[eio]

   
The only well-known companies that continue with good dac/amp implement seem to be LG, Meizu, Vivo and HTC.

 
sadly, CS43L36 used by Meizu and AK4691 used by HTC are not up to the standard of ESS products, they are more in league to iPhone and Galaxy S7 Exynos version...
 
so basically we only have LG and Vivo, and Smartisan this year 

 

[artpiggo]

   
sadly, CS43L36 used by Meizu and AK4691 used by HTC are not up to the standard of ESS products, they are more in league to iPhone and Galaxy S7 Exynos version...
 
so basically we only have LG and Vivo, and Smartisan this year 

 
Smartisan is also new one company, I learn this name from Wild Lee (VE founder) reviewing his M1L. He said close to Fiio X3ii. So Quite interesting brand.
 
BTW, I think Meizu keep close the real flagship though...But In case their Pro 7 not utilizing ESS chip, then it might be a real good-bye.

 

[NiHaoMike]

  I wonder what market they think the whole CDLA thing will appeal to if not to us and yet they clearly don't want our business anymore. Most people won't care about CDLA because they don't care about sound quality anyway, but then most people won't be buying at all from such a nearly unknown Chinese company regardless of what features they claim to have especially since they also tend to be more expensive than other Chinese manufacturers. They can't or won't compete on price. I guess they think they can compete with Apple. Maybe they see themselves as a manufacturer of Apple clones.

From what I could tell, CDLA is just marketing for USB 2.0 audio over USB-C. I think the move to digital output is good, but not without snags. The cost/availability of adapters for legacy hardware is the most obvious one. Another is charging the device and outputting audio at the same time.
 
The case of charging the device and outputting audio is an interesting one because for the existing way with the 3.5mm jack, that's exactly how you get ground loops and other induced noise if outputting to a device that also has a ground connection. But I don't think "CDLA" is the best replacement for that case - instead just output HDMI over USB-C (of which there are at least two standard ways to do it...) as it also covers the use case of outputting video to a TV or monitor.

 

[lxlx]

thanks artpiggo for the link, my bad! forget everything I said
that is interesting news for me, so DAC inside Smartphone + SBU pins in use is now the question.
I really hope that we can rely that SBU shall always be in use if analoge attached. and that this is not it dependent on implementation.

 

[Gojira]

thanks artpiggo for the link, my bad! forget everything I said

that is interesting news for me, so DAC inside Smartphone + SBU pins in use is now the question.
I really hope that we can rely that SBU shall always be in use if analoge attached. and that this is not it dependent on implementation.

 
If you are talking about LeTV we already know it is just the Qualcomm SoC DAC and yes I also hope that analog through SBU1+SBU2+Gnd pins from USB-C becomes accepted in the industry but only as a backup to the standard 3.5mm jack. An extra feature to increase reliability and reduce warranty claims from broken headphone jacks. If a company wants a really thin phone I guess they can always go to 2.5mm jacks, but that means we'd all have to use an adapter the leverage from which will make it even easier to break the jack or bend the PCB. Although I suppose a short 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter cable is no worse than a usb-c to 3.5mm adapter cable.

 

[artpiggo]

   
If you are talking about LeTV we already know it is just the Qualcomm SoC DAC and yes I also hope that analog through SBU1+SBU2+Gnd pins from USB-C becomes accepted in the industry but only as a backup to the standard 3.5mm jack. An extra feature to increase reliability and reduce warranty claims from broken headphone jacks. If a company wants a really thin phone I guess they can always go to 2.5mm jacks, but that means we'd all have to use an adapter the leverage from which will make it even easier to break the jack or bend the PCB. Although I suppose a short 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter cable is no worse than a usb-c to 3.5mm adapter cable.

 
 
Is there any 2.5 mm Single end? that's news to me.

 

[Gojira]

Not sure what you mean by single end. I was thinking of something like this.

 

[lxlx]

I don't have a problem with adapter usb-c <> 3.5
like 2.5 <> 3.5

i would have a problem, having a good DAC in phone (not letv2/3), only usb-c, and manufacturers would not analogue out over usb-c. but it wouldn't make sense. I just hope, that usb-c forces them to do a so, always.

 

[artpiggo]

  Not sure what you mean by single end. I was thinking of something like this.

 
I think there is only 2.5 mm TRRS Balance mode for AK player or Opus player.
 
Where there are dual dacs inside. And what is in normal phone is single dac (called single end) using 3.5 mm
 
But from what I see in link, I am not sure if it is normal or not. I will research more on this.

 

[eio]

  I wonder what market they think the whole CDLA thing will appeal to if not to us and yet they clearly don't want our business anymore. Most people won't care about CDLA because they don't care about sound quality anyway, but then most people won't be buying at all from such a nearly unknown Chinese company regardless of what features they claim to have especially since they also tend to be more expensive than other Chinese manufacturers. They can't or won't compete on price. I guess they think they can compete with Apple. Maybe they see themselves as a manufacturer of Apple clones.

most people don't need real HiFi, but most people like the feeling of knowing that their device is good in every part, without digging too deep into boring technical details. a story is helpful, maybe.
and more importantly: digital audio is the future, Apple proved it, but LeEco released it earlier than Apple. that's a big deal for branding, since LeEco's unoffical motto is "define future with future"
 
yes, it's a strategy totally geared toward general public, not toward us picky nerdy audio gear lunatics. at least not for now.
 
and to be fair, CDLA smartphones paired with stock CDLA headphone does sound better than most smartphones paired with their stock headphone. (it's basically an EarPod using jack-less balanced connection, not bad for an earbud actually)

 

[artpiggo]

   
 
and to be fair, CDLA smartphones paired with stock CDLA headphone does sound better than most smartphones paired with their stock headphone. (it's basically an EarPod using jack-less balanced connection, not bad for an earbud actually)

 
It seems like Letv follow civilization concept just like when pairing sony DAP with sony cans is the best sound matching. XD

 

[jagwap]

sadly, CS43L36 used by Meizu and AK4691 used by HTC are not up to the standard of ESS products, they are more in league to iPhone and Galaxy S7 Exynos version...

so basically we only have LG and Vivo, and Smartisan this year 

Where did you get the part number for the HTC? I've never seen it listed as the part they use. Also it would be a terrible choice for an audio output if you care about audio quality, and that doesn't seem to be the consensus on the HTC 10.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Where did you get the part number for the HTC? I've never seen it listed as the part they use. Also it would be a terrible choice for an audio output if you care about audio quality, and that doesn't seem to be the consensus on the HTC 10.

 
The consensus over HTC 10 might not have been made by the same people who use a Chord Mojo or FiiO x5ii for their daily listening, so the consensus might be biased towards making HTC10 into a better phone audio wise than it is compared to true good audio products.

 

[jagwap]

The consensus over HTC 10 might not have been made by the same people who use a Chord Mojo or FiiO x5ii for their daily listening, so the consensus might be biased towards making HTC10 into a better phone audio wise than it is compared to true good audio products.

Yes, but this part cannot be doing the headphone output.

 

[glorfybe]

I don't think anyone here has yet purchased or listened to the Vienna. It's one of the untested non-SoC audio phones. As for the Vibe X3 Lite I think we should try to stop using that name because it is inaccurate. It is actually called the Vibe X3 C78 or Vibe X3 Youth. The Vibe X3 Lite is actually the alias for an entirely different phone: the Vibe K4 Note or A7010 and that does not seem to have the same audio chips, not surprisingly because aside from most of the specs being similar it is an unrelated model to the Vibe X3.

I have an ulefone Vienna and a sansa clip+, but I'm not very good at describing sound. It sounds clearer and better than the clip.

I have also owned s7 edge exynos. Subjectively it sounded better and quite a bit more powerful.

I have also owned a HTC 10 which is better than the Vienna, but not much better.

The Vienna sounds great with my RE00.

The Vienna had a really good and loud internal speaker, although being at the back was a problem -it's close but I think better than HTC 10.

As phones both the 10 and S7e are better, but I week keep the Vienna until the next round of upgrades -it's good enough.

Really impressed for the £110 I paid.