[Pakalini]

OK so Asus ROG 5 has ESS SABRE ES9280AC PRO 8-channel DAC, first time this high end dac in any smartphone ever put, also says up to 8-1000 impedence. What are your pro opinions? Is a game changer, better than noob lg v60.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

Despite the tuning, it should sound exactly like V60.
Same amplification like all V-Series phones.

Sabre SoCs

 

[Pakalini]

But its sabre pro series 8 channel, lg v has some regular

 

[xkoo]

OK so Asus ROG 5 has ESS SABRE ES9280AC PRO 8-channel DAC, first time this high end dac in any smartphone ever put, also says up to 8-1000 impedence. What are your pro opinions? Is a game changer, better than noob lg v60.

Looking forward to it!
Look very promising with sabre DAC.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

The V-series has a 4-channel low power consumption dac with 2Vrms amplifier built in the SoC.

I bet a kidney that we won't have a real benefit by adding a second 9218 in parallel mode to it.

So all comes down to the amplification stage and the tuning by Asus, i guess.

 

[imparanoic]

OK so Asus ROG 5 has ESS SABRE ES9280AC PRO 8-channel DAC, first time this high end dac in any smartphone ever put, also says up to 8-1000 impedence. What are your pro opinions? Is a game changer, better than noob lg v60.

great news, a step closer to sucessor onkyo granbeat dp-cmx1, hopefully this will be a new trend, hats off to Asus, it should sony turn to make an audiphile grade phone now

 

[theaudiologist1]

is there a point in the phone's dac if you have an external dac anyway? also, will the phone sound as good with a custom rom?

 

[larry piencenaves]

The V-series has a 4-channel low power consumption dac with 2Vrms amplifier built in the SoC.

I bet a kidney that we won't have a real benefit by adding a second 9218 in parallel mode to it.

So all comes down to the amplification stage and the tuning by Asus, i guess.

noob question here but is the 9280ac pro technically better than the 9218p/9219c? Im a bit confused with ess dacs hierarchy but while checking the unit prices, the 9218p/9219c are more expensive . I wonder how it would compare with the lg's.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

From what i've found about the two, they're very similar except the mqa hardware support of the 9281a.

The 9280 is meant to be used as a usb-dac in general with a bit more power consumption to the 9218.

In addition to the specs, the 9280 is capable to process the mic to its integrated adc section, which the 9218 lacks.
The 9218 has a bypass switch mode for its analog input to turn off while the mic is in use, which also will reduce power consumption on calls.

I'm curious too, but don't expect a different experience soundwise.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

is there a point in the phone's dac if you have an external dac anyway? also, will the phone sound as good with a custom rom?

If both the DACs synergize together then it helps else in most cases, the more powerful DAC dominates the SQ. Custom ROMs are tricky business and depends on the device you use and the sources released by the OEM to maximize the true potential of the DAC. Most OEMs don't usually release their proprietary stuff which utilizes the inbuilt DAC. My experience so far has been that an external DAC always helps in improving the overall SQ.

 

[wildforest]

Brief comparison of devices I tried lately: LG V60, LG V50, Spectra X (portable usb dac), Qudelix 5k (portable bluetooth+usb dac), Meizu USB DAC Pro (portable usb dac), and my old devices: LG V30, Meizu Pro5 (HiFi Phone)
Compare in terms of: Bass quality, Fullness, Balance, Resolution and details




LG V50 (V500N Korean model hw and firmware)
Bass quality 5
- Bass drum doesn't sound realistic. And there is an area of bass frequency that is blurred.

do you think or can anyone else confirm that the v50 version LG LMV450PM is better at bass quality then the korean version you have tested? im listening mostly electronic music and i need good bass

 

[deepoison]

OK so Asus ROG 5 has ESS SABRE ES9280AC PRO 8-channel DAC, first time this high end dac in any smartphone ever put, also says up to 8-1000 impedence. What are your pro opinions? Is a game changer, better than noob lg v60.

With LG shutting down their smartphone department, I was worried. Glad to find a successor in ASUS. Long live ASUS. Awaiting the comparisons between this and v60 & sound impressions. I plan to buy a phone in next 1-2 months.

 

[imparanoic]

OK so Asus ROG 5 has ESS SABRE ES9280AC PRO 8-channel DAC, first time this high end dac in any smartphone ever put, also says up to 8-1000 impedence. What are your pro opinions? Is a game changer, better than noob lg v60.

actually, not the first, Onkyo released their first and only smart phone for asian market only (japan, hong kong, china and singapore), while it uses the decent but older dac es9018c2m, but uses a weak mid range cpu snapdragon 650 and poorly optimised Ui, meaning a sluggish experience, but it did have high end ish dap components and design such as 2.5mm balanced output, separated sheildied dac from the main board, hopefully, this asus rog 5 pro surpass it in sound quality, but rog 5 has design fault where the 2nd usb in the centre of the phone compromises the structural intergity of the phone and it bends and breaks easily (look at jerryrigit on youtube), best to get a durable and non bendable case for this phone, hopefully, their camera orientated forthcoming flagship will have this audiophile features - zenfone 8/zenfone 8 pro/zenfone 8 flip.

https://www.hk.onkyo.com/en/product-details.php?id=26

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

With LG shutting down their smartphone department, I was worried. Glad to find a successor in ASUS. Long live ASUS. Awaiting the comparisons between this and v60 & sound impressions. I plan to buy a phone in next 1-2 months.

The only drawback of ROG is their terrible software update support. Most of them don't even get the updates after 6-8 months which for a phone that is supposedly a flagship is a big bummer.

 

[xkoo]

i just watch Jerryrigeverything @ Youtube

The ROG Phone 5 has a Problem - Durability Test Fail!​