[artpiggo]

So 2017 is a bad year for smartphones audio?
-Only Korean G6 has a good DAC and AMP
-HTC 11 will get rid of 3.5mm and no ideas if the given adapter will give on par audio quality with the 10
-S8/S8+ need V4A like always with samsung S phones to have a decent audio
-Sony XZ (premium) as usual Sony will limit volume output

Give vivo xplay6 a chance. Native dsd and native sampling rate(no SRC). have adapter trick to activate high impedance mode as well.

 

[BlueMango]

Give vivo xplay6 a chance. Native dsd and native sampling rate(no SRC). have adapter trick to activate high impedance mode as well.

That's 2016 dude http://www.gsmarena.com/vivo_xplay6-8436.php. If you're talking 2016 LG v20 is at the top.

 

[artpiggo]

That's 2016 dude http://www.gsmarena.com/vivo_xplay6-8436.php. If you're talking 2016 LG v20 is at the top.

It is november 2016. But until we get this phone internationally is Q1 2017

 

[jeffhawke]

I for sure understand this. But smartphone sound is not something manufacturers care so much about, in my opinion. Smartphone is a multi-functional device and playing music is just one of many (not the most important ) functions they do.

So what i think is they do not waste a lot of time sweating over making sound very cool. It's a well-developed a-la best practices process... Building something from ready blocks (DAC, amp) Not coping with cool implementation, as it happens in serious audio players. There is just no room for that in literal sense! Another thing: compare amount of produced smartphones and audio players. You think smartphone companies have enough time to play with sound tuning?

So if those blocks are the same - sound is more or less the same... But progress intrudes here, too - new audiochips in smartphones are more advanced than before, so they may produce a better sound than before (usually audio testing labs confirm that). And i do not argue here.

IMO, no phone out there (with the possible exception of the Onkyo Granbeat) can beat the SQ of a dedicated DAC/amp or of a good DAP. A good performance (octa-core, 2GHz min, 256 GB micro SD) smartphone might be best used for music as a pure transport, and connected to a DAC/amp with a good form factor/sound quality ratio, such as the Opus#11 or the Nextdrive Spectra. My personal choice has been a Sony Xperia XA with an Opus#11 attached to one another with a bi-adhesive sticky patch. I could not be more pleased, the UI is great (Hiby free player of Neutron), it can drive just about anything, and the Opus#11 is so small and thin as to make the whole setup very easy to carry in the pocket of my jeans (so would the Spectra btw). Cost of the whole setup: just under $400 ($350 with Spectra), vs one grand for the (admittedly more seamless) Granbeat.

 

[TrucknHemi]

IMO, no phone out there (with the possible exception of the Onkyo Granbeat) can beat the SQ of a dedicated DAC/amp or of a good DAP. A good performance (octa-core, 2GHz min, 256 GB micro SD) smartphone might be best used for music as a pure transport, and connected to a DAC/amp with a good form factor/sound quality ratio, such as the Opus#11 or the Nextdrive Spectra. My personal choice has been a Sony Xperia XA with an Opus#11 attached to one another with a bi-adhesive sticky patch. I could not be more pleased, the UI is great (Hiby free player of Neutron), it can drive just about anything, and the Opus#11 is so small and thin as to make the whole setup very easy to carry in the pocket of my jeans (so would the Spectra btw). Cost of the whole setup: just under $400 ($350 with Spectra), vs one grand for the (admittedly more seamless) Granbeat.

I really think there are good smartphones for audio out there, just not perfect ones. In my opinion there's no secret to find a good smartphone for audio, there're brands known for the better audio experience like Meizu, Apple, HTC, Vivo. Also, Huawei and Sony besides not having powerful output have good quality, so an Opus #11 should be nice.
I enjoyed your combo, the XA is a good overall smartphone. And now is only a natural upgrade to choose the XA1 in the future with improved audio, camera and processor while keeping the form factor that made the XA great.

PS: I researched the Opus #11, since I didn't know it, and liked the slim profile. Battery life could be better. The smartphone can charge it?

 

[PsiCore]

So there's no smartphone which would sound as good as a Fiio X5iii? I would gladly get rid of one brick, but don't want to sacrifice sound quality.

 

[Gotty]

I used to drag around a portable DAC+Amp strapped to my phone as well for a while (an Ibasso d-zero MKII in my case, a pretty compact one), but after getting the Lenovo Vibe x3 I realized how inefficient it is to carry around a brick instead of a phone for not much of a loss in SQ.
But even then, I usually listen to music from my phone when I'm on the go somewhere and when you're ouside it's hard to get the same SQ as you can at home due to outside noise, it will get in the way one way or another unless your IEMs have crazy isolation. So I decided for myself that having a phone with decently good audio is enough and way more convinient than either having a portable DAC or carrying around a DAP (I don't have too much free space in my pockets anyway). Obviously the SQ may suffer if you have a phone with terrible sound but it's still not gonna be too obvious when you're outside IMO.
Just my 2c.

 

[Gusse]

Give vivo xplay6 a chance. Native dsd and native sampling rate(no SRC). have adapter trick to activate high impedance mode as well.

What adapter are you talking about? I haven't heard anything about that hey will it be able to drive the jvc z1000? Just curious

 

[artpiggo]

Same trick as LG V20 does

Attaching cable extender or adapter or headphone cable first then play the song. Then you attach headphone part.

This will activate hidden high gain.
You can enjoy your fullsize more easily.

 

[artpiggo]

So there's no smartphone which would sound as good as a Fiio X5iii? I would gladly get rid of one brick, but don't want to sacrifice sound quality.

For my taste (I use UIEM), v20 and xplay6 already exceed fiio x5iii SQ. But YMMV.

 

[sofastreamer]

is there any phone out there, that has a battery with at least 4000mah, bluetooth aptx and will get an upgrade to android 0?

oh and the closer to stock android the better.
would be nice to have at least 3gb ram.

when i use wired phones, i would use my dac/amp combo, so on board dac and amp do not matter that much.

 

[crashbowman]

is there any phone out there, that has a battery with at least 4000mah, bluetooth aptx and will get an upgrade to android 0?

oh and the closer to stock android the better.
would be nice to have at least 3gb ram.

when i use wired phones, i would use my dac/amp combo, so on board dac and amp do not matter that much.

Not 100% positive, but I believe the just released ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom would meet these requirements. Not sure on Android, but should be on Nougat soon.

 

[ctheanh]

I used to drag around a portable DAC+Amp strapped to my phone as well for a while (an Ibasso d-zero MKII in my case, a pretty compact one), but after getting the Lenovo Vibe x3 I realized how inefficient it is to carry around a brick instead of a phone for not much of a loss in SQ.
But even then, I usually listen to music from my phone when I'm on the go somewhere and when you're ouside it's hard to get the same SQ as you can at home due to outside noise, it will get in the way one way or another unless your IEMs have crazy isolation. So I decided for myself that having a phone with decently good audio is enough and way more convinient than either having a portable DAC or carrying around a DAP (I don't have too much free space in my pockets anyway). Obviously the SQ may suffer if you have a phone with terrible sound but it's still not gonna be too obvious when you're outside IMO.
Just my 2c.

Yes, I totally agree ..
My combo is Vibe X3 and Magaosi K3 Pro.
With Poweramp Alpha 3 build 703, the sound is quite enough for me. With 24bit material, I am using alsaplayer. I think it sounds even better than Poweramp.

 

[jeffhawke]

I really think there are good smartphones for audio out there, just not perfect ones. In my opinion there's no secret to find a good smartphone for audio, there're brands known for the better audio experience like Meizu, Apple, HTC, Vivo. Also, Huawei and Sony besides not having powerful output have good quality, so an Opus #11 should be nice.
I enjoyed your combo, the XA is a good overall smartphone. And now is only a natural upgrade to choose the XA1 in the future with improved audio, camera and processor while keeping the form factor that made the XA great.

PS: I researched the Opus #11, since I didn't know it, and liked the slim profile. Battery life could be better. The smartphone can charge it?

You need to turn the phone on first, then the Opus#11 by connecting your headset, THEN connect phone and Opus together. Battery life will be much longer if you follow this procedure. And yes, your phone will charge it if the Opus is turned off.

 

[RainbowRida]

Are there any phones out there with physical media buttons (play/pause, fast forward) and Bluetooth aptx?