This is where LG really being missed. At this point I'm still using my LG V50 from V30, V10 all the way to G3. LG's quad DAC realy is a game changer. I hope they will comeback one day to smartphone division.
Like Oppo and many others, LG is done with the phone business. Thank Samsung for spending so much $$ on marketing, decimating many smartphone manufacturers. I don't know how Sony's still making phones, but I am glad they are.
I have IE900, IE600, Xperia 1 V, Xperia 1 ii , Walkman NW-ZX707 and flagship WM1ZM2. To be honest I don't think IE600/900 are good candidates for any 3.5mm output review. They are so optimised for balance connection and there is a big difference between using 3.5 and 4.4mm even in the flagship Walkman WM1ZM2. Recommend you to complete retest using 3.5mm optimised earbuds such as Shure 845 Also you probably don't know the output module of Xperia 1 ii and V are exactly the same. They are tuned by Sony Music's senior mastering engineer Mark Wilder. That's why it is more forwards studio monitoring tuning towards detail retrieval than general consumer based full body sounding you find in LG V series phones. Again they picked a design decision of aiming the accuracy of sound rather than the consumer preference of sound. You never hear "thick and full body sound" in music studio equipments such as the proven music creation industry standard MDR-7506
I'm mostly with you but the MDR-7506 are a standard not because of their SQ. Most audio pros understand they're hyped in the highs & lows and far from flat. But they isolate well, have low impedance, they're cheap, and yes, they're everywhere.
As an LG 30+ & Sony Xperia 1 owner, I can tell you the DAC in the LG blows away the Sony, but the LG can't do 360 or Dolby Atoms. On Tidal you can try both. But the Sony can't do MQA without software, luckily I have both, so switch depending on what I am listening to.
@@orangeyellow-me1pz Yeah so from your point all the cinemas thats utilizing Dolby Atmos function are adding some noise to the cinema, which people paid for to watch.
I think the audio jack on the Xperia is meant mainly for monitoring audio when using the phone as an external monitor on cameras. Maybe that’s why they didn’t bother making it an audio powerhouse for music.
Nice to see someone finally review the Xperia 1V for its audio. I have the Xperia 5ii and enjoy its audio output but it is lacking compared to my Sony DAPs. I suspect Sony is just using the internal Snapdragon audio DAC. I live in hope that Sony will use their own DAC technology in a future smartphone. I guess market forces will determine what Sony will do.
Still sad that LG is out of the market. Their audio capabilities were unmatched. I could connect my 1000SE headphone to it and have a blast with hi res music.
Why is nobody talking about the FRONT FACING STEREO SPEAKERS!!!!! That is literally the thing that made me buy it(arrives next week), my current phone is the Samsung S8 wich has a super nice display, 3.5 Jack (broke 2 years ago) BUT has that horrible side speaker... I thought I wouldn't care coming from the Sony Z3 compact(stolen) that had front facing speakers. But I was wrong. Just think about it, what do you do on your phone for the most part? Media consumption on RUclips for example, and what is important for videos? A nice Display and Speakers. Display: Every flagship phone has a very good one(Iphone, Galaxy, Xperia...) Speakers: the majority are side facing wich are a pain in the a**, Xperia has a very nice front facing Stereo setup. For audiophiles just get an external Dac for your demanding Over Ear Headphones as I do, not to mention the internal Dac of your gaming laptop is WAY BETTER than the one of your phone. Honestly my 10 year old laptop has an internal Dac that is impressively similar to my dedicated external one.
And yes. For those really audiophiles I suggest you all go and purchase Sony HI RES Walkman (Those really high end, gold plated & costs thousands of dollars, and more expensive than Xperia 1V). I love Sony dual front firing speakers. The balance i get is superb!
LG V50 user here. Mine has a custom ROM if you're wondering. Compared to any Sony's phone or any other phone, the V series of LG still so much better in terms of sound quality.
Who cares tho, it's ancient phone tech. I could get better audio with just a dongle dac, or a phone amp attachment, and have a better phone with it (Sony Xperia 1 V). LG UI was garbage, and clunky bloatware
i can only say, as a guy that already had all kind of smartphone brands, that sony my absolute favorite, because it is the perfect allrounder , top display, top kamera, the best audiophile of all smartphones and tablets supports aptx, Lflac, Ldac, hires audio 3.5mm jack.... , high quality build... if i have to buy an smartphone that costs over 1000€ than it would be every time Sony
Micro SD card slot, 3.5mm port, good camera!? Fucks sakes, I'm selling all my older phones for this! And the 3.5mm port is on the TOP!? How much more good can Sony do on this, thank you.
A bit late due to YT's algorithm.. Thank you for this video. Many in the LGV60 sub reddit are looking at the Sony Xperia line as a possible upgrade path from the V60. You made it clear that that is not the case.
There are none. This jack is meant for the mic. If you watch some of Sony's promos you never see a headphone going into that socket. What you will see is a microphone going in. This is a camera centric phone.
I upgraded to an Xperia 1 iii from a V30 about 18 months. I still use and prefer my V30 for listening to music. It isn't bad but you'd hope for better at that price point... Seems that hasn't changed with the 1 V.
@@richardlopez4563I just "upgraded" to the 1 V from the V60. Besides the audio and camera, it is better. And I bought used, as it would have been a huge misstep to pay over US $1k for it.
Connect any KZ with equalizer like KZ Castor, KZ Vader, CCA Rhapsody and Truer Zero Red to LG G8X and other LG,S with Quad DAC and you will see the magic happen. No adaptations will be necessary for the high impedance to work, just connect and that's it, you already have high impedance and quad dac activated with this IEM's
As xperia 1 V user I can agree with the 3.5mm audio... Not that I bought the phone for that reason alone... The cameras... The things it can do with them in Pro apps.... And the screen.... It is not a bad phone... But it is not for everybody... A nieche machine...
@@wx6843 it would've been far more expensive. The DAC theyre using is probably just the regular Snapdragon one in every other phone with nothing special done to its implementation because it is meant for MICROPHONES.
Still rocking my LG V50S here, I use for jack for work and play every day, for both music and microphones, it's insane it's so hard to find them these days, I don't know what I can upgrade to when I need to
John, really happy to see you have done this content, I literally bought this phone a month ago due to its audio capabilities and Im really interesting to see your opinion about it, so lets grab some popcorn and enjoy the content :) Update: so exactly as I feel about Xperia. Got disappointment and jack connection is not used in my case straight from the phone. Apart of it, when I tried to listen my B&W PX8 via usb-c cable directly, sound volume is horribly low. So there is only Bluetooth with aptex adaptive which is more or less usable. Apart of it only dongle remains...Other than that, phone as a package is very good and improved comparing to last year model
Tremendous!! Thank you, John! I did the exact same when researching a new phone purchase with the XPERIA 1 V as a candidate. Every other reviewer glosses over the on-board headphone output, and never investing time in it. I appreciate your video as it confirms my worst concern, that Sony glossed over it's implementation of the DAC/AMP stage. I appreciate your work! As someone without much means, the scarcity of wired headphone compatibility automatically forces the choices toward the enthusiast-tier of flagship smartphones. I almost bit the bullet just to try it, but settled on something cheaper and with less functionality. I had considered purchasing a modest android phone and splurging on a ZX707 Walkman, but i couldn't reconcile the workflow discrepancies of managing two devices in respect to push-notifications, calls, etc, that would be native to a smartphone experience. Taking out an IEM just to slap a phone to my head for answering calls seems... obtuse. And that's presuming I hear the ring-tone through my IEM's isolation. Very frustrating.
Honestly once you play around with eq settings, you can easily get the desired oomph to the sound. Either with the built in Dolby eq or with player specific eq, like AIMP for example, if you have local music files. It does sound thin with the default flat sound, but it's absolutely capable of changing it's characteristics to more of a V-shape. Works fine with FiiO FH3.
Lol, there's no replacement for displacement. Sony needs the audio equipment that LG had. The stuff you're mentioning is just going to add noise. Itight make it louder but it won't sound good. Better headphones just need more juice. Nothing can be done about that. Maybe people should just stick to easy to drive in ear monitors when using a Sony phone like this one.
I don't think Sony geared this phone with audiophiles in mind at all, actually. In my opinion, the audio jack is more for the non-audiophile, wired earphone users as well as for the video makers, who appreciate the jack for getting their sound levels while recording. Also, they might have skipped over improving the DAC for two more technical reasons: - lack of physical space (we don't think about it, but smartphones are already extremely dense with base components, and I'm pretty sure a good dac requires more space than a basic one - price, simply. At 1400€, this phone is already up there with the best of the best from the competition, and a high quality DAC might just bring that price too high to make the product financially viable.
I use my LG G7 to listen to music and podcasts and stuff while my Galaxy S21 Ultra is for pictures and other things. I do wish LG made a V90 or something that was everything I'd want with a headphone jack, great cameras etc.
I think you were spot on when you noted "convenience" was the biggest benefit of the headphone jack. I have Final wired e5000 IEMs and Drop HD 6xx (Sennheiser HD 650), to go with the iFi Zen Dac, AQ Black, Lotoo Paw S2, and Ikko ITM01 $79 DACs but sometimes i just want watch a RUclips audio review. Plugging the headphone directly into my LG G8 phone jack is much more convenient than hooking up a DACs. I did discover a surprising synergy between the inexpensive IKKO and the ĤD6xx - the forward and slightly bright IKKO pulls out the recessed mids and lower treble of the HD 6xx cand results in a very balanced and detailed sound. I keep the HD6xx plugged into the IKKO full time to add convenience. Now i just need to find some closed backs to fill out the collection
I thought that would be the LG phones like the V20-60 series. I can vouch for that as I have two dedicated as DAP. The second one LG V20 bought at US60 refurbished. Google it they are much praised as well and said to be as good as mid level DAPs.
I like to listen to music through my phone with either wired IEMs or wireless Bluetooth earbuds. Being in my 50's I found out that some android phones and earphone apps have hearing tests that compensate for hearing loss as we age. To me after doing the hearing test the sound is a lot clearer with the mids and highs.
I mean, people are missing out on better sound with regards to Android Smartphones for a really long time and no apps can deliver a High Fidelity sound.@@DarkoAudio
Does anyone here know if the Sony Experia will recognize the dac in my 2016 Bose car receiver through Android Auto? My old Samsung Note 8 can recognize it and playback in bit perfect mode through USB Audio Player Pro while streaming Qobuz music. Through work I have a Pixel 7 Pro and with the same USB Pro app it won't recognize it and bypass Android compression.
I am really glad that sony is doing what they are doing, even tho everyone is criticising them for not doing the popular thing that the masses would want. And they still keep doing it, they aren't making this phone for the masses but for the enthusiats. They boast about how their film experts and tv division people help tune their displays and how their cameras have the alpha legacy and all that, so damnit why is their headphone jack just servicable ? I'd expect it to be fine tuned by some music division experts as well. Or would it mean they are canibalising their own walkman ?
I have made a listening test on my Xperia1iii coupled with fiio BTR5 , sennheisser HD25 and UAP player. The HD25 are 70ohm so i expected the xperia output would be to weak for it, but it is actually the same as the output from the fiio BTR5 dac. Of course if i switch to the balanced output on BTR5 the sound gets louder but not necessarily fuller. So i am very satisfied with the output from the xperia 1iii. It would be nice to make a comparison with mark3 vs mark5 but i don't expect them to be different. People should understand that phones are not supposed to have strong DACs. I have LG V60 with great output power (for a phone) but i don't need that much power. Actually only headphones with over 50ohms activate the quad-dac on the LG. Most of my headphones are just 32ohms and xperia can perfectly drive them. And also don't forget the jack output on xperia serves also as an external MIC input!!
ok i have to admit that the fiio DAC has more punch. the HD25 are a bit too much for the xperias built in DAC, but it still does the job. I made also a comparison with 32ohm iems from NF Audio and the sound is great. i like it even better than from the fiio DAC.
Headphone Jack, SD Card Slot and Great Camera. That's pretty much the Trifecta for me. I've almost always bought Sony phones with the exception of my S3 back in the day that was awesome and my current s10 which is a giant POS but at the time was the only phone without peasant specs that had a headphone jack and SD card slot here in Canada as our providers are predatory trash with even more garbage phone selections.
I had a Sony Xperia 1II when it was out and the hardware was stunning. It felt amazing in the hand and also it's almost pure stock android / pixel type experiences was amazing. The biggest and frankly only issue i had was the camera side -- which for Sony was odd but i found the autofocus and overall quality far too hit & miss. I also found the side fingerprint sensor too limiting. When my phone's on my desk i like to be able to touch the screen and unlock it to see what's going on but with the sony you always have to pick up the device It's so close to perfect but just a couple major stumbles make it less than the device it could so easily be.
Having owned and used the Xperia 1 mk3 for two years I have to say that until July this year it has been a very happy experience. The camera is fantastic and the build quality is superb and the screen is the best I have experienced on a phone. BUT as some people may be aware Sony's support is very dissapointing to say the least. The phone stopped receiving security updates in July this year when it was two years old which is when I found out that it was no longer supported with updates by Sony and nor would it receive Android 14! The new Pixels have 7 years support. Apple give 6 years and Samsung 5 years so - enough said! Thanks for an honest and excellent in depth review on the Sony Xperia mk V but my replacement won't be an Xperia sadly.
Please excuse me if i am missing anything here, but there is no way someone compared a flagship smartphone which is supposed to do eberything (great 3D rendering and processing for games, top end sensor for camera, raw recording etc) and which happens to have a headphone jack, to a desktop audiophile headphone amp/player. My brother, it is not an audiophile Flac/mp3 player. it is also not that Fiio humongous android lossless player. It is...a phone. The mere fact sony decided to add the socket and a 24bit Dac chipset in it is praise worthy in a world where big companies decide what we want. funnily enough the 2018 Galaxy Note 9 has a 32bit DAC in it which rips through even my 350 ohms cans. This Sony is the only worthwhile upgrade i have found in the past 2 years whilst looking for a replacement for my note 9. At the end of the day, your input and experinces are greatly appreciated, though. We are all entitled to our own opinions.
For those of us who have had LG phones, we've been spoiled. No, a phone can't quite complete with a full-on setup, but it can be remarkably decent for a portable rig.
I jsut got the Sony Xperria and no sign of sounding thin or hard. Sounds just above right, and i"m using a pair of audio technica m50x which can sound very clean. On this occasion i'd have to disagree with Darko. If anything i hold against the Xperia 1V, is that coming from an LGv30 the amp power output on the Sony is weak. Not much volume... thats it. The highs are clean yet souned on top, midrange is very clean with loads of res. Bass is just right, not the cleanest but still very detail. loving the phone so far.
I have a pair of those AT headphones too and they do indeed sound fine with the Xperia phone in the same way that the IE300 sound fine: because they're not as resolving as other headphones. Happy listening!
What you're describing is an under powered headphone amp. The ATs have a low impedance compared to higher-end Sennheiser headphones for example, making them easier to drive. I haven't tried my Sennheiser 🎧 yet, but am no longer looking forward to it after watching this. I'm coming from an LG V60.
This video just drags on. I would have needed some graphs of frequency responses or technical details by the 10:12 mark. Very nice shots of the phone though, and good taste in gear.
Can you listen to a graph? Nobody gives a fk about a graph dude. I've seen graphs that are superior yet the sound the headphone produces isn't great or my sound. His experience means soo much more. Audiophiles aren't scientists, they actually like music and speaking about music first.
Really very nice phone....for photo enthusiasts, which I'm not😊. I'm a hifi freak , for that I'm in love with my Fiio M11Pro with Final balanced B3 . After 2 years still amazing. Nice review anyway 👌
My LG V30 had a quad DAC and you could really hear the difference on that. However my Xperia 10iii seems to just have a regular DAC which sounds like any other phone. It can handle Hi-Res etc which is fine but to drive my DT990's I need to use my Fiio external mobile DAC. Then I get great sound. In my opinion I think Sony had to balance audio amplification with space in the device, heat distribution, space for the cameras etc. So in such a small package they went for decent sound with a large range of audio codecs so that listening on the go is decent but not fantastic. In other words convenience of mobility vs out-and-out audio amplification. Most of the money went to the camera's and the display.
I'm glad you've done a sound review on a cell phone, most tech influences are camera photo-mad insanity, but I think you might have opened a can of worms if you review cell phones for sound quality, you might be asked to review others for viewers 😉
I found this Sony to be deficient as a Bluetooth player compared to the HTC U11 the LG G8 and the Razer Phone 2 (which I use with Focal Bathys) . I also compared it to the HiBy R6 GEN III as a wired source (using Meze Rai Penta) - no comparison . Where it shines is as a media source connected via USB in the car as a part of an Android Auto setup. It blows the iPhone 15 pro max and the Samsung S23 Ultra (and the S20 5G) out of the water as a USB player in that setting. So yes I do consider it to be an Audiophile smartphone (with caveats) ......
The internal dac still goes through the android's resampling issue unless you use 3rd party apps like USB audio player. It does make a considerable difference if you play the music through that app.
Still rocking my LG V40. So sad they left the market, because whatever sorcery they used in the 'Quad DAC' system makes this thing sound like no other phone.
LG V60 is good too. I remember when the V20 came out and everyone raged about the camera hump and look at all the phones today, all with massive camera humps. LG made the best cell phones.
Fantastic video. To manufacturers: Is it so hard to copy the audio quality of LG V series smartphones?. My V50 destroys some DAPS, as audiophile I don't see the moment of replacing it for any other device.
I love my 1V, but I totally agree with your view. I’m coming from a LG v60 and it is just better than the Sony. If I’m going to listen to music I’m, not reaching for the Xperia 1V. But an audio book or pod cast is great. Thanks for the video.
If SONY makes a folding phone i will trade in my Galaxy Fold. Sony had the first 4k display. Skipped it because I was loving the big screen of my Galaxy Note. Then I was going to switch to the SONY experia but the Fold 3 was now waterproof so SONY got shelved again. And now with Dex on Samsung theres no way I give that up. I picked up a 15" OLED screen display from Innocn for less than $200 USD and its the ultimate Dex accessory. Meanwhile I keep buying Sony XM3, XM4, XM5 and WH XM4.
Flexible display technology is not yet mature, I think thats why Sony did not do it. And hence you see many people complaining about defective folding displays. They were the first few to announce flexible display, and flexible color display. So Sony knows what they are doing.
Thw convenience of always having a headphone jack is a big reason why I bought a Zenfone 9 last year. I haven't even compared it to my dedicated desktop and portable amp's.
Thanks for this review JD because the fact that this phone has a 3.5mm jack often gets overblown as if you can no longer get sound from any other phone. Kind of like how the Apple dongle which is only a DAC gets overly praised by some and hated by those who like to compare it to DAC/Amp combos. Your comparison cover a larger sphere of use cases and show where the strength and weaknesses of this device.
Does anyone recall the LG V30? The audiophile champ as reviewed by Stereophile? Well, its B&O tuned DAC really does sound superb. And I'm actually on my second handset now, with another sealed & boxed waiting in the wings. I wasn't taking any chances!
Is it the HTC One X? My first smart phone bought on clearance sale for US150. The earphones that came with it was good and the sound was great. The phones I bought after that including HTC and Samsung didn't sound good at all until I brought the LG V30. Now that's a phone with a great sound with headphones or using as a music source, dac engaged or not.
Was that test done with the audio settings turned off or on? I tried it with the MDR z7m2 with all the audio settings on and sound was really shallow but when I switched them off the sounds became really fuller and more details and soundstage.
I use a Hiby R6 MkIII wired for my IEM's. I use the Sony as my wired Android Auto USB audio source. It has outperformed the Iphone 5 pro max wired. It's performance has been superb.
I have the same experience with my xperia V III, a very clean, detailed sound coming from the headphone socket, but it lacks any oomph. I always use a (Cayin RU-6) dongle. I do really like the long, thin formfactor and the telelens of the Xperia though (but for point and shoots the camera app definitely drops the ball compared to pretty much any other phone at its pricepoint)
people are habitual of cheap phones.... i just wish that SONY do not stop making phones.... it's a wholesome phone, better than a lot of stuff in the market
€1400 for a great DAP with basic smartphone functionality was never going fly. So who is the target customer? Not audio junkies / Gen Y/Z! I can also imagine Sony making sure there was no competing with their own DAP's - which are already a niche market (I guess same is also true for Sony smartphones in general)
Sony already removed it once by dumbly and blindly following apple/ the industry. But they swiftly put it back given how it's part of sonys heritage, and rightfully so.
Have you tried unlocking high resolution sound by installing usb audio Player Pro and set it to use the internal high resolution DAC and their proprietary audio driver instead of Androids driver?
So you think that will improve the sound of the DAC and headphone amp? In my experience, any move to bitperfect playback is dwarfed by hardware changes.
@@DarkoAudio Yes, I think it will. It is also not only about being bit perfect but about utilizing the onboard DAC better by using the apps internal HiRes Audio Driver instead of the Androids limited default driver. AudioQuest recommends using that player with their dragonfly USB DAC's I don't know whether the change will be big enough for you. It is relatively cheap to try out. Please tell me what you think. I also have a Dragonfly Cobalt with a serially attached Jitterbug FM, and that will of course always sound better.
And please remember to turn off spacious sound in the audio settings for cabled headphones and in the Bluetooth settings for your hifi-grade headphones. It only improves low- and medium quality headphones. My Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 sounded distorted, imprecise and blurry with spacious sound turned on.
@@DarkoAudio I talked with the developers of the USB Audio Player Pro whether this phone has an internal HiRes DAC. Here is their answer: Thank you for contacting us. Yes, you need to enable the HiRes driver manually (first item in the app's settings) and then enable the 32-bit format in the HiRes driver format. Then turn off Dolby in the Android settings. Using this combination, the Sony should play in the highest quality.
It's got everything to do with undervolting, and I wish that Sony could figure it out. I'd much rather have a Walkman Phone than an Alpha Camera Phone.
Usually Sony limits the signal output and "contrast" of audio output with some safety values. When I was younger I did some kernel modding(on Android Sony Ericsson phones) as well as flashing different drivers on older Java platform phones(mostly on the K800i) And great results were accomplished. I also own now 1 V and I came to your video when I was in doubt to buy over ear headphones when I work and I don't want to power on the Yamaha system on the PC. Usually I can't stand anything on or over my ears, that's why I am not a fan of headphones.
I owned the previous Sony flagship and what you’ve just said applied to that too. Its headphone port didn’t sound as good as basically any dap that I tried. Really nice phone though
defenition of high end sound is a exact replica of the original, not speaking of warmer sound of harsher hights, but as the original intended. More warmth or less hights is like a sauce, you like that sauce, its fine, but its not in line with the reproduction of the original. i miss the point of reference of this review,because there is soo much hammered on warmth and the hights.
Good point. I remember the day I turned on the quad DAC on the V60. On the 1 V, Dolby ATMOS, Sony Spatial & other garbage are switched on by default. But everyone watching this is going to know to correct those settings immediately.
Thank you - I'm also someone who has wondered about the audio quality of the Sony phone's headphone output in comparison to my old LG V30, as well as my little dongle dac thing. It's interesting that Sony say that their audio circuitry can cope with hi-res. Did you play with that in Apple Music (sorry to bring that up again!)? I'm trying to work out what's going on with that in Android, as my dongle dac has an LED that changes colour when it receives hi-res, and it does do that when I use it with my Samsung S20FE (Android 13), but it doesn't do it with my LG (Android 9), despite Apple Music having the option in the settings menu.
This is exactly what I felt when I got my 1 V. Ended up still favoring my hidizs DH80s USB C dac/amp. Also, this might be placebo but I genuinely noticed better sound quality when connected to my laptop on windows with the DH80s as opposed to the DH80s connected to the 1 V. Would you try testing that and see if it makes a difference? If it doesn't then I'll assume its the DH80s software being finnicky or just placebo. Thank you. Great video btw, informative and confirmed my observations on this phone's jack and internal DAC/AMP. EDIT: I would like to mention I have every audio processing option turned OFF on both devices, nothing extra on windows at 30% vol and on Sony dolby, DSEE, 360 upmix all turned off and since i use spotify I have turned off normalize audio and set quality to very high regardless of connection quality.
This is where LG really being missed. At this point I'm still using my LG V50 from V30, V10 all the way to G3. LG's quad DAC realy is a game changer. I hope they will comeback one day to smartphone division.
i'm still in love with my V30...
Like Oppo and many others, LG is done with the phone business. Thank Samsung for spending so much $$ on marketing, decimating many smartphone manufacturers. I don't know how Sony's still making phones, but I am glad they are.
@@charlienyc1 sony is targeting a niche audience which is what LG should've done instead of just leaving.
I am sure LG Smartphone Division will return but no longer in Republic of Samsung oops Sorry I meant South Korea 😅😁
I have v60
LG V60 the one audiophile phone to rule them all
LGV60!! Proper DAC 👌🏾
I have IE900, IE600, Xperia 1 V, Xperia 1 ii , Walkman NW-ZX707 and flagship WM1ZM2. To be honest I don't think IE600/900 are good candidates for any 3.5mm output review. They are so optimised for balance connection and there is a big difference between using 3.5 and 4.4mm even in the flagship Walkman WM1ZM2. Recommend you to complete retest using 3.5mm optimised earbuds such as Shure 845
Also you probably don't know the output module of Xperia 1 ii and V are exactly the same. They are tuned by Sony Music's senior mastering engineer Mark Wilder. That's why it is more forwards studio monitoring tuning towards detail retrieval than general consumer based full body sounding you find in LG V series phones. Again they picked a design decision of aiming the accuracy of sound rather than the consumer preference of sound. You never hear "thick and full body sound" in music studio equipments such as the proven music creation industry standard MDR-7506
I'm mostly with you but the MDR-7506 are a standard not because of their SQ. Most audio pros understand they're hyped in the highs & lows and far from flat. But they isolate well, have low impedance, they're cheap, and yes, they're everywhere.
Wow thanks for your sharing!!! LIKED!!
As an LG 30+ & Sony Xperia 1 owner, I can tell you the DAC in the LG blows away the Sony, but the LG can't do 360 or Dolby Atoms. On Tidal you can try both. But the Sony can't do MQA without software, luckily I have both, so switch depending on what I am listening to.
Lol, Dolby Atmos? That's just some noise.
@@orangeyellow-me1pz Yeah so from your point all the cinemas thats utilizing Dolby Atmos function are adding some noise to the cinema, which people paid for to watch.
I think the audio jack on the Xperia is meant mainly for monitoring audio when using the phone as an external monitor on cameras. Maybe that’s why they didn’t bother making it an audio powerhouse for music.
That is exactly what I'm thinking. They never advertised it for music listening.
I also use it to connect external mics.
Nice to see someone finally review the Xperia 1V for its audio. I have the Xperia 5ii and enjoy its audio output but it is lacking compared to my Sony DAPs. I suspect Sony is just using the internal Snapdragon audio DAC. I live in hope that Sony will use their own DAC technology in a future smartphone. I guess market forces will determine what Sony will do.
Still sad that LG is out of the market. Their audio capabilities were unmatched. I could connect my 1000SE headphone to it and have a blast with hi res music.
I miss my V30 too. I 've got Xperia 1 iii now, and it is fine, but not as good as the LG.
They didn't have the 3.5 jack in some of their previous generations but added them back in, which I'm thankful to Sony!
They foolishly removed from Xperia 1 but quickly added it more in Xperia 1 II.
Why is nobody talking about the FRONT FACING STEREO SPEAKERS!!!!!
That is literally the thing that made me buy it(arrives next week), my current phone is the Samsung S8 wich has a super nice display, 3.5 Jack (broke 2 years ago) BUT has that horrible side speaker... I thought I wouldn't care coming from the Sony Z3 compact(stolen) that had front facing speakers. But I was wrong.
Just think about it, what do you do on your phone for the most part? Media consumption on RUclips for example, and what is important for videos? A nice Display and Speakers.
Display: Every flagship phone has a very good one(Iphone, Galaxy, Xperia...)
Speakers: the majority are side facing wich are a pain in the a**, Xperia has a very nice front facing Stereo setup.
For audiophiles just get an external Dac for your demanding Over Ear Headphones as I do, not to mention the internal Dac of your gaming laptop is WAY BETTER than the one of your phone. Honestly my 10 year old laptop has an internal Dac that is impressively similar to my dedicated external one.
And yes. For those really audiophiles I suggest you all go and purchase Sony HI RES Walkman (Those really high end, gold plated & costs thousands of dollars, and more expensive than Xperia 1V). I love Sony dual front firing speakers. The balance i get is superb!
LG V50 user here. Mine has a custom ROM if you're wondering. Compared to any Sony's phone or any other phone, the V series of LG still so much better in terms of sound quality.
How did you unlock the bootloader? I also want to install custom ROMs on my V50.
Who cares tho, it's ancient phone tech. I could get better audio with just a dongle dac, or a phone amp attachment, and have a better phone with it (Sony Xperia 1 V). LG UI was garbage, and clunky bloatware
I had the V50. It didn't actually sound particularly good, and side by side, was noticeably worse than the apple usb-c dongle.
@@DNGR369u can get anything better by spending 10x than that ancient tech lol 😂 best of luck for ur management
i can only say, as a guy that already had all kind of smartphone brands, that sony my absolute favorite, because it is the perfect allrounder , top display, top kamera, the best audiophile of all smartphones and tablets supports aptx, Lflac, Ldac, hires audio 3.5mm jack.... , high quality build... if i have to buy an smartphone that costs over 1000€ than it would be every time Sony
Hey Xperia 1 v iPhone 15 Pro max or Samsung 23 ultra. Which is equal best phone?
@@uzzalmoral8818Xiaomi 14 Pro.
@@uzzalmoral8818I phone 15 pro max
Micro SD card slot, 3.5mm port, good camera!? Fucks sakes, I'm selling all my older phones for this! And the 3.5mm port is on the TOP!? How much more good can Sony do on this, thank you.
also no camera hole/notch at the top :D
@@suiborahuge bezel though
A bit late due to YT's algorithm.. Thank you for this video. Many in the LGV60 sub reddit are looking at the Sony Xperia line as a possible upgrade path from the V60. You made it clear that that is not the case.
Do we really know of a good upgrade from the V series for those of us looking for a high quality wired audio experience?
There are none. This jack is meant for the mic. If you watch some of Sony's promos you never see a headphone going into that socket. What you will see is a microphone going in. This is a camera centric phone.
I need to know if the experia supports DSD
I upgraded to an Xperia 1 iii from a V30 about 18 months. I still use and prefer my V30 for listening to music. It isn't bad but you'd hope for better at that price point... Seems that hasn't changed with the 1 V.
I hate smartphones removing headphone jack
People keep buying to ones without it.
@@jacvpt8778 but there are very less smartphones with headphones jack
Why? You can get really good digital music from the charging port and get a nice external portable DAC.
Watching this with my LG V30 ❤
Still using it...
Great phone it was
Warching on my daily LG V60 with quad DAC.
Same here 😊 but one audio channel stopped working.
@@richardlopez4563I just "upgraded" to the 1 V from the V60. Besides the audio and camera, it is better. And I bought used, as it would have been a huge misstep to pay over US $1k for it.
Connect any KZ with equalizer like KZ Castor, KZ Vader, CCA Rhapsody and Truer Zero Red to LG G8X and other LG,S with Quad DAC and you will see the magic happen.
No adaptations will be necessary for the high impedance to work, just connect and that's it, you already have high impedance and quad dac activated with this IEM's
Great video and finally someone doing a review of Xperia's audio prowess. Sony, please never stop making phones!
I bought the Xperia 1 MK VI, I really like to see a comparison, because the audio quality by the 3.5mm jack really impressed me... Sounds awesome!
Good to see this, me too I went from the lg phone to iphone15 pro max. Looking to go back to android though.
Still using lg g7 thinq with sabre dac ;)
As xperia 1 V user I can agree with the 3.5mm audio... Not that I bought the phone for that reason alone... The cameras... The things it can do with them in Pro apps.... And the screen.... It is not a bad phone... But it is not for everybody... A nieche machine...
Would be great if SONY made a better DAC inside the phone.
@wx6843 at this point im convinced sony is just handicapping themselves
@@wx6843 it would've been far more expensive. The DAC theyre using is probably just the regular Snapdragon one in every other phone with nothing special done to its implementation because it is meant for MICROPHONES.
Can't bear to upgrade from my LG v50 and it's Sabre DAC
Still rocking my LG V50S here, I use for jack for work and play every day, for both music and microphones, it's insane it's so hard to find them these days, I don't know what I can upgrade to when I need to
Same here , LG V60 still rocking QUAD DAC and 3.5mm jack
A comparison with LG V60 would be more interesting and we can see how much DAC performs over the phone. I would really be waiting for that video...
LG V60 still shits on every modern phone in the market as far as 3.5mm audio quality.
John, really happy to see you have done this content, I literally bought this phone a month ago due to its audio capabilities and Im really interesting to see your opinion about it, so lets grab some popcorn and enjoy the content :)
Update: so exactly as I feel about Xperia. Got disappointment and jack connection is not used in my case straight from the phone. Apart of it, when I tried to listen my B&W PX8 via usb-c cable directly, sound volume is horribly low. So there is only Bluetooth with aptex adaptive which is more or less usable. Apart of it only dongle remains...Other than that, phone as a package is very good and improved comparing to last year model
Disapointing they didn't use the tech of their DAPs in this phone. Seemed like a no-brianer.
I don't thinks that is a good idea, that will surely have a bad impact in their DAP sales.
That would have made it far thicker & not to mention kill all the battery life & won't compete with others.
@datdudeinred yeah dedicated DAC chip really suck out the juice (sauce : LG User before LG shut down)
More dissapointing when their phone is overpriced - no reason not to adopt that tech.
Brians in the chat like, "what did I do?"
Tremendous!! Thank you, John! I did the exact same when researching a new phone purchase with the XPERIA 1 V as a candidate. Every other reviewer glosses over the on-board headphone output, and never investing time in it. I appreciate your video as it confirms my worst concern, that Sony glossed over it's implementation of the DAC/AMP stage. I appreciate your work!
As someone without much means, the scarcity of wired headphone compatibility automatically forces the choices toward the enthusiast-tier of flagship smartphones. I almost bit the bullet just to try it, but settled on something cheaper and with less functionality. I had considered purchasing a modest android phone and splurging on a ZX707 Walkman, but i couldn't reconcile the workflow discrepancies of managing two devices in respect to push-notifications, calls, etc, that would be native to a smartphone experience. Taking out an IEM just to slap a phone to my head for answering calls seems... obtuse. And that's presuming I hear the ring-tone through my IEM's isolation. Very frustrating.
Honestly once you play around with eq settings, you can easily get the desired oomph to the sound. Either with the built in Dolby eq or with player specific eq, like AIMP for example, if you have local music files. It does sound thin with the default flat sound, but it's absolutely capable of changing it's characteristics to more of a V-shape. Works fine with FiiO FH3.
Lol, there's no replacement for displacement. Sony needs the audio equipment that LG had. The stuff you're mentioning is just going to add noise. Itight make it louder but it won't sound good. Better headphones just need more juice. Nothing can be done about that. Maybe people should just stick to easy to drive in ear monitors when using a Sony phone like this one.
Yeh! EQ makes a lot of difference!!
If you go in audio settings and switch off the Dolby audio the sound will improve. I had the same issue until I switched off the Dolby
I don't think Sony geared this phone with audiophiles in mind at all, actually. In my opinion, the audio jack is more for the non-audiophile, wired earphone users as well as for the video makers, who appreciate the jack for getting their sound levels while recording.
Also, they might have skipped over improving the DAC for two more technical reasons:
- lack of physical space (we don't think about it, but smartphones are already extremely dense with base components, and I'm pretty sure a good dac requires more space than a basic one
- price, simply. At 1400€, this phone is already up there with the best of the best from the competition, and a high quality DAC might just bring that price too high to make the product financially viable.
Wow, someone who hets it.
And it's primary focused was for MIC in
I use my LG G7 to listen to music and podcasts and stuff while my Galaxy S21 Ultra is for pictures and other things. I do wish LG made a V90 or something that was everything I'd want with a headphone jack, great cameras etc.
Same g7 i still own , s22 for say to day use but portal dacs on samsung is work very good
Thanks for the perspective. Still using my LG V60. Hoping that something better and affordable will come in the near future.
The best phone nobody knows about.
QUAD DAC 3.5mm high end headphone monster
I think you were spot on when you noted "convenience" was the biggest benefit of the headphone jack. I have Final wired e5000 IEMs and Drop HD 6xx (Sennheiser HD 650), to go with the iFi Zen Dac, AQ Black, Lotoo Paw S2, and Ikko ITM01 $79 DACs but sometimes i just want watch a RUclips audio review. Plugging the headphone directly into my LG G8 phone jack is much more convenient than hooking up a DACs. I did discover a surprising synergy between the inexpensive IKKO and the ĤD6xx - the forward and slightly bright IKKO pulls out the recessed mids and lower treble of the HD 6xx cand results in a very balanced and detailed sound. I keep the HD6xx plugged into the IKKO full time to add convenience. Now i just need to find some closed backs to fill out the collection
I think the 3.5mm jack is there more to provide support for mics given the video record features of the device.
Yeah. Sony provides you more options.
❤LG v50 or v60 with Quad DAC sounds blows Sony away.
Twin screens & 3.5 jack etc😮😮😮
I thought that would be the LG phones like the V20-60 series. I can vouch for that as I have two dedicated as DAP. The second one LG V20 bought at US60 refurbished. Google it they are much praised as well and said to be as good as mid level DAPs.
Yeah i have lg v60, the DAC is so good, even with midrange iem
What a good explainer, definitely follow this person
its headphone jack also supports 24bit 195khz external microphone for video record.
ASUS ROG 8 phone has a built in Hi-Res DAC. Also a new device to look into Moondrop MIAD 01 smartphone, which was just released a few weeks ago.
ROG 8 has no expandable storage, correct?
Depending on how the SD 8 Gen 3 turns out I might get the Xperia 1 VI when it comes out. Really happy with my Xperia 1 V
I like to listen to music through my phone with either wired IEMs or wireless Bluetooth earbuds. Being in my 50's I found out that some android phones and earphone apps have hearing tests that compensate for hearing loss as we age. To me after doing the hearing test the sound is a lot clearer with the mids and highs.
Great video! Informative and insightful as per usual 👏
my old LG V30 quad-Dac phone still works pretty good (not as a phone but as a music player)
Yep , I still just use my old V30 as a music player
High fidelity sound will be the thing to make any Smartphone rise on top.
Rise to the top for whom? Audiophiles with wired headphones are a teeny tiny sliver of the smartphone market.
Not really in a wide market where a thin layer of titanium band is the biggest selling point
I mean, people are missing out on better sound with regards to Android Smartphones for a really long time and no apps can deliver a High Fidelity sound.@@DarkoAudio
We'll have to recruit them to our side. Haha.@@DarkoAudio
Does anyone here know if the Sony Experia will recognize the dac in my 2016 Bose car receiver through Android Auto? My old Samsung Note 8 can recognize it and playback in bit perfect mode through USB Audio Player Pro while streaming Qobuz music. Through work I have a Pixel 7 Pro and with the same USB Pro app it won't recognize it and bypass Android compression.
I also love my SONY Xperia 1 mark V. Agree with you 100% mate.
I am really glad that sony is doing what they are doing, even tho everyone is criticising them for not doing the popular thing that the masses would want. And they still keep doing it, they aren't making this phone for the masses but for the enthusiats. They boast about how their film experts and tv division people help tune their displays and how their cameras have the alpha legacy and all that, so damnit why is their headphone jack just servicable ? I'd expect it to be fine tuned by some music division experts as well. Or would it mean they are canibalising their own walkman ?
I have made a listening test on my Xperia1iii coupled with fiio BTR5 , sennheisser HD25 and UAP player. The HD25 are 70ohm so i expected the xperia output would be to weak for it, but it is actually the same as the output from the fiio BTR5 dac. Of course if i switch to the balanced output on BTR5 the sound gets louder but not necessarily fuller. So i am very satisfied with the output from the xperia 1iii. It would be nice to make a comparison with mark3 vs mark5 but i don't expect them to be different. People should understand that phones are not supposed to have strong DACs. I have LG V60 with great output power (for a phone) but i don't need that much power. Actually only headphones with over 50ohms activate the quad-dac on the LG. Most of my headphones are just 32ohms and xperia can perfectly drive them. And also don't forget the jack output on xperia serves also as an external MIC input!!
ok i have to admit that the fiio DAC has more punch. the HD25 are a bit too much for the xperias built in DAC, but it still does the job. I made also a comparison with 32ohm iems from NF Audio and the sound is great. i like it even better than from the fiio DAC.
Headphone Jack, SD Card Slot and Great Camera. That's pretty much the Trifecta for me.
I've almost always bought Sony phones with the exception of my S3 back in the day that was awesome and my current s10 which is a giant POS but at the time was the only phone without peasant specs that had a headphone jack and SD card slot here in Canada as our providers are predatory trash with even more garbage phone selections.
Missing Lg
True man, I really miss LG.
I had a Sony Xperia 1II when it was out and the hardware was stunning. It felt amazing in the hand and also it's almost pure stock android / pixel type experiences was amazing.
The biggest and frankly only issue i had was the camera side -- which for Sony was odd but i found the autofocus and overall quality far too hit & miss. I also found the side fingerprint sensor too limiting. When my phone's on my desk i like to be able to touch the screen and unlock it to see what's going on but with the sony you always have to pick up the device
It's so close to perfect but just a couple major stumbles make it less than the device it could so easily be.
I actually found it easy enough to touch the side sensor on my XZ1C. Rear sensor on my Pixel 5 is annoying for that reason though...
Good or bad, thank you for reviewing the phones audio quality, I can trust you opinion.
Having owned and used the Xperia 1 mk3 for two years I have to say that until July this year it has been a very happy experience. The camera is fantastic and the build quality is superb and the screen is the best I have experienced on a phone. BUT as some people may be aware Sony's support is very dissapointing to say the least. The phone stopped receiving security updates in July this year when it was two years old which is when I found out that it was no longer supported with updates by Sony and nor would it receive Android 14!
The new Pixels have 7 years support. Apple give 6 years and Samsung 5 years so - enough said!
Thanks for an honest and excellent in depth review on the Sony Xperia mk V but my replacement won't be an Xperia sadly.
Low key Silversun Pickups vinyl and that fresh spawn into scene shot. Well done John! Great production
I have Sony in my previous phone, and yes Sony made for music lover and video recording cinema level
Please excuse me if i am missing anything here, but there is no way someone compared a flagship smartphone which is supposed to do eberything (great 3D rendering and processing for games, top end sensor for camera, raw recording etc) and which happens to have a headphone jack, to a desktop audiophile headphone amp/player.
My brother, it is not an audiophile Flac/mp3 player. it is also not that Fiio humongous android lossless player. It is...a phone. The mere fact sony decided to add the socket and a 24bit Dac chipset in it is praise worthy in a world where big companies decide what we want.
funnily enough the 2018 Galaxy Note 9 has a 32bit DAC in it which rips through even my 350 ohms cans.
This Sony is the only worthwhile upgrade i have found in the past 2 years whilst looking for a replacement for my note 9.
At the end of the day, your input and experinces are greatly appreciated, though. We are all entitled to our own opinions.
For those of us who have had LG phones, we've been spoiled. No, a phone can't quite complete with a full-on setup, but it can be remarkably decent for a portable rig.
I jsut got the Sony Xperria and no sign of sounding thin or hard. Sounds just above right, and i"m using a pair of audio technica m50x which can sound very clean. On this occasion i'd have to disagree with Darko. If anything i hold against the Xperia 1V, is that coming from an LGv30 the amp power output on the Sony is weak. Not much volume... thats it. The highs are clean yet souned on top, midrange is very clean with loads of res. Bass is just right, not the cleanest but still very detail. loving the phone so far.
I have a pair of those AT headphones too and they do indeed sound fine with the Xperia phone in the same way that the IE300 sound fine: because they're not as resolving as other headphones. Happy listening!
"Low Noise" was sony said about their headphone jack before and they did not lied.
What you're describing is an under powered headphone amp. The ATs have a low impedance compared to higher-end Sennheiser headphones for example, making them easier to drive. I haven't tried my Sennheiser 🎧 yet, but am no longer looking forward to it after watching this. I'm coming from an LG V60.
This video just drags on. I would have needed some graphs of frequency responses or technical details by the 10:12 mark. Very nice shots of the phone though, and good taste in gear.
Can you listen to a graph? Nobody gives a fk about a graph dude. I've seen graphs that are superior yet the sound the headphone produces isn't great or my sound. His experience means soo much more. Audiophiles aren't scientists, they actually like music and speaking about music first.
Can you please review the mark 6 and let us know if it's changed ❤
Supposedly improved according to Sony, noteably the crosstalk? Would beinteresting to have them measured too
Who cares, it's 1080p. Huge downgrade. Should've been 2k at least.
Just get a 120$ second hand lg with snapdragon 855 and quad dac.
Really very nice phone....for photo enthusiasts, which I'm not😊. I'm a hifi freak , for that I'm in love with my Fiio M11Pro with Final balanced B3 . After 2 years still amazing.
Nice review anyway 👌
My LG V30 had a quad DAC and you could really hear the difference on that. However my Xperia 10iii seems to just have a regular DAC which sounds like any other phone. It can handle Hi-Res etc which is fine but to drive my DT990's I need to use my Fiio external mobile DAC. Then I get great sound.
In my opinion I think Sony had to balance audio amplification with space in the device, heat distribution, space for the cameras etc. So in such a small package they went for decent sound with a large range of audio codecs so that listening on the go is decent but not fantastic. In other words convenience of mobility vs out-and-out audio amplification.
Most of the money went to the camera's and the display.
Ironically my LG took better pics than my 1 V. I haven't dug into the settings yet, but for now...
I'm glad you've done a sound review on a cell phone, most tech influences are camera photo-mad insanity, but I think you might have opened a can of worms if you review cell phones for sound quality, you might be asked to review others for viewers 😉
I found this Sony to be deficient as a Bluetooth player compared to the HTC U11 the LG G8 and the Razer Phone 2 (which I use with Focal Bathys) . I also compared it to the HiBy R6 GEN III as a wired source (using Meze Rai Penta) - no comparison . Where it shines is as a media source connected via USB in the car as a part of an Android Auto setup. It blows the iPhone 15 pro max and the Samsung S23 Ultra (and the S20 5G) out of the water as a USB player in that setting. So yes I do consider it to be an Audiophile smartphone (with caveats) ......
The internal dac still goes through the android's resampling issue unless you use 3rd party apps like USB audio player. It does make a considerable difference if you play the music through that app.
I use it, but my v60 sounds better than my Xperia 5 iv
FWIW Roon ARC still working on my LG V60.
Still rocking my LG V40. So sad they left the market, because whatever sorcery they used in the 'Quad DAC' system makes this thing sound like no other phone.
LG V60 is good too. I remember when the V20 came out and everyone raged about the camera hump and look at all the phones today, all with massive camera humps.
LG made the best cell phones.
Fantastic video. To manufacturers: Is it so hard to copy the audio quality of LG V series smartphones?. My V50 destroys some DAPS, as audiophile I don't see the moment of replacing it for any other device.
I tend to disagree with the OPon this one as I find the headphones jack on the V more than decent when paired with high-end earbuds.
Learned a new word, Thanks Darko!
Sir, you have a unique points in your review, Thank you
I love my 1V, but I totally agree with your view. I’m coming from a LG v60 and it is just better than the Sony. If I’m going to listen to music I’m, not reaching for the Xperia 1V. But an audio book or pod cast is great. Thanks for the video.
If SONY makes a folding phone i will trade in my Galaxy Fold. Sony had the first 4k display. Skipped it because I was loving the big screen of my Galaxy Note. Then I was going to switch to the SONY experia but the Fold 3 was now waterproof so SONY got shelved again. And now with Dex on Samsung theres no way I give that up. I picked up a 15" OLED screen display from Innocn for less than $200 USD and its the ultimate Dex accessory. Meanwhile I keep buying Sony XM3, XM4, XM5 and WH XM4.
Flexible display technology is not yet mature, I think thats why Sony did not do it. And hence you see many people complaining about defective folding displays. They were the first few to announce flexible display, and flexible color display. So Sony knows what they are doing.
Thw convenience of always having a headphone jack is a big reason why I bought a Zenfone 9 last year. I haven't even compared it to my dedicated desktop and portable amp's.
Thanks for this review JD because the fact that this phone has a 3.5mm jack often gets overblown as if you can no longer get sound from any other phone. Kind of like how the Apple dongle which is only a DAC gets overly praised by some and hated by those who like to compare it to DAC/Amp combos. Your comparison cover a larger sphere of use cases and show where the strength and weaknesses of this device.
Does anyone recall the LG V30? The audiophile champ as reviewed by Stereophile? Well, its B&O tuned DAC really does sound superb.
And I'm actually on my second handset now, with another sealed & boxed waiting in the wings. I wasn't taking any chances!
Have you actually watched the video?
@@DarkoAudioWell, I thought I did, but I'll admit that I somehow missed the LG comparison. Me bad😪
I bought my LG G8 right after I heard LG was getting out. The G8 may become my "DAP" someday, although the Shanling M3 ultra DAP looks interesting.
I have NO IDEA why people still ask for a 12 or 15 years old tech Face Lock feature. Which is NOT very safe.
Yeah, I don't get the appeal either.
They are used to Face ID and think it works the same way. The masses are not informed nor do they care until it affects them.
I had an older HTC phone around 2012 with a fantastic dac built in, no phones Ive had since have matched it
Which htc phone model it is?? Can you share?
Is it the HTC One X? My first smart phone bought on clearance sale for US150. The earphones that came with it was good and the sound was great. The phones I bought after that including HTC and Samsung didn't sound good at all until I brought the LG V30. Now that's a phone with a great sound with headphones or using as a music source, dac engaged or not.
Nice pick with the Gang Gang Dance. Banger of an album.
Be interested to hear if the Sony Experia 1 6 is any better
Was that test done with the audio settings turned off or on? I tried it with the MDR z7m2 with all the audio settings on and sound was really shallow but when I switched them off the sounds became really fuller and more details and soundstage.
I use a Hiby R6 MkIII wired for my IEM's. I use the Sony as my wired Android Auto USB audio source. It has outperformed the Iphone 5 pro max wired. It's performance has been superb.
There's no such thing as a iPhone 5 pro max. It's just an iPhone 5
I have the same experience with my xperia V III, a very clean, detailed sound coming from the headphone socket, but it lacks any oomph. I always use a (Cayin RU-6) dongle.
I do really like the long, thin formfactor and the telelens of the Xperia though (but for point and shoots the camera app definitely drops the ball compared to pretty much any other phone at its pricepoint)
It's definitely the phone I'd choose!
people are habitual of cheap phones.... i just wish that SONY do not stop making phones.... it's a wholesome phone, better than a lot of stuff in the market
€1400 for a great DAP with basic smartphone functionality was never going fly. So who is the target customer? Not audio junkies / Gen Y/Z! I can also imagine Sony making sure there was no competing with their own DAP's - which are already a niche market (I guess same is also true for Sony smartphones in general)
Sony already removed it once by dumbly and blindly following apple/ the industry. But they swiftly put it back given how it's part of sonys heritage, and rightfully so.
Have you tried unlocking high resolution sound by installing usb audio Player Pro and set it to use the internal high resolution DAC and their proprietary audio driver instead of Androids driver?
So you think that will improve the sound of the DAC and headphone amp?
In my experience, any move to bitperfect playback is dwarfed by hardware changes.
@@DarkoAudio Yes, I think it will. It is also not only about being bit perfect but about utilizing the onboard DAC better by using the apps internal HiRes Audio Driver instead of the Androids limited default driver. AudioQuest recommends using that player with their dragonfly USB DAC's
I don't know whether the change will be big enough for you. It is relatively cheap to try out. Please tell me what you think.
I also have a Dragonfly Cobalt with a serially attached Jitterbug FM, and that will of course always sound better.
And please remember to turn off spacious sound in the audio settings for cabled headphones and in the Bluetooth settings for your hifi-grade headphones. It only improves low- and medium quality headphones. My Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 sounded distorted, imprecise and blurry with spacious sound turned on.
@@DarkoAudio I talked with the developers of the USB Audio Player Pro whether this phone has an internal HiRes DAC. Here is their answer:
Thank you for contacting us. Yes, you need to enable the HiRes driver
manually (first item in the app's settings) and then enable the 32-bit
format in the HiRes driver format. Then turn off Dolby in the Android
settings. Using this combination, the Sony should play in the highest
quality.
@@DarkoAudio can I ask if implementing my suggestions changed the audio quality significantly to the better?
It's got everything to do with undervolting, and I wish that Sony could figure it out. I'd much rather have a Walkman Phone than an Alpha Camera Phone.
Great video, thank you for this review that we needed. Please consider reviewing the headphone jack quality of the Asus Zenfone 10 too.
Still kept my lg v40 alive. 😢
Usually Sony limits the signal output and "contrast" of audio output with some safety values. When I was younger I did some kernel modding(on Android Sony Ericsson phones) as well as flashing different drivers on older Java platform phones(mostly on the K800i) And great results were accomplished. I also own now 1 V and I came to your video when I was in doubt to buy over ear headphones when I work and I don't want to power on the Yamaha system on the PC. Usually I can't stand anything on or over my ears, that's why I am not a fan of headphones.
I owned the previous Sony flagship and what you’ve just said applied to that too. Its headphone port didn’t sound as good as basically any dap that I tried. Really nice phone though
overheating much, cough cough :-(
Nope not this phone. @@JoeGillian0
defenition of high end sound is a exact replica of the original, not speaking of warmer sound of harsher hights, but as the original intended.
More warmth or less hights is like a sauce, you like that sauce, its fine, but its not in line with the reproduction of the original.
i miss the point of reference of this review,because there is soo much hammered on warmth and the hights.
I wonder did they forget to make obvious dac activation as I got disappointed by LG V60 at first. When I got it all was good
Good point. I remember the day I turned on the quad DAC on the V60.
On the 1 V, Dolby ATMOS, Sony Spatial & other garbage are switched on by default. But everyone watching this is going to know to correct those settings immediately.
Great review👍. I would add that not including cable and plug head for the price they charge is a put-off too.
EXCELLENT VIDEO, can you please make the same for the experia vi ?
Thank you - I'm also someone who has wondered about the audio quality of the Sony phone's headphone output in comparison to my old LG V30, as well as my little dongle dac thing. It's interesting that Sony say that their audio circuitry can cope with hi-res. Did you play with that in Apple Music (sorry to bring that up again!)? I'm trying to work out what's going on with that in Android, as my dongle dac has an LED that changes colour when it receives hi-res, and it does do that when I use it with my Samsung S20FE (Android 13), but it doesn't do it with my LG (Android 9), despite Apple Music having the option in the settings menu.
LG has that stock app (LG HiFi?), too, that tells you if the quad DAC is employed, if you connected high impedance headphones, etc.
Vivo x series pro plus models have hifi chips. The sounds on aux is just superb
This is exactly what I felt when I got my 1 V. Ended up still favoring my hidizs DH80s USB C dac/amp. Also, this might be placebo but I genuinely noticed better sound quality when connected to my laptop on windows with the DH80s as opposed to the DH80s connected to the 1 V. Would you try testing that and see if it makes a difference? If it doesn't then I'll assume its the DH80s software being finnicky or just placebo. Thank you. Great video btw, informative and confirmed my observations on this phone's jack and internal DAC/AMP.
EDIT: I would like to mention I have every audio processing option turned OFF on both devices, nothing extra on windows at 30% vol and on Sony dolby, DSEE, 360 upmix all turned off and since i use spotify I have turned off normalize audio and set quality to very high regardless of connection quality.
It's true. Audio sounds better in PCs
Now I wonder how good Asus phone Rog 8 sounds compared to Xperia 1 V.