Setting up Poweramp on a DAP (Fiio x5 iii)

[archaleas]

Hi, 

I have become sick of all the bugs with the Fiio native software and have migrated over to Poweramp,

 

I am however experiencing some quality loss when compared ot the native app, I feel like the native app provides more 'space' in its sound and is richer than Poweramp, which seems to slightly dampen the sound. 

I have played around with the setting a little, turned of all EQ, i am on v3 now (experienced the same on previous version) and played around with the sampling, output settings, 

 

Any help?

[andrewilley]

Could it be that the native software is doing more psycho acoustic processing rather than providing a clean output? That can often make audio sound richer or more 'full', even if it's not technically quite as accurate.

Andre

[Kwittus]

Hi,

i experienced the same kind of quality loss. This was also combined with a lower output volume. Most of the effect seemed to be connected to replay gain in the Settings (which i turned off). However i think it is worthwhile to start a list of optimal settings, at least communicate about our findings. So maybe you can try yourself and share your findings.

Kwittus

[andrewilley]

ReplayGain won't change audio quality, just the volume level. Try turning DVC on or off and see if that helps too.

Andre

[archaleas]

@Kwittus I experienced the same also, before any alterations to Poweramp the volume is ALOT lower than fiio native player, 

I believe I ticked a "Direct Volume Control" option and this seemed to bring the volume up to a similar level.

I feel like I want to remove all power amps audio optimization and tweaks as these are great for phones etc, however I am using a DAP that would have superior settings that I want to use and keep Poweramp for purely UI

Any thoughts on how to do this?

Definitely agree that we should start a list of optimal settings

 

 

 

 

[archaleas]

 Anyone work this out?

The sound coming form my Poweramp (full version) is no where near as good as the Fiio native app

[ITD27M01]

On 5/18/2017 at 5:10 AM, archaleas said:

 Anyone work this out?

The sound coming form my Poweramp (full version) is no where near as good as the Fiio native app

I have the same issue.

There are some threads on the Internet about checking output signal from FiiO Music and from third party AMP (Poweramp etc...) on the same device (X5 III) - all third party applications produce  a cut-off signal (48/16) for Hi-Res music files regardless of the original bitrate. So looks like there is Android firmware issue and Fiio Music uses direct access to DAC audio chip.

The second problem is hardware buttons - these only works perfectly for FiiO Music also.

The third problem is UI - the Poweramp v3 does not support such small screens.

[ITD27M01]

On 5/18/2017 at 5:10 AM, archaleas said:

 Anyone work this out?

The sound coming form my Poweramp (full version) is no where near as good as the Fiio native app

Here an audio_policy configuration and looks like default sample rate and bitrate is lower and Poweramp needs to support hifi_direct access to Hi-Res output:

 

    outputs {
      primary {
        sampling_rates 44100|48000
        channel_masks AUDIO_CHANNEL_OUT_STEREO
        formats AUDIO_FORMAT_PCM_16_BIT
        devices AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_EARPIECE|AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_SPEAKER|AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_WIRED_HEADSET|AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_WIRED_HEADPHONE|AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_ALL_SCO|AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_SPDIF
        flags AUDIO_OUTPUT_FLAG_PRIMARY
      }
      hifi_direct {
        sampling_rates 6000|8000|11025|22050|16000|24000|32000|64000|128000|44100|48000|88200|96000|176400|192000|352800|384000
        channel_masks AUDIO_CHANNEL_OUT_STEREO
        formats AUDIO_FORMAT_PCM_16_BIT|AUDIO_FORMAT_PCM_32_BIT|AUDIO_FORMAT_PCM_FLOAT|AUDIO_FORMAT_DSD64|AUDIO_FORMAT_DSD128|AUDIO_FORMAT_DSD256
        devices AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_SPEAKER|AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_WIRED_HEADSET|AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_WIRED_HEADPHONE|AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_SPDIF
        flags AUDIO_OUTPUT_FLAG_DIRECT
      }      
    }

 

 

audio_policy.conf