Internal Speaker Sound with Stock Rom and Lineage OS 15.1 - LeEco Le Pro3 Questions & Answers

I have two Le Pro 3 phones here, one has Lineage OS 15.1 and the other one is out of the box with stock rom. So it is very easy for me to test the sound for both roms at the same time.
I know already that stock rom offers the best audio quality with the built in internal spakers. Stock rom offers fuller and richer sound with also more bass with the internal speakers. There is no chance to have similar sound with the internal speakers using a custom rom without using any audio mods like dolby atmos or viper.
But even using these sound mods I was not able to tune the sound of the speakers similar to stock sound.
I made some longer sound tests with both phones and found that there is one big difference between stock and custom rom:
As the phone has Stereo speakers (upper one and lower one), the eqalization of both speakers is totally different with stock. While the upper speaker offers much more mid-range frequencies and nearly no highs the lower one is giving much more bass and high frequencies but nearly no mids. This effect is present with and without activated dolby atmos in stock rom.
So it seems to me that the stock rom uses different settings for left (upper) and right (lower) speakers. With headphones, both channels offer same sound, of course.
Using Lineage OS 15.1 without any sound mod, both speakers offer very similar sound characteristic. I am not able to hear different equalization between upper and lower speaker. The upper one has the same amount of highs, mids and lows like the lower one.
By using dolby atmos or viper, the sound quality improves impressingly but this effects both speakers in the same way.
Maybe becouse of this difference there is no chance to have the same sound characteristic with the speakers like in stock rom.
And maybe this info could help someone to imrove speaker-sound with lineage?

Hi @walking-desaster , maybe you can give the MIUI Ares ROMs a try and compare the sound quality.
This ROM are based on a clone of the X720 (Cool Changer S1 with JUI ROM) and should use similar or updated drivers with Nougat and MIUI 9 on top.
The ROM is posted both on 4PDA and by @tsongming in his Megadrive.
I am not sure why the version posted by Alex_Agir is different from Tsongmings megadrive, maybe he can explain.
Would be interesting to learn your experience.

Wortelstok said:
Hi @walking-desaster , maybe you can give the MIUI Ares ROMs a try and compare the sound quality.
This ROM are based on a clone of the X720 (Cool Changer S1 with JUI ROM) and should use similar or updated drivers with Nougat and MIUI 9 on top.
The ROM is posted both on 4PDA and by @tsongming in his Megadrive.
I am not sure why the version posted by Alex_Agir is different from Tsongmings megadrive, maybe he can explain.
Would be interesting to learn your experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no difference between the Rom Alex_Agir and the one on my Megadrive and I gave him credit.
I posted the file on the megadrive and will soon add it to AFH as well. Just to make it easier to get to. Alot of people use browser that do not translate sites as 4PDA very well. Plus, the Megadrive link includes additional addon, to enhance the MIUI Ares ROM, and to make installation quicker for someone new to Miui.
Like @walking-desaster, I am a big fan of audio.
In fact for me, as a hobbyist recording musician, its usually the most important aspect of my phone. But, I too have multiple Leeco's ( four) so its easy to tryout everything. Plus, I still have my old iPhone, which I use like an iPod for my car.
I agree that stock EUI sound is far superior, and modded EUI's out there seem to be just short of the stellar sound offered by stock. but its close. My issue with stock is that its using marshmallow, which I can't stand.
The Miui Ares rom has the best sound quality of any Rom that I have used since stock. To go on Stock sounds better with Dolby and custom Roms sound better with Dolby. Both sound better with Viper.
Viper is better than Dolby because it has all of the same tools. such as EQ and compression but takes it a step further with the option of being able to add profiles. The profiles include packets of .irs files. Which are convolution reverb impulses ( which are actual acoustic measurements of rooms or speakers) these convolution files allow you to simulate the sounds of room reverb and speaker acoustics. They are similar the impulse responses used in electric guitar amps and headphone emulators.
You can download profiles from my Google drive: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KtNtBOw1Hj7Rw4OVT2wWdE1ujDAZgo9x
or better yet use these instead
Use the profiles from my drive but use impulse files from sites such as these : https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2372750
Note, you have to manually add the profiles here: storage/Viper4Android/
BTW, were you aware the Leeco CDLA headphones has a DAC chip and use Dupont speakers?

Related

[Q] Loss of audio quality on custom roms

Hi, first time android owner here. I recently switched to the CM nightly builds, which I am loving, however I have noticed the audio quality has dropped of dramatically since switching from the standard oppo fw. Now I am streaming my music from google play which AFAIK was unaffected by the dolby sound and the dirac audio features of the oppo ROM. Is this something that should be expected? Its bad enough that Id rather not listen to music at all. Also is there a possibility of porting the audio features of the standard Oppo ROM to the current CM builds?
At this point I think id rather use a buggy, less functional oppo rom with great sound quality and that just sucks:crying:
I'm a music lover and have pretty good ears, I really like cm10.1 and other roms but the reason I left it (besides being a beta tester) is because of lag that happens after a few hours and also because of the issue with audio quality. Yeah it looses quality. Oh and camera quality as well
Sent from my Oppo Find 5
I haven't noticed much of a drop in quality, but I didn't stay on stock for long. Maybe I'll switch back to stock on the next beta and see what the audio and camera are like. I have no camera on my current ROM.
Sent from my Find 5 using Tapatalk 2
I should mention I'm also streaming over blue tooth when making this comparison.
earphones
osmosizzz said:
I'm a music lover and have pretty good ears, I really like cm10.1 and other roms but the reason I left it (besides being a beta tester) is because of lag that happens after a few hours and also because of the issue with audio quality. Yeah it looses quality. Oh and camera quality as well
Sent from my Oppo Find 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well didi you try to listen music with different earphones ? Shipped earphones can only work ith dirac "ON".
I tryed to use Oppo earphones on HTC and they sounds poor. Also I found poor sounding Find 5 with HTC beats audio earphones.
If you find some conclusion pls let me know, because I'm not willing to use custom rom ..... for now. :victory:
THX
Grimmy91 said:
And do you think that oppo has a better audio than htc or with the beats EQ the One is better ? Maybe with using some good headphones like AKG sennheiser etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had both HTC One X, and the Droid DNA and I think Oppo sounds better. I don't know about the New HTC One with Boom-Sound though?
Grimmy91 said:
And do you think that oppo has a better audio than htc or with the beats EQ the One is better ? Maybe with using some good headphones like AKG sennheiser etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oppo is champ !!! But they(OPPO & DIRAC) made calibration with shipped earphones.
When u use other earphones u must disable DIRAC
otherwise sound is crap.
DIRAC sounds good only with shipped earphones and far far better than anything eles !
I am big audiopile and so far there was no phone to listen music on.
http://www.cabasse.com/cabfx2012/ba...ic-on-wall-baltic-on-base-santorin-30?lang=en
I own a pair :victory:
whynotbgd said:
Oppo is champ !!! But they(OPPO & DIRAC) made calibration with shipped earphones.
When u use other earphones u must disable DIRAC
otherwise sound is crap.
DIRAC sounds good only with shipped earphones and far far better than anything eles !
I am big audiopile and so far there was no phone to listen music on.
http://www.cabasse.com/cabfx2012/ba...ic-on-wall-baltic-on-base-santorin-30?lang=en
I own a pair :victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely agree. Dirac sounds horrible with anything other than the stock earphones.
osmosizzz said:
Completely agree. Dirac sounds horrible with anything other than the stock earphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like Dirac is nothing more than marketing bull**** to describe an EQ preset that works around crummy earphones... Kinda like HTC's Beats Audio (which is just a crappy EQ preset too).
No No No
Entropy512 said:
Sounds like Dirac is nothing more than marketing bull**** to describe an EQ preset that works around crummy earphones... Kinda like HTC's Beats Audio (which is just a crappy EQ preset too).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not bull.... and for sure this is not just an EQ preset like HTCs Beats Audio.
Most of brands use branded cost effective solution (EQ based) to impress customers but Oppo does not.
DIRAC correct phase to firms up the bass, removes resonances, focuses the stereo image and makes voices stand out like you never have heard them before.
whynotbgd said:
It's not bull.... and for sure this is not just an EQ preset like HTCs Beats Audio.
Most of brands use branded cost effective solution (EQ based) to impress customers but Oppo does not.
DIRAC correct phase to firms up the bass, removes resonances, focuses the stereo image and makes voices stand out like you never have heard them before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All marketing mumbojumbo for "cheesy postprocessing and/or lame EQ preset"
The fact that it only works to "fix" Oppo's cheap earbuds is a clear sign that it is just an EQ preset designed to compensate for the deficiencies of cheap earbuds.
All of the research I've read indicates that DIRAC serves to do only one thing: Compensate for cheapo earbuds to make them sound better. It will make good earbuds/earphones sound like crap, and is unncessary with them.
When you can get Monoprice 9927s for <$10:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10823&cs_id=1082303&p_id=9927&seq=1&format=2
http://lifehacker.com/5991079/monoprice-improves-on-the-best-7-headphones-youll-ever-buy
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-headphones-under-30/
And Comply foam replacement tips for $15:
http://www.complyfoam.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Comply-T-400-Isolation-Earphone-Medium/dp/B002NUJ2RM/ (for the non-waxguard version, waxguard is $20 for three pairs)
It's pointless to waste time working around crappy cheap OEM buds.
Edit: In general, Comply foam tips are one of the best "bang for your buck" upgrades for any earbud (except ones that already have foam tips)
Yeah, honestly, this crap is like the same BS they pull with Pixel count in cell cameras.
I have some very nice Westone buds that sound amazing on any phone I've had. Turn off all the garbage and you get yourself a hell of an audio experience. These guys feel like they have to provide some audio gem in name because these bloody devices are phones, not good quality audio gear. If you want to bump your audio experience, go get a portable amp and melt your brain.
The Oppo and CM sound great. Only need I have for the DSP is to tweak the sound of the speaker for voice calls.
Is there a different type of bluetooth used by cm compared to stock Oppo ROM? I read something about different compression formats like apt-x. Perhaps cm just needs a bluetooth overhaul.
crackalac87 said:
Is there a different type of bluetooth used by cm compared to stock Oppo ROM? I read something about different compression formats like apt-x. Perhaps cm just needs a bluetooth overhaul.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had no issues with Bluetooth with my Sony bluetooth headset.
Google completely replaced the entire Bluetooth stack with 4.2
crackalac87 said:
Is there a different type of bluetooth used by cm compared to stock Oppo ROM? I read something about different compression formats like apt-x. Perhaps cm just needs a bluetooth overhaul.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to have the s3 and apt x enables headphones and the sound quality is just on another level! Standard bluetooth SBC suports stereo up to 345kbps but idk why, for the most part, they end up sounding bad in most cases. Apt-x lets better audio pass though with minimal compression.
read these two wikies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBC_(codec)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apt-X
now for dirac, it may just be an eq thing but idk. speaker sound much better with audio calls and just playing music. there is bass, and mids added (looking like an eq thing as of now). When it comes to music listening, without any mod, cm10 doesnt sound that great. With the V4A sound mod, it sounds really good. V4A sound mod on stock rom helps but not too much. IDk what oppo has done, butif there is no specific hardware thing within the phone that is activated with any rom, then i guess it;s an eq thing? anyone correct me if im wrong
osmosizzz said:
I used to have the s3 and apt x enables headphones and the sound quality is just on another level! Standard bluetooth SBC suports stereo up to 345kbps but idk why, for the most part, they end up sounding bad in most cases. Apt-x lets better audio pass though with minimal compression.
read these two wikies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBC_(codec)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apt-X
now for dirac, it may just be an eq thing but idk. speaker sound much better with audio calls and just playing music. there is bass, and mids added (looking like an eq thing as of now). When it comes to music listening, without any mod, cm10 doesnt sound that great. With the V4A sound mod, it sounds really good. V4A sound mod on stock rom helps but not too much. IDk what oppo has done, butif there is no specific hardware thing within the phone that is activated with any rom, then i guess it;s an eq thing? anyone correct me if im wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm positive it's an EQ thing. Might be able to achieve similar results by playing with DSP Manager
I feel like the audio quality improved on the external speaker with cm10.1
osmosizzz said:
speaker sound much better with audio calls and just playing music. there is bass, and mids added (looking like an eq thing as of now). When it comes to music listening, without any mod, cm10 doesnt sound that great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Entropy512 said:
I'm positive it's an EQ thing. Might be able to achieve similar results by playing with DSP Manager
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having big battery issues with my Galaxy S2 and was considering the switch to the Find5, the good sound quality being one of the strongest argument for me so the fact that Dirac is only an EQ to compensate crappy earbuds is kinda bumping me out
A long long time ago I used to listen to music on a iAudio X5 / Shure E4g combo, with great quality (the integrated EQ helped, but still wow, great sound). Now I'm on the GS2, and it's fine with a pair of Ultimate Ears 400vi but I'm not coming back to crappy earbuds, so if the only plus of the Find5 in the audio corner besides the speaker is an EQ then I guess I'll have to wait until the next big cheap thing
What do you think? Considering Oppo opened its sources from the start is it possible that the sound capabilities of the stock rom get ported to other roms like CM?
osmosizzz said:
With the V4A sound mod, it sounds really good. V4A sound mod on stock rom helps but not too much?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does it work on CM? Gotta test that right away on my S2
You definitely have to play with v4a until you get the right sound for you. And sound settings varies from headphone to headphone
Sent from my Find 5 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
---------- Post added at 05:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:00 PM ----------
May be an eq thing but stock ROM produces better sound and louder volume. Bass is also stronger on stock ROM.
Sent from my Find 5 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
whynotbgd said:
When u use other earphones u must disable DIRAC
otherwise sound is crap.
DIRAC sounds good only with shipped earphones and far far better than anything eles !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
took your statement and did a test myself on stock rom and on firefly (international) , found some good music and hooked up the stock headset in the find 5, sounds great with DIRAC , as you said, then switched headset after have playing music in a periode, then tested with DIRAC enabled on my beats audio headset (stock from htc sensation xl), and sound was still really good, not much diffrent, only beats had more bass , but that headset is also a inear headset, which usually gives more bass.
Then just today, after flashing a codefireXperimental rom, as name say, not released at all, and then tested both headsets again, this time, ofc without DIRAC, but nothing else, no audio mods at all. and stock headset is a little bit more bad in cfxp than in stock with DIRAC, but not at all as in other custom roms ive tried. then switched to beats headset, very little diffrent here, from stock rom with DIRAC and now in custom rom.
After all, i think that audio quality ,cant only be blamed at DIRAC , if you look in this link , its pretty impressive who uses DIRAC, so im sure its not crap only
whynotbgd said:
Shipped earphones can only work ith dirac "ON".
Also I found poor sounding Find 5 with HTC beats audio earphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not true, it works fine without DIRAC enabled, and after testing my own beats headset with dirac and without in custom roms, i dont hear at all that the sound is more bad with Dirac than it is without, infact i like the audio more with my find 5 and beats audio, even in cfxp, than i do with beats audio on my htc sensation xl.

What's the status of sound optimization for custom ROMs?

A big reason I got this phone was the audio experience.
Now, I'm using LineageOS (as it seems most are) and I'm wondering about how its audio quality compares to that of stock.
From what I can tell, it's not using Dolby Atmos as stock does, and I'd like to have that. But, I'm not really sure of anything beyond that. Any chance we can add that in custom, non-stock ROMs?
What else is there we can do? It just doesn't sound the same.
MelloZ said:
A big reason I got this phone was the audio experience.
Now, I'm using LineageOS (as it seems most are) and I'm wondering about how its audio quality compares to that of stock.
From what I can tell, it's not using Dolby Atmos as stock does, and I'd like to have that. But, I'm not really sure of anything beyond that. Any chance we can add that in custom, non-stock ROMs?
What else is there we can do? It just doesn't sound the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock audio is the BEST, loudest, and clearest sounding phone experiences I've ever heard. Blows away any of the earlier HTC M7-M9, as well as the Moto X Pure/Play.
LoS has issues with the audio... It's not stereo, it's distorted unless turned down fairly low, but I think it's ok using headphones/ear buds?
About the only solution to cure the distortion is to turn the gain down using Viper4Android, or ARISE (which has V4a). It also has a great EQ, some like better than Dolby Atomos, but I prefer the Dolby Atmos. ARISE has a Dolby add-on, but not sure it works?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software/r-s-e-sound-systems-auditory-research-t3379709
I tried this with AOKP, but I use the speakers too much and they still distorted or were really low with no distortion. So, back to Stock-ROOTed Nougat for me.

How to test whether your Axon 7 (on custom ROM) actually uses the Hi-Fi DAC properly?

Hello,
I've had the following ROMS on my Axon 7:
MiFavor Stock OS (Android 6.0)
CyanogenMod OS (Android 6.0)
Lineage OS (Android 7.1.1)
Resurrection Remix OS (Android 7.1.2)
AEX OS (Android 8.1.0)
However, with all these ROMs I was never really able to tell whether audio is processed through the Snapdragon 820 DAC or the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
I've been active on XDA to follow updates on audio and ROMs.
With the stock ROM's I do think the 'super HiFi' option really made the phone use the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
Also the audio playback through the built-in phone speakers was amazing (but limited in loudness because European ROM)
On LOS 14.1, it was said that the ROM used the HiFi DAC but 'distorted audio playback' was still mentioned as a bug.
Audio playback through the built-in phone speakers was poor (especially mids would give a cracking noise)
On RR OS (Nougat), I basically has the same as on LOS 14.1 (mainly because RR OS used LOS as base).
Now I'm on AEX OS and I do think the audio sounds much better than before.
(I flashed the AK4490 patch (not sure if this does anything... I've also read that custom ROM's have the Hi-FI DAC enabled by default) and I also flashed Hell'sGate Kernel (which seems to contain the CAD Audio Driver).
Audio playback through the built-in phone speakers seems really good again.
However, I'm still actually confused whether my phone actually uses the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
I've read stuff in this forums about 48 kHz vs 192 kHz playback.
AK4490 patch is supposed to enable the AK4490 DAC but I'm still a bit skeptical whether it really does use the DAC properly.
CAD Audio Driver (included in Hell'sGate Kernel) oversamples to some maximum frequency or something.
And then there's this thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/stock-roms-best-dac-t3650231 , so yeah, skeptical.
So far, I do think the audio playback sounds good... but what if it could be better, right?
Is there a way to test whether the HiFi DAC is being used and being used properly?
Also, does Dolby Atmos and Viper4Android have a negative (or maybe positive?) impact on the output signal?
I thought Viper4Android had a max. processing frequency of 48 kHz..?
TL;DR: See the title of this thread
Cheers.
Dunno how to find out if its truly being used. But i got a question.
I read so many times now that the european version (A2017G) is lacking in terms of loudness for the speakers which i cannot really believe since my axon 7 (which is the G version) with stock rom (also G version) is the loudest phone i ever had. Its really loud. And also on maximum loudness the sound cracks a little depending on what you're playing (usually on high pitch sounds). So how can the us version be even louder? Wouldn't that break the speakers quite fast?
Sent from my ZTE A2017G running V1.2.0B08 using XDA Labs
Abiram26 said:
Hello,
I've had the following ROMS on my Axon 7:
MiFavor Stock OS (Android 6.0)
CyanogenMod OS (Android 6.0)
Lineage OS (Android 7.1.1)
Resurrection Remix OS (Android 7.1.2)
AEX OS (Android 8.1.0)
However, with all these ROMs I was never really able to tell whether audio is processed through the Snapdragon 820 DAC or the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
I've been active on XDA to follow updates on audio and ROMs.
With the stock ROM's I do think the 'super HiFi' option really made the phone use the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
Also the audio playback through the built-in phone speakers was amazing (but limited in loudness because European ROM)
On LOS 14.1, it was said that the ROM used the HiFi DAC but 'distorted audio playback' was still mentioned as a bug.
Audio playback through the built-in phone speakers was poor (especially mids would give a cracking noise)
On RR OS (Nougat), I basically has the same as on LOS 14.1 (mainly because RR OS used LOS as base).
Now I'm on AEX OS and I do think the audio sounds much better than before.
(I flashed the AK4490 patch (not sure if this does anything... I've also read that custom ROM's have the Hi-FI DAC enabled by default) and I also flashed Hell'sGate Kernel (which seems to contain the CAD Audio Driver).
Audio playback through the built-in phone speakers seems really good again.
However, I'm still actually confused whether my phone actually uses the AKM/AK4490/AK4491 DAC.
I've read stuff in this forums about 48 kHz vs 192 kHz playback.
AK4490 patch is supposed to enable the AK4490 DAC but I'm still a bit skeptical whether it really does use the DAC properly.
CAD Audio Driver (included in Hell'sGate Kernel) oversamples to some maximum frequency or something.
And then there's this thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/stock-roms-best-dac-t3650231 , so yeah, skeptical.
So far, I do think the audio playback sounds good... but what if it could be better, right?
Is there a way to test whether the HiFi DAC is being used and being used properly?
Also, does Dolby Atmos and Viper4Android have a negative (or maybe positive?) impact on the output signal?
I thought Viper4Android had a max. processing frequency of 48 kHz..?
TL;DR: See the title of this thread
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a huge mess ?
Look, you're overreacting to the whole hi-res audio thing. I'll tell you what we know, what I think, and what we don't. After that you can simply draw your own conclusions.
First of all, ZTE told us that the DACs used in this phone are the AK4490, and a low power one inside the AK4961 (this one is a codec, but it has a DAC too for some reason). If the ROM is not well configured, it will default to the AK4961 in theory.
Now, you may or may not believe me, but there is an audible difference with soundstage and bass between the 4490 and 4961. Let's keep this away from the hi-res talk for now.
If you use MiFavor (6.0, 7.1, 8.0, doesn't matter) you'll have the audio switch. If you toggle it while listening to music (Not poweramp because it'll crap out and you'll have to reboot) you'll find a huge difference in soundstage, and the bass is much more defined on the 4490. You can listen to both DACs one after the other on stock only, but if you used this phone for a while, you'll know when the audio coming out of it is crap or not.
About the old AK4490 patch: It's only for Nougat ROMs, and it's been integrated in many ROMs since it came out.
"Distorted audio playback" was about the speakers and it was because the driver was badly implemented. On stock the AK4961 is used for the speakers always.
I'm not sure if the "CAD driver" is in Hellsgate, where did you read that? Last time I checked we were asking Kranoner to add it but idk. But it doesn't oversample. It simply modifies some filters on the DAC driver.
And Atmos is designed for the speakers, so while it actually does work on headphones, it'll add a crapton of noise - i'd say avoid if possible. also it obviously won't work with hi-res. Viper4Android will add some noise if you crank up the highs too much, otherwise it won't be that bad. Both of them at the same time will make a noisy mess but it's possible to do.
And why do you care about the 48KHz sampling rate? Are you using files with more than that? Oversampling is just worse.
So now the Hi-res talk: Unless you really hear a difference, and unless you actually have huge 192kHz files, you should not give a crap about it. It's not like "if it's there then sound has to get better with it".
To check hi-res you can use dumpsys media.audio_flinger while playing something via Neutron or a couple more players (Not poweramp, again).
GodOfPsychos said:
Dunno how to find out if its truly being used. But i got a question.
I read so many times now that the european version (A2017G) is lacking in terms of loudness for the speakers which i cannot really believe since my axon 7 (which is the G version) with stock rom (also G version) is the loudest phone i ever had. Its really loud. And also on maximum loudness the sound cracks a little depending on what you're playing (usually on high pitch sounds). So how can the us version be even louder? Wouldn't that break the speakers quite fast?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was on Marshmallow
GodOfPsychos said:
Dunno how to find out if its truly being used. But i got a question.
I read so many times now that the european version (A2017G) is lacking in terms of loudness for the speakers which i cannot really believe since my axon 7 (which is the G version) with stock rom (also G version) is the loudest phone i ever had. Its really loud. And also on maximum loudness the sound cracks a little depending on what you're playing (usually on high pitch sounds). So how can the us version be even louder? Wouldn't that break the speakers quite fast?
Sent from my ZTE A2017G running V1.2.0B08 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back in the Marshmellow days, I was told that loudness was limited on the G-device software-matically since EU laws don't allow too loud phones or something. (I'm not sure if Nougat removes this software-limit but hardware-wise the U-device and G-device version are the same). I doubt the speaker would break but I don't know...
Source: https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/eu-low-headphone-sound-problem-fix-t3470962
Choose an username... said:
This is a huge mess
Look, you're overreacting to the whole hi-res audio thing. I'll tell you what we know, what I think, and what we don't. After that you can simply draw your own conclusions.
First of all, ZTE told us that the DACs used in this phone are the AK4490, and a low power one inside the AK4961 (this one is a codec, but it has a DAC too for some reason). If the ROM is not well configured, it will default to the AK4961 in theory.
Now, you may or may not believe me, but there is an audible difference with soundstage and bass between the 4490 and 4961. Let's keep this away from the hi-res talk for now.
If you use MiFavor (6.0, 7.1, 8.0, doesn't matter) you'll have the audio switch. If you toggle it while listening to music (Not poweramp because it'll crap out and you'll have to reboot) you'll find a huge difference in soundstage, and the bass is much more defined on the 4490. You can listen to both DACs one after the other on stock only, but if you used this phone for a while, you'll know when the audio coming out of it is crap or not.
About the old AK4490 patch: It's only for Nougat ROMs, and it's been integrated in many ROMs since it came out.
"Distorted audio playback" was about the speakers and it was because the driver was badly implemented. On stock the AK4961 is used for the speakers always.
I'm not sure if the "CAD driver" is in Hellsgate, where did you read that? Last time I checked we were asking Kranoner to add it but idk. But it doesn't oversample. It simply modifies some filters on the DAC driver.
And Atmos is designed for the speakers, so while it actually does work on headphones, it'll add a crapton of noise - i'd say avoid if possible. also it obviously won't work with hi-res. Viper4Android will add some noise if you crank up the highs too much, otherwise it won't be that bad. Both of them at the same time will make a noisy mess but it's possible to do.
And why do you care about the 48KHz sampling rate? Are you using files with more than that? Oversampling is just worse.
So now the Hi-res talk: Unless you really hear a difference, and unless you actually have huge 192kHz files, you should not give a crap about it. It's not like "if it's there then sound has to get better with it".
To check hi-res you can use dumpsys media.audio_flinger while playing something via Neutron or a couple more players (Not poweramp, again).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahaha, yeah sorry, I guess I was kind of bored when I wrote this; but I'd like to thank you for your extensive reply!
Honestly though, there's so much confusion and contradiction around the forums when it comes to (Hi-Fi) audio playback.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/patch-enable-ak4490-hifi-dac-custom-rom-t3707738
That's the thread of the AK4490 patch, and initially I thought the same as the guy in post #2.
Soooo I never really understood the point of this patch...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ax...zte-axon-7-t3545679/post70971002#post70971002
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ax...zte-axon-7-t3545679/post71472324#post71472324
I mean here it's kind of said that 7.1.x ROMs already uses the AK4490 DAC, right?
And then there are multiple people flashing the AK4490 patch on an Oreo build, some even claiming they notice an improved soundstage..?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/kernel-t3664743/post76244484#post76244484
And here's Kranoner saying the CAD thing was added to Hell'sGate Kernel.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/cad-project-modified-audio-driver-axon7-t3761666
That's the thread of the CAD Project Kernel, option #1 in post #1 seems to say it oversamples..?
Nah, I don't use FLAC's or huge 192 kHz audio files (just simple Spotify premium actually...) but I was curious to know what these discussions on the forums on 48 kHz vs. 192 kHz were all about.
'dumpsys media.audio_flinger' reports 48.000 Hz for me.
EDIT: What about 16-bit vs. 24-bit?
I only upgraded to AEX Oreo yesterday but I do have to say I find the audio playback (through headphones) MUCH better than on any custom 7.1.x ROM I've had (with the same audio mods setup).
I actually already found audio playback really good on the 7.1.x ROMs (through headphone) but the improvement from 7.1.x to Oreo is just too noticable to let it slip by.
So it made me wonder if it can get even better than this
Choose an username... said:
That was on Marshmallow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh i see.well thanks for the answer ^^ Still weird that it was like that on marshmallow since the european law stuff about the maximum loudness is only meant for headphones, not for speakers
Sent from my ZTE A2017G running V1.2.0B08 using XDA Labs
GodOfPsychos said:
Oh i see.well thanks for the answer ^^ Still weird that it was like that on marshmallow since the european law stuff about the maximum loudness is only meant for headphones, not for speakers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well I'm not sure if that's the case, but I can assure you that the speakers got much louder after Nougat. Headphones have always been exceedingly loud, especially with the stock low impedance IEMs (with Poweramp I had to use them at volume 2 or maybe 3, so I just made it have about 50 volume steps to get at least a little granularity). Since Nougat I have been using the volume level at 1/3 with my 32 ohm over-ear headphones, so i'd say it's too freaking loud...
Now, I wouldn't be surprised if the volume limitation is just not working with Poweramp's sound engine, because everything else is much quieter. For example I have to crank the volume up to 2/3 on youtube to have comparable volume.
Supposedly if you installed US firmware back in the day you would get rid of the limitation. but installing firmware from another model was not that common, and i never tried it.
---------- Post added at 05:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:43 AM ----------
Abiram26 said:
Back in the Marshmellow days, I was told that loudness was limited on the G-device software-matically since EU laws don't allow too loud phones or something. (I'm not sure if Nougat removes this software-limit but hardware-wise the U-device and G-device version are the same). I doubt the speaker would break but I don't know...
Source: https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/eu-low-headphone-sound-problem-fix-t3470962
Hahaha, yeah sorry, I guess I was kind of bored when I wrote this; but I'd like to thank you for your extensive reply!
Honestly though, there's so much confusion and contradiction around the forums when it comes to (Hi-Fi) audio playback.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/patch-enable-ak4490-hifi-dac-custom-rom-t3707738
That's the thread of the AK4490 patch, and initially I thought the same as the guy in post #2.
Soooo I never really understood the point of this patch...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ax...zte-axon-7-t3545679/post70971002#post70971002
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ax...zte-axon-7-t3545679/post71472324#post71472324
I mean here it's kind of said that 7.1.x ROMs already uses the AK4490 DAC, right?
And then there are multiple people flashing the AK4490 patch on an Oreo build, some even claiming they notice an improved soundstage..?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/kernel-t3664743/post76244484#post76244484
And here's Kranoner saying the CAD thing was added to Hell'sGate Kernel.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/cad-project-modified-audio-driver-axon7-t3761666
That's the thread of the CAD Project Kernel, option #1 in post #1 seems to say it oversamples..?
Nah, I don't use FLAC's or huge 192 kHz audio files (just simple Spotify premium actually...) but I was curious to know what these discussions on the forums on 48 kHz vs. 192 kHz were all about.
'dumpsys media.audio_flinger' reports 48.000 Hz for me.
EDIT: What about 16-bit vs. 24-bit?
I only upgraded to AEX Oreo yesterday but I do have to say I find the audio playback (through headphones) MUCH better than on any custom 7.1.x ROM I've had (with the same audio mods setup).
I actually already found audio playback really good on the 7.1.x ROMs (through headphone) but the improvement from 7.1.x to Oreo is just too noticable to let it slip by.
So it made me wonder if it can get even better than this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back at it again:
1- nope, custom ROMs weren't using the AK4490 even after about a couple weeks or even a month of the creation of that post. Of course they weren't, otherwise why would the patch exist :silly:
2- It just didn't work. Now it would work even less since they should use the DAC properly.
I've used AEX from the build previous to the Oreo DAC fix (at least the first one, now there's another one seemingly) and the difference was there. AEX also has better sound than any other ROM overall (even stock mifavor).
3- Thanks, I didn't know. I mean I'm using hellsgate 2.0 right now xd
4- There's very little info about this. I guess it actually does oversample, but I was talking about upsampling on the music player app.
From what I've read around, most modern DACs oversample to a ridiculous frequency, in order to make output filters simpler and to have better highs (non-oversampling DACs have lots of harmonics on the highs). But it's not related to upsampling, say, an MP3 to 192kHz. Just take my word, doing that is bad.
5. Hi-res is discussed everywhere. I believe there's a noticeable improvement in the high frequencies but not important enough to use Neutron player.
16-bit vs 24-bit is actually quantifiable though. 24-bit audio has less noise than 16-bit.
And of course audio_flinger will report 48k ? you need to play special 192kHz FLAC files on a special Hi-Res player (e.g. neutron) with special configuration and on non-Oreo ROMs to be able to use hi-res
You'll need root and a terminal app.
Type:
su
tinymix
Now look at line 1912.
I need to know this result in two scenarios. Once when playing music (eg a YouTube video) with headphones plugged in and once with nothing plugged in.
When playing music we know our HiFi DAC is being used if the line reads "HiFi switch sel ak4490" and if it's using the standard DAC it shows "ak4961".
Dodgexander said:
You'll need root and a terminal app.
Type:
su
tinymix
Now look at line 1912.
I need to know this result in two scenarios. Once when playing music (eg a YouTube video) with headphones plugged in and once with nothing plugged in.
When playing music we know our HiFi DAC is being used if the line reads "HiFi switch sel ak4490" and if it's using the standard DAC it shows "ak4961".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
getting:
sh: tinymix not found
docentore said:
getting:
sh: tinymix not found
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ROM version, bootstack version and kernel?
Treble or gsi used at all?
Dodgexander said:
Which ROM version, bootstack version and kernel?
Treble or gsi used at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Havoc O GSI, vendor by Nfound 1.1, Shwifty V4, universal LOS bootstack

Fix for sup-par sound quality

***(Update: I've found a fix! Being in stock room and installing Ainur Sauron mk ii.ii has improved the frequency response of the phone. The volume is same as before (but it's still adequate), so PowerAmp/Firefox/VLC is still much louder. But now the sound signature is similar. No more pathetically weak bass and overly bright sound!
BTW, Ainur Sauron doesn't work on LineageOS, RRemix, etc. I think Ron's made with Shivam Kumar Jha's trees are incompatible with Sauron. So I'm using stock 318)
I'm sure I'm not the only one that has noticed how badly Asus has tuned the audio of this phone (esp. through the 3.5mm jack).
The Snapdragon 636's SoC is capable of providing pretty decent audio quality. But in the ZMPM1 only the sound through a select few apps (Firefox, PowerAmp with hires 24bit + 88/176/352/384khz audio, VLC, etc) is good. The sound from almost all other apps and audio mods like V4a is pretty bad.
For example, the sound produced by Firefox when playing YT videos is quite full and rich and has a seemingly accurate and linear frequency response. The same video when played through the YT app not only has much less volume, but also has a completely different sound signature with reduced bass, harsh treble, and an overall tinny and compressed feeling. (BTW, it's definitely the phone and not my headphones/IEMs)
Now in previous phones I've experienced that Firefox's audio is not changed by mods such as V4a or other equalizers. This makes me believe that Asus has, for some reason, purposely worsened the sound (perhaps due to some issue with the amp? IDK)
So is there any way to revert/override/bypass the changes made by Asus in all apps? So far I've tried the following-
1. Used Lineage Os 15.1 by Shivam Kumar Jha. It boosts the volume so there's no difference in volume between the good and bad sound, but the sound is still bass-lacking and tinny in most apps while full and rich in Firefox.
2. Used Ainur Sauron mk ii - Didn't fix it.
3. Used V4a- Not only did it not fix it, but installing the V4a driver means audio is now capped at 48khz and 16bit, so even PowerAmp hires breaks.
4. Other equalizers- doesn't really remedy the problem, only masks it somewhat (that too pretty badly).
So is there some way to maybe modify the audio effects or mixer paths files to remove this? Or is this just baked into the device in such a way that it's not fixable? I hate being limited to Firefox for YouTube and PowerAmp hires for local audio, and not being able to use viperDDC/IRS for headphone compensation makes things worse. So any help would be very much appreciated.
For me with V4A sound is great by using Convoler/IRS mod, and some tweaks in compatible mode.
GryTEcHoG said:
For me with V4A sound is great by using Convoler/IRS mod, and some tweaks in compatible mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
V4a just changes the sound, it doesn't improve it. And with it's 48khz 16bit limit even PowerAmp's hi res output becomes average quality.
Even if you neutralize the frequency curve with v4a, it can never improve the slightly garbled and compressed nature of the Zenphone's sound. Instrument separation cleraly suffers because of it.
SD008 said:
V4a just changes the sound, it doesn't improve it. And with it's 48khz 16bit limit even PowerAmp's hi res output becomes average quality.
Even if you neutralize the frequency curve with v4a, it can never improve the slightly garbled and compressed nature of the Zenphone's sound. Instrument separation cleraly suffers because of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Can you give me an audio sample file where you could see diff clearly ? So i can test it our myself with with and without v4a, and might be able to figure out.
Thanks
man thanks for this post, i am raising this issue in asus offical forum and xda alos, but mostly people are only worried about the camera quality and gaming perfomance, nobody even in youtube reviews talked abut worst sound quality of this phone, i dont know why.
i even raised service request with Asus but they did not provide any solution, more and more developer need to fix in future custom rom. other else this phone is total waste, i am movie and music loving guy, the movie sound is terrible from earpone jack, in night when i want to watch movie and listen to music , i cant do it, because its not pleasant,
the speaker is good, but 3.5 jack sound is very very bad, i request all rom developer please fix this in your custom rom, as asus is not listening
There are kernel avaible so may there is a way to enhance or tweak the sound from that level, please do it, if i had know that this is the issue, i would have gone for RN5 Pro phone, instead of this one, i need a great experience, even phone selling at 5000 have clear and loud sound i had Lenovo A6000 Plus, which was almost half of this phones price, but man the sound was so great
Asus Please fix this in updates, other else this is waste, not only sound, there are many more bugs in this phone, Asus just rushed this half backed phone to market, the phone should be balance of Hardware and Software, only having good hardware at competitive price is not enough, you need to have a great software to use the hardware properly, asus missed onthis one
even the LED notification and front flash is of cheap quality, even in dark night or dark room LED notification does not glow enough why Asus why
Camera software is patheric, but thanks to some mod, now we can use Google camera, i will use it for few months and then sell it, because its not pleasant to use due to many software issue and some cheap parts used by Asus.
Update: Using Ainur Sauron while on the stock room and enabling FMAS drivers using the Sauron useroptions file improved the sound (I think, or it just might be me slowly losing my mind, lol). I've also increased the volume of hphl and hphr in vendor/etc/mixer_paths.xml to 12, that may or may not have had something to do with it. The volume is still much lower than PowerAmp/Firefox, but the sound signature seems to be more neutral. Using splitscreen it seems that Firefox @ volume 6 and YouTube app @ volume 10 sound almost identical, and both of these sound pretty similar to an ancient s4 (which has a pretty linear frequency response).
I received my phone a about a week ago and I agree, coming from my old oneplus one the audio was lacking depth, it had recessed vocals with high interfering in between, and shrill highs. After carefully listening many flac and other audio files back and forth on my old phone and Asus, I came to the conclusion that the entire audio output spectrum of zenfone max pro m1 is shifted towards the right, which explains all the aforementioned issues. I have posted the same on zentalk and I really hope that this issue gets fixed soon. Too bad very few people look for decent audio quality in budget segment otherwise this wouldn't have been an issue at the first place.
Those that are still facing this problem, I stock room+Ainur Sauron. I've updated the OP with some relevant info.
This sounds great. Don't know why all people are complaining about 3.5 mm jack sound. I can hear each and every note of all songs same as I can on my pc. I've tried a lot of different earphones/headphones (2 sennheiser, 1 flipkart smart buy in ear, 1 Sony (over Ear) don't know the model was my friend's, 1 boat and 1 Philips. All sounded different but were very clear and fine.
SD008 said:
Update: Using Ainur Sauron while on the stock room and enabling FMAS drivers using the Sauron useroptions file improved the sound (I think, or it just might be me slowly losing my mind, lol). I've also increased the volume of hphl and hphr in vendor/etc/mixer_paths.xml to 12, that may or may not have had something to do with it. The volume is still much lower than PowerAmp/Firefox, but the sound signature seems to be more neutral. Using splitscreen it seems that Firefox @ volume 6 and YouTube app @ volume 10 sound almost identical, and both of these sound pretty similar to an ancient s4 (which has a pretty linear frequency response).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to enable 'FMAS drivers using sauron useroptions'... I have installed Ainur sauron
So after all these days I've found the perfect fix for speaker and headset audio quality improvement, install viper4android xHiFi from magisk and tweak the setting to your taste. the best part is all these changes are global, so unlike music FX or similar apps, these effects will not be limited to music players. I was also able to remove the sharp audio output from earphones and the loudspeaker using the EQ within viper. The addon also processed bluetooth audio but I haven't tested it yet.
Bro ,i am on the same boat ,but got good quality output using vlc player with audio output set to Open SL ES..Do it ,live with it till we get an update from ASUS.
Since i Love music i flashed a custom rom and now i'm enjoying music as i use to. Shane on Asus for ****ing up the audio on the device
Easiest way if you don't want to root
Just install vidmate and listen songs in it.
Try it just once.

Best ROMs for audio or stock is good help guys

Hey guys hope your zte axon 7 is still rocking ,well I am using my axon 7 for last 3 year and after a battery replacement it's now as good as new never tried custom ROMs coz of audio performance but now I want to try new ROMs for speed but can't compromise with audio quality can any one help me out choosing rit custom ROMs .thanx in advance
I don't know if there is a huge difference in sound between custom roms.
Mostly, it depends on equalizer like Dolby Atmos, V4A, JamesDSP, DTS:X etc.
But, there's a catch in custom rom, they use high quality dac on headphone and you can't switch it back to standard dac. I have one pair of headphone which sounds a little bit worse on High Quality mode than on Standard Quality. Don't know why and I really don't care that much.
Personally, I prefer Viper4Android to Dolby Atmos, due to many options in V4A, which let you fit - let's just say - to your sound preference.
I only miss surround virtualization from Dolby Atmos for movies.
I tried several Surround IRS but didn't found anything worth.
Using unofficial Lineage OS 15.1 (from Unjustified Dev), Bladder Kernel with Viper4Android 2.6.0.5 (using this version due to conflict between Selinux Enforced and Convolver).
Speaker Optimization sounds pretty bad, I recommend to try some of IRS for Convolver.
That one below, sounds pretty, it even gives nice bass but it didn't work on V4A 2.7.0.0 and doesn't sound same on JamesDSP like on older V4A.
Edit: Just be aware of volume, some of IRS may be louder than original volume and may damage your speakers.
klałn said:
I don't know if there is a huge difference in sound between custom roms.
Mostly, it depends on equalizer like Dolby Atmos, V4A, JamesDSP, DTS:X etc.
But, there's a catch in custom rom, they use high quality dac on headphone and you can't switch it back to standard dac. I have one pair of headphone which sounds a little bit worse on High Quality mode than on Standard Quality. Don't know why and I really don't care that much.
Personally, I prefer Viper4Android to Dolby Atmos, due to many options in V4A, which let you fit - let's just say - to your sound preference.
I only miss surround virtualization from Dolby Atmos for movies.
I tried several Surround IRS but didn't found anything worth.
Using unofficial Lineage OS 15.1 (from Unjustified Dev), Bladder Kernel with Viper4Android 2.6.0.5 (using this version due to conflict between Selinux Enforced and Convolver).
Speaker Optimization sounds pretty bad, I recommend to try some of IRS for Convolver.
That one below, sounds pretty, it even gives nice bass but it didn't work on V4A 2.7.0.0 and doesn't sound same on JamesDSP like on older V4A.
Edit: Just be aware of volume, some of IRS may be louder than original volume and may damage your speakers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have very similar set now with latest unoff. Lineage, with beta baddar kelner, viper fx with xhr soundplus convolver, musicfx + removed audiofx, gcam 6.1.021 and etc.
I am quite satisfied with the sound and experience which i have from adwanced tweaking

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