dragion
100+ Head-Fier
Not quiteI agree it's getting a bit complicated. I described the current situation in a previous post. I'll summarize it again here, because nothing has really changed in between:
Native LG Music app
Pros:
Plays all hi-res PCM formats without down-sampling and plays DSD via DoP
Cons:
Up-samples all 44/16 FLAC to 48/16 and outputs everything via USB as 48/16
Neutron
Pros:
Plays all PCM files at original sample rate through the internal DAC (or through USB-out if the "Direct USB Driver" option under the Audio Hardware menu is set to on). DSD can also be played via USB-out with DoP on.
Cons:
DoP doesn't work via HO (no audio output). With DoP off, Neutron converts all DSD to user-given-sample-rate PCM (via both internal DAC and USB out).
USB Audio Player Pro
Pros:
Outputs everything correctly via USB
Cons:
Can't (yet) play anything other than 48 kHz Android-resampled audio through the internal DAC
Poweramp
Pros:
Some people claim this is the best-sounding player on other devices
Cons:
On the V30, it outputs everything (including DSD) as 48 kHz PCM, both via HO and USB
So the stock LG music app is good for everything apart from USB output to a separate DAC, or for 44/16 playback. It does play DSD via DoP, but from everything I've read on the subject, this should be pretty much transparent, i.e., should sound the same as native DSD playback. It certainly sounds a lot better than any other player right now for DSD (those other players that handle DSD do so via conversion to 48 kHz PCM). Neutron does no up-sampling of 44/16 PCM. It goes through a native api that pads these tracks to 44/24, but there's no up-sampling. That's a really key advantage over every other app - including the LG music app, because the 44/16 format is so prevalent. For those that are interested in the effects of up-sampling, you can check out the following. Be warned. You may not be able to un-hear these effects, once you're aware of the problem.
Here's an FFT of 30 seconds worth of Dark Side Of The Moon. Most people will know this album, or will be able to get it via Tidal, etc:
Here's the difference between the original 44 kHz file going into the DAC and the 48 kHz up-sampled version that the Android mixer produces for the same section of track:
This is just error. For sure, it's a fair bit quieter than the track itself, so high gain and minimal dynamic range in the track will help mask it. But there are some situations where it's hard to avoid, i.e., you have sensitive IEMs, and you're listening at low volume to something with a reasonable dynamic range (i.e., sound following by a silent pause). One of the worst examples is the heartbeats from the beginning of the Dark Side Of The Moon album (thanks again to @kundica, who was, I think, the first person to report this problem). The following is in 96/24 wav, which should cause no additional up-sampling effects if played back on a V30. The effects here were recorded using a Vibro Veritas coupler with SE846 IEMs:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dyo16sgv11eek0w/artifacts.wav?dl=0
Those of you with sensitive IEMs will be able to hear this effect quite easily if you find a recording with a good dynamic range in 44/16 and play it back via the stock music app at low volumes. Listen, in particular, around what should be periods of silence.
I would like to thank you for the detail tests that you have performed to achieve this shared information.
I'm sure that for most people, the LG dedicated player would be good enough and most will not be able to actually hear the Up-sampling difference.
I for one am quite impressed by the output of the LG player and I have tried both Neutron and PowerAmp Alpha.
Unless you are into "Serious" listening the native LG player should be good enough with any types of headphones.
I am enjoying mine with my BeyerDynamic DT880 250ohms...via Internal, Tidal Hifi and Spotify Premium.
Volume range is from 35 - 60 based on type of source.
I know of at least two developers of other third party apps who are working to fix this.
