I need my music to be crisp and clear and low volumes. I have Tinnitus so I have to be careful.

 

[apt604]

I wonder if there are differences between carriers that determine which apps work with the HiFi DAC.

Mine is a T-Mobile, and it hasn't made a difference which app I've used (in my case, Tidal, Slacker, and Neutron). As long as I have headphones or a car aux cable plugged in, I can toggle the HiFi and notice the audio is more "amped."

Update: I listened more carefully, and while I can toggle the HiFi with any app, there's only an audible difference when I'm using Tidal.

 

[walt25]

I don't know whether its LG or app developers or Android OS or Chips(snapdragon etc) are responsible for the settings of the HiFi DAC in the V10...Whats the use of it if third party apps (music players especially PowerAmp) have no access to it. Apps are made to take advantage of the on board hardware, so the who ever is responsible, mostly app developer should take action n give out the update for utilization of that particular h/ware...

 

[LuvMusic]

^^^^ Just an FYI, you can get Power Amp to work with the ESS DAC, it's just a pain. Start listening to your music using the stock player and then startup PowerAmp. When PowerAmp starts playing music, the ESS DAC will be enabled while using PowerAmp.

Posted via the Android Central App with my LG V10

 

[balthuszar]

Hi-Fi only active when plugged into the audio jack.

i know i've seen several times that google music works with the dac, but it doesn't work wirelessly, so i'd have to use an aux cable in my car?

 

[LuvMusic]

Correct.....something has to be plugged into the audio jack on the phone.

 

[SaintlySins]

Thank you all for your posts.

I look forward to trying this out during this week off.

 

[coolbreeze78]

Some guy on Reddit made this app. It turns on the DAC in every app, no hoops or other janky workarounds. Best software I've seen in a long time. Free, does what it says, works 100%. LG needs to fix this, but until then:

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...id=com.phascinate.lgv10.dacfix&token=DGlP_4oS

 

[LuvMusic]

A most excellent find and app, thank you for posting!

Update, this app works great with Power Amp and I can now use my favorite music player with the ESS DAC. Now totally happy!