Review and Measurements of LG G5 Hi-Fi Plus DAC/Amp

[Aarkytech]

Hey audiophilers i brought this Lg hifi plus as my portable dac but it seems it only works with Snapdragon SOC. I have tried with few android phones which having Snapdragon SOC and it works great nice balance audio good dynamic range bit more on treble side decent bass and balance mids.
But wen i tried it with mediatek SOC it sounds worst crappy vocals seems like u listening in same vaccum room.
Any suggestions or measures
I brought this DAC from Amazon.com for $44.

 

[dacDACdac]

Hey audiophilers i brought this Lg hifi plus as my portable dac but it seems it only works with Snapdragon SOC. I have tried with few android phones which having Snapdragon SOC and it works great nice balance audio good dynamic range bit more on treble side decent bass and balance mids.
But wen i tried it with mediatek SOC it sounds worst crappy vocals seems like u listening in same vaccum room.
Any suggestions or measures
I brought this DAC from Amazon.com for $44.

It shouldn't have anything to do with your SoC at all. It is a standalone device. What is the media player software you're using? Are you sure the DAC is being activated and switched to hi-res mode? If you don't use special software, like Onkyo HF Player, then I suspect the DAC is being treated like an output device and is just passing through the sound decoded by the SoC.

 

[Aarkytech]

I m using lg hi fi plus adf 1200 n software i use is xtz dsp player

 

[dacDACdac]

I m using lg hi fi plus adf 1200 n software i use is xtz dsp player

Looks like you're using the wrong player. Find something that supports DoP and USB DACs. The only software that works for me is the above-mentioned Onkyo HF Player. But feel free to try other apps and post back what worked.

 

[lemon07r]

Where can we grab one of these? Tried googling for one and couldn't find any.

 

[dacDACdac]

Where can we grab one of these? Tried googling for one and couldn't find any.

Read comment #49 on page 3.

 

[duo8]

Where can we grab one of these? Tried googling for one and couldn't find any.

Aliexpress

 

[lemon07r]

Read comment #49 on page 3.

Aliexpress

I've been trying to search all those places for like a month now, and the only places that I could find to carry this dac were charging 80+ dollars easily.. Might as well buy the better e1da 9038s dac at that point.

Finally managed to find something reasonably priced on a website called doohickeyhut. Shipping to Canada from wherever they are in europe is only 3 sterling/5 Canadian bucks so I'm not complaining. Almost ended up buying the E1DA 9038S dac which costs almost twice as much.. glad I found this deal instead. I'm sure anything better than this is in the realm of very diminish returns where differences where were already mostly unnoticeable. Going to be using this with a pair of blon bl-03 iems and upgrade cable or my bgvp dmg iems, in my oneplus 6 plus tidal hifi.

 

[dacDACdac]

Going to be using this with a pair of blon bl-03 iems and upgrade cable or my bgvp dmg iems, in my oneplus 6 plus tidal hifi.

You should've started with that. This DAC doesn't support MQA, as far as I know. In my opinion, there will be not much difference between this and the built-in DAC of your OnePlus. Maybe a wider stereo.

 

[lemon07r]

You should've started with that. This DAC doesn't support MQA, as far as I know. In my opinion, there will be not much difference between this and the built-in DAC of your OnePlus. Maybe a wider stereo.

To be fair, there probably isn't much audible difference between most dacs unless we look at the cheapest of the cheapest or worst of the worst. I don't care for MQA, software decoding is fine, I don't think the premium for hardware MQA support is worth it (I have a lg v20, and cant really tell the difference between hifi and master), but I did think it sounded much better than my oneplus 6 even though I couldn't tell the difference between quad dac on and off. If the s8+ has a sinad of 89 I highly doubt my oneplus 6 is going to be any better, but I guess I'm going to find out if having a decent usb dac makes a difference once my lg afd-1200 arrives.

I'm guessing there might be a slight difference improvement if I was able to notice the difference going from my v20 to my oneplus 6. I basically only paid 34 bucks for a 106 sinad dac, which I'll be able to keep between phones which was the main reason I made this purchase, now I won't need to worry about having a headphone jack or good audio performance in any of the future phones I purchase, which opens up a lot more options than being limited to buying expensive lg phones or making a compromise. For instance I'm currently considering catching a cheap oneplus 7 or similar spec phone on sale off aliexpress once my next paycheck comes in, which will be much cheaper than getting a lg phone of similar spec.

 

[dacDACdac]

I have a lg v20, and cant really tell the difference between hifi and master

I think MQA support was introduced only in the v30. But I get what you mean. Just be sure you have a good USB-C to USB-C cable. Using a micro USB to USB-C adapter with the included cable didn't work for me.

 

[lemon07r]

I think MQA support was introduced only in the v30. But I get what you mean. Just be sure you have a good USB-C to USB-C cable. Using a micro USB to USB-C adapter with the included cable didn't work for me.

https://www.reddit.com/r/lgv20/comments/ads185 They added it later down the road, it wasn't available initially. Which makes me wonder if it can be added to other devices down the road since it seems to be something driver level rather than hardware level.

 

[Sinquito]

I've been trying to search all those places for like a month now, and the only places that I could find to carry this dac were charging 80+ dollars easily.. Might as well buy the better e1da 9038s dac at that point.

View attachment 42621
Finally managed to find something reasonably priced on a website called doohickeyhut. Shipping to Canada from wherever they are in europe is only 3 sterling/5 Canadian bucks so I'm not complaining. Almost ended up buying the E1DA 9038S dac which costs almost twice as much.. glad I found this deal instead. I'm sure anything better than this is in the realm of very diminish returns where differences where were already mostly unnoticeable. Going to be using this with a pair of blon bl-03 iems and upgrade cable or my bgvp dmg iems, in my oneplus 6 plus tidal hifi.

Did you get it? It is a really good price. The retail unit even comes with a nice (p)leather case. Now that I remember, it even has a speaker for use with the LG G5. Anyway, as I stated before, I think that this unit is not so useful as a mobile device, because it is kinda big and it heats up and I assume. eats your phone battery really quick. I don't know if the Apple USB C dongle is supported on Android, but there is also the two Meizu dongles.

 

[SRKRAM]

I wonder why the review unit was re-housed in such an ugly case. I've had a Hi-Fi plus since I had a G5, and it still works well with modern phones by a short usb-c to usb-c cable.

 

[Jimster480]

Is it still available for sale?

 

[duo8]

I wonder why the review unit was re-housed in such an ugly case. I've had a Hi-Fi plus since I had a G5, and it still works well with modern phones by a short usb-c to usb-c cable.

LG dumped them when they discontinued the product. Some time later the DAC board surfaced, then after that the USB-C board, but not the housing.
So the people selling these had to make their own housing.

 

[Jimster480]

LG dumped them when they discontinued the product. Some time later the DAC board surfaced, then after that the USB-C board, but not the housing.
So the people selling these had to make their own housing.

So is the one out now a homebrew solution of the original implementation or what?

 

[SRKRAM]

They seem to be available quite readily available on ebay for 20 to 30 bucks, new or used, so it doesn't seem necessary to buy a bare board.
The retail version was designed as an accessory to fit the G5 phone, so they were discontinued along with the G5. phone.
Although it was designed to fit the G5, it came with an adapter, giving it a usb-c port to use with other devices, which is what you can see in my picture.
It works well with a standard usb-c to usb-c cable.

 

[Jimster480]

They seem to be available quite readily available on ebay for 20 to 30 bucks, new or used, so it doesn't seem necessary to buy a bare board.
The retail version was designed as an accessory to fit the G5 phone, so they were discontinued along with the G5. phone.
Although it was designed to fit the G5, it came with an adapter, giving it a usb-c port to use with other devices, which is what you can see in my picture.
It works well with a standard usb-c to usb-c cable.

Can you link me to one? I searched for LG G5 Hi-fi Plus DAC and didn't find it.

 

[duo8]

So is the one out now a homebrew solution of the original implementation or what?

It's the original, without the housing, put into whatever the seller can use as a housing for it.