[shimigg]

good sounding smartphones can match mid-tier daps when it comes to sound. i've heard them both, but with different earphones and not at the same time, so i won't jump to definitive conclusions, so i'd just say that the x5 (1st gen) won't necessarily sound better than a v20. i've heard the x5-iii with my akg n40's and while it has more power obviously, in single ended mode it sounds very similar to my phone (meizu pro 6). in balanced mode, it's like from an other planet, it's very good: spacious, airy, dynamic, with plenty of details and power. i haven't heard any phone sounding nearly as good as the x5-iii balanced.

so it depends on your setup and preferences: how much would you spend, would you carry around an other device, do you have any balanced iem's, etc. my general idea is that 99% of people won't need a separate dap next to a v20 for casual, non-critical music listening.

Thanks for the quick and very detailed reply,
I have the ATH-MSR7 as my best headphones and SE215 and Momentums in ear wired ones , Is there a way to convert unbalanced headphones/IEMs to balanced ?

Also,
Considering I'm getting the v20 for audio only (It's the same price as fiio X5) would it be smart to get it for audio only? Will I notice a big change in audio from Nexus 6p for ex.?

I'm trying to get into the audiophile world with as little cost as I can.

 

[s4tch]

Thanks for the quick and very detailed reply,
I have the ATH-MSR7 as my best headphones and SE215 and Momentums in ear wired ones , Is there a way to convert unbalanced headphones/IEMs to balanced ?

msr7 is single ended by design. i have no clue whether it might be re-wired, but my guess is that it won't be worth the effort. on the other hand, the se215's and in general, iem's with a replaceable cable just need a balanced cable. search aliexpress, penonaudio, ebay, amazon (whatever) for "mmcx balanced cable" to see plenty of examples in basically every price range.

Also,
Considering I'm getting the v20 for audio only (It's the same price as fiio X5) would it be smart to get it for audio only? Will I notice a big change in audio from Nexus 6p for ex.?

I'm trying to get into the audiophile world with as little cost as I can.

you might want to look for a second hand ibasso dx50 then. as far as i remember, it's a warm sounding, pretty powerful player, it would complete your bright 'phones nicely. other alternatives on a budget:
- get a shanling m2s and stream your music via aptx bt to the dap
- used x5-iii and balanced cable for the shure (it won't sound great with the msr7's, though)
- if you're happy to carry an other device: a dac/amp like the oppo ha2, xduoo xd05, opus #11, used centrance dacportable, teac ha-p50, etc, which are durable, have more power than most daps, and can be connected to basically any phone, including your future phone purchases as long as they support usb audio or ios' camera connection (or whatever they call it)

btw i'd probably sell the 6p and buy a v20 if i wanted to carry one single device, or forget the dap's and get a portable dac/amp for the msr7. daps usually can't get the best out of full sized cans, so while the msr7 is fairly easy to drive, with any future headphone purchase, you'd be better off with a separate dac. daps are designed to drive iem's at first place. so far, no dap drove my nad hp50's like my portable dac's (xd05, hifi-m8), and these are also portable, easy to drive cans, like the at's you have.

of course, just my 2 cents.

 

[shimigg]

msr7 is single ended by design. i have no clue whether it might be re-wired, but my guess is that it won't be worth the effort. on the other hand, the se215's and in general, iem's with a replaceable cable just need a balanced cable. search aliexpress, penonaudio, ebay, amazon (whatever) for "mmcx balanced cable" to see plenty of examples in basically every price range.


you might want to look for a second hand ibasso dx50 then. as far as i remember, it's a warm sounding, pretty powerful player, it would complete your bright 'phones nicely. other alternatives on a budget:
- get a shanling m2s and stream your music via aptx bt to the dap
- used x5-iii and balanced cable for the shure (it won't sound great with the msr7's, though)
- if you're happy to carry an other device: a dac/amp like the oppo ha2, xduoo xd05, opus #11, used centrance dacportable, teac ha-p50, etc, which are durable, have more power than most daps, and can be connected to basically any phone, including your future phone purchases as long as they support usb audio or ios' camera connection (or whatever they call it)

btw i'd probably sell the 6p and buy a v20 if i wanted to carry one single device, or forget the dap's and get a portable dac/amp for the msr7. daps usually can't get the best out of full sized cans, so while the msr7 is fairly easy to drive, with any future headphone purchase, you'd be better off with a separate dac. daps are designed to drive iem's at first place. so far, no dap drove my nad hp50's like my portable dac's (xd05, hifi-m8), and these are also portable, easy to drive cans, like the at's you have.

of course, just my 2 cents.

Do you really think the v20 is good for other than audio?
Heard a lot about ghosting and screen retention stuff so I'm concerned replacing my n6p

 

[TrucknHemi]

Use tinymix log to check if the sampling rate/bit depth are correct and which dac is being used on devices with multiple dac's.

Thank you for your reply. Unfotunately I coundn't find this Tinymix anywhere, even googled it. Do you have any link to share?

 

[Smartaudiophone]

Thanks for the quick and very detailed reply,
I have the ATH-MSR7 as my best headphones and SE215 and Momentums in ear wired ones , Is there a way to convert unbalanced headphones/IEMs to balanced ?

Also,
Considering I'm getting the v20 for audio only (It's the same price as fiio X5) would it be smart to get it for audio only? Will I notice a big change in audio from Nexus 6p for ex.?

I'm trying to get into the audiophile world with as little cost as I can.

I also heard a lot about issues with the V20, but from my experience with both phones (had the 6p for about 7 months last year and the v20 for ca. 6 months until i sold it a few days ago), i would replace the 6p with the V20 without even thinking about it. It is better in everything except the software and battery life (Battery is not a huge difference, but noticeable). Also in the 6 months of usage + 2 months from the previous owner, there was not one single problem with it.
The V20 is faster, the camera is much better despite the HDR plus in the 6p + you get that amazing wide angle cam, the sound is a HUUUGE upgrade (the 6p together with other Huawei phones is the worst sounding phone i`ve ever had), you get a replaceable battery and that second screen is very comfortable. It is a much better phone overall and for about 300€ brand new as they are selling right now, i couldn`t think of a better phone.

Also i can`t tell you if the Fiio X5iii is better or worse in sound, but having owned the X1 and the X3ii, the V20 was more to my liking than both of these. The X3ii maybe a little bit more spacy/airy, but the highs can get pretty annoying and the V20 sounds more powerful overall, while maintaining the same clean sound and separation.

 

[ljnew]

So , Is it worth getting something like v20 for audio only (Using Nexus 6p as daily driver) or something like fiio x5 ?

Yes. Especially if you get E70

 

[ljnew]

Thanks for the quick and very detailed reply,
I have the ATH-MSR7 as my best headphones and SE215 and Momentums in ear wired ones , Is there a way to convert unbalanced headphones/IEMs to balanced ?

Also,
Considering I'm getting the v20 for audio only (It's the same price as fiio X5) would it be smart to get it for audio only? Will I notice a big change in audio from Nexus 6p for ex.?

I'm trying to get into the audiophile world with as little cost as I can.

I can tell you, V20 is more than good enough for Audio especially with Audio-Technica products.

 

[shimigg]

I hate LG phones in general, coming fro Nexus , no normal rom, no nothing

 

[lantian]

Thank you for your reply. Unfotunately I coundn't find this Tinymix anywhere, even googled it. Do you have any link to share?

Open up terminal, or any script app select create new script, then type in"su tinymix" save and execute script, it should display the log immediately, use it while running the app you are testing.

 

[shimigg]

I wanna get into the whole HiFi world but don't wanna spend on a dap yet, I need a recommendation for a cheap smartphone to use as a dedicated dap only , and an amp maybe.

Any good stuff ?

 

[Shane D]

Used my V30 this morning to drive my HD6XX 'phones. I have to say that it worked very well. I started to think, after an hour, maybe I don't really need an amp for these phones. Then I plugged them into my amp and thought, yes I really do need an amp.
Having said that I am really impressed with the sound from this phone. I can certainly understand some people using this as their only DAP.

Shane D

 

[shimigg]

Used my V30 this morning to drive my HD6XX 'phones. I have to say that it worked very well. I started to think, after an hour, maybe I don't really need an amp for these phones. Then I plugged them into my amp and thought, yes I really do need an amp.
Having said that I am really impressed with the sound from this phone. I can certainly understand people using this as their only DAP.

Shane D

Well, I don't like LG phones much, I can get the v30 or 20 but the v30 is not yet rooted (if ever) and the v20 has issues , also, it costs about 400-450$ in here , I thought about meizu pro 5 with a nice small portable amp (need suggestions for an amp).

 

[Shane D]

Well, I don't like LG phones much, I can get the v30 or 20 but the v30 is not yet rooted (if ever) and the v20 has issues , also, it costs about 400-450$ in here , I thought about meizu pro 5 with a nice small portable amp (need suggestions for an amp).

I am super happy with the V30 and I don't root phones. This unit has more powe, sound wise, than I will ever use. With regular headphones I am on volume 35 out of 75. With my 300 Ohm HP's, I had to break 40 on the volume scale.
This phone is very expensive in Canada, but Black Friday saw big sales across the country from all the carriers. I imagine it will happen again next week with Boxing Day/Week sales.

I could Never afford this as a stand alone, unlocked phone. It would be well over $1,000.00 here.

Shane D

 

[Jerda]

I have to say That I have a friend that has tried almost every flagship and now he has the Vivo X20 plus... he's super happy of it, he say that while the vivo has the snapdragon 660 the performance has nothing to envy to sd835 phone, the screen is just perfect ( it's only a wider Full HD and is better than a bigger resolution like on many flagship: there's no need of it on a phone yet and it's less work for battery and SoC) and the audio is blowing. SUGGESTED.

 

[Jerda]

I have to say That I have a friend that has tried almost every flagship and now he has the Vivo X20 plus... he's super happy of it, he say that while the vivo has the snapdragon 660 the performance has nothing to envy to sd835 phone, the screen is just perfect ( it's only a wider Full HD and is better than a bigger resolution like on many flagship: there's no need of it on a phone yet and it's less work for the battery and SoC) and the audio is blowing. SUGGESTED.