LG V10 - The Audiophile Phone?

Looks like I'm going to be picking one up this weekend.

DAC: ESS 9018C2M
Op amp: ESS9602C

Does anyone have any experience with it or any commentary on the sound?

 

It sounds good! Atm the stock LG app has the best... implimentation with the dac, I use neutron but often I have to start the LG app THEN play my music in Neutron, when the Dac is working your music will be MUCH louder,

While sound wise it's good, the overall build quality is a little sub par imo. I had to replace mine this week because the 3.5mm jack came loose after 1 month of use :/

 

I've heard that about the 3.5mm jack, which is a real bummer.

Otherwise, the phone appears to be built like a tank.

 

Just placed the order. Should be here tomorrow.

EDIT: Got it for $372 if you count the $100 prepaid card LG rebate going on right now.

That's a steal if you ask me.

 

Really loving this phone so far. Other than size, I see no downside.

It's a shame it's not getting more attention, though then again it's fun to have a phone that you don't really see anyone else carrying.

 

There were reports at HF that the sabre dac only works with the stock music app? There are also workarounds it seems bug it's a hit and miss? Did you notice this?

 

The stock music app and a couple of others. Playerpro supposedly works WITHOUT DSD. And, apparently Tidal works as well.

The stock app is passable. No bells and whistles, but it gets the job done.

The other apps are just going to take time. Poweramp is my preference and it sounds like the developer could make it compatible, but has no plans to until the next major upgrade.

So, LG and other app makers are just going to have to work together to get something done. In the meantime, the stock player will get the job done.

 

Have you tried Neutron?

 

Nope, but others have reported it not accessing the DAC reliably.

There are a couple of tricks and workarounds, but nothing yet worth the effort in my opinion.

 

I've been wondering about this phone. I've been hankering for a PMP or a Fiio E18 for a while now, but my contract is about to renew so if I get this phone I could do without them.

It's nice to see smartphone makers appealing to audiophiles.

 

Just to update, there's now a reliable fix called Dac Fix available on the playstore. All apps now use the dac/amp without any further tricks or workarounds.

 

Spent some time with this phone at T-Mobile today using my PM-3s. Great combo - almost certainly going to pick one up. No significant comments on the DAC itself (couldn't use my own music, but I set up some familiar Google Music tracks via streaming - in store is not the place for DAC comparos), but the amp section is much better than standard limpdick shitty smartphone amps. The volume granularity is also improved. (With the DAC enabled, there's a slider that allows fine volume control in as small as 1/75 adjustment increments. The volume buttons move in 5/75 adjustments per press).

And the phone itself isn't that bad as a phone either. Nice build, odd but understandable button placement. Nice screen. Seems like a nice choice.

 

Yep, I'm a few months in now and have no regrets.

Music aside, I love the sturdy feel and construction. Light plastic phones are for wimps.

 

So what about the LG G5 modules?
There's already one "hi-fi" avaliable from B&O, should be interesting.
@zerodeefex have you already checked one of these?

 

Yeah, I'm really curious to see what if offers in SQ.

Disappointed with the phone otherwise, though. They seem to be conforming to the apple/samsung design aesthetics. I liked that LG always stood out from the crowd.

Hopefully the V-series will continue to to so.

 

After watching a few recent launches with interest, ie: the G5, Meizu Pro 6 and the HTC 10 launches, IMO there isn't much to beat the LG V10 , so I pulled the trigger on one yesterday.

I've been a loyal Windows phone user for decades now, but the functionality is just not cutting it anymore. Even on the new devices there's no USB Audio 2.0 support, so I'm making my first journey into Android territory. Although there's something fun about stringing together a phone and a DAC/Amp, after a while it does become a pain in the ass, so it'll be nice to just plug in and listen wherever I am and get (very) good sound quality without more cables, gadgets and batteries to worry about.

Of course I have the Mojo and GOV2 which I'm hoping will both work via OTG for a bump in SQ when needed. However, if the V10 SQ is good enough for mobile and office/desk use, it may warrant putting the GOV2 and Mojo on the block to fund some desktop Schiit and some nearfields. Time will tell.

Now to wait 8 working days...ugh.

 

Awesome. I'll be eager to hear what you think.

 

Hehe - I have fond memories of your avatar...my brother lives in Cinci so we get Skyline with the kids whenever I'm there.

 

Not bad! Some measurements here.

 

OK, I've had the phone for a week or so and had a few opportunities for some listening. I have some gear coming in a few weeks for A/B testing so I'll hold off until then for anything other than personal impressions.

First off, I've been using Shure SE215s and KEF M500 with the phone, as well as output to my living room system which is B&W 684 floorstanders driven by a small Marantz all-in-one. Material is MP3 using LAME at Extreme quality, so VBR around 256k. This is on a 128GB card housing all my music which is sweet . I currently have a GOV2 and Chord Mojo as relative comparison, as well as the Marantz system. I have both Onkyo HF Player and USB Audio Player Pro, but I have settled on UAPP as my go-to player as I prefer the interface. Upsampling is turned off.

My initial impression is this sounds very good. It's certainly better than the onboard chipset DAC - wider, more open headstage and more distinct presence of instruments with of course much better power. Detail is good, I'd say jostling with the GOV2, but perhaps a little less, though it's hard to tell without back to back testing. Overall it feels in a similar league as the GOV2 single-ended with my headphones - very detailed, not harsh sounding and decently musical.

The Mojo is a clear step above in musicality for me, as it is with the GOV2. There's a level of detail and a timbre that I prefer in the Mojo, but it's certainly not a situation where I'd be reaching for the Mojo all the time, it sounds very good on its own. Of course the Mojo works perfectly with it as well .

Vs the Marantz output, it is significantly better, though I do wish I could get the full power out instead of just aux level (for those who don't know the phone detects the connected device and responds with a low/med/hi output). SQ is definitely better though, more detailed and better soundstage on the B&Ws.

From a tech perspective the model I have is the H960A. I looked at the dual-sim versions and in the specs it seemed they might have a different microsd controller limiting them to 128GB where the single-sim versions specified up to 2tb. No idea if this is real or not, but regardless I played it safe as I don't need dual-sim anyway. Internal storage is 32GB, not 64GB, but I have plenty of headroom as all media is on the card.

I started on Lollipop and noticed that the DAC could be enabled system-wide, so that must have come in an update as this wasn't the case initially. Bluetooth audio was a bit spotty which was a bit disappointing to me as I use a Bluetooth speaker when walking our daughter in her stroller. After a day or two of just messing with things (as I'm new to Android) I upgraded to Marshmallow using LG Bridge and did a full reset after that to start from scratch. The system is stable, Bluetooth seems to have been fixed (for me) and battery life is stupendous - I played for 6 hours on Sat evening through the Marantz and it dropped like 6%. Of course the phone screen is off mostly and that's al it's doing, but still vs. my Lumia 930 it's chalk and cheese.

So for my use-case the V10 nails it, it does what I want it to do very, very well. I'm stoked and looking forward to some proper A/B ing in a few weeks.