yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] albireox:
I don't think anybody on this thread said something about higher volume means better sound quality. If the G7 uses the same "quad DAC" as the V30 (which personally I don't know if it's true or not) , then if it detects any headphones with impedance < 50ohm it routes the audio through the "standard" Qualcomm DAC. If the input is > 50ohm then it routes audio through the high quality DAC which seems to be the ESS ES9218P and also amplifies it. So in this case having <50ohm headphones really means you receive lower quality sound since the Qcomm DAC has clearly lower specifications than the ESS one. Again, I might be wrong with this assumption but this is how things work on the V30.

Second, there are a lot of people with high quality headphones that have lower than (but close to) 50ohm impedance that can't be driven by the Qcomm DAC and amplification. I gave the example of AudioTechnica M50x (38ohm) that, for me at least, don't sound loud enough and that's why I mostly use Dragonfly Black DAC with this phone (and will probably use with any other future phone).

If you use Momentum 2, that has 18ohm AFAIK, it's clear that they'll sound quite loud on this setup.

If anybody has better insight about how things work on the audio side of the G7, please enlight us.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Falkentyne:
Thank you for this useful post. You can indeed tell better sound quality by having the hifi dac activated even at the same volume Things like treble response in the mids can show it.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] dannejanne:
That can't be the case as the sound quality gets worse if I disable the quad-DAC from quick settings while listening to music with my Momentum 2 that are only 18ohm. The quad-DAC clearly is used all the time unless I disable it myself. This is why tricking the phone makes no difference to sound quality only volume. So the Qualcomm DAC is only used if the user intentionally disable the quad-DAC. This is true even on lower ohm headphones. This is the thing people don't seem to get.

It works exactly the same on V30. I had one prior the G7. V10 as well that I had a while ago.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] albireox:
Are you sure on the V30 the quad DAC was available for low impedance headphones? I remember it wasn't, but I might be wrong of course, I sold the phone months ago. If you're right about the G7 using the ESS DAC all the time then great, but still there is a pretty big chunk of headphones <50 ohm that can't be properly driven by the LG's solution.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] xeizo:
Yes, this construction gives some weird results, like my Senheiser HD600S at 600 Ohms are playing much louder than any of my cans :D

Those cans around 32 Ohms needs to be maxed out on volume, the HD600s sounds real loud below half volume ...

A simple impedance toggle in the Quad Dac settings would solve the issue and make everyone happy!

edit. Yes, it is indeed ES9218P like in V30:

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/news/newsroom/lg-g7-thinq/
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] mjahrenel:
Based from experience, i am using a 3.5mm adaptor to force the aux mode which is better than the low impedance mode. I am also using the hifi status application to verify the mode im in...
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Joe199799:
So if I buy a 3.5mm adapter put it in the headphone jack and plug a pair of headphones in it will think it's in aux mode?
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] mjahrenel:
Yes. First insert the adaptor without plugging your earphones on. Then you can plug in your earphones to the adaptor cable. I have verified that this setup forces the phone to be in AUX mode...
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Joe199799:
Does it work with any headphones or just high inpendence ones. Thanks for the answer
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] mjahrenel:
It works with any headphones. As long as you do the trick. I am using a low impedance earphone on mine. Just dont forget to plug the extension cable first without the earphones to trigger it to aux mode
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Sleep-_-23:
The Quad Dac is active whatever your headphones impedance are.

You can check it by downloading some MQA tracks and play it using the native music player or usb audio player pro, better if you have Tidal hifi since tidal streams MQA labeled as master quality.

The v30/35 and the g7 are the only phones that can handle the MQA codec because the Quad Dac support it, the Qualcomm dac doesn't. It's very simple if you heard something the Quad Dac is working, go and try yourself.

About MQA
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] xeizo:
With high impedance phones you do not need the adapter trick, it sets boost mode automatically. Only low impedance phones needs the trick, and yes it works fine and gives you access to ridiculously high volume levels :)
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Joe199799:
I don't have high impedence headphones and rely on a separate EQ to boost the volume so it's somewhat loud lol
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] butrdtost:
How does this quad DAC do with clipping? I almost exclusively listen to audio from my phone in my vehicle. I am building the audio system piece by piece as I can afford it but am wary about turning things up on the source as I'm afraid of those flat tops destroying my gear. The audio on this is the main reason I'm looking at getting this phone. I have come to love powerful but clear music.

No longer can I stand getting into people's vehicles when they turn the sound up and it sounds... Zomgh mehhhh! It makes me wanna tear my precious ears off ?

If I had the money I'd be buying new speakers for every vehicle I might ride in lol ?
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] jackid:
agree here . Im very disappointed over this. I got g7 because i like good sound and wanted to try something new. But when the sound sounds the same as in g6 without dac ,i mean whats the point with dac if you can not boost the sound and at the same time deliver good quality? Im not new to this as im a HTC user original but it looks i have no choice but to sell the phone and get me a new HTC device again. I tested the g7 against htc E8 ,Htc 10 Evo and Zte Axon 7, in non of them have this stupidest thing like in Lg g7. I thought dac was broken so i sent it to service, all they did was to reinstall OS and send it back ,still sound the same. I guess its the same thing with V30 ? so no point on trying a another Lg. I can just end this with saying HTC is the audio device no1 even if i dont like usb c jack.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] redrol:
That is a lot of whining over a simple solution. Use a damn headphone extender cable. I have 30ohm IEMs and this easy thing makes them sound perfect.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] tlh1985:
There is an app called hifi status. Cost 99cent on the play store. It show what audio mode it is on. Aux is enabled if you plug in a headphones extender. Basically it allow low impedance to play at a louder volume. Hifi is activated when u use a high impedance headphones. U can trick it using a impedance adapter. Same as the Aux mode expect u plug in the impedance to the headphones extender before removing it and plug in your headphones. You can hear a slight difference in aux and hifi. The hifi overall sound is tighter.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] xeizo:
Yes, it's frustrating with ignorant people complaining their 5$ earbuds doesn't thump like hell.

This phone can drive my 400$ Sennheiser HD600s way louder than needed and it's sounds absolutely gorgeus, not the least inferior to a 2000$ HiFi-setup. It's easily the best sounding phone out there, but you can't have it if your buds are inferior ...

And for any can, plugging in a extender before the actual can is a very easy trick to get the extra juice of up to 1.0V output. Not that hard. Of course it would have been even better if there where a software switch to toogle, but for one it would have been prohibited in all of Europe because of high decibel levels which is forbidden by law in the EU.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] MaanasDwivedi:
Hello,

I'd like to know if my HD598s would trigger the high impedance mode?

Thanks.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] redrol:
It is 50ohm so it might or might not.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] MaanasDwivedi:
Is an increase in volume upon enabling the DAC an indicator of high impedance mode?
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] redrol:
Just use a small headphone extension cable. Plug the cable in first, then the phones into the cable. Done.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Sarthak8266:
It can be solved by update, if lg take a look on this,

Wishing that lg will fix it next update, so that listeners can get adequate volume for lower impedance headphone less than 50ohm, cause when listening to score of movies require quite a more volume.

I have msr7 audio technica, i think which sounds 60% of its maximum volume, quite disappointed
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] ShadoV90:
I think volume problem should be solved by two options:

- old option is like it is now (automatic)

- new option will be like user can write/choose manually values like sensitivity,impedance and/or max input power(like 20mW in case of SoundMagic E50C)

and there should be alhorithm which should calculate optimal volume for headphones... but i think it will never happen.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] ShadoV90:
Sorry for double post but i don't want to edit post after two days... :)

So rooted users can take advantage from root in case of volume if they like to use DTS:X mode.

In my case i had to install audio modification library module for magisk (possibility to edit audio files)

I found very interesting file.

That file is: /vendor/etc/audio_effects_tune.xml

And there i found some entries. They have originally value 0.0, but after change it to higher numbers... i discovered that volume using DTS mode is increased.

<DTS-GAIN Type="DTS_LL_TARGET_GAIN_HEADSET" Gain="0.0"/> i don't know what that entry do YET...

but this entry

<DTS-GAIN Type="DTS_VS_GAIN_HEADSET" Gain="0.0"/> - this is volume gain when you turn on DTS:X mode (it doesn't matter which preset... S2S, Wide or Front)

Earlier on my Superlux HD668B i had to use 50 volume to comfortable music listening

And after change VS_Gain_Headset to 10.0 i'm using 35 volume and i think it's the same loudness as normally 50 and without any distortion (i need to go into max in that state but i'm afraid to break my headphones). But this boosts volume only for DTS:X mode.

Investigation in progress ^_^

As you see on screenshot, there are some interesting values, but i don't have enough time to experiments. But i think every entry below <!-- CE safety --> is tuning for european "standards"
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Sarthak8266:
Bro i have g7 dac is activating below 50ohm,but requires a quite more power for better strength of details. I don't prefer dtsx mode cause I am an audiophile,i want to hear clean and crisp sound. Dtsx makes it too messy for my choice. I use the custom equiliser to achieve my sound signature.

All settings lg providing are great. It has custom eq, sound preset, digital filters, dtsx. Which satisfy all type of listeners. Lg custom equiliser is one of the finest equiliser programmed i have ever heard.

Only one thing disappoints me is gain level should manually choosen by user according to the user volume requirements below 50ohm high impedance mode is not activated but dac is working.

Guys please help to report lg to fix the issue in update

They will provide a manual impendance mode selection.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Sarthak8266:
Guys we are facing problem by using headphones below 50ohm. How can we report lg and they will fix it in update? So that a manual impendance mode selection or triggerung high impedance mode in 32ohm is activated. Our problem will be solved
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] ShadoV90:
Lg must simply edit one file.

/vendor/etc/mixer_paths_tavil.xml

<!-- ESS DAC START -->
<path name="headphones-hifi-dac">
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="15" />
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="1" />
</path>

<path name="headphones-hifi-dac-advanced">
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="2" />
</path>

<path name="headphones-hifi-dac-aux">
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="6" />
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="3" />
</path>

<path name="headphones-hifi-dac-44.1">
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="14" />
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="1" />
</path>

<path name="headphones-hifi-dac-44.1-advanced">
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="2" />
</path>

<path name="headphones-hifi-dac-44.1-aux">
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="6" />
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="3" />
</path>

<path name="headphones-hifi-dacdop">
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="15" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="1" />
</path>

<path name="headphones-hifi-dacdop-advanced">
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="1" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="2" />
</path>

<path name="headphones-hifi-dacdop-aux">
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="7" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="3" />
</path>

All they need is change AVC Volume value to 6 or 0.

0 is the loudest volume used in high impedance mode, 6-7 is for aux mode and 14-15 is for normal mode.

So changing value from 15 to 6 will boost volume to level of aux mode.

Rooted users have much easier life in this matter. Lg need to fix that.

OR maybe they need to give us posibility to manual choose some values, but there is a possibility that some idiots will damage their ears. That will lead to lawsuits. Lg wants to avoid this. So they need to create new impedance profile... Maybe for 24-50 ohms...
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Sarthak8266:
G7 has 9218p but here its written 9018?

how can we report lg so that fix in their update, is lg's developer are in xda forum, they have to pay attention towards our issue.

Manual adjustment should provided along with caution ?
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] ShadoV90:
I compared mixer paths files in my g7 and from lg v30. Both have "ES9018" entries.

But i searched for 9218 aaand found that: (who noticed typo in word "gain"?)

<!-- initial gian of headphones-hifi-dac -->
<ctl name="Es9018 Master Volume" value="0" />
<ctl name="Es9018 HEADSET TYPE" value="0" />
<ctl name="[U]Es9218[/U] Bypass" value="0" />
<!-- TERT MI2S TDM HEADPHONE -->
<ctl name="Es9018 AVC Volume" value="25" />
<ctl name="SPK Profile" value="mboom" />
<ctl name="SPK SaaM" value="0" />

<!-- Codec controls end -->

Maybe LG took part of the code for 9018 and adapted it for 9218? I don't know.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Bala_2668:
Hi i have connected the Y adapter as suggested. Its connected as AUX cable..i checked it with LG provided app "HI FI Status(LG)". The app displays the status of the type of earphones/headphones connected. It has three states Normal audio device/External/High impedance. Mine was displayed as External audio device but not as Hi impedance device...i am using soundmagic E10C which has am impedance of 42 ohms..
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Bala_2668:
Oh....forgot to mention the volume has increased after connecting the adapter
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Murbert:
Do you have a source for this information? Seems like a big assumption to me.

As for a DAC chip having better specs than another, most of the superiority is theoretical. It is hard to realize the potential at the headphone jack.

Here's a really good (long) read on DACs and what should be involved in good design. http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2012/04/odac-released.html?m=1

Edit: another thing, Ohms are only 1 part of describing how difficult headphones are to drive. Efficiency, as expressed in dB/mW is the other part of the equation. My Seahf AWK-F150C are rated at 85dB/mW, 150 Ohm. 85dB is quite inefficient. Lots of iems are well over 100dB/mW and quite easy to drive, even at <50 Ohm.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] ludovicien:
This is fake news. There is no EU law forbidding high volume.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] xeizo:
Not exactly fake news, more of mansplaining the fact that every smartphone I've tried in the EU in recent years have had low max volume output and a warning pop up well before that.

But you're right, it looks like it is not legislated, it was possibly just the smartphone makers saving money using cheap sound chips. There was a proposal or recommendation on the issue from the EU:

http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientif...ring-loss-personal-music-player-mp3/index.htm

But as far as I can tell, it hasn't happened yet.

Anyway, the LG G7 doesn't suffer from such issues and is able to put out real high volumes from it's 3.5mm socket, which I am happy and thankful for :D
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] ludovicien:
That's interesting. I have an LG Q8 which also has a quad DAC set-up although not necessarily the exact same one. When I tried the G7 in a shop it had a far lower max volume. Perhaps it had had a hard life as a display model.

As far as I remember, the EU legislation requires the user to confirm that they wish to raise the volume above a certain level. In other words, give consent to risk their ears. The low output in many devices sold in the region might be due to risk aversion on the part of manufacturers who have misunderstood this rule. When the GDPR came into force, it was obvious that many non-EU companies prefer to err on the side of caution rather than read the instructions.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] ShadoV90:
Once i tested my headphones and i set volume to max (75). I unplugged them and forgot to set lower value :D Someday i wanted to hear some music via UAPP and when i pressed play... jesus... i took off my headphones as fast i can, because they were much too loud. I know, these HP have only 56 ohms impedance, but i don't wanna hear them at full volume anymore :P That phone can play very loud.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] eeansa:
Does anyone else have problems with USB Audio player Pro listening? Mainly the fact that high impedance mode does not work with that player and my Sennheiser HD600. It works fine with LG's own player. With USB audio player pro I have to increase the volume close to maximum to have even somewhat proper loudness level. And even then the sound is very "dull". With same tracks on LG's own music player, I have the loudness level on approximately 50% and much "fuller" sound. Any thoughts on this?

---------- Post added at 06:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:57 PM ----------

And to come back to my own question. HIgh impedance mode works now with USB audio player pro as well. I'm not sure about the reason. Whether it was the fact that after connecting the headphones I first started LG's own app or tinkering with USB Audio player Pro's options. Yesterday I was changing apps all the time though, but USB audio player pro was definitely not working properly, and I'm pretty sure that in the end I settled with same options as I was using yesterday. The only difference is that yesterday I started USB audio player pro first and did not disconnect headphones at any point. Oh well, the important thing is that now it works properly and sounds amazing.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] lucaslittermentz:
Hi all. As I've read here most users notice the increase on sound volume by putting first an adapter to trigger High-Impedance mode, but has anyone been able to confirm if it increases sound quality by doing so?

On a related note, I have tried two different LG G7 ThinQ phones and both show sound "cracking" when listening without Quad DAC with my earbuds by Xiaomi (this one), like if it was clipping but it clips with high-pitched sound, like white noise, and it happens along with the songs' bass even on lower volumes. This does not happen when Quad DAC is enabled or when doing the High-Impedance trick and disabling Quad DAC.

Does it actually change anything quality-wise having Quad DAC mode enabled vs disabled for low impedance headphones/earbuds?
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] ShadoV90:
Yup, when quad dac is enabled then audio is going through ESS Sabre 9218p DAC, when it's disabled, then audio bypasses ESS DAC.

I can tell you more... about that Quad DAC option.

In mixer_paths_tavil.xml file you can see something like that (screenshot):

AVC is automatic volume control, and higher value of that means quieter sound. Less than 50 ohm headphones triggers normal mode which is value 14 in AVC. I believe it's value in dB or percentage...

AUX mode triggers 6 value and High Impedance mode triggers 0 value which means full power of that DAC.

Rooted users can change this value in /system/vendor/etc/mixer_paths_tavil.xml to unlock full volume even on low impedance (normal, less than 50 ohm) mode.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] charancherry:
I think you people are mis understood. Hifi DAC (pre-amp) will be turned on when you turn on the HiFi option. Doesn't matter what impedence headphones you plug in. Then comes the amplification part. If you connect low impedence headphones which doesn't require high voltage then you don't need high amplification so inbuilt amp will not be powered on. You ask why? Okay so i am saying this because i have burned many headphones in my projects. So if your amp is giving more power to your less power required earphones/headphones there is a good chance that they will burn. If you keep the volume low when plugging them in that is fine. If accidentally you crack up the volume, Goodbye to your HiFi headphones/earphones. LG dont want this. Hence they go with the low powered amp. Please know that hifi is different and amplification is different. It will amplify more when you connect your high impedence headphones. Thats all.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] chirantantab:
Finally Someone made a sensible comment and so deep knowledge , and the full post of this thread is putting same garbage like greater than 50ohm produces /active 4dacs etc !! some people dont have basic knowledge about why hp s are less ohm like 16/18 ,ask someone here i'm sure 90% dont know the fact!! they blindly believe Some youtubers marketing policy greater than 50ohm more depth/active dacs!! and not understand the original fact!! I'm using BGVP DM6 in g7 ..only 19ohm and 16k indian price approx, i know what sound it produces ...also tested 75ohm hp, sounds bull**** ....+ wasted on impedance adapter 150ohm ...pure bull**** ....
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] Type2501:
In my use case, I really need the higher gain from the powerful amp output for my iem, even it is not very high in resistance (31ohm). And LG sadly didn't provide the option. I choose android not because I want things to be setup for me that feels "just works". I want to customize and truly own the product I bought to fit my useage.

Please just let the user choose, maybe put it under developer options. LG already toke bootloader unlock from me for heaven sake. (I use a g710vm)
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] redrol:
That is hilarious. I have the V30 and the DM6 as well. Sounds INCREDIBLE together!. I also got the 80 ohm adapter. No bueno as well.

If I want the V30 in high impedance mode, just plug in a small headphone extender (I got a 3" one) and wait a moment and then plug the headphones into the extension. Bam, as much power as the device can put out. Easy peasy.
[LG G7 ThinQ  Themes, Apps, and Mods] singh_21:
I use BeyerDynamic DT770PRO 80 OHM, and as i switch on HI-FI it work wonders, it DEFINITELY work and do wonders.