[archy121]

So, I found this thread on Reddit that explains how to change the sample rate to 44.1 across the board.

Of course, you need root.

Sounds too good to be true is what I’m thinking.
Posts is over a year old and didn’t get much attention. Hardly any feedback considering how much of a win this would be. Also XDA would have also picked it up and covered it by now.
Well one can hope.

 

[VI001101106]

It may very well not work. But those of you who are rooted and can definitely try it.

Not a lot of people seem to care about sample rates or what they are apparently. I had no idea about this being an issue until I found this V30 thread when I got the phone in 2017.

 

[archy121]

It may very well not work. But those of you who are rooted and can definitely try it.

Not a lot of people seem to care about sample rates or what they are apparently. I had no idea about this being an issue until I found this V30 thread when I got the phone in 2017.

We can wait for @csglinux to have a go and hold our breath for positive news.

 

[Dannemand]

So, I found this thread on Reddit that explains how to change the sample rate to 44.1 across the board.

Of course, you need root.

Like everybody, I too would love to believe in this, and I would root my phone in a heartbeat if I though it possible. But like you guys, I am skeptical. Not just because "it's too good to be true", but for technical reasons:

According to @csglinux' opening post in the Music Apps thread, LG's implementation of the ESS DAC does not natively support 16/44, only 24/44 or 16/48 (and of course higher). Dumb music apps (i.e. most) will always play through the Android Mixer, so they will always upsample to the default resolution of 16/48. But even better music apps, such as LG Music and the Tidal app, which do support HiRes DACs and send HiRes music unmolested through the Direct route (bypassing the Mixer and thus avoiding upsampling) will come up short when they query the driver for supported audio formats and see that 16/44 is not supported. Then they have to send it through the Mixer, which knows of no other solution than upsampling to 16/48. Even UAPP did this originally, the first few months after V30 came out.

But as also described in csglinux' post, UAPP and Neutron since became smarter and now perform their own conversion of 16/44 to 24/44. That conversion is fast and harmless, simply padding each 16-bit sample with 8 bits of zeroes, and it allows them to play Redbook through the Direct route in 24/44 format -- which is natively supported by the ESS DAC.

So, the reason I don't think the the fix on Reddit can work, is because changing Android's default sample rate to 44.1kHz will do nothing to solve the problem that 16/44 isn't natively supported by the ESS DAC (or at least not by LG's driver for the DAC). The Android Mixer will still have to convert to a sample rate supported by the DAC, which is 16/48.

The Reddit solution is described in the context of an external USB DAC, which we might presume DOES support 16/44, in which case changing Android's default sample rate should work for ALL music apps. But unfortunately that is not how our Quad DAC works.

I am sorry to be a party spoiler. I dearly hope that one of the rooted users in here will try this and prove me wrong. (I highly recommend making a backup in TWRP first.)

TL;DR I doubt the Reddit trick can work with our V30 Quad DAC, which doesn't support 44.1kHz except at 24 bits (24/44). Changing the default Android sample rate to 44.1kHz would not in itself convert 16/44 to 24/44 (like UAPP and Neutron do).

The only solution I believe will work is the one described here, namely to modify the Android Mixer to convert 16/44 to 24/44 (bit-padding like UAPP and Neutron) instead of upsampling to 16/48. Both formats are natively supported by the ESS DAC, but converting to 24/44 has no effect on the sound quality. An even better solution would be to modify LG's driver to perform the conversion (bit-padding) but I assume we don't have the source code for that driver (a so-called binary blob).

I've been thinking of starting a Development Bounty on XDA for this. If enough people committed $10-20 (or whatever), we might be able to attract developers who can crack it. My own development experience goes back to the 1980s-90s (and presently to proprietary languages), so while I have some basic understanding, I am far from being an Android Dev.

 

[Buckster]

question regarding sampling rates etc please - I am looking for a new phone up to around £500

top of the list so far are the V30, G7 ThinQ and the OnePlus 6T

over 90% of my listening to music is via Spotify - there I guess the V30 will resample the music ? Would I have any benefit in getting a V30 over say a OnePlus 6T and using and external DAC (I have an Fiio E17 - but am tempted with a new one). Most of my listening to music is at a desk so having an external DAC would not be an issue

Confused to whether the audio would be resampled to be output in Android via USB Audio anyway so would be same "problem" whether have a V30 or another phone and just use an external DAC

 

[Dannemand]

question regarding sampling rates etc please - I am looking for a new phone up to around £500

top of the list so far are the V30, G7 ThinQ and the OnePlus 6T

over 90% of my listening to music is via Spotify - there I guess the V30 will resample the music ? Would I have any benefit in getting a V30 over say a OnePlus 6T and using and external DAC (I have an Fiio E17 - but am tempted with a new one). Most of my listening to music is at a desk so having an external DAC would not be an issue

Confused to whether the audio would be resampled to be output in Android via USB Audio anyway so would be same "problem" whether have a V30 or another phone and just use an external DAC

I don't have experience with external USB DACs, but I believe any Android phone will upsample to 48kHz unless the app has its own USB driver (like UAPP). I doubt Spotify has its own USB driver. If that Reddit trick mentioned by @VI001101106 works as advertised, that should do it. It requires root, and in that case OnePlus has official root support which the V30 does not.

As for playing directly on V30 using its Quad DAC, I cannot imagine that the Spotify app is advanced enough to avoid re-sampling, although I have not tested it.

With the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would add that in most cases the upsampling to 48kHz it is not the complete trashing of sound quality that we sometimes make it out to be. It is mostly audible on very sensitive IEMs, such as ones with Balanced Armature drivers. Depending on the music being played, it's quality (in this case compressed Spotify), the type of headphones/IEMs used, and the user's ears, it may not be audible at all. Many "professional" reviews of the V30 raved about its sound quality when playing through the LG Music app, not knowing at the time that it was upsampling and "therefore couldn't be good". But it is no doubt offensive to us as audiophiles, and in some cases it is clearly audible, as reported by members in this thread.

 

[archy121]

...
With the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would add that in most cases the upsampling to 48kHz it is not the complete trashing of sound quality that we sometimes make it out to be. It is mostly audible on very sensitive IEMs, such as ones with Balanced Armature drivers. Depending on the music being played, it's quality (in this case compressed Spotify), the type of headphones/IEMs used, and the user's ears, it may not be audible at all. Many "professional" reviews of the V30 raved about its sound quality when playing through the LG Music app, not knowing at the time that it was upsampling and "therefore couldn't be good". But it is no doubt offensive to us as audiophiles, and in some cases it is clearly audible, as reported by members in this thread.

@Buckster I agree with Dannemand that 48khz is only a potential issue for people with very sensitive IEMs and low impedance such as my DM6. This is not the case with most earphones.
It’s not an issue with any of my other earphones including EPH100 and A73 or the BTR3 receiver.

The issue i experience with DM6 is a slight background hiss which I believe can be mostly if not totally removed using a simple cheap impedance adapter such as the IFI Ear Buddy.
I haven’t bothered as yet. Something you would have option to. GL

 

[borisov57]

LG V and G series official bootloader unlock:
https://developer.lge.com/resource/mobile/RetrieveBootloader.dev

I do not know, if this is the same as rooting.

 

[fzman]

@Buckster I agree with Dannemand that 48khz is only a potential issue for people with very sensitive IEMs and low impedance such as my DM6. This is not the case with most earphones.
It’s not an issue with any of my other earphones including EPH100 and A73 or the BTR3 receiver.

The issue i experience with DM6 is a slight background hiss which I believe can be mostly if not totally removed using a simple cheap impedance adapter such as the IFI Ear Buddy.
I haven’t bothered as yet. Something you would have option to. GL

The resample 'side-effects' have nothing to do with impedance, ba vs. dd or anything like that. It's a matter of non-integer math, in other words, round-off and guessing at data points. Not a problem if you round off a fraction of an inch UP, to make sure your stuff fits in a cabinet, not so good if you are building a skyscraper, which will either look really "off", or will fall down in a spectacular way. Transalation: resampling changes the music-careful listeners with good gear can clearly discern this.

 

[Dannemand]

LG V and G series official bootloader unlock:
https://developer.lge.com/resource/mobile/RetrieveBootloader.dev

I do not know, if this is the same as rooting.

Yes, Unlocking bootloader is the first step in rooting. See this post for definitions.

And indeed, that LG page was supposed to be where owners of Open Market LG models would go to request a bootloader unlock file for their phone. However LG reneged on their promise, and many owners discovered that there is no link on the page for their model, such as the US998 (US Open Market V30 and V30+). LG kind of "forgot" to add them to the page. And carrier models are not covered at all. Through a freak coincidence, XDA member TxanMoe discovered a vulnerability last spring that allows pretty much any file to be used to unlock the bootloader. This is the so-called "What" procedure which is now how most V30s are rooted (except T-Mobile models). Again, the post linked above has more details.

But even for those models which CAN be unlocked with an official unlock file from LG, their warranty is voided by doing so (as expressly stated on that page). To my understanding OnePlus don't do this, and require no hoops to unlock, which makes them far more friendly to developers and users who want full access to their phones. But of course OnePlus phones don't have ESS DACs

 

[borisov57]

Thanks Dannemand for explanation. I am a step closer to rooting my phone. I have AKG N5005, which are pretty inefficient but sounds so good. I would go past 75 on low impedance mode sometimes, but I hate to use extension and adapter to do so. I also listened to AK SR15 in the shop yesterday for few minutes. SR15 can go louder, sound good, but it is small for typing and ads another piece to carry around. And it was not clear upgrade for V30 soundwise, from what I heard in non ideal conditions in the shop.

 

[Dannemand]

@borisov57: Those N5005 look really nice!

With a sensitivity of 116dB I am surprised that Normal Mode (<50ohm) isn't sufficient. If the cable was detachable, you could easily trigger Aux mode, which I am sure would be loud enough. But as it isn't detachable, I can see your dilemma.

Before you root, do note that the most popular modification used to force High Impedance Mode (WhiskeyOmega's Sound Mod) was recently pulled from XDA by its author. You may be able to find it in the wild, although we would hope that a more official mod becomes available, and ideally a clean one that ONLY affects gain mode and nothing else.

 

[pilgrimbilly]

Thanks Dannemand for explanation. I am a step closer to rooting my phone. I have AKG N5005, which are pretty inefficient but sounds so good. I would go past 75 on low impedance mode sometimes, but I hate to use extension and adapter to do so. I also listened to AK SR15 in the shop yesterday for few minutes. SR15 can go louder, sound good, but it is small for typing and ads another piece to carry around. And it was not clear upgrade for V30 soundwise, from what I heard in non ideal conditions in the shop.

I have the AKG N5005 and SR15 in addition to the V30.

For me the V30 needs the extra gain from the soundmod post-root you've hopefully read about here to really shine, and they REALLY shine. I don't find them inefficient at all but
in spite of their lowish impedance they need some grunt to drive them IMO.

I use the same IEMs in balanced mode on my SR15, sound even better. YMMV of course.

 

[pilgrimbilly]

@borisov57: Those N5005 look really nice!

With a sensitivity of 116dB I am surprised that Normal Mode (<50ohm) isn't sufficient. If the cable was detachable, you could easily trigger Aux mode, which I am sure would be loud enough. But as it isn't detachable, I can see your dilemma.

Before you root, do note that the most popular modification used to force High Impedance Mode (WhiskeyOmega's Sound Mod) was recently pulled from XDA by its author. You may be able to find it in the wild, although we would hope that a more official mod becomes available, and ideally a clean one that ONLY affects gain mode and nothing else.

The cable is detachable. Ships with 3 cables (3.5 with mic, 2.5 balanced and BT).

 

[monsieurfromag3]

The resample 'side-effects' have nothing to do with impedance, ba vs. dd or anything like that. It's a matter of non-integer math, in other words, round-off and guessing at data points. Not a problem if you round off a fraction of an inch UP, to make sure your stuff fits in a cabinet, not so good if you are building a skyscraper, which will either look really "off", or will fall down in a spectacular way. Transalation: resampling changes the music-careful listeners with good gear can clearly discern this.

I do find a far-ranging improvement using UAPP vs the native (resampled) Tidal app, apart from any background hiss. How much is owed to the player itself and how much to 44.1kHz playback, I don’t know. But it sounds more “correct” - more musical, more natural.