[GoodEnoughGear]

Using Andros I find that Iematch on High is OK, but Ultra thins out the bass too much. I used to use it to mask the resampling artifacts before I discovered Neutron. Since then I haven't used it at all, V30 on its own is just as good or better.

 

[psikey]

Here is a curious question, especially from someone who has owned this phone for 5 months, but bear with me......

Do you notice a night and day difference between the dac being turned on and off?
.

Most deffinetly. Sounds dead by comparrison compared to enabling Quad DAC.

I thought something was wrong until I realised I'd accidently caught icon and turned it off.

 

[ljnew]

You've got to realise that in this hobby once you get to a certain level improvements are slight and its not always down to price but can be down to four things:

1. Individuals hearing & preference (plus listening experience)
2. Synergy to other equipment your using, primarily the ear/headphone put also source, amp (if any extra) and app/software. Also a bit down to cables if you can hear the difference.
3. Reviewer Bias due to bribery or vested interest.
4. Emperors new cloths phenomenon/Buyers guilt/fantasies; bragging rights.

Get number 4 out of the way first: Many people will believe something sounds better or made an improvement if they buy something expensive, Its human nature. Many people like to brag/show off especially when it comes to how much money they can justify spending on a leisure item, Its human nature.

Now get 3 out of the way. Read lots of reviews from a variety of sources, especially normal people who have bought or tried the equipment or reviewers who are known not to exaggerate or have bias.

With these out of the way its 1 & 2 that determine the sound quality and why you will likely see conflicting opinions. This is where trying the equipment yourself is the only true test.

No, the V30 is not better than a Hugo 2 and only the individual listener could judge for themselves if the improvement is worth 3.5 times the cost for just a DAC/AMP , the Hugo 2 will still drive more demanding headphones better.

Not sure on the wm1z as never tried one. Nearest I came to that was a ZX300 where many who own both the 1A & ZX300 say they sound nearly identical. I'd say the V30 is as good as the ZX300 and better than the X5III/ZX2 I previously had and in some respects better than the Mojo (sound stage and no electrical interference). Nearest to the V30 is Dragonfly Red but again V30 is better with DSD.

I never listen to anything with EQ. I'm happy with Auto so with my SE846's it defaults to "Normal" and with my HD660S default to "High".

Thanks, yes everything you said is true. I know that's always a hard question to answer accurately, but before I shell out 3k+ I try to get some idea if I should. I know only by hearing it etc.... but if v30 is that close, i don't need to waste a lot of time and money.

The fake reviews, I've noticed some reviewers say whatever costs the most is the best. I know that's crap.

So I find people saying the dragonfly red is close to the v30 and the v30 is close to hugo 2, not as good but serious diminishing returns.

I must say if dragonfly red is close to the v30 and the v30 is close to hugo 2, that's almost like saying dragonfly red isn't that far off from hugo 2?

 

[Bartje K]

With Neutron player, do you guys also turn on 64bit processing?

 

[GoodEnoughGear]

Thanks, yes everything you said is true. I know that's always a hard question to answer accurately, but before I shell out 3k+ I try to get some idea if I should. I know only by hearing it etc.... but if v30 is that close, i don't need to waste a lot of time and money.

The fake reviews, I've noticed some reviewers say whatever costs the most is the best. I know that's crap.

So I find people saying the dragonfly red is close to the v30 and the v30 is close to hugo 2, not as good but serious diminishing returns.

I must say if dragonfly red is close to the v30 and the v30 is close to hugo 2, that's almost like saying dragonfly red isn't that far off from hugo 2?

I find there is confirmation bias in these things. After a few months I can readily tell the difference between my V30, GO2A and Soekris DAC1541. The Soekris is very clearly better than the GO2A which in turn is very clearly better than the V30. Timbre, transients, staging all improve significantly as I go up the chain. This is even more obvious when routing them through powered monitors. But before I had time with these devices and learned how to listen I probably couldn't have told them apart. So are they close? Yes, we're talking relatively small differences vs say better transducers. Are they insignificant? Absolutely not now that I'm better at listening.

I guess the tl;dr is yes they're close and it can make all the difference.

 

[psikey]

Thanks, yes everything you said is true. I know that's always a hard question to answer accurately, but before I shell out 3k+ I try to get some idea if I should. I know only by hearing it etc.... but if v30 is that close, i don't need to waste a lot of time and money.

The fake reviews, I've noticed some reviewers say whatever costs the most is the best. I know that's crap.

So I find people saying the dragonfly red is close to the v30 and the v30 is close to hugo 2, not as good but serious diminishing returns.

I must say if dragonfly red is close to the v30 and the v30 is close to hugo 2, that's almost like saying dragonfly red isn't that far off from hugo 2?

You also need to factor in usability plus cost.

For £500 your getting a multi-purpose phone that has a DAC at least as good as £500 DAP's. If you want to keep your phone as your source then for balance of SQ/Price/usabilty I still think the DFR is hard to beat for £160.

There is no way I would consider the small improvements worth paying over £1000 and at £3000 its getting to more a statement about wealth/exclusivity.

All above just my opinion of course.

I can afford to pay £3000 for a DAP (own cash, not credit card) but my common sense stops me.

PS.. I'm talking personal/mobile audio, not feeding a speaker/amp system.

 

[ljnew]

I find there is confirmation bias in these things. After a few months I can readily tell the difference between my V30, GO2A and Soekris DAC1541. The Soekris is very clearly better than the GO2A which in turn is very clearly better than the V30. Timbre, transients, staging all improve significantly as I go up the chain. This is even more obvious when routing them through powered monitors. But before I had time with these devices and learned how to listen I probably couldn't have told them apart. So are they close? Yes, we're talking relatively small differences vs say better transducers. Are they insignificant? Absolutely not now that I'm better at listening.

I guess the tl;dr is yes they're close and it can make all the difference.

Arghh....

I decided not to waste money on wm1z. Now you have me wondering again.

 

[ljnew]

I find there is confirmation bias in these things. After a few months I can readily tell the difference between my V30, GO2A and Soekris DAC1541. The Soekris is very clearly better than the GO2A which in turn is very clearly better than the V30. Timbre, transients, staging all improve significantly as I go up the chain. This is even more obvious when routing them through powered monitors. But before I had time with these devices and learned how to listen I probably couldn't have told them apart. So are they close? Yes, we're talking relatively small differences vs say better transducers. Are they insignificant? Absolutely not now that I'm better at listening.

I guess the tl;dr is yes they're close and it can make all the difference.

Just realized for portability purposes, non portable sources are irrelevant unless someone plans on listening at home.

 

[king conan]

Here is a curious question, especially from someone who has owned this phone for 5 months, but bear with me......

Do you notice a night and day difference between the dac being turned on and off?

It seems I can't. Out of curiosity I turned it off this morning just to remind myself of the difference, and blow me if I can tell the difference.
I remember there also used to be a sizable increase in volume when using the dac, I assume due to the that also using the better amp, but that volume change no longer appears to happen.

Don't get me wrong, it still sounds good, but it has me questioning if there is a problem, is is sounding as good as it should? Or are my ears knackered?!

I'm using Senheiser momentum's with the neutron player and all my music is from original cd's ripped to flac.

You could try to trigger the aux mode (more power than normal). Many headphones sound better with the higher power modes, it's a more dinamic sound, it's not just louder. It's so simple like connect before an extender and then the headphones.

Get any to try, and later if you like it, it's more convenient a very short one like this one for example:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Sli...65e9d9f&transAbTest=ae803_4&priceBeautifyAB=0

Or even easier, if the cable is detachable in your hedaphones, connect first the cable alone, and then the headphones to the cable. You'll get aux mode this way aswell.

The benefit of more power depends. For example my IEM Ibasso IT01 is fine with normal mode, but my other IEM, the Sony N3AP needs more power to shine and I must enable aux mode to fully enjoy them.

So the point is, anyone who feels something is missing should try at least to trigger the aux mode and compare.

 

[buntyster]

Apologies if this has been asked before - tidal app on V30 got MQA support. But when I play their master songs, my dac (Sony PHA-3AC) does not light up the Hi-f (which happens for songs with higher than 44Khz or 16-bit). However when I connect the dac to my macbook and stream masters from the desktop tidal application, the Hi-f led lights up, like it should. I think Tidal added MQA in the app for LG v30 but did not support it when using USB-C output?

 

[psikey]

Apologies if this has been asked before - tidal app on V30 got MQA support. But when I play their master songs, my dac (Sony PHA-3AC) does not light up the Hi-f (which happens for songs with higher than 44Khz or 16-bit). However when I connect the dac to my macbook and stream masters from the desktop tidal application, the Hi-f led lights up, like it should. I think Tidal added MQA in the app for LG v30 but did not support it when using USB-C output?

Its to the phones internal MQA capable quad DAC. Out of interest, why would you be using an external DAC with the V30 having the quad DAC ?

 

[buntyster]

Apologies if this has been asked before - tidal app on V30 got MQA support. But when I play their master songs, my dac (Sony PHA-3AC) does not light up the Hi-f (which happens for songs with higher than 44Khz or 16-bit). However when I connect the dac to my macbook and stream masters from the desktop tidal application, the Hi-f led lights up, like it should. I think Tidal added MQA in the app for LG v30 but did not support it when using USB-C output?

V30 Quad DAC does not do justice to my SONY MDR-Z7, amplifier weak and soundstage not comparable to Sony DAC, which was created to work with these headphones. MDR-Z7 are balanced headphones and I use them with balanced cable, which V30 DAC does not support. Being balanced, it sounds better and as you may know, balanced also amplifies the volume. Which makes we ask a question - Is there a quality difference in quality between inputting into a DC VIA digital (USB) and via 3.5"mm ?

 

[psikey]

V30 Quad DAC does not do justice to my SONY MDR-Z7, amplifier weak and soundstage not comparable to Sony DAC, which was created to work with these headphones. MDR-Z7 are balanced headphones and I use them with balanced cable, which V30 DAC does not support. Being balanced, it sounds better and as you may know, balanced also amplifies the volume. Which makes we ask a question - Is there a quality difference in quality between inputting into a DC VIA digital (USB) and via 3.5"mm ?

I had balanced with my Sony ZX300 but finding the V30 driving all my ear/headphones just as good to be honest. Never tried the SONY MDR-Z7/Sony PHA-3AC. Must be good if its better than ZX300 Balanced (and hence the V30). I take it the Z7's are hard to drive.

........

Interesting.... I see the Z7 are 102 dB/mW and 70Ohm so should be easy for the V30 to drive. Have no problem driving my 150Ohm HD660S.

Are you sure the V30 is going into High or Aux mode? At 70 Ohm they may still end up just at Normal ??

 

[buntyster]

I had balanced with my Sony ZX300 but finding the V30 driving all my ear/headphones just as good to be honest. Never tried the SONY MDR-Z7/Sony PHA-3AC. Must be good if its better than ZX300 Balanced (and hence the V30). I take it the Z7's are hard to drive.

........

Interesting.... I see the Z7 are 102 dB/mW and 70Ohm so should be easy for the V30 to drive. Have no problem driving my 150Ohm HD660S.

Are you sure the V30 is going into High or Aux mode? At 70 Ohm they may still end up just at Normal ??

They are not hard to drive, actually, pretty good for 70mm drivers and how they sound. Way easier than Send HD660s and Hifiman Sundara, my other 2 headphones. V30 is enough, just not loud enough for me, I just listen louder I guess. How can I tell if the V30 is outputting in High or Aux mode as you said ?

 

[ljnew]

They are not hard to drive, actually, pretty good for 70mm drivers and how they sound. Way easier than Send HD660s and Hifiman Sundara, my other 2 headphones. V30 is enough, just not loud enough for me, I just listen louder I guess. How can I tell if the V30 is outputting in High or Aux mode as you said ?

go to settings-sound-music. Also you can disconnect the heaphones and plug the cable in first it will go in aux mode.