[qsk78]

BTW the um pro 30 does not trigger high impedance mode,

Thank you for your feedback.
Interesting, it does not trigger the high gain mode while the IEM are 57 ohm.

 

[435279]

Thank you for your feedback.
Interesting, it does not trigger the high gain mode while the IEM are 57 ohm.

It's probably been discussed in this thread before, but its probably because of the difference between impedance and resistance. Westone probably quote an impedance at 1Khz and LG are probably measuring a DC resistance.

 

[monsieurfromag3]

don't think it can handle with my 6 BA Earsonics.

You should try.

 

[qsk78]

You should try.

I will but Granbeat with 150 mW per channel in balanced mode can not drive them properly, the same story with Plenue P1 - no chance tо make them perform well.

 

[Taz777]

Having been disappointed with the iPhone 7's sound quality compared to the V30, I thought I'd help out the iPhone and connect one of my MQA DACs to it to see if it can better the LG V30. Hence, over the next few days I'll be doing the following Tidal Masters (MQA) listening tests:

Setup A
iPhone 7 / CCK / iFi Nano iDSD Black Label DAC/Amp / AKG N40 IEMs

Setup B
LG V30+ / AKG N40 IEMs

I'll stream five well-recorded Tidal Masters tracks on each phone and focus solely on subjective sound quality - musical immersion, emotional response, soundstage, instrument separation, 'dark' background, etc. Playback will be via the Tidal app on each phone.

 

[monsieurfromag3]

I will but Granbeat with 150 mW per channel in balanced mode can not drive them properly, the same story with Plenue P1 - no chance tо make them perform well.

Ok! How comes? From the specs sheet alone they seem like they’re easy to drive but obviously you have real-life experience with them; is it the quality of amplification that’s insufficient? The high-impedance mode of the V30 is crazy powerful, I’d be curious to know what you make of it. It’s a bit of a hassle though.

 

[qsk78]

I have iFi mciro iDSD BL for the reference on how they should sound with a proper amplification.
6 drivers is not an easy load. The main issue is the bass - it is extremely fast and tight with a proper amplification and you immediately hear the deference when they are underpowered.

 

[GearMe]

Having been disappointed with the iPhone 7's sound quality compared to the V30, I thought I'd help out the iPhone and connect one of my MQA DACs to it to see if it can better the LG V30. Hence, over the next few days I'll be doing the following Tidal Masters (MQA) listening tests:

Setup A
iPhone 7 / CCK / iFi Nano iDSD Black Label DAC/Amp / AKG N40 IEMs

Setup B
LG V30+ / AKG N40 IEMs

I'll stream five well-recorded Tidal Masters tracks on each phone and focus solely on subjective sound quality - musical immersion, emotional response, soundstage, instrument separation, 'dark' background, etc. Playback will be via the Tidal app on each phone.

Don't forget the backpack to carry the iPhone setup!

 

[soulblast]

Any idea why UAPP shows the MQA logo sometimes as white and sometimes as black while streaming Tidal masters?

Seems that systematically, albums with white logo sound strangely disconnected but albums with black logo are awesome, far better than standard PCM stream!

Quoting myself... Asked directly from Davy about this and again got so fast a response. Black and white are just related to whatever background album art color in question so any differences in sound would be all placebo

 

[Taz777]

After a few days of testing out the following:

Setup A
iPhone 7 / CCK / iFi Nano iDSD Black Label DAC/Amp / AKG N40 IEMs

Setup B
LG V30+ / AKG N40 IEMs

App: Tidal app for iOS (iPhone) and Android (LG V30+). I didn't try UAPP on the LG V30+ as I don't have a comparable app on my iPhone.

Songs: Tidal Masters songs only

My conclusion is that for overall musicality, the LG V30+ sounds better than my iPhone 7 + DAC combo. I was surprised by this. Even with full MQA available, the output of the iFi Nano iDSD BL was a tiny bit distorted if I listened out for artefacts. Comparatively, the same tracks in MQA mode on the LG V30+ sounded freer of artefacts and a little more musical.

What you do get with the iPhone 7 + DAC combo is the ability to drive the headphones harder and this produces a more energetic sound. I've noticed that the AKG N40 IEMs are quite hard to drive with the LG V30+, despite being 20 Ohm IEMs. I have to have the volume at level 50 (which triggers the loud volume warning) to get acceptable levels of volume in real-world listening, i.e. out for walks on noisy streets.

I think the reason for my liking the LG V30+ more is that the iFi Nano iDSD BL has a fairly poor D-A stage. All of my other DACs sound better at the analogue end. With the iPhone 7 + DAC combo, you get the added disadvantage that it's less portable than just carrying the LG V30+ phone on its own.

So, for Tidal Masters, it's a win for the LG V30+ over the iPhone 7 + iFi Nano iDSD Black Label DAC.

YMMV as this is purely subjective and using my own ears.

 

[GearMe]

Interesting that the N40s are that power hungry. Did you try putting the V30+ in HIM?

 

[Dannemand]

No doubt V30 is a capable MQA source. But that annoying business with automatically choosing gain mode can affect the experience.

I was going to suggest Aux mode, which you can achieve by unplugging the left side cable on the N40 before plugging it into the V30. With a sensitivity of 115dB, I could imagine HIM being a little over the top, possibly blurring some of the detail. Plus (unless rooted) you'd need an adapter on the chain to achieve it, which will add some resistance and frequency distortion on its own.

 

[GearMe]

Yeah, Aux Mode makes sense given the efficiency of N40. In either case, it's worth experimenting to see where you get the best sound.

TBH, I really haven't had a bad sounding experience with IEMs at the 50-60 levels...so haven't felt the need to go to the high power modes but ymmv.

 

[Dannemand]

TBH, I really haven't had a bad sounding experience with IEMs at the 50-60 levels...so haven't felt the need to go to the high power modes but ymmv.

That's been my experience too: At the 50-60 level, the experience is generally quite wonderful -- in all three gain modes, interestingly enough.

 

[Taz777]

Interesting that the N40s are that power hungry. Did you try putting the V30+ in HIM?

I did not. I'm comparing them to my DGVP DM6 IEMs where I only have to have the volume between 25 and 29 for comfortable listening. It's not a big issue for me, just a bit surprising.