DAC Fix - Use the HI-FI DAC Everywhere!

Search This thread
Hi everyone! I've just developed an app that should fix the issue of the DAC only being usable in some apps.

Now the ESS DAC/AMP can be used in any app on your phone, including Google Play Music, YouTube, Spotify, and probably many more that I haven't tested yet.

Here's the Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phascinate.lgv10.dacfix

It can be set to automatically turn on when the phone boots up. My goal was to make this a "set it and forget it" kind of fix. All you have to do is enable it once, and it should be fixed for good. Of course, I've only just released it so it may have some bugs. But so far it's working fine on my end.

If you have any issues or it's not working correctly, feel free to tell me here! Hope it works for you guys! I'm really loving the sound quality on this phone.
 
Last edited:

muddysmind

Member
Jul 29, 2010
43
13
doing back up now so I can try this, very exciting news if this works
Seems like it's working in Neutron amp which has been my pain point ever since buying the phone.

Thanks!

*tested with youtube and DI.fm both seem working with the DAC with the fix
 
Last edited:

jasonb1985

Senior Member
Jun 7, 2010
309
6
Tested with YouTube and XiiaLive Pro and the volume definitely changes when toggling the hifi option on and off.
 

nah

Member
Mar 16, 2009
14
0
It is working on Poweramp. Thanks.

Sent from my LG-H961N using Tapatalk
 

jasonb1985

Senior Member
Jun 7, 2010
309
6
Interesting... Can the developer tell us a little more about how this works? I really didn't think it would be as simple as an app like this making it work.
 
Interesting... Can the developer tell us a little more about how this works? I really didn't think it would be as simple as an app like this making it work.
The concept is actually quite simple! Immediately when music starts playing, it plays some completely (and I mean completely! We don't want any background noise, do we?) silent media which tricks the phone into turning the DAC on.
 

jasonb1985

Senior Member
Jun 7, 2010
309
6
The concept is actually quite simple! Immediately when music starts playing, it plays some completely (and I mean completely! We don't want any background noise, do we?) silent media which tricks the phone into turning the DAC on.

Assuming things were bit perfect to begin with, will the signal still be bit perfect?
 
Assuming things were bit perfect to begin with, will the signal still be bit perfect?
In theory, it should be. Because it's set to be silent, Android should simply completely skip over the silent media. In my own testing it doesn't seem to have had any negative effect whatsoever on sound quality. Though I'd love to see the frequency output in something like Audacity if anyone wants to test it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: illwafer

jasonb1985

Senior Member
Jun 7, 2010
309
6
In theory, it should be. Because it's set to be silent, Android should simply completely skip over the silent media. In my own testing it doesn't seem to have had any negarive effect whatsoever on sound quality. Though I'd love to see the frequency output in something like Audacity if anyone wants to test it.

Alrighty. Right now I'm on my lunch break at work listening with a Brainwavz HM5. Things seem good here, but I'll test tonight with my AKG Q701.

I really only use the stock music app and TIDAL which both worked without your fix, but I'll test everything out more tonight. My only concern would be a possible negative effect with apps that already worked fine, for example a silent track playing along with the regular music making things possibly no longer bit perfect, or extra battery drain for some odd reason. I'll test sound quality with my Q701 tonight and see if I notice any extra battery drain. All I can confirm at the moment is that toggling hifi on and off definitely changed the volume with apps that it didn't before.

Good work.
 
Alrighty. Right now I'm on my lunch break at work listening with a Brainwavz HM5. Things seem good here, but I'll test tonight with my AKG Q701.

I really only use the stock music app and TIDAL which both worked without your fix, but I'll test everything out more tonight. My only concern would be a possible negative effect with apps that already worked fine, for example a silent track playing along with the regular music making things possibly no longer bit perfect, or extra battery drain for some odd reason. I'll test sound quality with my Q701 tonight and see if I notice any extra battery drain. All I can confirm at the moment is that toggling hifi on and off definitely changed the volume with apps that it didn't before.

Good work.
Yeah, that was my concern too. But everything seems to be working fine.

Feel free to post your results with the Q701's as soon as you test them!
 
  • Like
Reactions: petalex99

jblparisi

Senior Member
Jun 12, 2007
572
508
Good job, works as intended. Thanks. :)

Few suggestions: Show status of app running in background from top pull down menu. Also the ability to enable disable from there. Otherwise still 5 out 5. :thumbup:
 
Last edited:

Double0EK

Senior Member
May 13, 2010
2,667
1,020
Does this app need root permission?


Edit: nvm. Just installed and gonna test..
 
Last edited:

tersagun

Senior Member
Jul 26, 2010
264
42
İstanbul
Thanks for the effort mate. I'll also give it a try though as a non-audiophile person, I fail to notice Hi-Fi DAC effect anyway.

for those who can distinguish the difference between DAC enabled/disabled, can you tell that's even distinguishable with the QuadBeat headphones? I'm trying with some FLAC and various music players but other than then "higher volume" I cannot notice an improvement sound wise.
I do try with the QuadBeat and Bose QC25. I also just purchased a Piston 3. Do you think it's my headphones who are not enough to make a difference?

Can you maybe recommend a song where you can clearly distinguish the performance between DAC enabled or disabled?
 

king conan

Senior Member
Jan 20, 2010
220
73
Amazing app, thank you very much.

Now I challenge you to check the other audio limitation of the phone.

The normal and high gain mode of the Amp depending the impedance of the headphones at the moment is completely automatic.

That's OK with IEM but there are problems with big headphones with low impedance. In those cases the normal gain mode delivers not enough power (volume) and being able to select or force the high gain mode would be a perfect solution.

At this moment the high gain mode is triggered with headphones with an Impedance over 50ohm.

Thanks anyway for this app.
 
  • Like
Reactions: illwafer

Nitemare3219

Senior Member
Nov 24, 2010
1,348
490
Fantastic! At first I thought there would be a big battery impact since there is silent media playing, but then I remembered that only happens when there is actually music playing - fantastic implementation. Hopefully there is no battery drain. Works here for Google Play Music, so thank you very much!!!
 

ph3nom

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2010
566
58
Indonesia
it is working great with spotify here
I do notice the clarity with dac on and off.. however i'm using free spotify so the music stream is not high quality.

I only did notice a bug not sure because of this app or not but it never happen before.
So today i plug my phone to aux in my car in the morning everything work great.
in the afternoon i plug aux again to my car and this time my 4G or 3G writing on my signal bar is gone until i restart. This never happen before i install your apps, but seems i can't repeat this bug.
 

malifact

Senior Member
Sep 26, 2015
67
9
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to make this app. I just tested it with Player Pro and it seems to be working (Player Pro did work before but only if you didn't install the DSP pack). I did have one question. I noticed that the EQ is not working in Player Pro. You can open the EQ, but changing any of the frequencies or selecting a preset has no effect on the audio. Does that mean that the other audio features like Replay Gain also won't work with the app installed?
 

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 84
    Hi everyone! I've just developed an app that should fix the issue of the DAC only being usable in some apps.

    Now the ESS DAC/AMP can be used in any app on your phone, including Google Play Music, YouTube, Spotify, and probably many more that I haven't tested yet.

    Here's the Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phascinate.lgv10.dacfix

    It can be set to automatically turn on when the phone boots up. My goal was to make this a "set it and forget it" kind of fix. All you have to do is enable it once, and it should be fixed for good. Of course, I've only just released it so it may have some bugs. But so far it's working fine on my end.

    If you have any issues or it's not working correctly, feel free to tell me here! Hope it works for you guys! I'm really loving the sound quality on this phone.
    6
    Interesting... Can the developer tell us a little more about how this works? I really didn't think it would be as simple as an app like this making it work.
    The concept is actually quite simple! Immediately when music starts playing, it plays some completely (and I mean completely! We don't want any background noise, do we?) silent media which tricks the phone into turning the DAC on.
    3
    doing back up now so I can try this, very exciting news if this works
    Seems like it's working in Neutron amp which has been my pain point ever since buying the phone.

    Thanks!

    *tested with youtube and DI.fm both seem working with the DAC with the fix
    3
    Next version please add ability to force high gain
    3
    So this app is great for enabling the DAC for every app. But it does not force the amp into High Gain Mode for all headphones. Currently on another forum we are discussing a way to trick the phone into doing this by making a phone call:

    Install DAC fix and verify it works for all apps,
    Plug your headphones in,
    Navigate to the dac menu in Settings,
    Turn OFF the dac,
    Pull out the headphones,
    Make call to a free number like your voicemail,
    While the call is ongoing plug in your headphones,
    Switch to the dac window,
    Turn on the dac,
    Hang up,
    ...
    Profit?

    Maybe OP @Phascinate can look into this and see if something can be dug up?