[larry piencenaves]

Why don't you just use the EQ on the LG?

if only it didnt had a weird equalizer I would use it, the thing is when you elevate a certain freq. eg. 20hz, all other freq starts to decrese in volume and gets affected by the change drastically that it gets muffled, a lot worse when using poweramp and not activating the limiter, when you up the bass knob, it gets distorted above 20-30%, that doesnt happen to my zenfone zb551kl, if you turn up the low freq, other frequencies remains the same with no distortion or decrease in volume. also the tuning in my zenfone sounds more resolute than the g7, although I dont know if it uses a high quality dac, but to my ears its really good that the g7 didnt impress me.

 

[larry piencenaves]

There isn't much that competes against the dx120, you might get similar Sq from fiio and other brands but fiio doesn't bother much with updates and neither do a lot of other brands, ibasso has very good customer care ( they actually respond) they update often, and they have some cool amps and mods

torn between the fiio m9 and the ibasso dx120 right now, m9 seems to have more functionality, but if the dx120 have a better sq I would choose it over the extra functions. However some reviews states some negative reviews on the dx120 (amazon) specifically on the navigation and reboots. does the recent firmware update fixed it already?


edit: just read some reviews of the m9..oof, looks like its out of my options already.

 

[Themilkman46290]

torn between the fiio m9 and the ibasso dx120 right now, m9 seems to have more functionality, but if the dx120 have a better sq I would choose it over the extra functions. However some reviews states some negative reviews on the dx120 (amazon) specifically on the navigation and reboots. does the recent firmware update fixed it already?


edit: just read some reviews of the m9..oof, looks like its out of my options already.

I don't know, I don't have the m9 but I been burned by fiio twice, I wouldn't rec any fiio products, no customer service, no updates, and they are overpriced, ibasso is a bit overpriced too but like a said, ibasso takes care of there devices, regular updates come often and I am sure the will fix any bugs, fiio puts most of there efforts into marketing, with hardly any updates, if you get a problem with a fiio, yours stuck with it

So it's up to you, do you want a product that will be updated quickly and often, or do you want a company that might give you a couple updates then drop support the next year
I haven't heard the m9 but the dx120 is really good
And I haven't been disappointed by ibasso yet

 

[Flamwin]

if only it didnt had a weird equalizer I would use it, the thing is when you elevate a certain freq. eg. 20hz, all other freq starts to decrese in volume and gets affected by the change drastically that it gets muffled, a lot worse when using poweramp and not activating the limiter, when you up the bass knob, it gets distorted above 20-30%, that doesnt happen to my zenfone zb551kl, if you turn up the low freq, other frequencies remains the same with no distortion or decrease in volume. also the tuning in my zenfone sounds more resolute than the g7, although I dont know if it uses a high quality dac, but to my ears its really good that the g7 didnt impress me.

Imagine that you increase the 20Hz signal by 6db and play some music with lots of bass. So much bass that the signal amplitude reaches the maximum value that the DAC can handle. The music signal is encoded as a stream of 16 or 24 bit values which means there are maximum positive and negative values that can be represented by 16 or 24 bits. So when the unaltered music signal is reaching the maximum value and you add 6db by equalization, then this signal amplitude cannot be expressed as 16/24 bit number anymore and the DAC's output is stuck to the maximum value, this is called clipping. Clipping results in audible distortion. So any smart equalizer lowers the overall signal (volume) by the amount of dbs you increased the signal for certain frequency bands. (Note that we talk about equalization in the digital domain, where the bits are changed by the equalizer. This is what you have in your phone. There are analogue equalizers that work differently). There might be some equalizers that just hide the lowering of the overall signal in their display, but if they really don't apply the overall attenuation you will get distorted sound in louder passages of the music.
I don't know how it works in the zenfone: their equalizer could allow clipping and maybe you just don't hear it as such or it implements a limiter that dynamically reduces signal amplitude in loud passages. That would protect from clipping but give a "pumping" volume effect. One trick could be that the Zenfone EQ compensates the attenuation in the digital domain by adjusting the subsequent analog amplification - which is nothing else than automatically pressing the volume buttons for you, which indeed would be a nice feature.

 

[larry piencenaves]

I don't know, I don't have the m9 but I been burned by fiio twice, I wouldn't rec any fiio products, no customer service, no updates, and they are overpriced, ibasso is a bit overpriced too but like a said, ibasso takes care of there devices, regular updates come often and I am sure the will fix any bugs, fiio puts most of there efforts into marketing, with hardly any updates, if you get a problem with a fiio, yours stuck with it

So it's up to you, do you want a product that will be updated quickly and often, or do you want a company that might give you a couple updates then drop support the next year
I haven't heard the m9 but the dx120 is really good
And I haven't been disappointed by ibasso yet

Yeah you're right, been reading comments of fellow headfiers in fiio and ibasso threads as of now, and looks like ibasso is a better choice. btw any more recs other than dx120? been eyeing on more budget daps like the zishan dsd, acmee mf01, and hidizs ap80.

 

[larry piencenaves]

Imagine that you increase the 20Hz signal by 6db and play some music with lots of bass. So much bass that the signal amplitude reaches the maximum value that the DAC can handle. The music signal is encoded as a stream of 16 or 24 bit values which means there are maximum positive and negative values that can be represented by 16 or 24 bits. So when the unaltered music signal is reaching the maximum value and you add 6db by equalization, then this signal amplitude cannot be expressed as 16/24 bit number anymore and the DAC's output is stuck to the maximum value, this is called clipping. Clipping results in audible distortion. So any smart equalizer lowers the overall signal (volume) by the amount of dbs you increased the signal for certain frequency bands. (Note that we talk about equalization in the digital domain, where the bits are changed by the equalizer. This is what you have in your phone. There are analogue equalizers that work differently). There might be some equalizers that just hide the lowering of the overall signal in their display, but if they really don't apply the overall attenuation you will get distorted sound in louder passages of the music.
I don't know how it works in the zenfone: their equalizer could allow clipping and maybe you just don't hear it as such or it implements a limiter that dynamically reduces signal amplitude in loud passages. That would protect from clipping but give a "pumping" volume effect. One trick could be that the Zenfone EQ compensates the attenuation in the digital domain by adjusting the subsequent analog amplification - which is nothing else than automatically pressing the volume buttons for you, which indeed would be a nice feature.

thanks for that enlightenment, I just wish lg g7 had the same kind of eq that is used in my good old zenfone. and btw, yes it has an audible distortion when turning up a certain frequency, but only into extreme, this helps my shockwave iii (1dd which handles the bass +4ba mids and highs) to give me that thumping bass without hurting the other frequencies, other than the low end, all other frequencies remains the same.

 

[CactusPete23]

thanks for that enlightenment, I just wish lg g7 had the same kind of eq that is used in my good old zenfone. and btw, yes it has an audible distortion when turning up a certain frequency, but only into extreme, this helps my shockwave iii (1dd which handles the bass +4ba mids and highs) to give me that thumping bass without hurting the other frequencies, other than the low end, all other frequencies remains the same.

You could download a better player app for the LG G7? Maybe one that had better equalizer. With an Android phone, you are not stuck with stock audio player.

Maybe UAPP, or even HIBY. Both bypass android resampling issues, as do many other audio player apps.

 

[larry piencenaves]

You could download a better player app for the LG G7? Maybe one that had better equalizer. With an Android phone, you are not stuck with stock audio player.

Maybe UAPP, or even HIBY. Both bypass android resampling issues, as do many other audio player apps.

didnt try uapp yet, tried the hiby app and lg stock music player same results, tried turning off hifi quad dac, same too. I think its just the way lg works with their eq.

 

[CactusPete23]

didnt try uapp yet, tried the hiby app and lg stock music player same results, tried turning off hifi quad dac, same too. I think its just the way lg works with their eq.

I don't EQ much. But think that most players drop volume a bit with EQ on and when any frequency is adjusted up or down... The reduced volume will sound like poorer quality... Think that is mostly how we perceive lower volume sound. Turn up the main volume a bit and all should be fine. Believe that EQ almost always adds a bit of THD (Distortion), but should not be audible. If boosting bass by more than 3dB or so, recommend dropping all frequencies by the max boost, then raise the bass back to 0 dB to get cleanest sound. Bass uses most power, and doing this helps prevent clipping.

Probably want the QuadDac (HiFI) ON, as that also enables the better Amp in the LG G and V series phones. Hope you can find settings (or a newDAP) that works for you. If you are using fairly efficient headphones or IEMs, then the Hidizs AP80 is pretty good sound for a low cost and small size. The AP80 has MSEB that allows an amazing control of the sound signature.

 

[Themilkman46290]

Yeah you're right, been reading comments of fellow headfiers in fiio and ibasso threads as of now, and looks like ibasso is a better choice. btw any more recs other than dx120? been eyeing on more budget daps like the zishan dsd, acmee mf01, and hidizs ap80.

Well I have two dsd's, a ak4490 with a Burson v5i and ak4497 with 2xad8620's in the 2.5 out and opa1622 on the 3.5 out. They are a lot of fun if you like to modify stuff and there cheap but they are not very polished or luxurious, the equalizer isn't the best if your a bass head, no WiFi, Bluetooth, or any of that stuff, but they sound really good for there price

 

[Themilkman46290]

Guess it depends on your headphones too, zishans don't play as well with b.a. Drivers, but they push a lot of full size and high impedance dynamic drivers

 

[davidcotton]

Yeah you're right, been reading comments of fellow headfiers in fiio and ibasso threads as of now, and looks like ibasso is a better choice. btw any more recs other than dx120? been eyeing on more budget daps like the zishan dsd, acmee mf01, and hidizs ap80.

How about Shanling?

 

[larry piencenaves]

How about Shanling?

Do you know what shanling product that could rival ibasso dx120 soundwise?

 

[larry piencenaves]

Guess it depends on your headphones too, zishans don't play as well with b.a. Drivers, but they push a lot of full size and high impedance dynamic drivers

will be using mainly dynamic drivers, but I do have a hybrid iem, so I guess the dsd is out of the way. yeah the output impedance is quite troublesome.

 

[larry piencenaves]

I don't EQ much. But think that most players drop volume a bit with EQ on and when any frequency is adjusted up or down... The reduced volume will sound like poorer quality... Think that is mostly how we perceive lower volume sound. Turn up the main volume a bit and all should be fine. Believe that EQ almost always adds a bit of THD (Distortion), but should not be audible. If boosting bass by more than 3dB or so, recommend dropping all frequencies by the max boost, then raise the bass back to 0 dB to get cleanest sound. Bass uses most power, and doing this helps prevent clipping.

Probably want the QuadDac (HiFI) ON, as that also enables the better Amp in the LG G and V series phones. Hope you can find settings (or a newDAP) that works for you. If you are using fairly efficient headphones or IEMs, then the Hidizs AP80 is pretty good sound for a low cost and small size. The AP80 has MSEB that allows an amazing control of the sound signature.

my trusty zenfone doesnt lower the volume of the other frequencies, it just turns up the volume of the frequency I want to elevate which I think a better implementation of an equalizer even though it produces distortion but only when Im turning it at the max, 50% and below is distortion free in my ears.