[csglinux]

OK, my LG v30 connected via USB to the xDSD and playing Tidal through USB Audio Player Pro combo is acting wonky:

1. sometimes I get an error message saying “Error starting playback” and other times I get playback but no sound...

Any ideas / suggestions / clarifying questions?

2. When I do get things to work, MQA does not show us as MQA (understand that is not supported by Tidal yet). These tracks show up as 48KHz / 24 bit rather than 96KHz / 24 bit which I get with another set up that also does not support MQA (win 10 laptop playing Tidal windows app through Topping D50 DAC).

I know that the xDSD is playing bit perfect as can be seen by this photo of what happens when I try to use the phone’s volume control (you can also see what is being reported by UAPP)

I BELIEVE that I have all the settings as recommended in the first post.

Also, I have Oreo, and a Verizon LG v30...

Under Oreo, I've found it necessary to turn off the HiRes direct internal driver when using UAPP for digital out to my Hugo 2. (Obviously, you need to remember to turn it back on again using the 3.5 mm analog out!).

The only issue I have with playback through the internal quad DAC from Tidal via UAPP is it's glitchy (lots of dropouts), regardless of buffer size. Haven't been able to resolve that yet.

 

[jsmiller58]

Under Oreo, I've found it necessary to turn off the HiRes direct internal driver when using UAPP for digital out to my Hugo 2. (Obviously, you need to remember to turn it back on again using the 3.5 mm analog out!).

The only issue I have with playback through the internal quad DAC from Tidal via UAPP is it's glitchy (lots of dropouts), regardless of buffer size. Haven't been able to resolve that yet.

Thanks! I must admit I saw that in the original post, and thought to myself no way that could impact anything! Have just made the change for now and will monitor when this bug is cleared up...

Thank you!!!

 

[csglinux]

Thanks! I must admit I saw that in the original post, and thought to myself no way that could import anything! Have just made the change for now and will monitor when this bug is cleared up...

Thank you!!!

No probs! Hope that works for you?

 

[jsmiller58]

No probs! Hope that works for you?

I have made two changes - the one you suggested to the Hires driver, and the other was from the iFi xDSD forum. Someone there pointed out that the error starting playback could also be due to a poor USB connection at the xDSD... the connector has a lot of play in it there. So I wrapped a bunch of tape around the connector to fill the space around it and now there is almost no play. I know that I should only change one variable at a time, observe results and then move to the next experiment, but...

 

[monsieurfromag3]

I have made two changes - the one you suggested to the Hires driver, and the other was from the iFi xDSD forum. Someone there pointed out that the error starting playback could also be due to a poor USB connection at the xDSD... the connector has a lot of play in it there. So I wrapped a bunch of tape around the connector to fill the space around it and now there is almost no play. I know that I should only change one variable at a time, observe results and then move to the next experiment, but...

UAPP was basically unusable for me as a mobile solution with an S7 Edge + Dragonfly Red combo. It would cut and loop when going from Wifi to mobile data and back again - even when just detecting an open Wifi network I’d never connected to. Seemed to do the same sometimes even with Wifi deactivated.
That error message you mentioned in the previous post also popped up all the time and I had to restart the app over and over. Now this could be due to the way the phone handled connections instead of UAPP acting out - everything about the S7 seemed counter-intuitive at best, aggravatingly stupid at worst - sometimes it truly felt like a social experiment to check how long it took the user to get to the point of exasperation.

I especially enjoyed the time when the DF Red pushed white noise at full volume to my iems. Good thing they weren’t in my ears at that moment or I’d have nothing to do on head-fi anymore. The DF never did that plugged to my PC.

The only time I managed to use the combo I was sitting at a table with everything stable - so not mobile at all! It was pretty great that one time though.

Btw have you checked the phone’s usb connector too? I had a crazy amount of play on the S7 connector (of course...). By itself it made UAPP go crazy, I had to manipulate the phone veeery carefully at all times.

Side question: why the xDSD? It’s an intriguing device for sure, I hope to audition it this week-end and consider it for the desktop. As a mobile solution what would you say it does better than the V30? SQ, power?

 

[monsieurfromag3]

Allow me to introduce the Fisual S-Flex Mini
A very competent, ultra-short extension cable to trigger aux mode. I am already embarrassed enough with my headphone cables tangling into everything while milling about and grocery shopping, didn’t feel like extending them by one more meter. Plus usually the shorter the better, as far as cables go at least!

I also tried straight-out gold-plated adapters without a cable, the brand was Vandesail but they’re probably generic. Looked ok but didn’t connect properly.

 

[subguy812]

Allow me to introduce the Fisual S-Flex Mini
A very competent, ultra-short extension cable to trigger aux mode. I am already embarrassed enough with my headphone cables tangling into everything while milling about and grocery shopping, didn’t feel like extending them by one more meter. Plus usually the shorter the better, as far as cables go at least!

I also tried straight-out gold-plated adapters without a cable, the brand was Vandesail but they’re probably generic. Looked ok but didn’t connect properly.

I understand not wanting more cable and I understand wanting aux mode, so why not detach the headphone/IEM from it's existing cable, plug the cable into the V30 trigerring aux mode and then attach the headphone/IEM? This adds no cable or additional anything and forces aux mode, case closed. Obviously, if you don't have detachable cables you couldn't do that.

 

[monsieurfromag3]

I understand not wanting more cable and I understand wanting aux mode, so why not detach the headphone/IEM from it's existing cable, plug the cable into the V30 trigerring aux mode and then attach the headphone/IEM? This adds no cable or additional anything and forces aux mode, case closed. Obviously, if you don't have detachable cables you couldn't do that.

You’re absolutely right and I resort to that occasionally. However the sockets on the headphones or iems vary in robustness and reliability. I have headphones where plugging and unplugging is very easy - too easy actually, and they end up with screwy sound, forcing me to try multiple times; iems where the fit is so tight I first thought they were defective, until I dared push like crazy and got the cable plugged in - not something I want to have to go through every time!
And then you have Final Audio who explicitly state the sockets must be handled with care and are not made to sustain endless plugging in and out.

Cables such as the Fisual are actually marketed as « socket savers », in that they preserve the phone’s jack. That’s another advantage, when testing different headphones you’re not brutalizing the phone’s socket. But for me their main interest is that they allow me to trigger aux mode without having to molest my headphones’ sockets.

 

[jsmiller58]

Just checking...

In the originating post, there is this comment regarding UAPP settings...

“USB digital-out has a little bug right now in UAPP, which requires you to disable the "HiRes Direct Driver" option to work properly. (Many thanks to @yklee118 for this tip!) The developer is aware of the issue and it will hopefully be fixed in a future release.”

Is this still the case? I have seen that there have been bug fixes released, but just not sure if this bug has been addressed...



Also, just to double check, is it still the case that UAPP will not play on Tidal at the full MQA resolution, so 96KHz will show as 48KHz, and 88KHz as 44KHz on the app screen.

 

[jsmiller58]

UAPP was basically unusable for me as a mobile solution with an S7 Edge + Dragonfly Red combo. It would cut and loop when going from Wifi to mobile data and back again - even when just detecting an open Wifi network I’d never connected to. Seemed to do the same sometimes even with Wifi deactivated.
That error message you mentioned in the previous post also popped up all the time and I had to restart the app over and over. Now this could be due to the way the phone handled connections instead of UAPP acting out - everything about the S7 seemed counter-intuitive at best, aggravatingly stupid at worst - sometimes it truly felt like a social experiment to check how long it took the user to get to the point of exasperation.

I especially enjoyed the time when the DF Red pushed white noise at full volume to my iems. Good thing they weren’t in my ears at that moment or I’d have nothing to do on head-fi anymore. The DF never did that plugged to my PC.

The only time I managed to use the combo I was sitting at a table with everything stable - so not mobile at all! It was pretty great that one time though.

Btw have you checked the phone’s usb connector too? I had a crazy amount of play on the S7 connector (of course...). By itself it made UAPP go crazy, I had to manipulate the phone veeery carefully at all times.

Side question: why the xDSD? It’s an intriguing device for sure, I hope to audition it this week-end and consider it for the desktop. As a mobile solution what would you say it does better than the V30? SQ, power?

With the tape around the connector at the xDSD, I haven’t had the unable to start error again... so far!

Why the xDSD? SQ and power both seem to be an improvement over the v30. No need to fiddle around with and fool the v30 to give me aux mode to drive things like planars... but a lot of it was curiosity and gadget envy to be honest...! I like the xDSD a lot, but given how thick the combination is, the stack of xDSD and v30 is mobile only in the most loosely defined manner...

EDIT: a slightly more serious answer builds on the amp... the v30 does a nice job on IEMs and easier to drive headphones. But even in high impedance mode, or in the case of planars aux mode, the volume just can be wimpy on some headphones . For example, I was just listening to my HifiMan Sundara headphones - which only trip normal mode on the v30 - and they sounded pretty weak. I kicked them into aux mode, and I still had to max the volume at 75 (and still volume was kind of weak). The xDSD drove them to loud levels with ease and with lots of remaining volume (if you are familiar with the xDSD the volume knob was still light green and the headphones were quite loud).

 

[scottm18]

Hey Guys...I may be taking ownership of an 2011 Audi S5. In Audi's infinite wisdom, they still thought it was 2007 all the way until just this year and only offered a Ipod converter for their proprietary MMI interface. I have a choice of an MMI adapter to 3.5mm or MMI adapter to USB via an Amazon link...if any have tried with this car which would sounds best to run the V30 through? I tried a friend's MMI to 3.5mm and it was pretty good--would USB be better and/or offer any more control? I think USB would be like mimicking a DAC use...but 3.5mm may offer more volume?

 

[csglinux]

Ha, that's probably it! I actually thought there might be some kind of "auto-mute" going on in these extremely quiet passages, but then dismissed the possibility when I could neither replicate the clicks with aptX HD, nor with aptX from my Galaxy S3. How weird that the XB10 would only do this in AAC mode?

Anyway, thanks a lot for your time and effort, it really helped shedding some light on these strange things I heard!

I recently picked up a new toy (image below) that supports BT codecs AAC, AptX (but not AptX HD) and LDAC. It supports both send and receive mode in LDAC. Transmitting from my V30 and using the M0 as a receiver, the LDAC quality on this is impressive - easily the best I've ever heard from BT. @james444 - your "Empty White House" track plays back perfectly with no artifacts and no noise floor. I can't be sure how much of the previous problems were V30 AptX/software-related and how much were purely due to the AK XB10 hardware, but the M0's LDAC-receive SQ from my V30 is close to that of a direct wired connection; it wipes the floor with any other BT receivers I've heard. BTW, the M0 is also a DAP and an external DAC too. This is a great little DAP - especially for any V30/Oreo owners considering a BT solution for their wired headphones.

 

[monsieurfromag3]

Nice pick @csglinux ! I recently purchased an Earstudio by Radsone - it’s not a DAP, just a $100 BT receiver with a dual AKM DAC, for those times when the V30 is just too bulky. It’s aptX HD capable (and soon LDAC support could be added from what I read between the lines on the Head-fi thread) and sports a 2.5mm balanced connector in addition to the 3.5mm single-ended one. It’s one step below the V30 in terms of sound quality but still nice. Much better than a non-hi-fi phone.

 

[csglinux]

Nice pick @csglinux ! I recently purchased an Earstudio by Radsone - it’s not a DAP, just a $100 BT receiver with a dual AKM DAC, for those times when the V30 is just too bulky. It’s aptX HD capable (and soon LDAC support could be added from what I read between the lines on the Head-fi thread) and sports a 2.5mm balanced connector in addition to the 3.5mm single-ended one. It’s one step below the V30 in terms of sound quality but still nice. Much better than a non-hi-fi phone.

Interesting - what's the Earstudio like for a noise floor with sensitive IEMs? The M0 has the same DAC chip as the V30, and its sound quality is very close - mainly differing (I suspect) by the implemented filters. A couple of us (including me) marginally prefer the SQ of the M0, but at least one person has said they prefer that of the V30 (with Andromedas). The main point is, it's close to the V30 for SQ, and has a similarly silent noise floor. And it's also a DAP. And $1 cheaper than an Earstudio

 

[435279]

The V30 already has great sound why add the extra complication of adding an extra device -> existing headphone wire -> headphone?

Is this just because its possible and this is Head-Fi.

I do use my V30 with Bluetooth sometimes. MEE audio BTX1->Westone UM Pro 30 which sounds OK (not as good as when used wired though) and does make sense for convenience.