[Gosod]

what kind of amplifier you prefer to listen to this smartphone?

 

[mx19]

   
Its frustrating but I do understand the companies. I believe its due to several reasons.
 
1. Signal modems. Not every country uses the same frequencies for for example 4G. So changing a SoC to make sure a phone supports all major operators, was sometimes necessary.
2. Copyright/licensing, some features are an exclusive option in a country to some companies
3. Culture? In the Netherlands, big phones are very rare sight on the streets and the office. While in Asia, the bigger, the better.
 
 
 
Rumours are the DAC module won't be available everywhere. 
 
 
On a unrelated note; I dropped my LG G2 f320 and now its dead. I absolutely loved that phone; 32gb + microSD and the ability to play high-res audio files. 
But since there is no progress without change, I'm trying a new phone this time. The ZTE Axon mini with an Asahi Kasei Microdevices AK4961 DAC.
Android Authority already took a closer look to this chip. Lets see what I'm getting for $200 .

 
Please give us your feedback on the Axon mini! I'm really interested how this AK4961 DAC sounds in this phone!

 

[Rainmaker91]

But then I have to ask....why does like every OTHER phone have one for the U.S. version of that phone?

No clue, patents is simply my go to answer for why stuff doesnt get imported to the US. Doesn't mean that's the case here though, although Im sure they have their reasons.

 

[malifact]

  What about the on pre-order  "X play 5 elite" ?  http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/news/newsroom/ess-brings-music-life-new-vivo-flagship-smartphone/
 
Is that something on par or better than the one's on your list?  I read it can be purchased online and used on major US carriers -- but don't know for sure.    

 
 
The Elite version of the Vivo XPlay 5 is not available yet even in China and Vivo has not given an official release date.  On the Chinese web, some people are saying end of April and others early to mid-May.  There’s some speculation that the camera for the Elite version will be upgraded, hence the delay.
 
I posted some links to reviews in Chinese of the Vivo XPlay 5 non-Elite version.  I don’t have time to translate them, but the general consensus is that it sounds better than the average smartphone, but not as good as the Vivo X6. That’s not surprising though as the X6 has an ESS DAC and the non-Elite XPlay 5 “only” has a Cirrus Logic one.

 

[dragonball]

I think i have posted this elsewhere but - How is Lenovo Vibe X3 It has Sabre 9018C2M DAC

 

[RockStar2005]

No clue, patents is simply my go to answer for why stuff doesnt get imported to the US. Doesn't mean that's the case here though, although Im sure they have their reasons.

 
Ok. Well I guess unless we take corporate jobs working for these companies, we'll never know for sure. lol

 

[clarkydaz]

  I think i have posted this elsewhere but - How is Lenovo Vibe X3 It has Sabre 9018C2M DAC

I had it side by side with the meizu pro 5, kept the meizu.

 

[FelipeMadeira]

Thanks to he help guys, i still have a couple weeks to make my choice (or more, after this weekend the dollar situation appears to be stable/getting better in the short term, so X performance may come back to table if the prices get announced soon).
 
Quote:

 
I had it side by side with the meizu pro 5, kept the meizu.

How big is the difference? Vibe X3 is officially sold here for a very good price (Altough stiil pretty big).
 
EDIT: It was too good to be true, like always the brazilian versions is nerfed, they put a mediatek octa-core instead of a snapdragon 808 and 13mp cam (instead of 21). At least they somehow kept the hi-fi mode (still trying to confirm if the same DAC/amplifier) and are announcing it as Dolby Atmos Sound.
Seems legit for 340 dollars (S7 costs 950U$ here).

 

[clarkydaz]

  How big is the difference? Vibe X3 is officially sold here for a very good price (Altough stiil pretty big).
 
EDIT: It was too good to be true, like always the brazilian versions is nerfed, they put a mediatek octa-core instead of a snapdragon 808 and 13mp cam (instead of 21). At least they somehow kept the hi-fi mode (still trying to confirm if the same DAC/amplifier) and are announcing it as Dolby Atmos Sound.
Seems legit for 340 dollars (S7 costs 950U$ here).

not a big difference, I had to play them side by side to really decide. I think the Lenovo is actually a nicer phone in general, just slightly lost out on the audio which is what I bought them for.

 

[Pastapipo]

http://www.androidauthority.com/lg-g5-bang-and-olufsen-dac-review-686953/
 
"The Hi-Fi Plus B&O module is built from a Sabre ES9028C2M digital to analogue converter and a Sabre 9602c headphone amplifier, which are very similar parts to those found inside the impressive LG V10."

 

[tusharthegamer]

 
I had it side by side with the meizu pro 5, kept the meizu.

the price difference is huge ! Meizu is costly compared to lenovo.. with that price in mind lenovo did a awesome job with their phone..

 

[clarkydaz]

 
the price difference is huge ! Meizu is costly compared to lenovo.. with that price in mind lenovo did a awesome job with their phone..

I guess it depends where you are. in the UK my meizu pro 5 was available slightly cheaper than the new lenovo

 

[flashmp3]

  http://www.androidauthority.com/lg-g5-bang-and-olufsen-dac-review-686953/
 
"The Hi-Fi Plus B&O module is built from a Sabre ES9028C2M digital to analogue converter and a Sabre 9602c headphone amplifier, which are very similar parts to those found inside the impressive LG V10."

This review from androidauthority is very interesting. Personally i wont' by the LG G5 after reading this

Here is the part that allowed me to make my choice as i'm a bass lover with a JVC SZ2000 which need lots of power to shine. Have a look :
 
""""""""""""
Aside from the extra width, my main take-away is that the Sabre 9602c amplifier seems more capable at driving bass through low impedance headphones. I went back to conduct a frequency sweep of both DACs to see if I could confirm this a little more scientifically.

Keeping the volume levels down in the ear friendly range (50 percent), I conducted multiple sine sweeps with the jack open and with two sets of headphones that have different impedances. The test reveals that the regular LG G5 output struggles with some early bass roll-off.



The results show that the default G5’s bass response falls short before 200Hz, even without any headphones to load down the amplifier. The issue becomes far more noticeable when using lower impedance, higher quality headphones. This explains a lot about what I could hear when comparing the tone between the two, particularly when it comes to drums and lower frequency bass instruments.

By comparison, the B&O’s amplifier can happily drive 32 ohm headphones with a mostly flat response until 80Hz and below. Even then, we are only looking at a virtually inaudible 1dB of loss here, compared with the slightly more noticeable 2.5dB to 3dB of loss when using the regular G5 output. This difference is a lot less pronounced with higher impedance headphones.

This leads nicely into my final point about sound. Although the B&O DAC sounded a little better than the normal G5 through some very cheap earbuds, the differences were far less noticeable than when listening through my more expensive pair. The problems with the headphones easily outweighed the gains offered from the DAC. So if your purchasing options are limited to either the DAC or some better headphones, the latter is by far and away the choice you should make.

Wrap Up

LG’s Hi-Fi Plus add-on was always designed with the audio enthusiast in mind and I think that you probably need that kind of ear to get the most out of it. That said, I’m not quite sure that the module has too much to offer the most seriously spec hungry audiophiles either, as there are external DACs with superior numbers and features on the market already.

""""""""""

 

[FelipeMadeira]

Does anyone knows if the Lenovo Vibe K5 plus (the 5" version, not the note) has the same Wolfson WM8281 codec as K5 Note, K4 Note and Vibe X3? It has the Dolby Atmos sound, but i got no info about the DAC,

 

[Rainmaker91]

  This review from androidauthority is very interesting. Personally i wont' by the LG G5 after reading this

Here is the part that allowed me to make my choice as i'm a bass lover with a JVC SZ2000 which need lots of power to shine. Have a look :
 
""""""""""""
Aside from the extra width, my main take-away is that the Sabre 9602c amplifier seems more capable at driving bass through low impedance headphones. I went back to conduct a frequency sweep of both DACs to see if I could confirm this a little more scientifically.

Keeping the volume levels down in the ear friendly range (50 percent), I conducted multiple sine sweeps with the jack open and with two sets of headphones that have different impedances. The test reveals that the regular LG G5 output struggles with some early bass roll-off.



The results show that the default G5’s bass response falls short before 200Hz, even without any headphones to load down the amplifier. The issue becomes far more noticeable when using lower impedance, higher quality headphones. This explains a lot about what I could hear when comparing the tone between the two, particularly when it comes to drums and lower frequency bass instruments.

By comparison, the B&O’s amplifier can happily drive 32 ohm headphones with a mostly flat response until 80Hz and below. Even then, we are only looking at a virtually inaudible 1dB of loss here, compared with the slightly more noticeable 2.5dB to 3dB of loss when using the regular G5 output. This difference is a lot less pronounced with higher impedance headphones.

This leads nicely into my final point about sound. Although the B&O DAC sounded a little better than the normal G5 through some very cheap earbuds, the differences were far less noticeable than when listening through my more expensive pair. The problems with the headphones easily outweighed the gains offered from the DAC. So if your purchasing options are limited to either the DAC or some better headphones, the latter is by far and away the choice you should make.

Wrap Up

LG’s Hi-Fi Plus add-on was always designed with the audio enthusiast in mind and I think that you probably need that kind of ear to get the most out of it. That said, I’m not quite sure that the module has too much to offer the most seriously spec hungry audiophiles either, as there are external DACs with superior numbers and features on the market already.

""""""""""

Interesting tests, I'm getting happier by the minute that I didn't get the G5. You wouldn't happen to have similar graphs from other phones for comparison, would you?