A good sounding smartphone

I would highly recommend any of the Xperia Z3 or higher phones from Sony. They used dual TFA9890 DAC Amp chips with each DAC able to sample at 8-48kHz whilst two are able to sample up to 96kHz. The AMP portion is capable of delivering 7.2 W peak output power into an 8Ω speaker at a supply voltage of 3.6 V; the internal boost converter is able to raise the supply voltage to 9.5 V.
I own a Z3 and it can drive my AKG Q701 perfectly well and the sony music player app will play many file formats, I believe that includes DSD

 

If it was a belt-driven model I might take the leap...

 

No.

 

I'd rather go with a good audiophile quality portable amp/DAC that can connect to a smartphone. Something like an Oppo HA-2SE or Chord Mojo or something similar. A good portable amp/DAC will be good and useful for many years, while a phone will be good for only a couple years before you churn it and get something else. It doesn't make much sense to me to spend several hundred extra on a phone to get audiophile audio quality when you're likely to only keep the phone for a couple years before it's obsolete and needs to be upgraded to a new phone. Instead, spend that extra money on a good portable amp/DAC that you can use for more years and across several phones.

 

But then you have to lug the extra device around all the time. Further, in two years when you buy a new phone it will be up to date with the new DAC. Most SACs today are.all about the new chip is king so the external dac will also be out of date in 2 years. Lots to consider. And of course the smartphone is not just about sound. Screen quality, making sound adjustments, call quality etc come into play.

The V20 can take 2TB cards which for music may be an additional plus for example over phones with limited to no sum card slots like the Google Pixel. Plus there is speed and ram to consider.

 

I have a problem with my V10 sometimes volume reduces by itself, so do not hear incoming phone calls or email & blue tooth turns itself off, I have to check settings daily so can not recommend the LG V10,probably V20 is without these faults but too expensive,I will wait until price drops No problem with 5.7 size.

 

iPhone 7/Plus comes with an adapter in the box, can be used with any 3.5mm-jack headphones in the world

I have both a regular 7 and the Plus version. They both sound surprisingly good, either with adapter or feeding directly from the Lighting port.

 

no assumptions here.....i've heard all kinds of ear-buds (students ask me to listen their music all the time) and none of them, not a one, even comes close to my headphones (AKG) and even less my speakers. (klipsch) or even my car bose system.

its like those "beats" headphones form a couple of years ago ( i don;t see them anymore, although they may still exist) the kids all thought they sounded great, but all it was was pronounced bass, like the old night time FM radio stations.

and, not to beat a dead horse, isn't "high-end ear-buds" also an oxymoron?

 

I'll give you one thing...your posts are always a nice source of entertainment.

 

Was curious about this so I did a little research. One member at XDA has done some output tests and figured out the DAC was being limited by LG's firmware (NOT any music player app). That member supposedly communicated directly with LG to make them aware of the issue, they confirmed it, and will hopefully eventually release a firmware update. Until then, any hi-rez files played on the phone, no matter what music app is used, will be limited to output at 48khz.

 

Not to beat a dead horse either....no, not really.

LMGTFY

 

Yes, yes, really.
"high-end ear-bud" is an oxymoron. The only thing high-end about the Yuin is the price. At best they're just fairly good considering they're an ear bud design.

 

I've heard them and I consider them very good SQ. You just need a decent amp to drive them.

Would I still prefer a full set of cans? Of course. But you can't beat the portability + sound combo of those things.

 

i totally and unequivocally , but respectfully disagree.]

it is a 1/4 inch opening stuck in your ear.

i know you have been to a live concert and i know you have listened to good stereo systems, how can you even compare, i just don;t get it. sorry.

 

Sure seems to me that it would be simpler to find the phone with the best feature set and add a Dragonfly or other external DAC. But then I use my Sony BT X1000 cans with my iOS stuff and they are awesome.

 

Have you ever listened to them? I'm assuming @Ham Sandwich has, going on his wording. If so, then he and I just disagree on the topic.

Again, given the choice of a full set of cans versus those, I'd certainly pick the full set. But those Yuin's sound pretty darn good to me. And yes, compared to a set of Apple or low-end earbuds, it's a pretty night-and-day difference to my ears.

 

This is what I was thinking when I bought a Geek Out V2, which worked great on the phone I had at the time (Nexus 6), and then worked very fiddly and intermittently with my next phone (6p) to the point where it wasn't really usable. I don't know what it looks like with iOS, but the water still feels muddy on OTG and Android to me. My iFi mini micro nano tiny or whatever they call it works great with my Pixel, however. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

 

Still rolling with my HTC One M8, sounds pretty nice as well.

 

this would have been ideal, but it doesn't have a headphone jack.

 

As someone noted, the iPhone has an adaptor, so that shouldn't be a deal breaker.

In general, portable devices do not have the same very low impedance like transistor power amps. This is due to not being able to drive short circuits, so there is internal resistance built-in or added. So there is much more interaction between the amp in the phone and the headphones, compared to a speaker and a power amp or receiver. To some extent, therefore, you need to try different phones with your preferred headphones.

If done correctly, this could replicate the pressure coming in. There are some quite high end ear buds which could sound as good as a typical headphone, though the feel will of course be different. Of course, you miss the Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) and effect of the ear shape, but that is still true with conventional headphones. Now, some fancy ear buds just have ultra tiny drivers and don't cut it, and I don't think anyone has built buds to the standards of say Stax electrostats, but most people aren't spending that kind of money.

 

I can't believe no one has mentioned the Axon 7 from ZTE. It is the only current phone I'm aware of with actual stereo speakers, and they sound amazing. On top of that, there is a built -in amp allowing extra volume for those who like to vinyl rips but can never get their phone loud enough to enjoy.

 

What is the opinion on the sound quality on Iphone 6? is it as good as IPOD classic ?

 

The LG V20 will recognize the impedance of your headphones. If you plug in earbuds, it will go into low impedance mode. If you plug in some bigger headphones that are hard to drive, it kicks into high impedance mode.
Oh yeah, it also has a "Quad DAC for audiophiles".

 

Me too. 2 years with zero issues. The speakers on it are best in the market too. HTC makes great phones. They just don't spend the same money on advertising like Samsung.