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Using Your Smartphone As A Dedicated Music Player Guide
Many people now own a smartphone, and most actually run Android. We all now (including myself) use our phones for music playback. It’s just easy to buy a song from Google Play then download it within the app or stream it. Their are people (including myself again) that prefer sound from a high end sound card or dedicated high end MP3 player to enjoy their tunes. However in recent times on-board sound has become surprisingly decent on computers, and just as good in our phones. In fact sometimes our phones can outperform that of the onboard sound in our computers. That though really depends on how much your motherboard costs and phone, as higher the price generally better sound card onboard of it, back on to phones though. Our phones have also had a recent upgrade with their sound solutions. Before most “smartphones” some phones had MP3 player functionality but they usually sounded just terrible with rolled of bass, and lack of detail in the highs department.
Thanks to the new smartphone race manufacturers are pushing themselves to create the best phone available on the market. However many forget about one thing - sound quality. Headphone sound quality on most Android’s is fairly decent however the built-in speakers are mostly described as atrocious. Still some phones excel at sound quality better than others, however this is almost very limited if you use stock earphones or cheap headphones to listen to music with. Hooking your phone up to powered speakers is also dependant on this, however it will not pull as much power from the DAC - so if the DAC is weak it will still sound plenty loud enough hooked up to powered speakers. Again, quality of speakers depend on the speakers and the phone.
Just because the phone has a good DAC will not mean great sound quality either. There are a few other factors within the phone itself. The DAC shielding is a big one this essentially blocks out unwanted CPU and radio noises because cell reception is radio waves that make sound, and some phones CPU’s may actually run at a similar frequency as the DAC and interfere which causes annoying static like noises. Where the DAC is placed, and how it was installed is also another one. This one is similar to the interference from other hardware but where the DAC is placed will determine the amount of interference and easy access to a headphone jack. How other components handle audio processing is another. For example the CPU may be to slow (almost never however) to render higher quality audio files this is now mostly eliminated with almost every phone now. The DAC might also sound a tad better if it also had a amplifier accompanying it - especially true on high end or difficult to drive headphones. You will find phones like the HTC One M series will have smoother bass and better definition on headphones because of it. If you own a phone without an amp, you can pick a portable one up to drive most headphones at a price as low as $30 like the Fiio E6 for example. Your DAC might be decent, but have you considered what the output is made from? Some lower end phones may be made from cheap materials which will create interference and strange noises in your mix.
Now that we have chopped down the hardware side of things, lets change the subject a little bit to the software implementations and restrictions. Just because every side of the hardware is great, don’t expect stellar audio quality if the OS or software your using is not “bonding” with the hardware or not well optimized you could experience poor quality or stuttering. Most Androids overcome this now, it is not so troublesome anymore. Okay so if the OS is optimized then what equalizers or sound mods are actually implemented? Audiophilles complain that eq’s do not do their ears justice nor the audio mods but some of us like to punch up our music (especially MP3 files). With factory mods and equalizers like BeatsAudio, Sony Clearaudio, Wavesmaxx and SoundAlive we can sparkle up music to make it sound how we like it. However if you are one of those that are a purist best you turn these features of or not use them - you could always just look for another phone without these mods at all.
We have now talked about the DAC, software and hardware side of things, now lets have a look at how the music is actually made.
So a digital music file is a bunch of 1’s and 0’s, however how are those 1’s and 0’s captured? We must first use a microphone the hook that up to an ADC (analog to digital converter) to capture sound. That sound is then captured by the ADC, processed by a computer and finally outputted as a digital file (the 1’s and 0’s).The quality of this file depends on similar things to how your phone computes the music, however the quality of the microphone also has a drastic effect. Obviously, the better the quality microphone the better the quality of the recorded sound. Some microphones excel at recording different frequencies or sounds. For example the mic in your phone is specifically tuned best for voice recording to assure smooth voice calls. However a microphone that is advertised as recording percussion might be tuned to accurately record that specific instrument range - and other instruments might sound inaccurate or less lively.
The DAC to the ADC now choosing the best headphones or earphones for you. If you are still using the stock earphones that came with your phone - stop! The will sound extremely mediacore and maybe alright at best. Consider three things price, quality and comfort and if you prefer headphones or earphones. Headphones are the big mostly bulky things that usually sit on your head. These things are usually much better than earphones and can sound much better for just over half the price of earphones. Headphones are more accurate, and can create really low subwoofer like bass unlike earphones which are usually pretty good but are unable to accurately display low bass properly and without some decent volume bass like headphones. Some earphones also fall short for quality defined highs as some lower end earphones may have these higher frequencies boosted, but sound nothing like a good much more high end pair. Also take note headphones are much too bulky to wear all the time which could hurt your head or ears and they look just so goofy!
Comfort and quality fall under the price and brand you are willing to pay for. Some lower end earphones and headphones may sound better, but have less comfort or vice versa. High end listening devices will combat both, but cost you more. DO NOT buy these things just because of the brands - do homework just because you like bass do not always just look at Beats By Dre their are by far much better bass driven headphones out their. But if you are willing to pay for these sorts of brands just to look cool, go ahead - i’m not stopping you, just informing you.
The next chapter is the type of file you are playing (format), and where you are playing it from. Google Play Music streams music as MP3 files @ 320Kbps which can be changed to a lower value if your going over your monthly data usage by streaming. Spotify also streams in 320Kbps with MP3 files, and you can also set a lower quality rating. As per say, lower quality streaming use much less data maybe half as much but some songs may lose their “sparkle” or interesting parts. This also applies to offline use, you have more flexibility here as you can buy either MP3 files, FLAC’s and other types of music files. Note that Flacs hold the best sound quality and are not trimmed of their sparkle or detail as supposed to a MP3 file. Many will not tell the difference between a 320Kbps MP3 as supposed to a FLAC file either because they just can not naturally tell or their headphones or DAC are just not up to the job. MP3 files still sound good but do not buy anything under 256kbps quality in MP3 as you are getting ripped of for true quality. Flacs usually cost more, and are less commonly available but do sound better. Do note, a single Flac file can use 100MB of space, so be careful of your remaining storage space.
Into the last can of worms finally, *phew*! And that is things you can do the simply improve quality of your music being played. You could try shopping for an amp or even amp+dac combo. Portable amps and dac’s are quite cheap now and Fiio sell quite a comprehensive amount of decent products like so. I first started with the Fiio E6 amp and on my sort of low impedance headphones (64ohms) I heard differences in how tight bass was. It was no longer afraid to show itself, and the Fiio’s bass boost option gave it a bit more mid bass (6DB+) for a warmer listener experience. That was just a $30 amp I picked up for cheap. Later on unfortunately it died so I was forced to buy a new amp. This time I looked into one, but it also included a built in DAC - it was a combo 2 in 1! When i plugged this into my phone it never worked at first, I had to download USB Audio Player from Google Play as my Galaxy Nexus could not natively play from a usb DAC. When I listened to music from it for my first time, I was astonished at how well it fared against my friends PCI sound card. Comparing it to my phones built in DAC the USB DAC was an improvement, but my phone still sounded pretty good for it’s age.
Some more things i’d like to add is that specs are not as always as they seem. When you hear big fancy things like 8Hz-32Khz frequency response for example it’s good but to be honest you can not typically hear anything under 20Hz, and over 20Khz. Also watch out for SNR and THD. A SNR of 100 and up will sound acceptable, try to get something beyond that for better quality audio. These specs will not determine how much bass will be shown, nor how the headphones/DAC will sound but will give you an educated guess at it.
Another thing I would like to mention is Audio Mods. There are various Audio Mods amongst the XDA community. These mods improve sound quality by means of post processing and updated sound files. The post processing is fast, and not very CPU intensive at all. These mods will dramatically increase sound quality where possible - whether it be perceived detail and bass it will have your audio senses tingling at mercy’s end. You can try my mod out and see for yourself here. Just flash it with your recovery, and you are all good to go.
Thanks for reading!
I'll update this thread in the future if something changes or I decide to post more info. :good:
Has anyone used any Bluetooth 5 or aptX HD bluetooth head phones with this device yet? I am needing some in ear bluetooth headphones but not really seeing anything on either of these two now that they are available/enabled on our devices. I know there are not really many options yet but curious if there are any early adopters that can give some insight
Anyone have any reviews? Looking for good audio quality but really not wanting to spend money if there really isnt much improvement.
8.1 (I think) brought aptX HD compatibility. I have a bluetooth headset that connects with aptX HD and it works fine.
rambleon84 said:
Has anyone used any Bluetooth 5 or aptX HD bluetooth head phones with this device yet? I am needing some in ear bluetooth headphones but not really seeing anything on either of these two now that they are available/enabled on our devices. I know there are not really many options yet but curious if there are any early adopters that can give some insight
Anyone have any reviews? Looking for good audio quality but really not wanting to spend money if there really isnt much improvement.
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8.1 has aptX for sure. Don't have aptX HD headphones, but pretty sure it works too! I got Major II headphones (aptX) and the sound is great if you ask me.
/\ Interesting, thanks for the screen grabs. I didnt realize LDAC was available on non-sony devices. I may have to include them in my headphone search.
My Sony WH-1000XM2 work mighty fine with LDAC on the PH-1.
sudman said:
My Sony WH-1000XM2 work mighty fine with LDAC on the PH-1.
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glad to hear that, ill be checking out some of their in ear versions. I want something i can be a bit more active in vs full on/over ear but happy to have another higher quality option to look into
Apt X HD isn't a brand new codec like some people here seem to think but it's more widely supported on Android Oreo. I have used Bluetooth headphones on this phone with Apt X, Apt X HD and SBC. The Bluetooth version the headphones use is more important than the codec. Bluetooth headphones with Apt X and BT 4.1 are far preferable to ones with Apt X HD and BT 4.0. Don't buy any BT 4.0 headphones even if they seem like a fantastic deal or they get great reviews. BT 4.1 transmits data far more quickly than 4.0 and is much better suited for listening to music. BT 4.0 is also susceptible to interference from the phone's data signal and other sources. That's much less of an issue with 4.1.
https://www.sony.com/electronics/in-ear-headphones/wi-h700/specifications#features
Well so far these sound the most interesting, bluetooth 4.1 but they support all of these formats: SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC
Would let me play around and listen for which sound best to my ears
I just got the EarStudio ES100 which has dual DACs and supports AptX HD so you can use any of your favorite wired phones with it. If you want don't need the dual DACs, there's plenty of AptX HD receivers on Amazon as well.
LG Tone Platinum HBS-1100 support APTX-HD. They have been working great for me. 10 hour battery life and great sound quality.
Can anyone offer impressions of the audio quality, of the 3.5mm jack output?
The SD 845 should provide a decent DAC, but the question is: How good is the audio amplifier feeding the 3.5mm jack output? (Power, distortion, S/N, etc.)
Wondering if this might be one place OP economized to reduce cost. Don't see any discussion about it anywhere...
TIA...
Any info or comments on OP6 3.5mm jack audio quality would be appreciated.
TIA....
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I only have cheaper in-ears and they sound as bad as everywhere else If you really need a good output maybe consider the G7
My apple ear buds sounded just fine with the OP6 but the sound volume is a bit low when i use the aux out with my car stereo. My iPhone 6 had a better audio output on my car stereo compared to OP6. I will do more tests and try to come to a proper conclusion.
I normally use a Dragonfly red DAC but for science I used the 3.5mm jack. Unfortunately it sounded very average at best, kind of flat and narrow sound stage. Tested it with a pair of Shure 535.
roniistar said:
My apple ear buds sounded just fine with the OP6 but the sound volume is a bit low when i use the aux out with my car stereo. My iPhone 6 had a better audio output on my car stereo compared to OP6. I will do more tests and try to come to a proper conclusion.
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That's useful info, thanks.
Seems like iPhones have audio output that is good or better, so that is a good comparison.
Weak output is exactly what I am concerned about with the OP6. I believe the DAC function is handled by the SD845 which should be pretty good, but the power amp section between that and the 3.5mm jack is where OP may have reduced cost with lower spec hardware.
Weaker output will increase distortion, at normal listening levels the amp has to operate closer to max output which increases distortion.
I had a phone once with cheap audio HW feeding the 3.5mm jack, and I will not do that again. I had high hopes for the OP6, oh well.
What's striking about the OP6 is that there is virtually no mention anywhere about the 3.5mm audio output quality. A few bits here and there about the speakers, but all phone speakers sound tinny, more or less, audio quality is poor with all phone speakers, that's not where quality is ever good so who cares?
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I got to test the audio jack comparing to my OP3, using Sennheiser IE-8 IEMs. Now, you could probably get different results with other headphones, but these are very easy to drive, and the audio output was just so low compared to the OP3. I kind of also agree to the post above saying the soundstage being flat/narrow. Honestly I don't want another phone since OnePlus checks almost all of the smartphone boxes for me, but I gave up on the OP6 after doing that test.
I am using SONY wh-1000xm2 both with mini jack cable and over BT LDAC coded. In both conditions sound is rich and crips yet sligtly louder over BT.
MeggaMortY said:
I got to test the audio jack comparing to my OP3, using Sennheiser IE-8 IEMs. Now, you could probably get different results with other headphones, but these are very easy to drive, and the audio output was just so low compared to the OP3. I kind of also agree to the post above saying the soundstage being flat/narrow. Honestly I don't want another phone since OnePlus checks almost all of the smartphone boxes for me, but I gave up on the OP6 after doing that test.
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Thanks, another review indicating sub-par audio output power on the OP6 headphone jack.
I'm out, my V30S is on the way. (B&H has a really good deal right now, and bootloader unlock & root are available.)
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Tinkerer_ said:
That's useful info, thanks.
Seems like iPhones have audio output that is good or better, so that is a good comparison.
Weak output is exactly what I am concerned about with the OP6. I believe the DAC function is handled by the SD845 which should be pretty good, but the power amp section between that and the 3.5mm jack is where OP may have reduced cost with lower spec hardware.
Weaker output will increase distortion, at normal listening levels the amp has to operate closer to max output which increases distortion.
I had a phone once with cheap audio HW feeding the 3.5mm jack, and I will not do that again. I had high hopes for the OP6, oh well.
What's striking about the OP6 is that there is virtually no mention anywhere about the 3.5mm audio output quality. A few bits here and there about the speakers, but all phone speakers sound tinny, more or less, audio quality is poor with all phone speakers, that's not where quality is ever good so who cares?
....
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According to iFixit, OnePlus 6 has WCD9341 chip on board which is pretty decent DAC
LINK
masi0 said:
According to iFixit, OnePlus 6 has WCD9341 chip on board which is pretty decent DAC
LINK
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I saw that, but the info on that "codec" (DAC etc.) by Qualcomm is not clear with respect to power amplification. WCD9341 appears to be integrated to the Snapdragon 845, and it would seem that analog audio power amplification of the output of the DAC itself would best be done outside of the SD845 because of heat dissipation and possibly EMI. Which means that a separate power amp section is used if this is so, and that is the place that OP might skimp.
Multiple anecdotes in this thread about weak audio on the OP6 3.5mm jack also support this likelihood.
I don't have a stake in this anymore, ordered a V30S. Headphone jack audio quality is more important than raw speed to me, and the V30S also has other advantages, for a B&H discounted price not much higher than OP6 right now.
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let's be honest - if you want good sound quality buy AudioQuest Black or Red and use it with good/decent headphones.
Despite I cant complain on headphone output/i use mailny Sony over LDAC I am planning to get one external DAC anyway
masi0 said:
let's be honest - if you want good sound quality buy AudioQuest Black or Red and use it with good/decent headphones.
Despite I cant complain on headphone output/i use mailny Sony over LDAC I am planning to get one external DAC anyway
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The problem with separate DAC like the Dragonfly is that... it is a separate DAC, with an extra $200 cost (Red). Using it with a phone on the go would require some kind of rigging e.g. Velcro. And that is the smallest/lightest example I think.
The ESS DAC in the V30(S) is said to perform similarly to DACs like the Dragonfly. It has a few caveats, like auto-detect load > auto-adjust output. There are a couple ways to address that stupidity though.
Not plugging for B&H, but their limited-time discount V30S price delta vs. OP6 is less than the price of a Dragonfly Red, and that also brings USB 3.1, a micro SD slot, and IP68.
Bowing out from OP6 thread now. Good luck.
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I am getting familiar with this a/b config tree....I will optimize the sound system, to a point that not even mainland will recognize it...... also, will try to make it dual speaker, when output=speaker.
untl then,
TURBO.
TURBO2012 said:
I am getting familiar with this a/b config tree....I will optimize the sound system, to a point that not even mainland will recognize it...... also, will try to make it dual speaker, when output=speaker.
untl then,
TURBO.
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That sounds interesting. Looking forward. All the best.
IMO you can't even listen to any phone w/out V4A. My OP6 sounds awesome with this installed and the power output was surprising.
I only shared how it is compared to the OP3 - now, you can surely software mod it, bit if the HW is limited, there's little you can do there - but to each their own. I value headphone output/quality too much so I'll just grab the next LG V40 when it comes out and don't bother with any trickery/external DACs/Amps.
Speaker is louder than my HTC10 (not quite as good sound quality but ok), earphone quality using black player and Jays-a-Jays heavy bass earphones is fine, I'm pleasantly surprised
vibrantliker said:
IMO you can't even listen to any phone w/out V4A. My OP6 sounds awesome with this installed and the power output was surprising.
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Mind sharing the installer!? And process too?
P.S. - I hope you did it without twrp!
I've also noticed quite a difference between power output on the OP6 compared to the OP3, sadly.
I was always a huge proponent of LG's DACs. The ESS Sabre DAC gives manufacturers a lot of range when it comes to distinct sound signatures. I was always big on the Galaxy Notes up until my 7 was damn near ripped from my hands. lol. I remember the last time Samsung really focused on sound quality was (I believe) the Note 4 when they used a tuned Wolfson DAC.
With that said, USB-C audio is pretty new to me and I'm learning as I go. I bought two dongle DACs for my two cars. Sonata's HIDIZS for the Acura and the SpectraX (which uses a newer version of LG's ESS Sabre) for the Honda (aftermarket system). For around the house I use the packaged AKGs which seem to do a good enough job. On occasion I steal the HIDIZS dongle from the car and use my 1More Quad Drivers.
I recently subscribed to Amazon's new HD music service which I read can reach a ridiculous bit range (32bit @ UltraHD setting). So here comes my question considering the hardware I use;
Lets say you have a phone that is capable of X-output... does/can the dongle DAC supersede the capability of the phone? For instance, my HIDIZS dongle DAC is capable of 24bit/192KHz and respectively, the SpectraX is capable of 32bit/384KHz. If my source file (music) is compressed at that level, will the dongle DAC actually decode at that level, regarless of the phone's capability? Or is the phone a bottleneck?
With that said... do we have any information on the capabilities of the Note10?
Nihonno said:
I was always a huge proponent of LG's DACs. The ESS Sabre DAC gives manufacturers a lot of range when it comes to distinct sound signatures. I was always big on the Galaxy Notes up until my 7 was damn near ripped from my hands. lol. I remember the last time Samsung really focused on sound quality was (I believe) the Note 4 when they used a tuned Wolfson DAC.
With that said, USB-C audio is pretty new to me and I'm learning as I go. I bought two dongle DACs for my two cars. Sonata's HIDIZS for the Acura and the SpectraX (which uses a newer version of LG's ESS Sabre) for the Honda (aftermarket system). For around the house I use the packaged AKGs which seem to do a good enough job. On occasion I steal the HIDIZS dongle from the car and use my 1More Quad Drivers.
I recently subscribed to Amazon's new HD music service which I read can reach a ridiculous bit range (32bit @ UltraHD setting). So here comes my question considering the hardware I use;
Lets say you have a phone that is capable of X-output... does/can the dongle DAC supersede the capability of the phone? For instance, my HIDIZS dongle DAC is capable of 24bit/192KHz and respectively, the SpectraX is capable of 32bit/384KHz. If my source file (music) is compressed at that level, will the dongle DAC actually decode at that level, regarless of the phone's capability? Or is the phone a bottleneck?
With that said... do we have any information on the capabilities of the Note10?
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If your dongle does work then its outputting at it whatever resolution it says on screen. there is no analog signal thru the usb c only digital. The conversion takes place at the dac, so whatever your dac's capabilities are, that is the max you can go. For what its worth, the audio is **** on the note 10's included akg's compared to the lg v40 or even the s9+ with the 3.5mm variant of the same akg's .the note 10's speakers are really good though. Do you use usb audio player pro? Its pretty good for hi res audio .though i don't think it supports prime music yet.
jass65 said:
If your dongle does work then its outputting at it whatever resolution it says on screen. there is no analog signal thru the usb c only digital. The conversion takes place at the dac, so whatever your dac's capabilities are, that is the max you can go. For what its worth, the audio is **** on the note 10's included akg's compared to the lg v40 or even the s9+ with the 3.5mm variant of the same akg's .the note 10's speakers are really good though. Do you use usb audio player pro? Its pretty good for hi res audio .though i don't think it supports prime music yet.
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Thanks for the clarification. I haven't used the USB audio player yet. I'm really enjoying Amazon Music HD. Some of the remastered u
UHD songs are good but some of the more recent UHD content like Chainsmokers' albums sound phenomenal. I'll check out the audio player to see how it works.
Ok, so I have an LG V20 with built in quad DAC and Dolby atmos installed. I used the wired head phones that came with the V20 (B&O) which are maybe a little better than mediocre. The quad DAC works only with wired head phones. (yes there is a way around that, but I didn't do it) My LG Bluetooth platinum head phones sound better than the B&O, but then the quad DAC doesn't kick in on the V20.
I'm using Poweraudio Free for a music player. There are no ads and I don't see much difference between free and pro. (If I keep it, I'll buy the pro)
I first got the sound level of each phone as close together as I could.
To get close to the sound of the V20, I first selected in moto audio "music" and "flat". I then chose the Rock setting from the Poweraudio list of presets, then bumped up the 60 hz and 230 hz setting in the equalizer. I then increased bassboost to 4.8 and virtualizer to 6.6.
I played a song from Black Sabbath's 13 album which is fairly new so the recording quality is good. It is also heavy on bass and guitar.
Results: Very, very close. The V20 sounded a little more open, probably because of the Atmos app, and the Stylus sounded a little cleaner. Overall, hardly any difference.
Much better headphones may yield different results, but I won't be buying any of those. Cheaper head phones you might not be able to tell any difference. The bottom line is that the stylus has very good sound.
Edit: I did a Bluetooth comparison. I had to bump the the 60 hz and 230 hz back down, reduce bassboost to 4.2 and virtualizer up to 7.0 to get a similar sound. The V20 was a little more "open", but the Stylus was very close. Whenever the gym opens back up and I'm there doing a workout, I'll never know the difference. $800 phone 3 years ago versus a $300 phone now.
A DAC aware music player, and a USB-C DAC dongle of course, with wired headphones are the best combination I've found. As to music players that are DAC aware and will directly drive your dongle, bypassing the limitations of the Android Audio stack, HibyMusic is free and sounds good. I strongly dislike the interface. Neutron is a bit pricey but has a decent interface and is what I currently use. Onkyo has a paid version that is DAC aware but I've not tried that one. FiiO is free and should work as well, but again, I've not tried it.
A DAC will do a lot for your music and is worth the extra bulk and hassle.
huge manatee said:
A DAC aware music player, and a USB-C DAC dongle of course, with wired headphones are the best combination I've found. As to music players that are DAC aware and will directly drive your dongle, bypassing the limitations of the Android Audio stack, HibyMusic is free and sounds good. I strongly dislike the interface. Neutron is a bit pricey but has a decent interface and is what I currently use. Onkyo has a paid version that is DAC aware but I've not tried that one. FiiO is free and should work as well, but again, I've not tried it.
A DAC will do a lot for your music and is worth the extra bulk and hassle.
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A good news: Dolby now can be disabled with USB C digital headphones. It gives 100% unaltered audio