[csglinux]

LG really done goofed. They're done as Hi-Fi Audio phone makers as things stand now.

Things aren't good right now on Android Pie, but things could always be worse. At least we still have a 3.5 mm socket. It seems LG will be the last big company to give us that choice. (Samsung's new Note 10 won't have a 3.5 mm socket.)

Try using Poweramp and manually set your sample rate to, say 96 kHz. It will upsample your 44 kHz files, but it can do this via SoX and audio_flinger shows it plays via direct mode, 24 bit, and doesn't give the nasty artifacts of going through the Android mixer.

 

[DLSS]

Things aren't good right now on Android Pie, but things could always be worse. At least we still have a 3.5 mm socket. It seems LG will be the last big company to give us that choice. (Samsung's new Note 10 won't have a 3.5 mm socket.)

Try using Poweramp and manually set your sample rate to, say 96 kHz. It will upsample your 44 kHz files, but it can do this via SoX and audio_flinger shows it plays via direct mode, 24 bit, and doesn't give the nasty artifacts of going through the Android mixer.

Why would I use poweramp and waste CPU and fidelity on resampling when I have UAPP that can still play bit perfect everything except MQA (and possibly DSD which I don't need)? Is Poweramp going to fix MQA on Tidal somehow?

One workaround would be buying the UAPP MQA decoding plugin even if the phone has the built-in decoder.

 

[csglinux]

Why would I use poweramp and waste CPU and fidelity on resampling when I have UAPP that can still play bit perfect everything except MQA (and possibly DSD which I don't need)? Is Poweramp going to fix MQA on Tidal somehow?

One workaround would be buying the UAPP MQA decoding plugin even if the phone has the built-in decoder.

Because once you upgrade to Android Pie, UAPP will not play anything bit-perfect anymore and will not playback MQA files ever again, even if you pay for an MQA plugin.

This is why I'm warning folks about Android 9.

P.S. MQA on Tidal isn't broken. MQA, via the native Tidal app, has always played back correctly.

 

[banshee28]

Well I got the T-Mobile Android Pie udate, lol.

So far its working good, but not sure how it impacted Audio other than whats been posted.

However..... Question... For this whole time I have been playing though USB to my devices and amps. Since I have a Audioengine B1 what If I sent the audio to that Vs. USB? How would that change the audio signal?

I originally went from BT to USB thinking it would be better and bit-perfect but now maybe the BT option would be better?

 

[RuiPP]

Because once you upgrade to Android Pie, UAPP will not play anything bit-perfect anymore and will not playback MQA files ever again, even if you pay for an MQA plugin.

This is why I'm warning folks about Android 9.

Hi.
Do you have any idea if/when UAPP will solve this problem?
Thanks!

 

[csglinux]

Hi.
Do you have any idea if/when UAPP will solve this problem?
Thanks!

The dev is aware of the problems and is working on it. I suspect the issue with PCM DIRECT playback (which is the most important issue) may eventually get fixed. It doesn't look like MQA playback (full MQA unfolding/playback) will be coming back to UAPP on Android Pie though, so you'd need Tidal or the LG Music app for MQA, going forward.

 

[banshee28]

Can anyone comment on the differences between using Bluetooth 5 with AptX-HD on this phone going to a Audioengine B1 for example vs the USB output esp with all the USB/DAC/bit-perfect issues going on?

Bluetooth is easier and may be comparable in SQ in this situation?

 

[csglinux]

Can anyone comment on the differences between using Bluetooth 5 with AptX-HD on this phone going to a Audioengine B1 for example vs the USB output esp with all the USB/DAC/bit-perfect issues going on?

Bluetooth is easier and may be comparable in SQ in this situation?

I'm afraid I don't know the Audioengine B1. I'm not a particular fan of BT, but LDAC's sound quality is getting quite close to that of a wired connection.

The Android mixer up-sampling is a nasty issue, but many people are blissfully unaware of it - you'll typically only hear the artifacts if you're listening carefully to quiet passages of music on sensitive headphones.

What do your ears tell you? I would trust them

 

[DLSS]

Because once you upgrade to Android Pie, UAPP will not play anything bit-perfect anymore and will not playback MQA files ever again, even if you pay for an MQA plugin.

This is why I'm warning folks about Android 9.

P.S. MQA on Tidal isn't broken. MQA, via the native Tidal app, has always played back correctly.

Can you not read? Once I upgraded to Pie, UAPP plays everything bit perfect except MQA.
Verified on audio_flinger dumps. The direct flag is set and the original sample rate is maintained.
Why are you spreading misinformation?
Some things changed about setting the MQA flag, visible in the logs when comparing to the V30 on Oreo. And it's more likely to do with LG, not Android 9.
UAPP will probably fix this eventually.

 

[csglinux]

Can you not read? Once I upgraded to Pie, UAPP plays everything bit perfect except MQA.
Verified on audio_flinger dumps. The direct flags is set and the original sample rate is maintained.
Why are you spreading misinformation?

Try hopping back and forth between different formats and different music apps and look again at your audio_flinger output.

 

[DLSS]

Try hopping back and forth between different formats and different music apps and look again at your audio_flinger output.

I did. Works perfectly fine. Do I really need to screencap a video showing you're writing nonsense? The Uapp dev also confirmed bit perfect playback works too. The only problem is MQA.

 

[csglinux]

I'm working with Davy on a daily basis, so I know what you're saying isn't correct. Davy doesn't yet have an LG device with Android Pie on it.

For whatever reason on Android Pie, all music apps (including LG's) are having a hard time consistently grabbing the quad DAC - even after a reboot and exclusive use of one app. I can also show audio_flinger dumps reporting direct mode and correct sample rates. But not consistently. Switching to 96/24 and back to 44/16 PCM (or vice versa) can be enough to trigger the mixer mode again.

 

[banshee28]

I'm afraid I don't know the Audioengine B1. I'm not a particular fan of BT, but LDAC's sound quality is getting quite close to that of a wired connection.

The Android mixer up-sampling is a nasty issue, but many people are blissfully unaware of it - you'll typically only hear the artifacts if you're listening carefully to quiet passages of music on sensitive headphones.

What do your ears tell you? I would trust them

Thanks, will try it and see, I agree if you cant really tell the difference then does it really matter? For me this is also in a CAR, so a very noisy environment to start with!

 

[DLSS]

I'm working with Davy on a daily basis, so I know what you're saying isn't correct. Davy doesn't yet have an LG device with Android Pie on it.

For whatever reason on Android Pie, all music apps (including LG's) are having a hard time consistently grabbing the quad DAC - even after a reboot and exclusive use of one app. I can also show audio_flinger dumps reporting direct mode and correct sample rates. But not consistently. Switching to 96/24 and back to 44/16 PCM (or vice versa) can be enough to trigger the mixer mode again.

You know nothing and probably have UAPP setup wrong. Like on 32 bit float or some other nonsense instead of 24 bit packed. Or the wrong flags enabled (there should be no flag selected, or only Direct enabled, NOT Direct PCM and definitely NOT MQA!).


Is this enough switching for you? I could do it for hours without having the stuff you're describing happen at all.

 

[csglinux]

Folks, I get paid nothing for doing this. If @DLSS has convinced you all is well with Android Pie, go right ahead and update. But don't say you weren't warned. I won't be responding to @DLSS again as he's now on my blocked list.