Audiophile Phones (Or phones with decent audio output)

I wish we have Google Fi, but nope in jax. Right now I'm paying $54/month for unlimited everything for one phone.

So my XZ1 Compact came in today, and ready to go on T-Mobile. I can stream as much as I want on their network. Time to text the headphone output.....

 

And after a few days of owning the Xperia XZ1 Compact, I can say that I fallin in love with it as a smartphone. It does everything I want with speed in a small size. I miss small Compact phones like these in the Western Market, since OMG WE AMERICANS LOVE OUR PHONES AS BIG AS OUR PENISES. WIth T-Mobile giving me unlimited data until they slow the speeds down at 50 GB, I can steam as much crap as I want from Tidal and my home server thanks to Bubblebupnp Server. Downside is it only has 32 GB storage, but at least it supports MicroSD cards. Since Sony is popping out new models like crazy, they are going into XZ4 area, and there's rumors they are doing another Compact with a headphone jack back in it (unlike XZ2 Compact, which is why I didn't want it besides the eh designs on it). Also, battery life kicks ass on this thing, and the fingerprint sensor works great (but not on US firmware).

But I said at the beginning that I fallin in love with it as a smartphone, not as an audio device. However, the headphone out of the XZ1 Compact is very serviceable for a DAP. It won't win against real DAP devices (still have muddy lows and ok treble that isn't as detailed, but shit it's move enough for casual music listening you know). The best way to get the sound quality out of the unit is running USB Audio Player Pro in Hi-Rez mode (which the App detects on my phone). At least I can access my server and Tidal on this app. But if I want to use BubbleUpnp and run it to the USB Audio Player Pro program on the same phone, you can via putting on UpnP server on USB Audio Player Pro. Phone is very flexible, and I can even send music to my Fiio X5 3rd Gen in lossless and wireless (which is better than using a cable to connect both units).

I would love a Walkman in a similar size as the Compact, but allows streaming (but it opens up a new can of worms on the software side).

 

Asia is more into the big phones/phablets than America IMO.

 

Really? At least where I'm at in Jax, FL I rarely see a small phone. It's all about the phablets.

But I do get a lot of compliments about my phone at least.

 

No I'm not overcompensating, you are!

Haha, anyway it's a practicality thing I think, besides just being fashionable. Loads of people just spend crazy amounts of time on their phone surfing the web, playing mobile games, taking photos, or doing whatever, and some people just enjoy sharing content on their phones with otthers; bigger displays makes this more pleasant. Personally I've got smaller hands and have always had trouble with larger phones, but I ended up getting a bigger one anyway because the feature set (and improved battery life over the "regular" sized model) justified the added mass.

As an aside, family dug an old iPhone 4 out of storage and it's a LOT smaller than I remembered it being. Still love the design though. Smartphones really have changed these last few years, but the camera and SQ are pretty solid considering it's 8.5 years old. I'm tempted to see if I could turn it into a backup music and camera-only phone, provided batteries can be sourced.

P.S.
Who else remembers when big smartphones were just becoming a thing and some were on the fence about calling them phablets? I was rooting for "phoneblets" myself because the alternative just sounds bleh.

 

I've recently got my hands on an LG V40 ThinQ, basically free thanks to deals. I agree with the statement above, it's nothing revelatory but it is very good for a phone. Tidal through UAPP into ER4XR is great when the album is loud enough that I don't have to run them at full volume. Props to LG for putting 75 volume steps in this thing. MQA sounds solid. The Cayin N3>Mojo trounces it, but that shouldn't surprise anyone. I am eager to hear how the USB output into Mojo is, my OTG cable is on the way, but I'm not holding my breath that it's going to outdo the very clean SPDIF signal from the N3. All that aside, this phone is gorgeous and sexy and I love it so far.

 

Interesting to hear that the cayin with mojo is so incredible. When I owned the mojo with usb input to it with phones as a source it was pretty mediocre. In the end a $250 used lg30 with no mojo was way more convenient when on the go...... quite acceptable as far as sound in the outdoor environment. It could be different if used at home, then again lots of stuff based on that use case would be my preference..

 

I found Mojo about on par with my V10 way back when. Maybe Cayin has cleaner USB? Also V30 has better OI for Andros so there is that too.

 

Pretty sure the cayin has coaxial out. Wouldn't be surprised if that is what @ohshitgorillas is using to the mojo.

 

Yes, the Cayin outputs a coax signal from its USB port and that's what I'm using, and it is impressively clean and detailed. I agree that through my previous phone's USB output it was pretty good but nothing to write home about. The Cayin's digital out took the Mojo to a whole new level of clarity and ease.

 

ZX-1C is muddy in lows, but not veiled-bright (fake clarity), which is what most other phones are.
Highs are hazy/misty. Mids have unique solidity for a compact dev. I dig the tonality. Not offensive, without being a wimp.
Soundstage size is small and indistinct.

A coworker got the LG G7 with ESS ES9218P dac. I set the filter to linear phase.
Compared to the ZX-1C it's got better clarity across the range,
more clear cut imaging and as would be expected some minor Sabre glare/shugar; not that offensive (contrary to first gen Sabre dacs). Good air and soundstage space projection.
Low mids and high bass range is thin, guitars sound a bit lean/weak.

 

I’m probably gonna get the LG G8 ThinQ. I wasn’t set on getting the LG really but after looking around I can’t find any highly rated Chinese phones that have a headphone jack and I don’t want to pony up for the latest Samsung. Pixels are out for China. LG no longer officially makes phones for the Chinese market but the Korean version should work here. Should get it in a week or two. Anyone have thoughts to the contrary before I pull the trigger?

 

(I'm in China) I'm actually waiting for my Pixel XL to break and get a tricky smuggled LG V40. Smuggled LG phones are quite cheap here on Taobao and the sellers might be able to root the phone and wipe Google stuff away so the irresponsible Google won't burn through the phone's battery. But again, it's tricky.
I don't know about OPPO and VIVO, they used to push the sound quality on their phones but now... do they still have a headphone jack? So... LG or Samsung S10 series, not many other choices I guess. (BTW S10e looks and the smuggled ones are cheap here too.)

 

Yes, I noticed that the G8 is just under $500. Are they really “smuggled” though? Why? To escape customs fees? The newer Oppos and Vivos don’t seem to have the hp jacks. Actually I haven’t fully examined the Vivo lines. I’m currently replacing an older budget level Oppo.

 

For SQ a V30 would be close enough, same quad DAC. I haven't been tempted to upgrade.

 

LG ended its mobile business in China last year or even earlier, so yes, those phones we saw are from US or Korea. And I think there are 3 types of "smuggled" phones here:

1. Really smuggled ones, which you can get the original phone with its original accessories and box (SN matched), if the seller is honest. Yes, phones are cheap in many other countries, plus different contract could make bigger price gap.
2. Smuggled returned phones, so there are not brand new, might have a few dents, but still good, at least not reassembled. Their cost are even cheap, I personally would like to buy them.
3. Reassembled ones, built from parts of different phones, those are bad.

I don't know how to tell them apart, everything can be faked in China, especially from Shenzhen.

I checked a few phones from Vivo, their iQoo line seems to have headphone jack, so does Nex line and X27. The iQoo line is like "cheap flagship" line which focused on price-performance ratio, Nex line should be their flagship with full screen and retractable cameras, and even their audio chips. Not bad Vivo!

 

Just curious, why are the pixels "out" for China?

Too bad, the Pixel 3a looks nice.

 

Google, Amazon and many other websites are blocked by Chinese Great Firewall, they are inaccessible here.

Yes, I can and I am using a VPN to get around the problem but the gov can still block my VPN and Google doesn't provide it's full service if I'm using a VPN or I'm China.

 

I want some more future proofing. Current phone is an older lower end Oppo and it’s slowness etc.. drives me batty. That’s why I’m upgrading.




@Syzygy What Leo said. I don’t want to have to use a VPN just to access the features of a phone that I’m buying specifically for using here. Doesn’t make sense for me.

 

I'm thinking of getting an LG soon for audio reasons. I do a lot of walking and like to listen to music. My current phone is a Moto G6 (which I hate for non-audio reasons) and was happily playing Tidal on it through a Fiio Q1 MK II (Fiio USB C to micro-USB OTG cable) to a Campfire Audio Lyra II. However, recently Motorola updated the phone to Android 9.0 Pie and suddenly the OTG cable no longer works. (Anything in settings that might be relevant to fixing this is grayed out. This appears to be a not uncommon problem, but I have not found any solution for it. If anyone has one, I'm all ears.) Currently, I'm listening to the Lyra II straight from the headphone jack, which is listenable, but a big step down in audio quality.

Amazon has low prices on its own versions of the unlocked G8 ($640) and the 2018 model V35 ($500), both with the quad DAC. More importantly (since I'm retired, money is limited, and I don't use credit) both devices, as with most Amazon devices, can be paid for in five monthly installments, no interest or credit check. The phones do have some Amazon bloatware, but my current G6 is an Amazon edition and it's not intrusive, most of it can be disabled (though not deleted) and there are no ads. The Amazon G8 also omits the dedicated Google Assistant button that is on other versions of the phone since it wants you to use Alexa, though the program is pre-loaded and usable (though I don't. use it or Alexa anyway). I figure that the quad DAC on either phone should be close enough in SQ to obviate the nuisance of using the Q1 (assuming it works on those phones with Android 9). For a few bucks more per month, I'm probably going to get the G8 in couple of weeks.