Definitely agree with u that a well tuned IEM/headphone can scale better with a good DAP/DAC/AMP compared to just using a low end smartphone.
I rather take the hassle of carrying an extra USB DAC/AMP cable or DAP with me when I am on the go than just using my smartphone to play music, however inconvenient it is to bring extra stuff along. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the LG line quad DAC smartphones so maybe they might be an all in one solution for portable listening.
Agreed totally and had they not been as superbly tuned I think the high quality (dual Sabre DAC and amp) would have exposed floors, instead it's just refined more, given more of everything good. Seriously notably better than some £300 (once apon a time-granted they are hard to drive) open back cans, that shouldn't happen!
Having more than one phone , I can definitely say my Motorola sounds hideous compared to the LG even using Bluetooth. But definitely not a replacement for a good DAC Amp or a DAP.
I am ready to post my review of the ZSX but there is no section in the showcase. Can someone provide a place to post the review in the correct place? Thanks!
I am ready to post my review of the ZSX but there is no section in the showcase. Can someone provide a place to post the review in the correct place? Thanks!
I am ready to post my review of the ZSX but there is no section in the showcase. Can someone provide a place to post the review in the correct place? Thanks!
I dont think I will post my full review of ZSX since there will be a lot of people have it. I wrote my impressions before, just ask me if there are anything i can help with comparison or anything.
Nice review @Nimweth ! More or less, mimic my impressions about ZSX, great job!
Definitely agree with u that a well tuned IEM/headphone can scale better with a good DAP/DAC/AMP compared to just using a low end smartphone.
I rather take the hassle of carrying an extra USB DAC/AMP cable or DAP with me when I am on the go than just using my smartphone to play music, however inconvenient it is to bring extra stuff along. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the LG line quad DAC smartphones so maybe they might be an all in one solution for portable listening.
Not against purchasing a separate DAC/DAP/Amp if that's ones preference as everyone has right to spend their monies as they please. But every mid to high range smartphone made using a Qualcomm chipset (which is very common nowadays) has a very capable DAC to suit everyone's needs including audiophiles. But then arises the question, why does my smartphone sound crap? Simple answer is the software. Smartphone makers prioritze camera, graphics, gaming and everything else over audio functions so these DACs are never fully utilised and Android processes audio in 48khz which is icing on the crap fest. Additionally this gives phone makers a new business avenue market and brand their phones with Hi-res/Hi-fi certified smartphones, prime example of this is strategy is Samsung S series. Where they do absolutely nothing except processing audio directly via inbuilt DAC.
Now how this software can be optimised? There are many ways to do so like rooting your devices and installing audio specific patches (this is by far most noob friendly solution which requires bare minimal technical competence). Any smart devices' performance is majorly dictated by it's software optimisation. Fiio's X7MKIII optimised by a software called Viper which is arguably the most popular audio mod in Android's history. And Fiio is using drivers and software tweaks from Viper in many of their DAPs. There are many mods which unleash DAC's of smartphones and Viper is just one of them.
Every single aspect can be tweaked by simple software tweaks like audio gain, analog conversion, surround sound, and even the tonality of the output audio.
Sadly, I don't know much about iPhones but stock audio from them is miles better than Android. Also, their optimised AAC codec helps in overall audio performance.
The motive of this post is give Android guys on a tight budget an alternative which doesn't cost them money for having fantastic audio on the go. As they say, YMMV!
Concure there, you can get the TempoTec branded version for less than 25usd from Ali and like night and day the improvement in quality with an and8usb c. Genius litte thing. Have you found a huge improvement between C and D settings though, does D improve Hi-Res capability?
Also the regular TempoTec idsd about 60usd uses same Sabre DAC as plus, really sweet signiture off of that chip. Hoped didn't sound being flash with the isds plus coz I've totally busted the bank (albeit only £90) it truly does take you to a different realm over the smaller DAC's worth every penny, too nicer thing for portable though almost, is the problem lol
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