Best Smartphone for audiophile Part II (Updated: Jan 2020)

[RishiGuru]

At first is new Android way faster phone with better procesor better screen bigger battery and fully supported USBAUDIO PLAYER PRO with MQA,DSD etc. LG phones is no more support and is dead brand.

I never questioned Asus ROG Phone 5's performance or hardware capabilities, I know it is a good smartphone.

But I doubt its analogue audio capabilities through headphone jack will be any superior to the last generations of QuadDAC laden LG flagships. And I am almost certain the Asus is unable to perform native DSD playback with say UAPP. Native DSD playback on a smartphone will provide the highest audio fidelity possible.

If you have difficulty in understanding what native DSD playback means, you may very well look into this post:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/bes...pdated-jan-2020.853115/page-249#post-15900548

 

[RishiGuru]

Just got an LG G8X. It came with Android 9, should I upgrade it to Android 10 or stay on 9? Going to use it purely for listening to music.

If you listen to DSD audio, value native DSD playback stay put to Android 9. Else if you are stuck to PCM audio file formats like MP3, FLAC, WAV, APE, OGG.... upgrade to Android 10 eyes closed. With Andriod 10 update you will lose native DSD playback on your LG G8X, due to stupid cost cutting from LG software side from Android 10 onward.

 

[bklz]

so ASUS ROG Phone 5 or new SONY Xperia III series (1/3/5) in terms of best audio quality overall?

 

[supersesa]

Go for Xperia 1ii. I actually like the sound out of Xperia better then V60. It's also just a better phone overall. I have re-purchases Xperia and use it as my main phone replacing Samsung S21U.

V60 ist actually available in Germany from eBay. I tested it again but ended up sending back. I was not happy with it as a phone and it doesn't make sense to have a second phone just for music, I would rather go with specialized DAP.

Why do you prefer Xperia1ii over S21U?

 

[Nemu]

What do you guys think of the vivo x60 pro (pro plus)?

I know it has no headphone jack (unfortunately)

 

[MFire]

Why do you prefer Xperia1ii over S21U?

Permit me to answer this question. I have an Xperia 5 II (same DAC as the 1 II ) and my brother has an S21 Ultra. Having tested both I can assure you mine sounds wider, more detailed and overall better. Samsung is good ant a lot of things but audio is not one of them. And I am very picky about good audio.

 

[mainguy]

Permit me to answer this question. I have an Xperia 5 II (same DAC as the 1 II ) and my brother has an S21 Ultra. Having tested both I can assure you mine sounds wider, more detailed and overall better. Samsung is good ant a lot of things but audio is not one of them. And I am very picky about good audio.

The Xperia 1 ii really does sound good, so much so I ditched my much preferred iPhone. Even over bluetooth it sounds substantially bigger and wider, just like you say. The difference was quite dramatic, annoyingly, as i think Apple make a much better phone…lol

 

[kislaykaushal]

If Asus ROG Phone 5 supports native DSD playback, I am all in for this phone. An owner here had verified it can playback DSD files (dsf, dff files), but nobody is able to confirm if it does so natively (hardware decoding by ES9280AC). If the phone does software decoding of DSD files (by music player app) and feeds converted PCM signals to the DAC, I am not much interested due to inherent loss in quality.

Other than that, I don't think it will be much of an improvement over LG's QuadDAC.

If we were to believe the person named ChillyRide, it does not support native DSD playback. But he was using Sony Xperia before. Not sure how he/she concluded that while playing DSD file on rog5 as Sony Xperia did not support native DSD. https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/comment/170962#Comment_170962

Any idea whether iqoo 7 supports native DSD or not? Not even one 5g phone with native DSD support!!

 

[RishiGuru]

If we were to believe the person named ChillyRide, it does not support native DSD playback. But he was using Sony Xperia before. Not sure how he/she concluded that while playing DSD file on rog5 as Sony Xperia did not support native DSD. https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/comment/170962#Comment_170962

Any idea whether iqoo 7 supports native DSD or not? Not even one 5g phone with native DSD support!!

After going through the shared link, I am dead certain Asus ROG 5 does not support native DSD playback over DoP. What it does actually is software decoding from DSD to PCM, hence loosing the inherent advantages of DSD audio.

iQOO 7 better known as iQOO 7 Legend in India comes with a potent Cirrus Logic CS43131 audio processor. Alas as the phone does not have an audio jack.

On chip level CS43131 supports native DSD playback, question is Vivo/iQOO had provided the support on software level with DoP. Please do let us know if you get any info on this. The only two Vivo smartphones that ever came with native DSD playback support over DoP are Vivo Xplay6 & Vivo NEX S.

 

[Frosti]

The Xperia 1 ii really does sound good, so much so I ditched my much preferred iPhone. Even over bluetooth it sounds substantially bigger and wider, just like you say. The difference was quite dramatic, annoyingly, as i think Apple make a much better phone…lol

Have you tried the LG V20?

I'm on the market for the best sounding phone on a budget, what would you recommend?

1. LG Hi-Fi Plus
2. V20
3. axon 7
4. mx4 pro

ROG 5 is way over my budget (100$)

 

[artpiggo]

Have you tried the LG V20?

I'm on the market for the best sounding phone on a budget, what would you recommend?

1. LG Hi-Fi Plus
2. V20
3. axon 7
4. mx4 pro

ROG 5 is way over my budget (100$)

Mx4 pro if you can find.

 

[x X x]

Hello guys. I have an OnePlus 7T Pro (for Apple Music only) and AK SR25 (for my local music and some AM too).

The SR25 sound performance is superior for my ears and I really love it, but I thinking about moving to Android phone with additional portable dac. I was using my SR25 only in my home. OP with Hidizs S3 or my Panasonic S500 wirelessly is enough for me.

What I expecting from Android phone as music player? Flawless, smoothness performance (just like on my OnePlus), small size factor and good compatibility with usb DACs. Also quite new Android version, USB C, maybe 90 Hz display? micro-SD support too.

Main expectation from dac are balanced output (2,5 will be better).

Overall I was thinking about Samsung S10e paired with ifi hip-dac or fiio q3, or Shanling UA2.

Are there any better, cheap phones than Samsung S10e? Maybe some LG or Sony?

 

[artpiggo]

Hello guys. I have an OnePlus 7T Pro (for Apple Music only) and AK SR25 (for my local music and some AM too).

The SR25 sound performance is superior for my ears and I really love it, but I thinking about moving to Android phone with additional portable dac. I was using my SR25 only in my home. OP with Hidizs S3 or my Panasonic S500 wirelessly is enough for me.

What I expecting from Android phone as music player? Flawless, smoothness performance (just like on my OnePlus), small size factor and good compatibility with usb DACs. Also quite new Android version, USB C, maybe 90 Hz display? micro-SD support too.

Main expectation from dac are balanced output (2,5 will be better).

Overall I was thinking about Samsung S10e paired with ifi hip-dac or fiio q3, or Shanling UA2.

Are there any better, cheap phones than Samsung S10e? Maybe some LG or Sony?

Maybe LG V50 ( you can have good sound out of its 3.5)

And when you want balanced dac, you can use ifi hip dac or ibasso dc04 (not 2.5 though)

 

[x X x]

Maybe LG V50 ( you can have good sound out of its 3.5)

And when you want balanced dac, you can use ifi hip dac or ibasso dc04 (not 2.5 though)

Thank you, but I have asking about cheapest and smallest possible phone And I am not a fan of a LG's Android.

I have an option to exchange my SR25 for Shanling M6 Pro. Would be a good option in terms of usability (Android performance)?

 

[artpiggo]

Thank you, but I have asking about cheapest and smallest possible phone And I am not a fan of a LG's Android.

I have an option to exchange my SR25 for Shanling M6 Pro. Would be a good option in terms of usability (Android performance)?

I like cayin n6ii more. Not shanling sound sig fan.