yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Software Development] lokogan:
Just want to share my experience with Nero, many thanks to the op for creating this mod.

I have an exynos S7 edge setup with custom TW MM rom. To my ears, the music app that provides the best sound output (whether via headphones, Bluetooth or WiFi stream) was Neutron. I paid for this questionable app. Love it's sound, however, unable to use it (the UI is unbearable). Needing an alternative, I looked to other apps including Black Player EX (beautiful and intuitive UI) and Power Amp Beta. I spent a considerable amount of time testing Power Amp hoping one of its many settings could give life to my phone.

To my disappointment, the quest to replicate Neutron's ability to deliver a true, clear, warm and non-fatigued sound failed. It wasn't just different apps/playback engines, I have tried ARISE/Viper with Audiophile and Lover of Sounds profiles; I applied different Irs on both new and older super driver. In my desperation, I even attempted to use Dolby Atmos. Yes, I was able to change the sound output using different setups/settings. More often, the results were lower quality sound and most definitely more tiring on prolonged listening sessions.

I was about to give up when I arrived here. With Nero's help, I was able to use Black Player and get pleasant sound. In fact, I am having a hard time distinguishing the music output from Neutron and Black. Will need more testing on different headphones, BT and stream, but I have a feeling I have found a gem and that my problem has been solved. Once again, thank you op for this mod and for beautiful sound.

I do have have one question, hopefully someone with technical knowledge can answer. Thank you kindly in advance for the assistance.

Am I correct to understand that, with Nero installed, unless specifically programmed, all music apps will send audio directly to phone's DAC for processing, thus reducing the probability that the individual app will add color to the output sound?
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Well technically every audio stream would get into the dac (if there is one), the question is how many processing is being done before it is finally routed there. This leaded us to an obvious idea - what if we minimize the amount of processing made on source by not only getting rid if third-party effects (dolby/srs/viper/whatever), but even a stock andoid FX. The result became Nero - simple & effective solution fo optimizing existing audio. To reduce the amounf of "coloring" you have to delete

every

effect - this soundalive samsung stuff makes difference on speakers, but makes headphones play like crap, you need to delete it in audio_effects.config files a t least.

Btw, "heavy" music players like Neutron & PowerAmp are using their own software dsp's (effects to tune audio), which means that they are not reproducing any "true" (i've seen people claiming this:laugh:) sound by any means. And the last thing: samsung has a history of implementing wolfson dac's into their products, but speaking with technicians i found that hardware-wiring implementation is very bad, on the other side everything will also rely on the whole software system. I'm not sure that samsung paid proper attention to it (just like the HW side).

There are plenty ways to ruin great audio capabilities: lg v20 & axon7 has great dac's, but again - manufacturers didn't pay proper attention to it & this devices are able to perform sound a lot better. There is a problem with android itself - like we had downsampling (from source to 44.1 before in routed to dac) in the past. There might be a overquantisation with OpenCL at the end of the dsp route. ROM/Kernel implementations or lack of them. Now the most simple problem - any radio signal made by bluetooth/wifi/radio&telephony might&would interfere audio rendering even on "closed"-wired audio routing on the motherboard. This is just a smartphone, even though it might have great dac on board. It's not a good solution for audiophile & lossless formats anyways)

Consider - i am not a professional audio technician & my skills and knowledge on android audio system is limited. The info & stuff that i have i was collectiong for the past year of development the mod while speaking with right people, who knows subject better than me.
[Android Software Development] HaTrED_:
Mate, as an HTC 10 user, which version would you recommend me for trying?

I'm using a custom rom - DU 11.1 - and I'm in doubt between Nero and Kronos for HTC (which I suppose is for a sense based rom!)
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Kronos is for sense-based roms, to install it anywhere else - download zip to pc, open it, delete all files named "mixer_paths_XXX" from it & flash. Kronos has a lot more setprop values to optimise audio than any other mod. If it doesen't work go on for Nero.
[Android Software Development] BodhiBrock:
The updated Arkamy mod sounds nice on HTC 10. Very crisp and tight...could use a little deeper bass.
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Use presets
[Android Software Development] BodhiBrock:
Where?
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Updated Arkamys port post with Guide how to do that
[Android Software Development] BodhiBrock:
Awesome. Thanks

---------- Post added at 01:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 PM ----------

Do you have any recommendations for presets?
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
I use 10, 13, 16
[Android Software Development] BodhiBrock:
I tried preset 16 and lost audio...switched to 11 and its back. 11 seems louder than the default 10. Going to try more...see what works and what doesn't. Thanks again.

EDIT: 16 works. I must've put a space in the line or something. These presets make it a good mod better.
[Android Software Development] fhLan:
The newest arkamys now keep force closes on me. Is that because it only work on qc devices and can I still use preset with the previous version?

Edit: I do can use preset with previous arkamys. But I still don't know what the cause of the force close

---------- Post added at 03:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 PM ----------

How about pandora? Will it actually work with poweramp or neutron?
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Strange, smali are the same, just reduced app size. No qc, or other devices is done by script installer - it knows what to do) Try installing this arkamys, than navigate app's apk file & install it (or try on a clean rom, by reflashing it without wipes).

Pandora works with anything, the info was written on players, regardless of mods/patches.
[Android Software Development] fhLan:
Do you mean flash the previous then install the apk from the latest one?
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Yeah, reflash it, than freeze if it keeps bugging, go into apk folder at /app, press on it & reinstall, it might update installation stuff at /data. Really strange it's that buggy, cause again - i just resized it by using old apk as a base.
[Android Software Development] Slypnslyde:
So arkamys can't be flashed with b&o because arkamys isn't showing up in system
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Yes, i told you B&O blocks any other effects rendering
[Android Software Development] BodhiBrock:
Does B&O have presets?
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
We can pull some from asus devices, but they all are weird. Need ui to tune on the go, but idk how to port it.
[Android Software Development] fhLan:
Does B&O equals to ice sound?
[Android Software Development] SSNJR2002:
What is the ui actually? Is it audio wizard?
[Android Software Development] Alex Tian8800:
Yes, Audio wizard...
[Android Software Development] Joe199799:
Tried flashing Pandora in TWRP, it kinda just crashed TWRP and restarted my phone
[Android Software Development] veez21:
I think pandora just has a reboot cmd in updater-script. TWRP didn't crash.
[Android Software Development] Joe199799:
I don't think it installed though
[Android Software Development] veez21:
why?
[Android Software Development] Joe199799:
Because there's no evidence that it did no apps went onto my phone after flashing or does it just work
[Android Software Development] veez21:
No, pandora doesn't install apps. It just places custom libs in the system and sets some build properties related to sound. Try checking /system/su.d/pandora_prop if it's there.
[Android Software Development] Joe199799:
Negative my su.d folder is empty
[Android Software Development] veez21:
Well, it probably didn't install then.
[Android Software Development] Joe199799:
Tis what I was saying from the beginning thanks anyways, I appreciate the help
[Android Software Development] veez21:
:good:
[Android Software Development] Raven_999:
UI stands for "User Interface", not audio wizard..
[Android Software Development] veez21:
No, I think he meant the app. Since B&O is from asus, then he assumed that the ui is audio wizard, which is asus' audio fx app.
[Android Software Development] SSNJR2002:
Oh cmon man. I am not that stupid :p. I meant is the icesound ui actually asus audio wizard app. Not ui being "Audio wizard".

---------- Post added at 09:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 AM ----------

Exactly! Thank you!
[Android Software Development] Raven_999:
Sorry man if I in some way offended you. I'm taking my words back ?
[Android Software Development] SSNJR2002:
No problem man. I find it funny now..... Lol:good:
[Android Software Development] Filip01:
Hello, i have Nexus 5 stock Marshmallow 6.0.1 and i want to install Nero or Pandora. Im on the stock rom so i dont know how to dirty reflash, i only know how to wipe cache and dalvik. can i install the mod? thank you

Odesláno z mého Nexus 5 pomocí Tapatalk
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Yeah you can, but if you want to go back, you still would need to reflash rom. Or, make a nand backup first.
[Android Software Development] Filip01:
Ok i will backup. Thank you

Odesláno z mého Nexus 5 pomocí Tapatalk
[Android Software Development] k_l_o:
Hey,

I'm currently running latest LeeDroid, on an US Unlocked HTC 10 with latest firmware. I've flashed the Arkamy mod over Kronos. When I edit the preset line, after rebooting, I get Arkamy error windows, the first one is to be expected as [MENTION=6366997]UltraM8[/MENTION] stated, but I keep getting the error message every time I "OK" out of it. I can't do anything expect repeatedly hit the "OK" button. Had to restore from a backup and now back on just Kronos. How did you manage to get your Arkamy mod to work? Any help would be appreciated...

---------- Post added at 04:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:57 PM ----------

Hi UltraM8

I'm trying to use Arkamy on top of Kronos on my HTC10. After flashing Arkamy, I don't see the app in my app drawer, nor can I find the apk in /app. Any suggestions? Also, if I edit the preset, after rebooting, I get constant Arkamy Crash windows and the only thing I can do on my phone is hit the "OK" button in the crash window. I don't mean the initial arkamy service error. I hit "OK" on that, another pops up, then another, another, etc...

Any suggestions? Thanks
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Interesting. Will try apk step back to oversized one. Wait for update.
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Yes.
[Android Software Development] Mithias:
This might be a silly question but do I have to run rooted for Kronos and Arkamsys to work (on HTC 10)? I'm running Leedroid but run it un-rooted. Normally I dirty flash the ROM, then Kronos then Arkamsys before wiping dalvik and cache. I *think* the sound quality is improved by doing so but can't tell if its just a placebo effect, saw a comment above about checking su.d which I don't have running un-rooted so can't verify if its installed and working.
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Yes, root is required.
[Android Software Development] Mithias:
Doh! Was a placebo effect then! Is there anyway to get it working unrooted? What about installing whilst rooted then dirty flashing ROM unrooted? I think I can backup and restore su.d scripts as part of Aroma.
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Pandora will work without root. But without init.d/su.d scripts it's not that great. Why don't you root the device?)
[Android Software Development] Mithias:
I use my phone for work and it means we use a particular 2FA program which refuses to work with a rooted phone. My banking app also detected root even with things like Magisk hide configured etc. Shame as when I'm at work I sit there listening to music most of the time so could do with some extra oomph!

So flashing Kronos and Akamys has no effect if you're not rooted? Will Pandora do anything? The HTC 10 already has a kick ass sound when paired with some decent headphone but theres alway room for improvement :)
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Kronos partially would work same as Pandora. Arkamys... well might work, to be honest i didn't try it on non-rooted device))
[Android Software Development] fhLan:
I did that and It was still force closing but only a few times, but I didn't hear any change and the app wasn't running properly

---------- Post added at 06:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 PM ----------

Maybe you can make the script to write the actual build.prop
[Android Software Development] lulzBoB:
Hey I've searched the thread but still have some (maybe dumb) questions that [MENTION=6366997]UltraM8[/MENTION] or someone else can answer me. I have a rooted S-On m8 which currently has no Sense based rom installed. I have installed Pandora since first I thought Kronos is for Sense Rom only. UltraM8 stated in some earlier Posts you can actually get Kronos to work on other Devices buy removing some specific lines. So my Question is, is it really possible to make Kronos run on non Sense Rom Devices? Is there any improvement compared to Pandora or would you just advise me to stay with Pandora?
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Delete mixer_paths files in Kronos m8 zip & try flashing it, should work
[Android Software Development] BodhiBrock:
I haven't had an Arkamy force close or error since UltraM8 updated the mod and that was only once per reboot. Did you download the file recently? Maybe try a fresh download.
[Android Software Development] DaveedDB:
This also happened to me using the one with the small apk after flashing kronos ,I just keeps popping up that it closed and can't use the phone because as soon as you select OK it pops up within one second
[Android Software Development] k_l_o:
Thanks for your response...

I downloaded last night...
[Android Software Development] AoidioPlip3:
Ainur NERO after using all the sound effects were not working on Xperia z3
[Android Software Development] lulzBoB:
I don't understand you. Do you mean nero is not working properly on your device together with other mods ? That was never intended as stated in the first post.

NOTE: This mod is INCOMPATIBLE with ANY other mods! You either use them, or NERO!

---------- Post added at 04:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 AM ----------

Well that didn't quite hit the mark. :( May the Problem be that im using a Nougat based Rom (RESURRECTION REMIX for the m8)? Also i noticed you mention a v4 in the patchnotes of the m8 KRONOS mod but i couldn't find any information regarding it. Or am i just misreading something?
[Android Software Development] veez21:
Anybody who doesn't have a force stop on Arkamys.

Please do this command in Terminal emulator:

pgrep arkamys

If some random number shows up then arkamys is up and running, if nothing shows up then it's not working. This is just to check if it's running or not.
[Android Software Development] Mithias:
Just tried that and I get nothing, so I guess Arkamys definitely does need root to have an effect
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Strange in most situations the root of the problem between sense-based & non-sense is mixer. Well it might be a Nougat prob, the last version i did was like a hundred years ago)
[Android Software Development] lulzBoB:
Np thanks for your responses and you work anyway : ) really love ainur. Gonna hook up logcat later on and see if I can find out more about the problem. Just out of curiosity.
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
Hi guys. I have a small suggestion to the community. It's been a two day conversation upon android audio system at Ainur telegram chat with a person you are familiar with. This conversation made it clear that people providing users with valuable mods are not yet prepared to face the reality i've described in "mythbusting" post in this thread. I feel kinda sad at this moment, because i believe that unix based operating systems are not state of art & they can't be measured by subjective feelings you might have within your human senses - instead it's mathematics+common logic & the beauty here is very near to simple fact that there is only one way making something fully work - the right way where you can recreate the environment to 100% equal as it is at source device you are actually porting something. I hope that community is still about learning & teaching each other in order to make great things in the future, rather than being deceived by good intentions with fake implementations coming from people who's skills were shown to be at a critical 0 level.

The thing i actually think of - is creating a wiki for android third-party audio effects over the web, so that this info can be maintained by people with better knowledge&skills, or can be easily found by anyone who is really interested in both porting & making/compiling/tuning android audio capabilities in general. Thx everyone both here & 4pda. I still believe that united we may move mountains & achieve something 100% valuable and properly designed.
[Android Software Development] chdloc:
Talking about myths: There is nothing inherently wrong with Unix and Android that would cause audibly inferior audio fidelity. I have spent considerable amount of time looking at AOSP code and making measurements on Nexus and Pixel devices. On those devices -- if no audio processing is requested -- the only component touching the audio stream are the resampler (44.1 kHz to 48 kHz for most streaming services and/or CD rips), mixer, and volume control, see libaudioflinger. While the Android volume control (rocker) and mixer do seem to add some non-linear distortion that can be measured (mostly in pre-Nougat builds as everything was done using fixed-point arithmetic), it is very unlikely that the distortions are audible. Those of you who are still concerned about those distortions, you could just max out the Android volume, thereby bypassing volume processing, and control final audio volume with analog volume control. [MENTION=281070]bjrmd[/MENTION] has an excellent app for Qualcomm devices that lets you do exactly that.

As you've said, none of the audio mods available objectively improve anything. Sure, they may make the audio sound different and if folks like the sound they produce, that's great. Audio quality is a very subjective matter. Audio fidelity on the other hand is not.
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
This is what i've talking about - since you've showed us actual graphs on offloading vs non-offloaded effects, i'm gonna update Nero, to backport offloading compatibility. The thing i'm actually super interested in - is measurements for Pandora builds, how does that affect the sound. I never stated that both pandora or Nero are super friendly mods to audio system itself. I'm quite happy with biquads, but it works only for Qualcomm, while MTK lacks for mixer support. Only pandora gave any audible results & somehow improved the scene on my m2 note device. If you have any suggestions else can be done - i'm totally in.

I also have a small question on fidelity - for example there might be a guy who likes to listen to vinil rips of beloved music, while on the other hand there might be another person that is loving remastered versions of the same songs. Both have different (subjective) ideas on how fidelity should sound like. How are we about compromise that? Measuring the encoder/decoder in general, cause mp3 codecs for example were like totall s***t compared to nowdays.
[Android Software Development] chdloc:
OK, I just looked at Pandora. I only have a Nexus 5 and a Pixel to test and I can tell you with high confidence that it will have zero effect if I leave sfx disabled. Also, most of the build.prop entries you modify/add are unknown to AOSP (you can grep for them yourself), and by extension, Google builds.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating my biQuads mod in any way. It has its disadvantages in that it only works on Qualcomm devices (as you noted) as well as only with wired headphones and built-in speakers, i.e. no USB or Bluetooth headphones.

Here are my 2 cents as an audio fidelity advocate: I'd leave the audio subsystem alone, of course unless the OEM put in some whacky processing that cannot be disabled. Most modern smartphones are perfectly capable of delivering (at least) decent audio fidelity. Instead, get a pair of good-quality headphones and fine-tune the overall response to your personal preference. Any well-implemented system-wide EQ should do the job -- I read that VIPER has a good EQ, I've never tried it myself.

You are confusing audio fidelity (crosstalk, noise floor, nonlinear distortions; objective, cannot be improved/compromised on) with audio quality (all those flowery words uttered by "audiophiles"; highly subjective, can be modified to someone's liking).

Sure, I'm generally not against giving users the lipstick (audio libraries, mods, etc) to put on their pigs (poorly recorded/mastered/encoded audio).
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
By sfx disabled you mean dsp offloading, right? But again the only cpu's with dedicated dsp capabilities are qc & i've seen something same on kirin. Pretty close to exynos, but in terms of MTK - we are super limited by possibilities - you either patch/mod standard sfx, color the sound with any third-party effect, or try compiling full custom rom/kernel solution (wich imo, is the best way with any device), but you barely can find any sources for mtk device, which makes compiling almost impossible task.
[Android Software Development] chdloc:
Not necessarily. Virtually all apps offer some sort of sfx, either the standard Android ones or their own secret sauce. When apps do their own processing, audio is never offloaded.

Pretty sure you can choose to disable sfx in all of them.

By the way, the easiest way to check whether audio is being offloaded is to run the following command in a shell while audio is playing:

cat /proc/asound/card0/pcm*p/sub0/status | grep -v closed

If the command does not return anything, then audio is being offloaded. On my Pixel, only Google Play Music offloads compressed audio to the DSP.

If audio is being offloaded you can examine the mixer by executing

tinymix

in a root shell with and without DSP offloading enabled. For example on my Pixel I see lot's of "Audio Effects Config" entries as well as a few other hints that point toward some sort of audio effects being available in theory. In my case nothing is happening there, whether audio is being offloaded or not. That tells me that the DSP is not doing any effects processing.
[Android Software Development] UltraM8:
hmm i wanna try second command with qwsp configuration file - it's like holding the mapping for some sfx for offload or something & on different devices there are different sets of possible effects that can be offloaded.
[Android Software Development] smorgar:
The best sound mod. Thank you!
[Android Software Development] dolly1979:
best and the only "real" audio mod in the forum.

and please update ainur nero....

i'm using galaxy tab p1000 + voodoo + nero.

Poweramp sound repressed? all eq are off.

i also try AIMP but the music fell too warm not enough detail/separation.

so now i'm using rocket music player, opusAMP or hikiplayer. all three Eq are off and not sound repressed like poweramp.