PowerAmp Settings for Higher Sound Quality

You will get somewhat audiophile-grade music on your flagship smartphones such as Samsung S22/S23 Ultra with advanced music apps such as PowerAmp, Samsung’s official USB C to 3.5mm converter and IEM/earphone such as HiFiMan RE-400. HiFiMan RE-400 used to cost $100 once, but now it is just $20.

Unlike consumer-grade earphones such as Boat BassHeads 122, you’ll not get huge bass with HiFiMan RE-400. You will get better details. You need to know about the common audio formats for the audiophiles. There are apps such as Seeker, where you will get peer-to-peer shared FLAC files. They are perfect for testing.

You can purchase an external USB/USB type C DAC, such as some models from Astell & Kern. You can purchase better IEMs, amps, pre-amp etc. after proper research.

Using a dedicated DAP from FiiO or Astell & Kern may change the thing. FiiO players easily support PowerAmp, but it is not easy to make Astell & Kern get an Android app properly running.

Turn off Dolby Atmos. It affects the output.

Now the actual settings of sound quality, processing etc. Open the PowerAmp app. Go to Settings > Audio > Replay Gain.

Set the Replay Gain to “Apply Gain/prevent clipping…” Set the RG preamp within 6db to 8db.
Keep the Preamp for songs without RG info to 0db. This will help you with the MP3 files. You can keep this off while listening to FLAC files. In the Source field, set the settings for Track.

Now, go to Settings > Audio > Resampler. Set the type to SoX. Keep the cut-off frequency within 95 to 98%. Set Dither to None for 16-bit audio files. You can test the settings for 24-bit FLAC.

Go to Settings > Audio > Direct Volume Control. Disable it.
Go to Settings > Audio > Output. Disable AudioTrack Output, and OpenGL ES Output.

Go to Settings > Audio > Output Hi-Res output. Enable it.
Go to Settings > Audio > Output Hi-Res output > USB DAC. Set the sample rate to a higher value such as 96 kHz, sample format as 24 bit. These depend on your audio file. No DVC, No Headroom Gain. Keep the rest as default.

Now, start playing an audio file. Go to Settings > Audio > Audio Info.
You’ll get an idea of what is happening around your ears.

In the above screenshot, the bottleneck is Phillips TAUT102 Bluetooth Earphones. It is a discontinued $80 thing with a 6mm one driver and the sound is enough good. It used to deliver a balanced sound but not audiophile grade.

Now go to the Equalizer tab. You can switch On/Off the Equalizer, Tone and Limit settings. Equalizer may lower the quality. It is your choice what you will do.

Because you are using a DAC, in this part may see the earphone’s name (if it can be recognized). Below that, you’ll get the EQ settings. Go to it and find the AutoEQ list. This is the original AutoEQ website – https://autoeq.app/.

Set the correct settings which match your earphone/IEM/headphone profile. Now, go to the ((o)) tab. Set the ambience as a small room or studio.