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[jmone]

My next phone is an LG V10 (on it's way), and it has an ESS SABRE 9018 DAC and a 9602 Headphone Amplifier built in.  I'll be interested to see how it goes with the various MC remotes as from what I've read over at Head-Fi not all apps will access the ESS DAC/AMP but default to the SoC DAC.

PDF Press Release Here

[jmone]

Got the phone and the good news is the both EOS and JRemote are using the ESS DAC for playback.  Sounds good and drives my Grado SR60 just fine.

[jmone]

Synced some high res FLAC files from MC to the V10 and the stock Android App on the phone played them just fine with the ESS DAC / AMP.

It seems that according to this thread at XDA about half of the traditional players use the ESS DAC vs the SOC DAC.  Gave MC with the Remotes a bump but looking forward to MC for Android!

[thecrow]

Thanks for posting this.
I've been dreaming of a smart phone with HiFi sound but was not aware that one existed.
I was contemplating purchasing a Chord Mojo to add to my phone but this seems like a much better idea.
It would appear from the lack of publicity about audio on phones we are very much in the minority in wanting good sound from our phones.

[HiFiTubes]

Interesting! I just picked up an iBasso DX80 (vs the Sony DAP) which has (2) SD card slots as I was tiring of my iPhone on flights, also the lack of storage.

I'll have to take a look at this phone some time.

[HiFiTubes]

Wonder if the G5 will spec similarly. What apps have you tried for playback on the V10?

http://phandroid.com/2015/12/30/lg-g5-leak/

[jmone]

I just use the Remotes (EOS JRemote etc) and the Stock Player - they all work fine with the ESS DAC and AMP.  Other players were hit and miss on which DAC they would use, but there is now an app out that forces the ESS DAC and Amp to work with any player.

Also the ESS DAC and Amp has a high impedance mode that increases the Vol for certain Headphones and when you have a Line Out style device connected.  You can "trick" the V10 into this mode all the time if you first plug in a 3.5mm "extension cable or plug" then plug your headphones in.  I have no issues driving my Grado Labs SR60 in either mode.  I also use it with my Bose Noise Cancelling headphones.  

Battery life when using the headphones is outstanding.  What "eats" the battery is anything that keeps the screen on.

I'd be surprised if the G5 has the ESS DAC and Amp but who knows.....

[thecrow]

Eventually managed to get my hands on one of these phone.
For some reason LG are not selling it here in the UK but I found a UK company importing the European model (which supports all the UK 4G frequencies) from Poland. Although we get shafted with only 32GB of storage.
Have to say I am very impressed with the sound quality of the phone.
There is an interesting discussion on apps that use the HiFi DAC here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v10/general/music-apps-using-dac-t3252596
It appears only some apps actually pass HiRes audio to the DAC.
My guess is these apps are acting as frontends to the default music player as they are also the only apps whose controls appear on the second screen when the main screen is off.
Thankfully JRemote is one of the apps that appears on this screen and I know uses the stock Android audio path so I assume passes HiRes audio to the DAC. I will have to experiment to prove my hypothesis.

[jmone]

Have you seen this thread? http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v10/themes-apps/dac-fix-hi-fi-dac-everywhere-t3274457

A user has written a little app that forces the DAC for all players.

[thecrow]

I was aware of the app but I had not seen that thread before.
Interesting to find out how it works.
Only had the phone a week now but I am very impressed.
Can clearly hear the difference between FLAC and MP3.
I use it mostly on my tube journey to and from work, and find myself wishing I live further away from work so that I could listen to a couple more tracks before getting off the train.
Also making me think about investing in a better set of IEMs, currently using Sure SE112s.

[jmone]

The other "trick" with the ECC DAC/Amp is if you find it is not "loud" enough, if you plug in a little extension cable or headphone splitter first (then the earphone) it will put it into high impedance mode (used for driving some heaphones or when using it as a line out).

It is a great phone.  I also had to import it to Oz (LG did not release it here either), but got the H962 model.  A couple of the models are now rootable and you can enable other bands.