[xkoo]

Hi,I am also thinking about purchasing the ROG 5 and just you wanted to please clarify if you find it unusually large?Are you able to comfortably put it in your trouser pocket?

No it is large for me I can't use it as DD and I use iphone12mini as phone

 

[Beatlelarry]

Xperia may have good dac and sound good with high sensitivity iems but won't be able to drive full size headphones like Sennhiser or AKG or Beyerdynamic due to less powerful amp. Also note that V40, V50, G8 and some G7 (those made after V40 release with meridian tuning) have a touch warmer and more clear sound that V30. I guess Xperia may have a warmer sound but LGs respond well with EQ you can make your preferred sound if not using bit perfect.

I got high-impedance Sony headphones. In my LG G7 they are heard very well, since the LGs are able to exploit the characteristics of headphones above 50 ohms (there are people who use the LG as an audio source for headphones even 300 ohms and move them very well) . I suppose that with iems the difference between LG and Sony Xperia will not be so noticeable, but my question was how Sony behaves with studio headphones. That's where you can really see the difference.

 

[Bluecactus123]

To everyone reading this, keep in mind that power does not equal sound quality

 

[Beatlelarry]

To everyone reading this, keep in mind that power does not equal to sound quality

That is true. But the studio headphones are going to sound very low in volume on the Sony. With iems or low impedance headphones you would already have to test on both phones to check their quality.

 

[larry piencenaves]

A quick update on Xperia 5 Mk II. This is a much better source than LG V 30 (!), and presumably other V series phones since they all sound pretty much the same. Also I have just had a chat with a guy who has owned both phones as well as fiio m6 and he confirmed that Xperia is the best sounding of them all. I was really surprised that LG V 30 sounds worse than Xperia, i guess Sony doesn't have the recognition they deserve and very few people can say anything about their sound, let alone compare it to other devices

I think sony is using cirrus logic cs35l41 on the xperia x5 mk2 (not sure), though I have to disagree with you with v-series sounding the same, my g7 tuning is quite different vs v50, resolution, soundstage, details is more so equal, but not tuning.

 

[Bluecactus123]

I think sony is using cirrus logic cs35l41 on the xperia x5 mk2 (not sure), though I have to disagree with you with v-series sounding the same, my g7 tuning is quite different vs v50, resolution, soundstage, details is more so equal, but not tuning.

But g7 does not belong to the v series

 

[Beatlelarry]

But g7 does not belong to the v series

LG V20, V30 and G6: ESS Saber ES9218P Quad DAC (B&O tuning)
LG V40 and G7: ESS Saber ES9218P Quad DAC (Meridian tuning)
LG V50, G8 and G8X: ESS Saber ES9218P Quad DAC (Meridian tuning)
LG V60: ESS Saber ES9219 Quad DAC (probably LG tuning)

Most LG smartphones of the V and G series (from the G6 onwards) carry the same Quad Dac (there are some exceptions like the G8s, which does not). The difference is in how the sound is "tuned", whether by Meridian, by B&O or by LG). None is better or worse in this sense, that is already personal taste, depending on how you prefer it to sound warmer, more natural ...

 

[Bluecactus123]

LG V20, V30 and G6: ESS Saber ES9218P Quad DAC (B&O tuning)
LG V40 and G7: ESS Saber ES9218P Quad DAC (Meridian tuning)
LG V50, G8 and G8X: ESS Saber ES9218P Quad DAC (Meridian tuning)
LG V60: ESS Saber ES9219 Quad DAC (probably LG tuning)

Most LG smartphones of the V and G series (from the G6 onwards) carry the same Quad Dac (there are some exceptions like the G8s, which does not). The difference is in how the sound is "tuned", whether by Meridian, by B&O or by LG). None is better or worse in this sense, that is already personal taste, depending on how you prefer it to sound warmer, more natural ...

Fair enough

 

[larry piencenaves]

LG V20, V30 and G6: ESS Saber ES9218P Quad DAC (B&O tuning)
LG V40 and G7: ESS Saber ES9218P Quad DAC (Meridian tuning)
LG V50, G8 and G8X: ESS Saber ES9218P Quad DAC (Meridian tuning)
LG V60: ESS Saber ES9219 Quad DAC (probably LG tuning)

Most LG smartphones of the V and G series (from the G6 onwards) carry the same Quad Dac (there are some exceptions like the G8s, which does not). The difference is in how the sound is "tuned", whether by Meridian, by B&O or by LG). None is better or worse in this sense, that is already personal taste, depending on how you prefer it to sound warmer, more natural ...

This is somewhat wrong, you should put g7 alongside to v20 v30 and g6. G7 is not tuned by meridian, meridian collaboration started with the v40, also korean and us variant of v20 is tuned different.

 

[larry piencenaves]

But g7 does not belong to the v series

g7=v30

 

[Beatlelarry]

This is somewhat wrong, you should put g7 alongside to v20 v30 and g6. G7 is not tuned by meridian, meridian collaboration started with the v40, also korean and us variant of v20 is tuned different.

V30 is tuned by B&O, but G7 is not. In fact, the G7 was the first smartphone where Meridian began to act at LG, through the Boombox Speaker. The G7's quad Dac may not "officially" appear as tuned by Meridian, but it wouldn't make much sense to tune one thing and not the other. I understand this is due more to licensing and marketing agreements for breaking their agreement with B&O. What is certain is that B&O did not fine-tune the G7

 

[MarkJohny3]

This is somewhat wrong, you should put g7 alongside to v20 v30 and g6. G7 is not tuned by meridian, meridian collaboration started with the v40, also korean and us variant of v20 is tuned different.

We don't really know and never will what LG actually did with the tuning maybe some of the meridian phones were tuned by regions also like B&O . My V40 with tuned by meridian label sounds exactly like G7. But also were quite a few on V40 and V50 threads who listened to both phones and agreed that V50 sounds different from V40 also V50 being warmer and fuller and I would understand that. Actually for V50 and G8 maybe meridian changed the tuning a bit and improved it who knows. Anyway V40 and G7 are very smooth with pretty relaxed highs for a sabre dac but is rather flat and neutral. I got the chance a few weeks ago to listen to a friend V20 and it was slightly brighter and less clear in highs but the bass was considerably better. All in all all LG's with ess sabre were very good despite tuning.

V30 is tuned by B&O, but G7 is not. In fact, the G7 was the first smartphone where Meridian began to act at LG, through the Boombox Speaker. The G7's quad Dac may not "officially" appear as tuned by Meridian, but it wouldn't make much sense to tune one thing and not the other. I understand this is due more to licensing and marketing agreements for breaking their agreement with B&O. What is certain is that B&O did not fine-tune the G7

I actually bought the G7 a few time after V40 with the meridian DAC tuning was released and my suspicion was that if they had the tuning for V40 released they added for G7 too after that or it was only region based for G7. Anyway it's a pity for smartphone audio that LG is no more, I hope at least Asus get a good implementation of the sabre.

EDIT. Also the digital filters are very important and make significant changes to the sound . Based on tuning some phones may sound better with different presets. On V40 and G7 I only used short filter because the other 2 sounds worse to my ears.

 

[Beatlelarry]

We don't really know and never will what LG actually did with the tuning maybe some of the meridian phones were tuned by regions also like B&O . My V40 with tuned by meridian label sounds exactly like G7. But also were quite a few on V40 and V50 threads who listened to both phones and agreed that V50 sounds different from V40 also V50 being warmer and fuller and I would understand that. Actually for V50 and G8 maybe meridian changed the tuning a bit and improved it who knows. Anyway V40 and G7 are very smooth with pretty relaxed highs for a sabre dac but is rather flat and neutral. I got the chance a few weeks ago to listen to a friend V20 and it was slightly brighter and less clear in highs but the bass was considerably better. All in all all LG's with ess sabre were very good despite tuning.

I actually bought the G7 a few time after V40 with the meridian DAC tuning was released and my suspicion was that if they had the tuning for V40 released they added for G7 too after that or it was only region based for G7. Anyway it's a pity for smartphone audio that LG is no more, I hope at least Asus get a good implementation of the sabre.

EDIT. Also the digital filters are very important and make significant changes to the sound . Based on tuning some phones may sound better with different presets. On V40 and G7 I only used short filter because the other 2 sounds worse to my ears.

I agree with ur theory. You have described it perfectly.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

This reminds me of 2015/16 when HTC 10 using the internal Qualcomm DAC could go toe to toe with LG G5 equipped with a dedicated B&O audio module accessory in the sound department.A real pity that my options are now down to basically one phone i.e. Asus ROG 5(Sony exited the Indian mobile phone market a few years ago).

To be honest, if you are fine with ROG phone's bulk and poor software support, then go for it. But, in India, Samsung S20 FE 5G is a very good option not only as a smartphone but also for it's audio prowess. I am using it for almost 2 weeks now, and I can say it is way better than what my Redmi K20 Pro could sound even with Hi-Fi mode turned on.

Also, the Snapdragon 888 is a notorious chipset where almost all phones are facing heating and battery performance issues. It is advised to stick to last year's flagships unless you are perfectly fine with 888s issues. Snapdragon 865 is a much stable chipset and for day to day performance not that far behind 888.

Samsung has utilized Dolby very smartly here. And I have headroom for almost all portable gear I have. I too would have gone for Xperia if available in India without batting an eye.

 

[dreamer609]

I went from G8 to V60. I use UAPP exclusively, and feel the V60 is slightly better but overall neglectable differences. I'm waiting for a first smartphone that can bypass Android resampling so we can use all streaming apps natively. You'd think LG would figure it out by now

How did you get the v60 to play audio out of the USB cable to an external dac via uapp? Or has anyone done this? I can't seem to get it to recognize my external dac at all (Pro-ject pre box s2) , much less get mqa put of uapp. My set up works fine on my v40 and v50. Both phones play mqa just fine.