LG V20 Sound Quality

[Sulbh]

Hi how is v20 compared to Fiio X5 2nd gen?

 

[chowmanfu]

Hi how is v20 compared to Fiio X5 2nd gen?

I've never tried Fiio products. I don't know...sorry, man!

 

[pr0b3r]

Hi how is v20 compared to Fiio X5 2nd gen?

@Sulbh IMO, both are on the neutral to bright signature but the V20 has more body on the lower end of the spectrum. This is from memory only so I can't further break down any details. Both sound fantastic though. I still have friends who can't let go of their X5ii even after trying other higher end DAPs.

 

[Rpg2]

If any of you are using the V20 with Neutron, try using the Generic Driver with High-Res Codec options enabled since they enable 44.1Khz output. They're a bit tucked away in the options. I got cleaner sound with a very black background. With stock neutron I got lite hiss with the DAC at default 48Khz output.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/android-neutron-music-player.566664/page-37#post-13838643

 

[Mmurin]

Hello. I know a lot has already been said on the subject.
But what exactly the B&O tuning does? Is it in the hardware or software?
I have an unbranded H990DS. How can I know if it has or not the B&O tuning?

 

[andrewwardell]

Hello. I know a lot has already been said on the subject.
But what exactly the B&O tuning does? Is it in the hardware or software?
I have an unbranded H990DS. How can I know if it has or not the B&O tuning?

Mine is the same model and as far as I know it has not been fettled by B&O but my only reasoning for that is the lack of a B&O logo on the rear of the phone.

 

[oliwek2]

Hello. I know a lot has already been said on the subject.
But what exactly the B&O tuning does? Is it in the hardware or software?
I have an unbranded H990DS. How can I know if it has or not the B&O tuning?

It's software, it's a tuning of the chip (as eq or filters), all V20 have the same audio hardware for what I know.
I recieved my H990DS with B&O branded in ears, and a logo on the back. There was also a logo on the back of the box ("Lg life is good" on the upper left, "B&O" on the upper right).
Back of the phone as on this picture : https://www.androidcentral.com/site...ges/2016/09/lg-v20-black-22.jpg?itok=sUJOcuqX
Firmware was from Taiwan (TWN)

 

[DJ The Rocket]

I think I'm finally starting to get the V20. The key for me was starting to think about the "headphone jack" as a line out jack. The V20 does a respectable job with the DAC, which I know because when I run it through an amp it actually sounds good!

But show it a headphone load and that's when the problems start. It quickly loses control of the bass, making it all bloated and flabby, thereby interfering with the driver's ability to do anything with precision. For a long time I thought the V20 sounded like crap because of that, but I just wasn't playing to it's strengths.

The problem can be subtle and relatively inoffensive with really sensitive earphones; with my 16 ohm 120 db Sennheiser MX985 I can't tell the difference between listening through a Fiio e11 and the V20 directly, but with the much harder to drive (not to mention much more resolving) 24 ohm iSine20, I can hear the difference every single time.

The V20's motto should be "just good enough!*" where the asterisk means for a phone. I have two mp3 players that cost $15 and sound clearly better (T10 and YP-Z5); hook it up to a dedicated DAC like the ODAC, and the sound is wayyyyy better in every way possible. The V20 isn't going to compete with that, but it's extremely good for a phone, and that's still a valuable thing.

Tl; dr v20 dac = good, v20 amp = not so good

 

[ljnew]

Hey can you guys help me out for a second? I'm thinking about switching to Sprint and picking up a V20. Can anybody confirm that there aren't any locked out features concerning the ESS DAC/Amp or audio capabilities to be concerned with? Any issues with picking up the Sprint specific variant?

I saw some comments about the V30 maybe having some hiccups over the impedence modes working over all carriers evenly, or something weird like that over in the V30 thread, and it got me to wonder about the V20 possibly having carrier specific issues too.

Thanks so much and please write back!

Don't do it! Purchase your v20 unlocked on Amazon.

 

[ljnew]

I think I'm finally starting to get the V20. The key for me was starting to think about the "headphone jack" as a line out jack. The V20 does a respectable job with the DAC, which I know because when I run it through an amp it actually sounds good!

But show it a headphone load and that's when the problems start. It quickly loses control of the bass, making it all bloated and flabby, thereby interfering with the driver's ability to do anything with precision. For a long time I thought the V20 sounded like crap because of that, but I just wasn't playing to it's strengths.

The problem can be subtle and relatively inoffensive with really sensitive earphones; with my 16 ohm 120 db Sennheiser MX985 I can't tell the difference between listening through a Fiio e11 and the V20 directly, but with the much harder to drive (not to mention much more resolving) 24 ohm iSine20, I can hear the difference every single time.

Even with an amp the V20 is has pretty poor sound quality on an absolute scale; an ODAC with that same amp is significantly better in every way possible. The Hifiman HM601, Samsung YP-Z5, and iRiver T10 all sound clearly better, but all of those take preparation to use. The V20's biggest advantage is that it sounds respectably good while also being a phone, which means I'm likely to always have it with me, with juice in the battery and the 1s and 0s I feel like listening to, always ready.

Tl; dr v20 dac = good, v20 amp = not so good

Try the v30

 

[DJ The Rocket]

If anyone is interested I just did a couple measurements on the V20:

High impedance...1.7V RMS (max)
"Aux":.....................0.8V RMS
Low impedance:...0.35V RMS

Why did LG make the full line level signal so ****ing difficult to get at? Until recently I didn't even believe in a high impedance mode, because you think they would have mentioned it at least one time in the owner's manual, but it isn't in there.

The "aux" mode is apparently using the full DAC capability, as the sound quality is the same as in high impedance, minus the quality loss of needing to amp it more externally, but that by itself is enough to want it at 1.7V all the time, and things only get worse when we consider that external gear is designed for a 2.0V signal. Sound quality is significantly worse if you try amping the tiny .3V one.

What the **** is LG thinking here?

 

[DJ The Rocket]

What the hell? "Forcing" the V20 into "aux mode" has cleaned up the bloated, flabby lack of bass control that has bothered me the entire time I've owned this poorly designed piece or crap phone!

How can LG make a product this good suck as badly as they have?

 

[ljnew]

What the hell? "Forcing" the V20 into "aux mode" has cleaned up the bloated, flabby lack of bass control that has bothered me the entire time I've owned this poorly designed piece or crap phone!

How can LG make a product this good suck as badly as they have?

Bloated bass? What headphones or iem you use?

 

[ljnew]

What the hell? "Forcing" the V20 into "aux mode" has cleaned up the bloated, flabby lack of bass control that has bothered me the entire time I've owned this poorly designed piece or crap phone!

How can LG make a product this good suck as badly as they have?

Are you using the B&O version? Try the American v20.

 

[DJ The Rocket]

This is crazy, my V20 is driving my AKG Q701, and they're driving them well! Who knew this was even possible? I mean sure everyone in this forum probably, but I assumed that like most forum posters you didn't know what you were talking about. Why the hell did LG go to such lengths to hide the fact that their phone can do this?

The whole time I've had it, I thought the built-in amp was a joke, and the thing is I was RIGHT to think so, even though I turned out to be wrong. The first full-size can I tried was the HE500 (35 ohm) and the phone did kinda okay, but trying the iSine20 (24 ohm) was a joke, it was pathetically underpowered. Even really efficient earbuds needed most of the volume to play loud. Exactly 100% of my observations confirmed it, what kind of idiot would even bother trying the Q701 after that?

Unfortunately I wasn't able to think like an idiot, because only an idiot would make everything hinge on impedance! Just because the iSine 20 is 24 ohms doesn't mean it's low power! It's peak power handling per Audeze is 3 full watts! But since they're "only 24 ohms" they never qualified for the top-secret "high impedance mode"! Which is a misleading name for it, by the way. It should be "high impedance ONLY mode: You must have this many ohms to enter."

I don't need LG looking over my shoulder like they're my parents, protecting me from myself, making sure I don't blow out my apple pods because they'd just end up buying me new ones. But the main difference between LG and my mom is LG has never had to buy me earpods, so I don't understand why they're all so freaked out about what I do with my own things.

Seriously, LG. Who makes a product that doesn't work unless you do some obscure workaround to "trick" it into working? What's even worse is THIS ISN'T EVEN THE ONLY THING ON THIS PHONE THAT WORKS THAT WAY! The V20 also doesn't provide enough juice to run a bus powered DAC, unless you trick it by going through an unpowered USB hub! It obviously is ABLE to power a DAC through an OTG cable, it simply WON'T.

LG is so stingy with power, anything that takes power they don't let you do. I bought a 6600mAh aftermarket battery EXACTLY SO I WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT POWERING MY AUDIO GEAR!

My god this phone is so infuriating.