[kamiller42]

BubbleUpNp as well as every app that makes any kind of sound, support the V20 DAC. Bubbleupnp will result in resampling most of the time, and wont sound best with V20 DAC. ... Now what apps can sound the best with the DAC avoiding some of the deleterious effects of android resampler etc....is where the differences are. If you look at all these dimensions I feel that UAPP is the best.

Thank you for the feedback. This is kind of confusing.

1. I thought fully utilizing the DAC required player support to drive the ESS chip. (What is meant by last sentence in 1st paragraph? https://www.head-fi.org/threads/lg-v20-sound-quality.816024/page-209#post-13787760) The HiFi icon means audio is routing through it, but possibly not optimally. Right?
2. UAPP introduces side effects? Or does it avoid the effects of the Android audio system? Or both? Are there other players that do a better job avoid deleterious effects?

 

[jt25741]

Thank you for the feedback. This is kind of confusing.

1. I thought fully utilizing the DAC required player support to drive the ESS chip. (What is meant by last sentence in 1st paragraph? https://www.head-fi.org/threads/lg-v20-sound-quality.816024/page-209#post-13787760) The HiFi icon means audio is routing through it, but possibly not optimally. Right?
2. UAPP introduces side effects? Or does it avoid the effects of the Android audio system? Or both? Are there other players that do a better job avoid deleterious effects?

1) What you thought is just not true. Either it is using the DAC or not.. The Hi-Fi toggle tells you which is true. If the data is altered....that is the issue.... bit perfect is always best. This is independent of the DAC being used or not, and directly related to how the developer interfaces with the OS..
2) UAPP seems to get around most side effects by enabling DIRECT IO most if not all of the time. You can see about this in the thread and example of this output. In general.....when DIRECT IO is not apparent more deleterious effects will ensue If there was a player than had less, I have not found it yet, or else I would have recommended it.

Let your ears be the ultimate judge, however.

HTH!

 

[mathe0]

UAPP for sure. Not sure it will go on sale... but it is a very good value and worth it at list price. Support is the best as well. BubbleUpNp as well as every app that makes any kind of sound, support the V20 DAC. Bubbleupnp will result in resampling most of the time, and wont sound best with V20 DAC. The V20 DAC is always used if the Hi-FI toggle is displayed. It is as simple as that. Now what apps can sound the best with the DAC avoiding some of the deleterious effects of android resampler etc....is where the differences are. Also format support, network support SMB support and things like Tidal too. If you look at all these dimensions I feel that UAPP is the best.

Hello jt25741. Have you listened to your music with the new updated Neutron player? If so, do you hear any difference between UAPP and Neutron? Thanks!

 

[jt25741]

Hello jt25741. Have you listened to your music with the new updated Neutron player? If so, do you hear any difference between UAPP and Neutron? Thanks!

I have not done extensive testing recently with Neutron..sorry.. I dont know if it can effectively bypass an android resample or not....which is key from what my ears have told me with other players. Historically it was victim to android and/or in-app resample --- I was not a big fan of the neutron look and feel/UI experience either.

 

[eio]

Thank you very much. I guess it is device specific, though; it does not make a difference on my Meizu PRO 5.

yes, it is a qualcomm specific config.

 

[chillaxing]

Looking for a music player. LG's doesn't support ReplayGain and its interface has shortcomings. My use case is listening to music straight out of the phone via the headphone jack, i.e. not using USB DAC.

What is the best music player alternative, preferably one optimally using the DAC given my use case?

Here are some I've considered so far:
1. PowerAmp - Old. Development is very slow. Own and not interested.
2. Neutron Player - Looks like has options galore. Positive feedback when paired with V20. Interface - Well, not pretty but I don't have to look at too often.
3. UAPP - Positive feedback when paired with V20. I understand the developer has a V20 and will use ESS' driver. True? Nice UI.

Primary question: What do you recommend?
Secondary question: Does your pick or Neutron or UAPP ever go on sale?

EDIT: I read good things about BubbleUPnP. Supports V20 DAC?

I dont own a v20 but have a v30, so this is from a member that has done testing between stock player, uapp, and neutron.

With the new update on neutron, flacs files are being played bit perfect, dsd wont play bit perfect through HO yet.

Lg app resamples 44 to 48, but if you play anything higher than 44, it will play bit perfect. Dsd plays perfectly through DoP.

Uapp resamples everything unless your using a dac. Developer are working on it

 

[jt25741]

I have not done extensive testing recently with Neutron..sorry.. I dont know if it can effectively bypass an android resample or not....which is key from what my ears have told me with other players. Historically it was victim to android and/or in-app resample --- I was not a big fan of the neutron look and feel/UI experience either.

Just for grins and giggles I spent < 2 hours with the latest Neutron player from the store. It played bit perfectly at 16/44.1 at first and A/B with UAPP appeared to sound the same. When my playlist went from a 16/44.1Khz to a 24/48Khz file it sounded poorly. I verified in ADB that MIXED output was occuring...and it was being mixed and lost DIRECT output. I've seem this behavior before....the last track that played may not have cleaned up... and the OS will selectively MIX to a common rate trying to accommodate all streams that could still be active. Obviously this was non-DIRECT at this point... and the sound quality suffered. All I can say is that when DIRECT active output is going on and verified in ADB....the sound is also the best at that point. What is actually happening to make it sound better or worse...if not DIRECT ...I do not know and can only speculate.

So in general... I would say Neutron is behaving better than most but not as well as the current version of UAPP. UAPP does this type of thing sometimes too...(actually it is not UAPP or Neutrons fault...it is the way the Android Sound system works) there maybe some things the dev can do to encourage it though. UAPP though has vastly superior local network playback and other features. I uninstalled Neutron and got money back. I will test it again when it improves for V20 users.

 

[mathe0]

Thanks chillaxing and jt25741 for the extra infos.

Some questions:

When playing a 16/44.1 FLAC file in Neutron, the player shows specs like this: 16bit, 44KHz, 1.4Mbps just as shown here

The file is supposed to be 1005kb/s... not 1.4Mbps. I don't understand what is going on.

Other question:
When looking at the Audio Hardware settings playing the same 16/44.1 FLAC file, Bits info show 32(out: 24). How is this possible if the file is 16 bit?

When playing the same file in UAPP, here are the specs shown by the player:
These are the real file specs.

Thank you for helping me better understand all this!

 

[dimm0k]

I'd switch and buy UAPP right now if there was Tasker support... I contacted the dev, but never got any confirmation back =(

 

[shahkhan]

Hi, someone has mention (stemplar)
his thread a trick to force lg v20 in high impedance mode using adapters. I wana ask why he used two adapters? Can I only use one 3.5mm male to 3.5mm female adapter (as mentioned below) to achieve high imedance mode with my rha ma750(16 ohm)?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/DUN...dapter-Plug-For-Hi-Fi-Audio/32812060981.html?

 

[Emulle]

Other question:
When looking at the Audio Hardware settings playing the same 16/44.1 FLAC file, Bits info show 32(out: 24). How is this possible if the file is 16 bit?

Thank you for helping me better understand all this!

Neutron resamples the 16bit files to 24bit.
In consequence, degrading the sound(to my ears).

 

[mathe0]

Neutron resamples the 16bit files to 24bit.
In consequence, degrading the sound(to my ears).

That's sad. Thought that "bitperfect" worked at first with Neutron.... I'll probably continue using UAPP because of the better local network playback.

 

[Emulle]

That's sad. Thought that "bitperfect" worked at first with Neutron.... I'll probably continue using UAPP because of the better local network playback.

Well, Neutron does a better job than UAPP if I recall correctly from my tests.
UAPP upsamples from 44.1kHz to 48kHz while Neutron only changes the bit depth.
If I were to pick between those I would choose the latter.

 

[mathe0]

Well, Neutron does a better job than UAPP if I recall correctly from my tests.
UAPP upsamples from 44.1kHz to 48kHz while Neutron only changes the bit depth.
If I were to pick between those I would choose the latter.

Thanks for your inputs. I have no way to do tests so I appreciate your help. So, based on what I know, I think it'll be Neutron for internal and MicroSD files and UAPP for local network playback (using SMB).

 

[chillaxing]

.