LG's V30 as a $300 network streamer WITH touchscreen!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ย. 2024
- Camera: Olaf von Voss | Editor: John Darko
One of the best sounding smartphones in the world - the LG V30 - can easily be redeployed as a Roon Ready and Spotify Connectable network streamer.
LG V30:
www.lg.com/de/...
www.mediamarkt...
www.esstech.com...
LG V40:
www.lg.com/in/...
AudioQuest Tower 3.5mm to RCA:
www.audioquest...
Lamicall Multi-Angle smartphone stand
www.amazon.de/...
A short film about Roon:
darko.audio/20...
The Music-First Audiophile and Spotify Connect:
darko.audio/20...
Additional thoughts:
Yes, the LG V40 sounds the same as the LG V30.
Yes, you could achieve audibly similar or better results with a USB DAC - like an AudioQuest DragonFly or an iBasso DC01/02 - added to ANY compatible smartphone.
Yes, I have new glasses.
#LG #Roon #Spotify
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LG has been making Pro phones for years without calling them PRO.
Meanwhile, Apple 😂😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Actually true LG makes Phone for Videographer and For Audiophile in professional way ..still not call it pro version
♥️ LG
Additional thoughts:
Yes, the LG V40 sounds the same as the LG V30.
Yes, you could achieve audibly similar or better results with a USB DAC - like an AudioQuest DragonFly or an iBasso DC01/02 - added to ANY compatible smartphone.
Yes, I have new glasses.
I was going to ask you about your opinion of the sound of the V30 vs the V40, as I have read that it sounds slightly softer at the top end with a more robust mid range.
I have a V30 but have to upgrade as its not powerful enough for my needs and the battery life is getting increasingly poor (along with LG's dreadful software support). The replacement I'm getting doesn't have a HP jack though :(
Lol
What DAC settings do you use?
I did the same a while ago with the LG v30, and recently did it with my V40, in my opinion though, the V40 sounds miles better. I don't have amazing speakers but I am only using some cheap Klipsch The Sixes. With the V40 I am using the DTS:X 3D Surround, Side by Side and all EQs set as normal. The sound coming from these same songs are incredible compared to the V30. It makes the Sixes come alive. I use the Sixes mainly with my PC and to me they are average and dull without Equalization, plus if I do try to EQ them on the PC they sound shit but, with V40 it is transformed into a beast.
Is the headphone jack of LG V30 (or V40 or G8) able to work perfectly like a Line-Out? Not distorsion and double amplification?
V30 is still my daily driver, wonderful decice for a musician.
At last somebody popularizes this option!
This has been the best way to play/stream on a budget for at least two years.
You're right, indeed.
When LG launched to the market its V smartphone series no other company understood that a new dimension of use in this type of devices had seen the light: the full high quality multimedia in the palm of your hand.
As you do, I don't use my V30 as a phone anymore, but as a very good sounding source permanently connected to the Hi-Fi. Just a stereo minijack to two RCA cable into the preamp and the task is done!
The HTC One m7 was probably one of the first quality audio phones.
@@williamnaman3570 Yes, you're right.
But HTC didn't go further in its own direction. Most probably, the company's resposibles were too conservative and feared an initial indifference from the market. Here is where I see the merits from LG: to take risks.
@@williamnaman3570 My first phone was a m7 and I recently had the lg v20. The v series phones blow any other phone out of the water for sound
Why did you moved on from v30? Problems or just upgrade?
Kinda depressing if a 300$ phone can have similar sound quality to a network streamer, that does nothing else.
The v30 has a camera, a high end processor and and a display on top.
At 300$ for all of this the cost of the audio components can only be minimal...
Looks like actual audio streamers are bad value.
I think it has more to do with the economies of scale on LG's part. There are a lot more LG phones in the world than there are streamers.
They genuinely are poor value. A $30 Chromecast Audio generally runs rings around them.
How about the DAC?
V30 is one of the best phones with quad dac. Used to cost 1000 usd at launch. Sonos is overhyped overpriced product. The sonos needs to have a processor and ram and os and ports. So at the end of the day they have overlapping hardware and lg has better hw and sw :) plus few other parts
@@mattygraham Chromecast Audio is great especially for the price but it does only shuffle 40 tracks so can get quite repetitive.
Your video’s are very entertaining to watch. Post processing is really nice. One down side is that afterwards I always tend to spend money on buying stuff you review 😂😂
Watching this on a LG V30. I love the sound of this phone.
The great thing thing with this is that it's an intelligent way of getting new life out of an old phone rather than it sitting in a draw. Love the way you drop these massively practical examples into the feed.
Using my G7 for some time like this, playing on my vintage Grundig Satellits. There is also a PHONE TO TABLET REMOTE app with which you can cotrol almost any music app remotely including Tidal. Playing with settings, you can also get album cover displayed on controlling device.
Looking at the G8 as my new phone, the G sound wise is it as good as the V series equivalent?
Name of app please
LG v30 has very good value for money. Not only the quad dac is powerfull enough to run higher up to max 300 Ω studio headphones. Also the built in fm radio receiver with rds is good.
I got my LG v30 second hand from a local friend for €90 and use a 256 gb external SD card for music storage.
My indoor headphone is a custom can extra bass modified open back Beyer dynamic dt990 - 250 ohm, which triggers enables the v30 quad dac amplifier. This combo is very entertaining.
This is an excellent alternative to streamers, and you could even expand its use with an external DAC using apps like UAPP, using one USB cable to keep the phone charged and transmit data. Another alternative is to pop in an SD card for local playback or use it as a network streamer.
... or stream files from your PC!
@@MarmiteTheDog Jup...HiByMusic app can bitstream dsd format over network
Love the V series. Especially at a time when most are abandoning even having an audio jack, let alone a decent dac.
I guess most consumers just want wireless Bluetooth with crap sound.
yeah lmao bluetooth's quality and latency sucks
The V20 is still the best for this since the battery is replaceable.
And sadly will be the last of the replaceable batteries.
Ha ha yes...I use a V40 for my phone and have 2 V20s that I will keep just for music streaming!
Not to mention some(scratched screen or broken camera lens etc) can be had for less than $20.
Nosense as the V30 battery is very easy to replace, less than 10 minutes and you change it when it is old.
I do that since a while with a IFI black in between, as also MQA compatible. Even cleaner Sound and this way absolutely no need for more priced option. Just perfect.
I don't even know what a network streamer is.
These videos are wonderfully shot and edited. Whoever does this, give em a raise!
Your tip about disabling the private zone was the one thing keeping me from doing this consistently. I had no idea that setting was there! I’m using an older iPhone connected via USB to a DAC so not exactly the same. The other thing I love about this is you don’t have to worry about power management as much since it’s all on battery.
Volume slider is soo smooth in LG phones
Many people dont know that when the DAC is invoked, the slider scale changes to a precisely controllable 75-section volume range. Now if they would just let us choose our own impedance. I know they are worried about some idiot setting high impedance on 8ohm buds-- but people who would get this phone aren't dumb LG!
I'm still using my LG V20 after two year, I'm now looking to buy a V40, my V20 sound outstanding with its triple hi fi dac, with decent headphone.
Yeah, I bought this phone recently. Actually version V30+ and I'm very happy with it.
Got V35 which has Snapdragon 845 for 200eur refurbished but in perfect condition two weeks ago, so far it's beast for that money
Discovered that years ago when looking for an iPhone replacement run my Sennhiser HD 650s and HD 800s headphones. I own the IF Black Label DAC AMP That is nearly $600 and it’s on a level playing field with the LG V-30.
The iPhone sucks for a music player a garbage DAC with not enough power for output.
Another valid reason to retain the headphone jack. Irregardless of the quality of the DAC inside.
Thx John !
I actually on the verge to do that, as my V30 is aging, my only concern is having the Phone plugged into it's charger 24/7 may harm the device (im planning to set-it and leave it tucked in the rack).
One more addition to your videos, with a headphone jack to RCA, you can achieve the same if someone's amp doesn't have a 3.5 input.
And yes, V30 sounds amazing !
Use wireless charger instead. It will shut off when needed as I understand.
I have been doing this with a V30 for a year. Rather than charge with USB I use a Qi wireless charger pad from IKEA as a permanent base. So far the V30 maintains at 100% charge on the pad.
Thought on that; the charger could be connected to a smart plug that’s set to switch on and charge the phone for (x) minutes every (y) hours. You could probably set such a plug up with IFTTT to get switched on when the phone hits 20% then off when it hits 100% too :)
Love my LG VQ40
I have a V30 fully updated on Android Pie
Why i still dont get pie update ?
@@harismunandar9321 custom rom buddy
@@WasimAkram-ck2wb stock room LG v30 have Android pie
Still got my LG V30and going strong. Battery last for 24hrs before needing charging. Powerful headphone output and excellent SQ. NICE ONE JOHN!!
V30 is a quality phone. Have had mine for 2 years and have had 0 issues with it. Only problem it's given me is recently it's a fingerprint magnet but that's solvable with a new coating.
@@Adam-qs5ir my cant turn on if they light sensors are covered for some reason
I use a first gen iPad Pro+cellular.....$600 used eBay.....absolutely outstanding high-quality DAC circuit, headphone jack out to preamp, "giant" 12.9" (I think) screen, runs Qobuz, Tidal, iTunes, Roon.....superb audiophile sound.
I haven't heard the V30 or V40, but I have an LG G8 & it sounds excellent to my old ears.
same dac chip
I'm doing the same with a LG v20.
Picked up for £80 refurbished from China.
The only small issue is that Roon doesn't drive the DAC directly. Still sounds lovely though.
Awesome content as always. I'm going to try this with my other phone LG G7. I must say the best sound I've ever heard out of my LG is with the app USB Audio Pro streaming Tidal.
Have you tryed Poweramp app?
It weighs very little in the smartphone, costs just $5.00, and you have GREAT sound from the internal stockage and from Tidal (for example).
Great idea. Why isn’t there a streamer like the Logitech Touch squeezebox that connected to your phone or computer on the market anymore?
I redeployed an old iPad as a Roon endpoint, just with a Audioquest Dragon fly red tethered to it. Same idea, but considering this doesn’t require an extra DAc, I think it’s perfect in another room.
The old ipads (I have an ipad2) had terrible DACs and headphone outs. Hanging AQ Dragonfly wires on it is a bit overkill.
Watching this with my lovely LG V10
I ve got this wonder from a year.. with Audioquest Night Owl Carbon itso great.. wow. Love it. Thank you, John for recomendation.
This is basically what I do with my hifi system, iPad, an Audioquest Dragonfly red and my iPhone as the remote.
Ipad has a shit dac .... well inferrior dac so you are experiencing a reduction of quality. The lg V serries was market as audio, video phone with supperior hw in these departments. Apple never focoused on audio. Thats why you get shitty headphones .... make that not very pleasing headphones in the box with apple products.
@@ivayloipetkov does the dragonfly not refine the signal before it passes to the hifi (or is it a situation where "a silk purse cannot be made from a sow's ear" ) in this case the sow's ear being iPad and the silk purse being fine auditory accomplishment.
@@ivayloipetkov I think that's why he uses a AudioQuest Dragonfly Red, to get around the shit dac
What app do you use to remote the iPad from your phone ?
That’s great, John! I’ve got a Sonos Connect too and agree that the Analog output leaves much to be desired (putting it mildly). I’m going to have to investigate this, I would never have thought about going this route, if it wasn’t for this video. I also use Roon, so this is very doable. Thank you, Mr.D 😊
Just a note here, one thing to keep in mind is that the screen of the V30 is OLED so keeping it on for too long without changing what its going to display will cause burn-in. Make sure you keep an ever changing wallpaper running or turn off the screen when not used.
The axon 7 has a high quality dac and audio jack. HTC has a few phones with good dacs.
Fantastic insight, I did something similar to chrome-cast audio and Spotify and the LG V20 a while back, but Chrome-cast often disconnects.
Cool thing is you get all of the latest BT hires codecs.
I do wish LG would add digital out to the headphone out, and would pass BT audio through its dac and amp first before streaming it.
There are hacks to allow the full hi output of the LG quad dac/amp phones to go to your amp without high ohm headphones.
Thanks for the great ideas.
Anymore .
LG could sell so many more of these phones if they're marketing would show more of these use case.
It is also a much better buy than most standalone digital audio players, only lacking the second sd card, and balanced and digital out, but it has more standard memory, more standard storage, larger screen oled, and a much more powerful processor than all of them.
And for a low cost you can add an even better usb dac to them.
I mean LG makes you think it is only better with wired headphones, rarely mention MQA onboard, or all of the wireless codecs it supports like Sony's LDAC, Qualcomm's APTXHD, and other.
Excellent! I love it. Based on your previous LG V30 videos I bought a used LG V30 as a music server only but with 180GB of Tidal MQA files outputted via the 3.5mm jack to my Audio Engine A5+ speakers, my Google Home Max (sounds great for $300) and of course my HiFiMan headphones. I would like to use the LG V30 as shown in this video along with my Pixel 2 XL as a controller but I only have Tidal and Google Play Music.
I have an LGV30 with a faulty screen so this is what I will do once I get a new phone. Great idea.
I have an LG V30 and I love its audio quality. Wondering what will replace it when it dies as LG quit making cellphones....
John, I enjoy very much your videos. What sound better a LG V30/V40 or Cobalt? Also do you know if there is a way to use the Cobalt and Charge the Phone at the same time?
I agree and the sound is great I am sure. But you can cut your price almost ten-fold by using an existing tablet. Around EUR 35-50.
Just google "LG Hi-fi Plus" the Hi-FI (USB-dac) module works great with laptop or ipad tablet. Personally I use it with a Apple Ipad mini.
I have the B&O module. It gets a little hot and I guess uses a little juice off the tablet. But there are also more generic modules that looks like they are made of the LG phone parts wrapped in a clear case on ebay. Price is around the same. You will need the ipad camera adapter also if you are not using it on a laptop. Also it can be used as a decent headphone dac/amp. I have had mine for more than 1½ years and there has never been any problem. I know for sure it works with windows and chrome os. I have not tried it apple macOS. I also have not tested it on andriod phones/tablets. I am not convinced all androids carry audio over USB.
Does the module still do the Impedance level switching when not used with an LG device? I have a set of Tin P1s and they need power but are low Impedance so I have to trick my LG V35 into line out/middle power mode with a short extension cable.
Thing is, why do you need a screen on the streamer when you have the phone in your hand?
I have fooled myself in s similar way. I always thought it would be great to have a PC in my hifi connected to a big wall hanging TV with all my music and album art. So I did it.. but guess what? I find myself always using the phone in my pocket to control a chromecast audio behind my dac. It's just more usable.
The Chromecast audio was the answer to all my streaming needs. $35, plugs right into the DAC via optical and plays anything I want.
I bought thia phone for 220$.Worth every penny.Best phone i ever had.Best battery phone i ever use also gaming was never a problem.
Seeing as though Spotify Android is having problems with Chromecast right now, this is a good alternative.
Im using sony wh1000xm2 with ldac Bluetooth codec and sound is fantastic
Very underrated phone which I own. Battery life on V30 is very good. I am assuming that the headphone output is going to an analong connection on a amp or audio receiver.
Looking back on this, I miss my LG V series phones, but 5g had me move on, I was hoping Sony would take up the slack and bring out a phone with a superior DAC than the V60, but it seems they only concerned with taking pictures. And no one made a tablet with a DAC?
Secret's out! One of the best deals out there! DSD playback has been flawless. Built in amp drives CIEM's well. Now just need 1tb micro SD to be affordable.
For those who don't fancy springing this sort of money, buy an amp (or even a linkable source) with a decent 24/192 DAC (Marantz PM6600, Pioneer SX 30 etc)
Then attach a Chromecast Audio via optical (bypassing the Chromecasts own DAC).
Then use your own cheapo phone or tablet to cast "ultra HD" from Amazon to the amp via the Chromecast.
But no screen on Chromecast which also doesn't do gapless playback.
Gapless playback is, last time I looked, a setting in Spotify and Amazon HD.....unless I misunderstand? Certainly mine plays albums and playlists sequentially..and with (rudimentary) volume matching
The fact remains, that though the DAC in the LG is fantastic for a phone, quite possibly the best, there are some fine DACs sitting unused in even mid range Amps like the PM6006 and it takes very little to harness the 24/192 goodness with a basic network capture device that works optically and any mobile device
And you have the screen right there in your hand.....why would you need the same screen reflected on the second phone?
I've been looking for a replacement for the Google audiocast, which feels like it's dying and bad laggy connexion now. I think you've just found my new network streamer. Thanks. Love the channel.
Woo! I can finally put my old 2.1 sound system to good use since newer TV's only want to use optical. Hoping the g8x comes out next month, then the v30 would be a dedicated audio streamer.
Convenient solution. It would be interesting to see how that would compare to pi+USB DAC combo around the same price range. More effort on the setup for sure, but perhaps with greater sonic rewards.
I have v30 as my dap. Great tip mate, i will set it up
You can also use a Sony Walkman, same deal, high quality built in dac.
I use a Fiio M11 to same effect (Roon, Qobuz & SD card local files) with coaxial out into a Topping D50s dac. More expensive than John’s setup sure, but sound quality is on par with much more expensive solutions I have heard.
The LG V30 also received an A rating in Stereophile for disc and file players.
I stream from my phone via USB to my dac magic. Great combination
Why do you connect the V30 using the 3.5mm analog output? To me it would seem more interesting to connect using digital output to an external DAC for transport only. This would further open up to using a broad range of phones and not needing to reply upon having a decent DAC in the phone.
I like seeing this type of video, repurposing and remixing hardware is super interesting.
Also, great to see sisters of mercy on your playlist!
Didn't realise how good the output on the v30 was, till I did a party with my p.a system . plugged 3.5mm into mixer , tried loads of phones , some with "dongles" played different music all night , lg v30 sounded superior to all others .
A used squeezebox can get you good sound as well . And a little better with a better with a better linear power supply. You can get one with a screen like a squeezebox touch or one the just shows track and artist info etc. That get ipeng, orangesquueze etc and your off controlling tidal, spotify, Pandora, Internet radio etc with your smartphone😀
I have a Squeezebox Touch here and the LG sounds quite a bit better.
Like the new glasses!
Vivos Nex 3 also has a really quality AK dac, and has a headphone jack.
The old LG g5 with B&O dac module works well. Use a decent jack to 2 phono lead
Cranking up volume on the v30 all the way up is in fact a bad idea because you will get lots of distortion that way. I found 50 perfect and let a headphone amp do the rest. Even 60 gives me audible distortion.
Good stuff!!!
I'm watching this on an LG V30
Help me is the phone still sharp
I am watching on v30 too
Same here
Just commenting to acknowledge all the plugs for Chromecast Audio. I don't do Rune, but Plex and Tidal both work great. Doesn't do MQA, but my high res files play perfectly over Plex when it is plugged into my DAC. Of course Google discontinued it, so...
Did you notice any problem over the year with v30 or v40? Like burnout of matic bord or processor? Laging or weird blincking of the screen? Lg's from 4 years ago and before were notorious to burn down those after a year
Thank you!
Great video. Tried to test this setup using my lg g7, which I connected to the aux input in my Dali Zensor 5ax powered speakers. I noticed that the volume isn’t as loud (even when the volume in my device is at 95%) as when I stream using my Chromecast via toshlink. Any explanations?
Great alternative. Always thought this DAC on the V30 sounded really good. But how does this compare to a Raspberry streaming solution? Maybe less flexible option, but i have no clue how these Pi addon boards sound.
The LG V20 also shipped with a high quality quad dac, maybe a cheaper alternative! Though these phones are harder to come by nowadays...
How is this different than blutooth speaker connected to the smartphone?
Maybe that he's using a gazillion dollar Hegel amp? Also if you use bluetooth you bypass the phone's DAC and headphone amp and you use the DAC in the speaker which you may not have much info about.
Cheers John, I am going to purchase a V30 off a local trading platform and give this a go. I like your style of presentation and decor at home. Very chic! Cheers from New Zealand!
hey John, what's the reason you switched from headphone jack to usb out -> cobalt combination? I thought LG V30 can output hi-res and mqa through its headphone jack??? That's the whole point I purchased one. If not I will send it back. My initial plan was using LG V30 as a Upnp Renderer with UAPP, keeping my library in the network and send them to LG V30 via my ipad or iphone with a Upnp app.
So, how would I run a V30/40 into a Schiit Modi 3 DAC's Toslink or Coax inputs, and then run its RCA outputs into my amp? Is there a 3.5mm >Toslink or Coax cable out there?
... and cast the display to your big screen TV / Projector ... and use a Visualizer to really get the party started.
Hi John, what do you think of the audio quality of the V30, versus an actual budget streamer ie. blusound node?
Video came up on my recommendations. Not many people tinker with the audio capabilities of the LG v series phones. For the longest while I've been trying to figured out a way to record straight into the phone using a 3.5 mm. Any ideas?
There is no incoming jack--but the mics are excellent on the V series and can be manually tuned.
There are a lot of people here who are primarily focused on playing music. The V30 is a great choice for playing music, but it seems like any usb to external DAC to amp will work well. This V30 is an extremely good audio recorder. Excellent microphones. Manual controls, like lowering the gain 20 dB in concert situations. 16 or 24. WAV or FLAC. 44/48/88/96/176/192. Key think is the excellent audio on the video recordings. Less bitrate choices, but what you get on your video is audio of 24/48 uncompressed wave. And that's plenty good, when you're spending $50. I got mine from ebay for $32.
@@Scott-DJ And you can use the headphone jack to record. TRRS cable. 24/192 mono, 24/48 mono on the video. I don't know if youtube lets you do links. It's a $5 cable on ebay. $1.35 from China.
www.ebay.com/itm/3-5mm-Audio-Headset-Mic-Y-Splitter-Cable-Adapter-TRRS-to-2-TRS-For-Tabs-Laptops/324146906172?hash=item4b78a9443c:g:nKUAAOSwHiBepRdp
what is network streamer and what is the main use ? I dont get it , somebody please explain.
John which do prefer iPad into the cheap bit frost or this phone ? They are going into vintage bogen tube amp
Hi
I am a Deezer user. Can it be used in this configuration? Player / streamer if i use second phone?
so in theory you could use any android based device? including Fiio players that run on android? I would assume Fiio X5 Mk3 sounds better than a smartphone
If you want to make it even cheeper try LG G2 (great DAC) + Viper4Android to unlock more power from the phone. Using it for years now, loving it, cost me nothing :)
Hi John and fellow subscribers.
Must I use Roon? Can I use any old handphone, connect it to my AVR, use my NAS mobile app to access the music files on my NAS, and play them thru the AVR? If done this way, how do I use my mobile phone(not the same one doing the streaming) as a remote to control the music being played, instead of having to walk over to the old handphone to pause/skip/rewind tracks?
How does LG sound compared to a Chromecast Audio? I'm slowly getting tired of CA's trebble harshness.
Is it possible to use the LG V30 with an IPhone using Tidal?
I use most any Android device USB port with the USB audio player app. bypassing Android's os USB output into a USB DAC. Plays Tidal, Qubuz etc in bit perfect. It's even a upnp renderer so it can be controlled remotely. Sounds nearly as good as my allo digione signature.
Get it on Swappa in the US
My favorite phone ever, well 2nd lg v35 is favorite.
USB Audio Out would be a better choice. I use my LG G8 to control a Logitech Transformer (2 of them) and a ROON system as well utilizing android apps designed specifically for that purpose. Of course my Iphone and Note 9 can offer the same service.
You could also do it with Meizu pro 6. Half the price and same results. Dac on this Meizu is awesome. It's hard for me to distinguish difference between Meizu and Odac on my kappa 9.2i
Can't you connect it with a usb cable and send a digital signal to your dac? I do that with an old iPhone and my Peachtree integrated amp - works great!
Of course you can!
I'm switched to Bluetooth receiver Shanling M0, same DAC as LG phone. Now i can hear HiFi from any phone through Bluetooth LDAC codec.
I'm sure you know that LDAC still compresses the music (like Spotify or Apple Music)?
I don't hear difference for Google Play music (mp3 320).