Lets talk audio formats for smartphones.

Hi all!
I recently upgraded my phone to a LG V40 ThinQ. I know it has the quad dacs and so forth. I've been noticing some distortion on certain 320k mp3s. I also have some 16/44s and some 24/48s flac files loaded to my internal memory as well. I dont hear much audible distortion when playing the flac files. I also use Tidal Hi-Fi as my streaming service and hear distortion on most songs there in CD quality mode. Should I re rip all songs from my CDs to 16/44 flac files for better quality? I know mp3 is a lossy format but I am unsure if it will fix my distortion problem or if its inherent to the dac in the phone?

 

Disable Dolby audio and any other audio options your phone may have.

 

Ok, will do and report back. It has DTS-X I do believe.

 

I use an older LG V20 as a backup phone and portable audio player and haven't had any issues with distortion using any files. Which playback software are you using on the device?

 

The standard LG music app included on the phone.

 

Android phone?
Use Foobar2000 for Android - just like the PC version it's hair shirt, with minimal processing overhead, and there is absolutely no DSP enabled when you install it.

Manufacturers tend to have default setups that enable whatever gimmicky features the phone is loaded with.

 

I use FLAC and a very satisfied user of Dolby Audio too. Very beneficial. Partnered with Samsung Wireless IEHs.

 

That should be fine. The native LG app works quite well on their phones, and I went back to it after experimenting with others.

Just noticed that you mentioned that you're experiencing distortion with Tidal CD quality, too, so I doubt re-ripping will help.

Do you notice distortion on phone calls, too? What headphones are you using?

 

I have LG V40 and use Tidal. I have not had distortion issue. I did notice - as did others - that settings which are tough to override place limitations on headphone output even for efficient buds. I did two things. I use USB Audio Pro when using a Dragonfly through USB output. Second is weird - I use an old pair of Monster 1.0 wired Beats - which have internal preamp of sorts. I know Beats are heresy but they sound good on my LG V40. Mint ones are cheap on 2nd hand market.

 

You might as well rerip some of the files to FLAC and do your own testings. Most people used mp3 back in the day to save storage space. This isn't so much a thing anymore. Sure it's nice to have to files locally on the phone, but as we've now got access to streaming services, this isn't as much an issue.

 

Ok, so I did some testing. A/B dts and no dts. The distortion still occurs on or off. The songs in question are dynamic and not compressed. I've ruled out the loundness part of the equation. I've listened to the same songs on my computer and it doesn't have that funky distortion sound. The headphones i use are JBL J55i. The distortion still ocxurs using aux as well. Im baffled.

 

I had an LG V30. Great phone. Great DACs. Poor headphone amp.

Use an playerplayer asas suggested, like. USB Audio Pro. Use a headphone amp.

 

Sorry for the weird typos. Posting from a smartphone seems to confuse the site.