[DWbirdseye]

What player on HTC 10 do you tried? Stock, Google Music or 3rd part like Poweramp/Neutron/etc? ALAC not supported on stock players (except IOS) I think.
Check Audio Output and Resample if 3rd party. Sometimes I got weird results from messing options on smartphone (trying to get true 192Khz/24-bit not 48Khz native to Android).

My understanding is that HTC uses google to access and play music files and as such it is utilizing HTC 10's excellent stock amp and dac. I downloaded poweramp yesterday and unfortunately it uses its own audio engine with no ability to access HTC 10's remarkable amp/dac. This makes sense as the work necessary to access all of the various players' audio engines would not be feasible. Poweramp's ability to shape the sound according to your personal taste is a useful tool but if you are using a high quality phone and the 10's internals then your are not getting the best of what each has to offer. I'm going to convert my files at the source.

 

[DWbirdseye]

what about sound quality compared to your dx90?, i read some users said they are quite similar.

I'll be doing some comparisons later on, but the HTC 10 just might be the equal of the dx90.

 

[slackerpo]

I'll be doing some comparisons later on, but the HTC 10 just might be the equal of the dx90.

 
cant wait for them

 

[Doomski]

Is the stock htc player an 24bit 192khz player?

 

[DWbirdseye]

Is the stock htc player an 24bit 192khz player?

Yes.

 

[Rioter]

Yes, the problem of "Audiophil" Android players is no low level drivers. Android using by default 48 Khz and almost all players just resample to 48 Khz through OpenSL ES driver at best. I tried several players last day on my LG G2 D802 (4.4.2) and it was just money wasting.
Poweramp 3.0 Alpha .703 (last build at now) with experimental has 192Khz / 24-bit resampling (forced, no matter source) through, sadly, Snapdragon.PW shows the output info (no chip info ofc): bits, Khz, ms, resampler etc. And its has best interface among tested, though not perfect.
Neutron have many options but no even Snapdragon 24-bit output and I have some problems (clattering or very short stuttering or else) on ordinary FLAC 16-bit 44.1 Khz despite all my efforts with options. All sources just resample to 16-bit 48 Khz. Though may be on Android 6.0 its better? Still no Wolfson DAC output. The developer said year ago about Android restrictions (or just poor interface) - 48 Khz in one stream coz need system-level (lower than root).
USB Audio Player Pro plays (if don't lie) 44.1 for 44.1 files but still no 192 Khz/24-bit - again 48 Khz resampler. It's ultimately USB-to-DAC player with poor options for Android and not-so-great interface.
Onkyo HF Player - no info about output. Sound is typical Onkyo - "silver highs". Sound is ok but poor interface, no ape and cue support, almost no DSP features.
Foobar2000 - minimalistic, ancient interface, no output info though when I try more than 48 Khz resampling got no sound.

 

[Doomski]

Then what does poweramp offer more than the stock htc 10 player?

 

[Madcat207]

My understanding is that HTC uses google to access and play music files and as such it is utilizing HTC 10's excellent stock amp and dac. I downloaded poweramp yesterday and unfortunately it uses its own audio engine with no ability to access HTC 10's remarkable amp/dac. This makes sense as the work necessary to access all of the various players' audio engines would not be feasible. Poweramp's ability to shape the sound according to your personal taste is a useful tool but if you are using a high quality phone and the 10's internals then your are not getting the best of what each has to offer. I'm going to convert my files at the source.

In response to the bold portion - it doesn't make sense, when other phones like the LG V10 can route any of the audio through the DAC/AMP; be it poweramp, Tidal, Spotify, Onkyo, etc.. This did require a software tweak in Android 5.x, but this has been addressed in 6.01. Likely LG's solution required more work to make happen, but by all means, it is possible.

 

[Rioter]

Poweramp offers usable interface, .cue and ape support, sort-by-folders (must be in EVERY player), album art, etc.

 

[DWbirdseye]

  In response to the bold portion - it doesn't make sense, when other phones like the LG V10 can route any of the audio through the DAC/AMP; be it poweramp, Tidal, Spotify, Onkyo, etc.. This did require a software tweak in Android 5.x, but this has been addressed in 6.01. Likely LG's solution required more work to make happen, but by all means, it is possible.

Certainly possible but not always practical from a cost standpoint. When I compared the  HTC 10's audio engine to poweramp the loss in fidelity was glaring. So I started to do some research to find out why? This took me to the FAQ section of poweramp, which eventually led me to poweramps forum:
 http://forum.powerampapp.com/index.php?/topic/8338-new-lg-v10-not-able-to-access-ess-dac/
....and eventually to this:
"Poweramp uses its own audio playback codecs, not individual device's. Same goes for external DACs, etc. Perhaps in future support may be added, but not in the short term I'm afraid"
Andre
and this: 
"Having supported folks in an audio player environment for years, and dealt with computer-based audio systems for longer than most people have even had computers, I of course have no idea what DAC stands for.... [sheesh, I wonder why I bother sometimes]
Yes, it would be lovely to support every individual device's own custom hardware - and if Poweramp used the regular OS codecs and hooks for audio rendering then it probably would, as the LG kernel probably handles its own redirection - but as I have already said twice, PA uses its own audio engine and nothing extra has been coded for new specialist hardware in your particular choice of phone, of for USB DACs, etc. Maybe when PA v3 is released that may change, but I've just told you what the current situation is to avoid getting your hopes up needlessly as there are no new features planned for the v2.x branch of Poweramp, only essential bug fixes."
Andre
Take it for what it's worth, and I have no idea how credible Andre Willey is, but the sound from poweramp vs. HTC 10 is the difference between mid-fi and hi-fi.  The above information not with standing, if someone knows how to access HTC's internals via poweramp I will be most grateful. 

 

[Rioter]

I think only developer from HTC know it. Bad they don't share low-level driver code for 3rd party developers. So the Hi-Res Sound only a marketing.

 

[Madcat207]

  Certainly possible but not always practical from a cost standpoint. When I compared the  HTC 10's audio engine to poweramp the loss in fidelity was glaring. So I started to do some research to find out why? This took me to the FAQ section of poweramp, which eventually led me to poweramps forum:
 http://forum.powerampapp.com/index.php?/topic/8338-new-lg-v10-not-able-to-access-ess-dac/
....and eventually to this:
"Poweramp uses its own audio playback codecs, not individual device's. Same goes for external DACs, etc. Perhaps in future support may be added, but not in the short term I'm afraid"
Andre
and this: 
"Having supported folks in an audio player environment for years, and dealt with computer-based audio systems for longer than most people have even had computers, I of course have no idea what DAC stands for.... [sheesh, I wonder why I bother sometimes]
Yes, it would be lovely to support every individual device's own custom hardware - and if Poweramp used the regular OS codecs and hooks for audio rendering then it probably would, as the LG kernel probably handles its own redirection - but as I have already said twice, PA uses its own audio engine and nothing extra has been coded for new specialist hardware in your particular choice of phone, of for USB DACs, etc. Maybe when PA v3 is released that may change, but I've just told you what the current situation is to avoid getting your hopes up needlessly as there are no new features planned for the v2.x branch of Poweramp, only essential bug fixes."
Andre
Take it for what it's worth, and I have no idea how credible Andre Willey is, but the sound from poweramp vs. HTC 10 is the difference between mid-fi and hi-fi.  The above information not with standing, if someone knows how to access HTC's internals via poweramp I will be most grateful. 

Basically you found a 6 month old post that is out of date, and take it as current.  If you care to inform yourself, please visit the V10 thread(s) and read about the 5.1 DAC fix and 6.01 improvements that natively allow all apps to use it.  I don't see a point in arguing with you, as i have the phone here, can toggle the settings, and hear the effects right away.  You are welcome to disbelieve, but it doesn't change the truth either.   Carry on...

 

[_wednesday]

My experience is a bit different - plugged in the HD650s and not long after, Jack Johnson's got me tapping my feet.
 
Didn't expect I'd switch to enjoyment mode so quickly; I'd fully expected to be picking over the technicalities for a couple hours!
 
Quote:

  That matches my findings too. I tried the HTC 10 with my Sennheiser HD650's. There is not enough power to drive them at all well. As the volume is increased they just start sounding congested and not very nice at all. 

The HTC 10 is a great audio player but stick to portable headphones and iems.

 

[wwyjoe]

Yes.

Just to clarify, HTC stock player = Google Music?

 

[subguy812]

Just to clarify, HTC stock player = Google Music?

Yes