Audiophile Smartphone - A Find and Keeper

[David McGown]

To all whom might be interested in a nice sounding Android phone...

A week ago I picked up an LG G6 Plus to replace my ailing LG G2 (plunging battery life). I was pleasantly surprised to find that it came with ESS Sabre 32-bit 9018S Quad DAC. The Amazon Prime Exclusive version knocks $350 off the list price of $800 ($450), coming with 128GB of memory in the phone and a MicroSD slot to add more (which I filled with a 128 GB). So I have around 170 GB of lossless FLAC files including Hi-Res, and the sound through a pair of headphones is very impressive, easily better than the Fiio DAP I had been using. It has detail and air, is involving and non-fatiguing. I have yet to hook it up to my system, been too busy, but hope to do so this weekend.

As a smartphone it works great as well, a real step up in every way (nice to be running a more recent version of Android). Battery life seems excellent. I got an unlocked version, which I have on ATT, but the same phone will work on Verizon.

David

[Pelliott321]

Chris Barker, member of DC HiFi Group showed us this phone at one of the meetings.
This has to be the most featcher laden phone on the market.

[HAL]

David,

Thanks for the write-up.

This will replace my Nokia 928 Windows phone after 5 years of great service. Been looking for awhile for something interesting.

[DaveR]

Chris showed us the LG V20, which I subsequently purchased from him. He was on T-mobile, the phone was AT&T, so there was limited capabilities. It's a great phone and has the same DAC.

[TubeDriver]

Sort of funny that your cellphone has the same DAC as the $15,400 MBL Noble Line N31 DAC that graces the cover of this months Stereophile.

[David McGown]

I think I mistyped the DAC number on the LG G6+, it is a ES9218P (not an ES9018P). The chip includes a headphone amplifier, but is supposed to incorporation alot of the features and performance of the high-fi DACS.

David

[David McGown]

Just hooked up the phone to my office system (rather than headphones which I had been listening to). Decided to use the onboard volume control on the DAC (digital) rather than the input pot on my 2A3 SET desktop amp (which are driving a pair of Energy CB-5 speakers). The clarity is outstanding, very detailed but non-fatiguing, just as on the headphones.

Hard to get work done, getting into the music!



David

[David McGown]

After success at the office desktop system, I just plugged the phone in driving my system at home. Minimalist, just the phone driving the amps directly (again using the digital level control on the phone). Playing a recording of Martha Argerich playing Chopin Piano Concerto No.1. Nothing like a piano and full orchestra to really test things out. The sound is open, well bodied and detailed. At high orchestral peaks it seems to compress a bit and get a bit brash, but the solo piano sections are delicate, massed strings sweet, and winds sound seems spot on. This really is incredible, and I cannot believe a stupid little smartphone can be a satisfying sounding source component in a high resolution system.

David

[David McGown]

I know this has been an extended monologue, but after listening to the phone for a couple of hours in my system with some HiRes material, I am very impressed with the sound quality in every way. Lovely sound, musical and involving.

I was reading online reviews that the LG V20 (which has the same DAC as my phone) bested the Astell&Kern AK240 DAP in the opinion of some who have both.

David

[Cogito]

Which headphones/earphones are you using.

I used Etymotic ER4 for 15 years. They were very detailed with no coloration. Loved them, better than Sennheiser HD600s. Too bad left them in Houston Hotel last year. Never got them back.