[csglinux]

I actually like UAPP interface. Just sometimes I like to have Tidal offline. Anyways, I'll continue as such. Not a deal killer since I mostly listen where there is wifi around. If you are mostly an IEM listener for portables, LG phones is like all you need. It pretty much sounds like 90% of Ibasso DX220 with amp8 module with less background noise actually.

Offline is the problem with UAPP. I doubt that situation will ever change. It's not a programming issue on UAPP's part, but a licensing problem.

BTW, in terms of some important metrics, LG's phones actually beat the DX220:

http://soundexpert.org/articles/-/blogs/audio-quality-of-high-end-portable-players

 

[gordec]

Offline is the problem with UAPP. I doubt that situation will ever change. It's not a programming issue on UAPP's part, but a licensing problem.

BTW, in terms of some important metrics, LG's phones actually beat the DX220:

http://soundexpert.org/articles/-/blogs/audio-quality-of-high-end-portable-players

I think DX220 sounds great if you are also trying to drive full size cans. The problem with many DAPs, is noise floor for sensitive IEMs.

Unfortunately, only for 24-bit. Any 16-bit PCM will have this re-sampling issue via pretty much every app other than the tiny handful of apps (UAPP, Neutron and, sort-of, Poweramp) discussed in that thread. I'm willing to bet the upcoming V60 will have the same issues. LG are Tidal are blissfully unaware that there's even a problem.

Having said that, I'll probably get a V60 anyway, given that LG are basically your only choice for a 3.5 mm socket in a new flagship model.

I'm using G8. I kind of the size of the G8. Lets see how G9 compares to V60. Having had pretty much every single Note iteration, it's kind of nice to have a smaller, one-handable phone.

 

[csglinux]

Having had pretty much every single Note iteration, it's kind of nice to have a smaller, one-handable phone.

Completely agree with that! I went from the V40 to the V35 for that reason. Unfortunately, all phone manufacturers now know what we want better than we know ourselves. And what we all want, apparently, are increasingly-large phones and no headphone jack

 

[csglinux]

Maybe the V60 won't even have a headphone jack: https://www.engadget.com/2020/01/10/lg-true-wireless-earbuds-tone-free

Nooooooo!

 

[scottm18]

Maybe the V60 won't even have a headphone jack

Let's face it...LG may have the worst marketing department in the history of electronics, but even they aren't dumb enough to remove their *only* distinguishing feature. In fact, look at this render of the case which is either going to be the G9 or the V60 and you can plainly see that phone jack.

 

[csglinux]

Maybe the V60 won't even have a headphone jack

Let's face it...LG may have the worst marketing department in the history of electronics, but even they aren't dumb enough to remove their *only* distinguishing feature. In fact, look at this render of the case which is either going to be the G9 or the V60 and you can plainly see that phone jack.

I was joking about them dropping the headphone jack. At least, I sincerely hope I was.
There are rumors that the G9 is going to have a 6.9" screen though. Yikes.

https://www.slashgear.com/lg-g9-leaks-with-shockingly-familiar-design-03605185/

So the burning question... is 6.9" really big enough? Or should we wait until 2035 for the 153.5" screen?

 

[scottm18]

Oh please they better not. 6.4" is already too big on the LG V40. I'm only keeping that because it definitely sounds better than the V30 with my gear. The weight is also increasing alarmingly...the V30 was only 155g the g8x is 192g without the second screen!

Glad to hear they keep getting optimistic CEOs! It would be a really sad state in the mobile world if LG was to drop out. Interesting to read the comments here too...
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...tphone-sales-hopes-for-profitability-by-2021/

 

[gordec]

Unfortunately, only for 24-bit. Any 16-bit PCM will have this re-sampling issue via pretty much every app other than the tiny handful of apps (UAPP, Neutron and, sort-of, Poweramp) discussed in that thread. I'm willing to bet the upcoming V60 will have the same issues. LG are Tidal are blissfully unaware that there's even a problem.

Having said that, I'll probably get a V60 anyway, given that LG are basically your only choice for a 3.5 mm socket in a new flagship model.

So for MQA on native Tidal, it bypasses Android system, but CD quality is resampled?

 

[Dannemand]

So for MQA on native Tidal, it bypasses Android system, but CD quality is resampled?

Exactly! MQA is played through Direct path in Tidal app exactly the same as in UAPP. Even when playing offline. But CD quality 16/44 must be played through UAPP to avoid the meatgrinding Android Mixer.

 

[SPAstef]

Hello, I bought the V40 a week ago, and it's an amazing device. I have gathered as much info as possible but I still have some questions:

1. MQA Albums in the stock music app are shown twice: once as MQA albums and once as "normal" albums... Is it a known bug or what?
2. DSD files, precisely DSF, are not played in the stock music app (format not supported), although I have read in this very thread they are supported natively (and I am able to play them via UAPP)
3. Is it possible to disable the digital filter completely?
4. Does the stock music app have any advantage over UAPP when it comes to accessing the DAC? (I know Android is really messy)

Thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to answer me

 

[NitePhlight]

Hello, I bought the V40 a week ago, and it's an amazing device. I have gathered as much info as possible but I still have some questions:

1. MQA Albums in the stock music app are shown twice: once as MQA albums and once as "normal" albums... Is it a known bug or what?
2. DSD files, precisely DSF, are not played in the stock music app (format not supported), although I have read in this very thread they are supported natively (and I am able to play them via UAPP)
3. Is it possible to disable the digital filter completely?
4. Does the stock music app have any advantage over UAPP when it comes to accessing the DAC? (I know Android is really messy)

Thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to answer me

3. if you mean the Impulse Response settings (Short, Sharp, Slow) i don't believe so. the DAC has to be behave in one of these ways - i believe Sharp is the standard for most DACs. when bitperfect mode is set in UAPP though, you are unable to change this setting on the fly, so I suspect it just uses the standard Sharp setting, maybe someone else can confirm.

4. allows you to change the Quad-DAC settings on the fly, if you consider that an advantage. as someone mentioned above though, stock music app suffers from the same Android resampling issue for 44/16, so this would be a clear advantage for UAPP.

 

[gordec]

Exactly! MQA is played through Direct path in Tidal app exactly the same as in UAPP. Even when playing offline. But CD quality 16/44 must be played through UAPP to avoid the meatgrinding Android Mixer.

It's crazy after so many generations of LG phones, they haven't figured out how to bypass the Android system when a $8 app can do it. That being sad, it also took many dedicated DAPs like AK, Fiio and Ibasso a while to learn how to bypass the Android system with native Tidal.

 

[SPAstef]

3. if you mean the Impulse Response settings (Short, Sharp, Slow) i don't believe so. the DAC has to be behave in one of these ways - i believe Sharp is the standard for most DACs. when bitperfect mode is set in UAPP though, you are unable to change this setting on the fly, so I suspect it just uses the standard Sharp setting, maybe someone else can confirm.

4. allows you to change the Quad-DAC settings on the fly, if you consider that an advantage. as someone mentioned above though, stock music app suffers from the same Android resampling issue for 44/16, so this would be a clear advantage for UAPP.

While changing stuff on the fly is always welcomed, I'm not one that messes a lot with EQ and stuff like that. thanks again!

 

[Dannemand]

It's crazy after so many generations of LG phones, they haven't figured out how to bypass the Android system when a $8 app can do it. That being sad, it also took many dedicated DAPs like AK, Fiio and Ibasso a while to learn how to bypass the Android system with native Tidal.

Yeah, it's ridiculous on LG's part. I find it hard to believe that they are unaware of it, and I keep thinking there is an underlying technical reason. But at least they could do the same as UAPP (convert 16-bit into 24-bit) -- since apparently there is no way other way to avoid the Mixer.

 

[Dannemand]

Hello, I bought the V40 a week ago, and it's an amazing device. I have gathered as much info as possible but I still have some questions:

1. MQA Albums in the stock music app are shown twice: once as MQA albums and once as "normal" albums... Is it a known bug or what?
2. DSD files, precisely DSF, are not played in the stock music app (format not supported), although I have read in this very thread they are supported natively (and I am able to play them via UAPP)
3. Is it possible to disable the digital filter completely?
4. Does the stock music app have any advantage over UAPP when it comes to accessing the DAC? (I know Android is really messy)

As noted by @NitePhlight a digital filter is integral to the function of Delta-Sigma DACs like our ESS. They are NOT an additional processing layer like EQ. Sharp is the default (and my preferred because it sounds more natural) but some people prefer other filters.

But it is not Bit-Perfect in UAPP that prevents you from changing Digital Filters in the Quad DAC screen, but rather the MQA Flag: When MQA is played, a proprietary MQA digital filter is used -- which presumably is a big part of MQA's claim of improved time-domain characteristics. Thus you cannot change to a different digital filter. This is also true when playing MQA files in the LG Music App.

In the case of UAPP, their developer has chosen to ALWAYS enable MQA when playing any PCM file/stream, even if no actual MQA is present. The effect of that is to force using the MQA digital filter, even when playing non-MQA music. I discussed this with him almost 2 years ago, and I understand he has been advised by the MQA Corporation to do so. I personally don't like this, and so I disable the MQA flag in UAPP settings (under HiRes driver flags) and enable it ONLY when I actually play MQA. When the MQA flag in UAPP settings is disabled, you can change the digital filter, regardless of the Bit-Perfect setting.

BTW playing DSD will also disable selection of digital filter in the Quad DAC screen since DSD is already 1-bit, and so bypasses the entire stage of the D-A conversion where digital filters are required.

Edit: If interested, I shared other observations about digital filters and MQA in the following posts:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/lg-v30.858933/page-347#post-14892382
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/usb...ort-for-android.704065/page-218#post-15363868