Current best smartphones for audiophiles?

[RiflemanFirst]

Hello all,

I've had my Motorola Droid Turbo from Verizon for quite some time now and have been eligible for an upgrade since October. It has been a great phone overall, but the battery life isn't what it used to be and I know I can do better in the audio quality department. I have decided that I want to upgrade to a shiny new phone and want to be sure I pick one with a high quality DAC/amp built in. I would prefer to stick to Android also. The "hardest to drive" headphones I currently own are HD650s and I do a ton of listening on Tidal HiFi. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[gemNeye]

This thread is relevant to your question. >> https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/best-smartphone-for-audiophile-part-ii-updated-jun-2017.853115/

 

[Monsterzero]

LG V20

 

[cossix]

Anybody who considers themselves a true audiophile (according to most) isn't listening to streaming services on their phone. I'd say buy a phone for it's phone features, and just get yourself a portable dac/amp combo, or just amp. Also get a phone with expandable storage so you can have your lossless music. Regardless of which phone you get, it's pretty much scraping the bottom of sound quality running your music through the built in dac and amp, especially if you're using the 650s. Or even better, pick up a FiiO X3 so you can play DSD files as well as flac. There isn't much you can do with just a phone to get acceptable sound quality for something such as the HD650. If you're mainly listening to average headphones in the neighborhood of 50-100 bucks, then a phone is fine; but it's a waste of money to buy a 650 or Momentum 2, etc, and not listen to (at least) lossless music through a dac and amp. For comparison, I have the Galaxy s7 and comparing 320kbps MP3 on that, to .flac files on my FiiO X3 and A5 is night and day. Even inexperienced people can hear the difference in a blind AB test.

TL: DR
Put the extra money you would have spent on a shiny new phone, towards at least a mobile amp and a big SD card for lossless music. Itll be a bigger difference than a new phone

 

[Monsterzero]

Anybody who considers themselves a true audiophile (according to most) isn't listening to streaming services on their phone. I'd say buy a phone for it's phone features, and just get yourself a portable dac/amp combo, or just amp. Also get a phone with expandable storage so you can have your lossless music. Regardless of which phone you get, it's pretty much scraping the bottom of sound quality running your music through the built in dac and amp, especially if you're using the 650s. Or even better, pick up a FiiO X3 so you can play DSD files as well as flac. There isn't much you can do with just a phone to get acceptable sound quality for something such as the HD650. If you're mainly listening to average headphones in the neighborhood of 50-100 bucks, then a phone is fine; but it's a waste of money to buy a 650 or Momentum 2, etc, and not listen to (at least) lossless music through a dac and amp. For comparison, I have the Galaxy s7 and comparing 320kbps MP3 on that, to .flac files on my FiiO X3 and A5 is night and day. Even inexperienced people can hear the difference in a blind AB test.

TL: DR
Put the extra money you would have spent on a shiny new phone, towards at least a mobile amp and a big SD card for lossless music. Itll be a bigger difference than a new phone

I will politely disagree,the SQ of the LG V20 and its quad DACs is really quite good,not to mention that it can actually decently drive a pair of AKG K240 sextetts,something that many desktop amps struggle with.

My only beef with it is that the 600ohm boost is automatic,it wouldve been nice to get the extra juice on demand.

 

[cossix]

I will politely disagree,the SQ of the LG V20 and its quad DACs is really quite good,not to mention that it can actually decently drive a pair of AKG K240 sextetts,something that many desktop amps struggle with.

My only beef with it is that the 600ohm boost is automatic,it wouldve been nice to get the extra juice on demand.

Hmm that's cool, I was just speaking from experience and probably generalizing a bit much. From my experiments, I've tried listening through a few galaxy's, iPhones, other Android devices, and none of them have done well to my ears. I think the main thing to make sure of is that your source is good. You don't wanna feed your expensive cans hyper compressed mp3 files. Going lossless isn't hard or expensive, so I don't feel elitist by strongly recommending using mostly flac or wav files. You don't really even need to pay for your albums if you're clever

 

[Monsterzero]

Yes lossless is the way to go...

 

[cossix]

Yes lossless is the way to go...

Highly suggest you edit your above post,mods do not take kindly to mentioning illegal d/l sites

 

[buke9]

Anybody who considers themselves a true audiophile (according to most) isn't listening to streaming services on their phone. I'd say buy a phone for it's phone features, and just get yourself a portable dac/amp combo, or just amp. Also get a phone with expandable storage so you can have your lossless music. Regardless of which phone you get, it's pretty much scraping the bottom of sound quality running your music through the built in dac and amp, especially if you're using the 650s. Or even better, pick up a FiiO X3 so you can play DSD files as well as flac. There isn't much you can do with just a phone to get acceptable sound quality for something such as the HD650. If you're mainly listening to average headphones in the neighborhood of 50-100 bucks, then a phone is fine; but it's a waste of money to buy a 650 or Momentum 2, etc, and not listen to (at least) lossless music through a dac and amp. For comparison, I have the Galaxy s7 and comparing 320kbps MP3 on that, to .flac files on my FiiO X3 and A5 is night and day. Even inexperienced people can hear the difference in a blind AB test.

TL: DR
Put the extra money you would have spent on a shiny new phone, towards at least a mobile amp and a big SD card for lossless music. Itll be a bigger difference than a new phone

You are being too literal I think. The OP asked what would a audiophile think what would be the best phone for the best sound quality from it and maybe not wanting to drag around a array of gear . To me a audiophile is someone who can hear the difference but not necessarily have to have everything sound just the best it can always if so they would never listen to music from a phone regardless of any dac or amp hooked to it.

 

[jengasmartkit]

also an LGV20 fan here, the clarity is just amazing on this phone.

I ahve ABed both my iphone and the LGV20, and the LGV20 wins everytime on any track Ive tested

 

[RiflemanFirst]

Thanks for the replies all. I was actually looking into the LG V20 too. Unfortunately, the newer G6 (US version) seems to have an inferior audio solution in comparison. I understand that lossless with a portable dac/amp is the best way to go, but I am not ready to go down that rabbit hole at the moment. I am just looking to upgrade to a new smartphone with a high quality onboard audio.

 

[bencherian]

Guy I need your honest opinion for purchase decision of phone.
I consider two phones now to purchase
1.Lg G6 with hifi quad dac
2. Huawei Honor 8 pro

I have been confused to buy for about 3 weeks now.
For a Normal earphone of 16ohm impedance does this quad DAC do any difference? Can we feel more richer and detailed instruments in songs with Quad dac ?
Am going to LG G6 only for Audio or else I will buy Honor 8 pro.
Am a music lover not a hardcore audiophile but I like some detailed music with richness.
I used to have 320kbps MP3 files .

 

[bencherian]

Details of RHA s500 earphones. Please help somebody

 

[Monsterzero]

Guy I need your honest opinion for purchase decision of phone.
I consider two phones now to purchase
1.Lg G6 with hifi quad dac
2. Huawei Honor 8 pro

I have been confused to buy for about 3 weeks now.
For a Normal earphone of 16ohm impedance does this quad DAC do any difference? Can we feel more richer and detailed instruments in songs with Quad dac ?
Am going to LG G6 only for Audio or else I will buy Honor 8 pro.
Am a music lover not a hardcore audiophile but I like some detailed music with richness.
I used to have 320kbps MP3 files .

I havent heard the LG G6 w/ quad DAC,because that version of the G6 was only released in Korea.Here in USA we didnt get the Quad DAC,we got instead wireless charging
If the quad DAC is implemented the same as the V20 then it is hard to beat for sound quality.There is def a noticeable improvement over the standard mobile phone audio.

 

[bencherian]

I havent heard the LG G6 w/ quad DAC,because that version of the G6 was only released in Korea.Here in USA we didnt get the Quad DAC,we got instead wireless charging
If the quad DAC is implemented the same as the V20 then it is hard to beat for sound quality.There is def a noticeable improvement over the standard mobile phone audio.

The improvement you just said in V20 , can we feel that change even with normal in earphone ?