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Mytouch 4G Back Speaker Sounds Terrible

I think I can deal with the screen problem I posted about, but I just don't know if I can get over the back speaker. Playing music through it sounds absolutely horrible.
I use my phone as an alarm clock in the morning which will play music. The terrible sound quality of the music coming from the phone is enough to wake me up and wanna just smash the phone. And no that, just because it wakes me up does not mean its a good thing. I really don't know what there is to do about this problem.
The actual problem is it sounds like there is no bass at all. I know that commonly phone speakers have yet to really add any kind of subwoofer into phones, but I don't think I have come across any speaker that sounds quite like this. It isn't enjoyable to listen to at all. It sounds like screeching. Its like the speaker just has the treble levels all the way up and the bass all the way down. So all I hear are high pitched shreeks instead of singing.
For the most part I load high quality music (320kbps) onto my phone, so I know that's not the problem. I have enjoyed listening to the exact same music files on my old Mytouch3G and also a Nokia 5310 and both sound much better. I don't know what it is that is making the music and speaker setting while in a phone call sound so bad.
I don't think HTC would put a terrible speaker back there. Is anyone else having this issue or should I take back my phone and see if the next one sounds better?

plugged_in_now said:
I think I can deal with the screen problem I posted about, but I just don't know if I can get over the back speaker. Playing music through it sounds absolutely horrible.
I use my phone as an alarm clock in the morning which will play music. The terrible sound quality of the music coming from the phone is enough to wake me up and wanna just smash the phone. And no that, just because it wakes me up does not mean its a good thing. I really don't know what there is to do about this problem.
The actual problem is it sounds like there is no bass at all. I know that commonly phone speakers have yet to really add any kind of subwoofer into phones, but I don't think I have come across any speaker that sounds quite like this. It isn't enjoyable to listen to at all. It sounds like screeching. Its like the speaker just has the treble levels all the way up and the bass all the way down. So all I hear are high pitched shreeks instead of singing.
For the most part I load high quality music (320kbps) onto my phone, so I know that's not the problem. I have enjoyed listening to the exact same music files on my old Mytouch3G and also a Nokia 5310 and both sound much better. I don't know what it is that is making the music and speaker setting while in a phone call sound so bad.
I don't think HTC would put a terrible speaker back there. Is anyone else having this issue or should I take back my phone and see if the next one sounds better?
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I think it is not the best speaker but still better than the N1 loudspeaker. I think it's an HTC problem not with your phone. But feel free to go to a t-mobile store and compare yours to another MT4G.

I agree it's a problem with the MT4G line and not individual phones, but HTC has made quality speakers on their phones. The Evo 4G is a perfect example of this.
CM6 comes with an equalizer you can use for sound so that might make things better. Personally I think sound drivers might be the issue more than hardware b/c if you listen to music on the MT4G thru headphones it sounds like listening to a recording of a recording.

itmustbejj said:
I agree it's a problem with the MT4G line and not individual phones, but HTC has made quality speakers on their phones. The Evo 4G is a perfect example of this.
CM6 comes with an equalizer you can use for sound so that might make things better. Personally I think sound drivers might be the issue more than hardware b/c if you listen to music on the MT4G thru headphones it sounds like listening to a recording of a recording.
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But I thought that the equalizer mod only worked for music through headphones and not through the actual speaker.

Wrong
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

ESKIMOn00b said:
Wrong
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
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Click to collapse
What do you mean? Or are you just being a douche and trolling....

The speaker is kinda crappy I agree. But a little better than the G2. If you lower the volume it is a little better but then hard to here. This is one issue I wish was better.

Have to agree....speaker sucked on the G 2 also
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Don't know if it is just me but my speaker seems to have gotten better with use. Maybe broken in, who knows maybe it is just me settling for not perfect but i think it has gotten better with use. Maybe it is just wishful thinking.

speaker stinks on this phone and the G2. period. i have yet to use it for music thru headphones yet. but i dont use my phone as a media player unless its on the airplane or something like that.

I agree the speaker isn't great but it isn't that bad. Though I have to admit, the Vibrant had a great speaker. VERY loud and very clear.

Have you tried playing it thru external speakers? like ihome thru the 3.5mm jack? the sounds good enough, but every now and then it sends the phone haywire skipping track after track every two seconds and randomly dialing??

with the stock ROM its very ehh
once i fully rooted & installed Evil Desire HD port my speaker was really loud & clear!

It's good to have bluetooth speakers handy especially for both phone calls and audio.
(Creative T12w is the best bet for home use, but it doesn't have HSP/HFP)

jayizzbakk said:
with the stock ROM its very ehh
once i fully rooted & installed Evil Desire HD port my speaker was really loud & clear!
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Can anyone confirm that this fixes the speaker? And if so, can we isolate the setting that fixes it to apply separately?

mingkee said:
It's good to have bluetooth speakers handy especially for both phone calls and audio.
(Creative T12w is the best bet for home use, but it doesn't have HSP/HFP)
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I have the Jawbone JAMBOX and love it. I use it in places where I used to listen to the speaker.
As for using the speaker, I guess I haven't used a phone where I was like "that's awesome!" The best it's sounded is having all my music adjusted to 95dB using MP3Gain, and the volume about 1 or 2 steps away from max.

That the only thing i hate about the Mytouch 4G... its not that big of a deal, but switching from the Touch Pro 2 (dual speaker) to the Mytouch 4g (one speaker) was a downgrade for me but hey you have to admit the phone freaking awesome!

tackleberry said:
speaker stinks on this phone and the G2. period. i have yet to use it for music thru headphones yet. but i dont use my phone as a media player unless its on the airplane or something like that.
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The G2 sounds way worse than the MT4G. Side by side, there is a HUGE difference.

alphakronik said:
The G2 sounds way worse than the MT4G. Side by side, there is a HUGE difference.
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I totally agree. I tried both side by side. Was still stuck on wanting a g2 but I had the choice to pay 200 for a g2 or 70 for mt4g. I'm glad I got this phone. I'm very satisfied with it.
Sent from my rooted iced glacier rom mt4g via XDA app

Its ok not that HORRIBLE, coming from a mytouch slide
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

Audio Quality?

Now that this phone has officially launched, I'd like to get an idea about the audio quality of the Sensation through the 3.5mm headphone jack. Audio quality is a huge deal for me when it comes to purchasing new phones so please be as detailed as you can.

i to would like to know, im coming from the Nexus S with the one hack i forget what its called havent use my Nexus S since like March, damn o yea its called Voo Doo sound. And it sounds ****in amazing excuse my language its just that great in ear headphones with voo doo. I would like for the Sensation to be better or @ least on par with it.

Also, someone who has the phone can tell us about the quality of the external speaker and if it is any better than that of older HTC phones. The one on my desire really sucks in comparison with the Galaxy S or the iphone.

giorgisp said:
Also, someone who has the phone can tell us about the quality of the external speaker and if it is any better than that of older HTC phones. The one on my desire really sucks in comparison with the Galaxy S or the iphone.
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Someone said it was an improvement over their previous HTC phone (I think it was sjgore saying it was better than the Desire HD)l

I can honestly say the sound quality is good and clear. Lacking bass though and not loud through the speaker

Virtue94 said:
Now that this phone has officially launched, I'd like to get an idea about the audio quality of the Sensation through the 3.5mm headphone jack. Audio quality is a huge deal for me when it comes to purchasing new phones so please be as detailed as you can.
Click to expand...
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I'm also very curious on this as I'd value such a device as an audio player to use with audiophile headphones (some of the ones I have are low impedance IEMs, others I'd use with portable amplifiers like the Meier Corda Move), mostly to play flacs.
I've owned the Samsung Galaxy S and the audio quality was pretty decent, flat, black silence and so on. Wondering if this latest HTC is better than previous HTC models.
I only care about the 3.5mm jack audio, not the speaker.. don't use that for music.

sound
And as the whole quality of sound on Sensation? Slightly better Desire HD or well?

Im more interested about the speaker quality when you talk to someone thorough the speaker phone.. can you hear the person loud and clear? can he hear you clearly?

yea like the guy 2 or 3 post above me said, im wayy more interested in the Sound Output from the headphone jack. Ive heard that the Thunderbolts external speaker is absolutely amazing like the HTC Surrounds so if the sensation is on par or even better than those 2's then itll be great for internal speaker. But im not sure about external output to the phone

The sound quality is great on the phone, it is louder than a stock DHD and the quality and bass is perfect through the headphones especially with the SRS effects. The headphones I am using are Sennheiser cx400, it would be wise to use a good pair of headphones

Audio quality TI Audio chip v/s Wolfson 8994 ???
HTC Sensation if "TI Audio chipset" then crappy sound.
If HTC sensation comes with "WOLFSON 8994" then amazing sound.
Still looking for the HTC sensation internal motherboard pics or plan.

agent.m said:
I can honestly say the sound quality is good and clear. Lacking bass though and not loud through the speaker
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Are you talking about the sound quality through headphones or the loud speaker? I could care less about the latter.

beautyangel said:
HTC Sensation if "TI Audio chipset" then crappy sound.
If HTC sensation comes with "WOLFSON 8994" then amazing sound.
Still looking for the HTC sensation internal motherboard pics or plan.
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Wrong. Preamps dictate the sound signature of the phone. DACs don't matter as much as you think they do. As long as it's clean, we're good.

Preamps
If preamps Over rule on sensation, thats a great news. Thx for the correction if the Sensation is carrying a preamps.

m1r4j91 said:
The sound quality is great on the phone, it is louder than a stock DHD and the quality and bass is perfect through the headphones especially with the SRS effects. The headphones I am using are Sennheiser cx400, it would be wise to use a good pair of headphones
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+1, except that I'm using Sennheiser CX 300's.

can anyone comment about the loudspeaker quality when talking to a person? can you hear him well without distortions and vice versa?

Virtue94 said:
Wrong. Preamps dictate the sound signature of the phone. DACs don't matter as much as you think they do. As long as it's clean, we're good.
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Wrong.
Crap in crap out, if the source is low grade, the OPA will do nothing to change that. I'm not saying that DACs are the most important thing, but they are definitely at the beginning of the system. Of course, the very very beginning would be the sound file in question.... FLAC(which stock android wont even support), or low bitrate MP3.

PhaedraCorruption said:
Wrong.
Crap in crap out, if the source is low grade, the OPA will do nothing to change that. I'm not saying that DACs are the most important thing, but they are definitely at the beginning of the system. Of course, the very very beginning would be the sound file in question.... FLAC(which stock android wont even support), or low bitrate MP3.
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I am aware of that fact. But us users can actually do something about the source files that we play. FLAC and ALAC support is included with certain apps like PowerAmp so it can remedied to a certain extent. Audio hardware however, can't be modified so easily; you're basically stuck with a certain audio setup once you buy the device. So am I right on point this time?

Virtue94 said:
I am aware of that fact. But us users can actually do something about the source files that we play. FLAC and ALAC support is included with certain apps like PowerAmp so it can remedied to a certain extent. Audio hardware however, can't be modified so easily; you're basically stuck with a certain audio setup once you buy the device. So am I right on point this time?
Click to expand...
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Well my point is, while the DAC is definitely not the most important part of the system, it is more important that the OPA(optical parametric amplifier), which you said was more crucial than the dac. .
This fact is only applies for 99.99% of circumstances though, you could be the oddball with the full sized headphones that are hard to drive... but really, if you're going to spend $200+ on headphones, you might as well get a portable amp along with it.

PhaedraCorruption said:
Well my point is, while the DAC is definitely not the most important part of the system, it is more important that the OPA(operational amplifier), which you said was more crucial than the dac. .
This fact is only applies for 99.99% of circumstances though, you could be the oddball with the full sized headphones that are hard to drive... but really, if you're going to spend $200+ on headphones, you might as well get a portable amp along with it.
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Lol I am that oddball And I do have a portable amp btw. I just really hate walking around with it since it isn't very portable.

LG Optimus 3D Audio Quality

Hi,
How good is the SQ of O3D? Is it comparable to iP4/SGS 2?
Thanks!
Sent from my GT-I5801 using XDA App

The speakers aren't great and I think it's pretty bad at recording sound, especially in a loud environment.
Works well with headphones though

Hmmm....So did you tried any 3rd party headphones or only using those that came bundled with O3D?
Sent from my GT-I5801 using XDA App

I'm using high-end headphones, but the ones that came with it looked OK. I never expect much from what constructors put in the box...
Sent from my LG-P920 using XDA App

Wow you guys got headphones with your O3D. We didn't get that with the Thrill!

I havent even opened the headphones that came with it. Ive used it with several different sets of cans though, including sony vf-150s and beyerdynamic dt-770ms and it sounds pretty great on all of them.
One flaw ive noticed with audio is that the phone creates a loud pop when the audio driver kicks in at the beginning of playback. Quite annoying if you ever plug it into a PA system.
Sent from my LG-P920 using xda premium

BigCiX said:
Wow you guys got headphones with your O3D. We didn't get that with the Thrill!
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We got an HDMI cable though.

Killer Bee said:
We got an HDMI cable though.
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Lol at first I was like :/ but then I was all

Headphones are really good, speakers are loud and good. But, recording voice quality is horrible when there is a noise or lound voices, so, that is just what annoyes me.

The sound coming out of the speakers is tiny and according to this review, the quality of the sound coming out of the headphones is one of the worst they've heard :S. They rate it as excellent if you plug it in your car or PA system...

LG earphones+poweramp with dance preset and bass and treble knob turned to middle= best earphones compared to every other earphone that comes bundled with any other mobile!

ofutur said:
The sound coming out of the speakers is tiny and according to this review, the quality of the sound coming out of the headphones is one of the worst they've heard :S. They rate it as excellent if you plug it in your car or PA system...
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I think you are misreading what they are stating. Here is the exact quote:
GSMARENA said:
When headphones come into play, however, the stereo crosstalk takes a really serious hit - it gets relegated from excellent to one of the worst we have seen.
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What they are saying is that the stereo crosstalk, when using headphones, dips to one of the lowest levels they have seen. This is not the same as saying that "the quality of sound coming out of the headphones is one of the worst they have heard."
In addition, if you look at the comparison chart, the only phone in that list that is significantly better then all the rest is the HTC Sensation.

speaker quality compared to iphone4: bad. very bad.
speaker loudness compared to iphone4: much much better.
i prefer the optimus 3d. i have x-mini mobile speakers if i really want to listen to my phone.

naplesbill said:
I think you are misreading what they are stating. Here is the exact quote:
What they are saying is that the stereo crosstalk, when using headphones, dips to one of the lowest levels they have seen. This is not the same as saying that "the quality of sound coming out of the headphones is one of the worst they have heard."
In addition, if you look at the comparison chart, the only phone in that list that is significantly better then all the rest is the HTC Sensation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offence, but I think that you don't know what stereo crosstalk is. -44.1 is pretty bad. Vinyls give you around -30.
Look at the numbers for Apple which is still a reference when it comes to pocketable audio players.

ofutur said:
No offence, but I think that you don't know what stereo crosstalk is. -44.1 is pretty bad. Vinyls give you around -30.
Look at the numbers for Apple which is still a reference when it comes to pocketable audio players.
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I am not debating that. I just felt the need to point out the difference in verbage, which insinuated something different than what was actually stated. I understand the value of the crosstalk measurement, but it's not the only measurement involved. Sorry if you felt offended.
Additionally, look at the other devices compared and you will see that it wasn't the worst of the pack. It looks almost par with the GSII in most regards. Of course, I don't think that is such a great thing either.
I also noticed that in the chart for Apple, that the original Galaxy S is worse than the Optimus 3D as well.

I agree with you and I apologize . My original statement was misleading. The crosstalk is one of the worst, but overall the quality of the sound coming out of the O3D was rated as being average.

Recording at concert

Ok so I remember going to a nickleback concert a few months back and I recorded it on my galaxy nexus and the sound quality was crap...Now I went to a Linkin Park concert and the quality is still crap. So I guess my question is if there is anything different I can do to get any semi decent sound quality?

Nickleback and Linkin Park? The phone did u a favor. LOL!
But seriously Ive never had a phone that recorded live audio well. To much low end and way to loud especially if ur any where near the stage. I record with sound off most of the concerts I go to.

TokedUp said:
Nickleback and Linkin Park? The phone did u a favor. LOL!
But seriously Ive never had a phone that recorded live audio well. To much low end and way to loud especially if ur any where near the stage. I record with sound off most of the concerts I go to.
Click to expand...
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Lmao! haha funny one =p and ya that probably makes sense seeing how I was at the very front for both of them =/ bleh oh well wish there was a way to get better quality but then again I didn't really expect much in the first place haha

External mic. Phone mics really aren't equipped to handle the sound levels at a concert.

bobloblaw1 said:
External mic. Phone mics really aren't equipped to handle the sound levels at a concert.
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Click to collapse
So what is a good type of external mic that I can use for concerts?

This is going beyond what I know but maybe this link will help you: http://android.stackexchange.com/qu...e-an-external-microphone-with-my-galaxy-nexus
Then use amazon reviews or whatever to pick a good quality wired mic.
Be aware that many artists, (especially mainstream ones) aren't "taper" friendly and will sic security on you if you are spotted recording.

Maybe not, but it can/should be better
bobloblaw1 said:
External mic. Phone mics really aren't equipped to handle the sound levels at a concert.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Went to a concert. Used my Verizon S3 to record a video. My buddy standing next to me with the iphone recorded the same video. Mine is completely inaudible. His is absolutely fine.
Can anyone inform us how to fix the terrible audio recording capability of the Verizon Galaxy S3?

I used to take video at concerts with my little handheld Canon camera. It seemed to help to actually cover the mic hole with a finger in order to dampen the volume as much as possible. I haven't tried this at all with a smart phone but might help.

It would be interesting to learn if using an app made for allowing high fidelity, uncompressed recordings might help, such as Rehearsal Assistant. If so, then perhaps that would imply it was the codec or some other issue used by the stock video recorder on our phone.
iPhones that can record halfway decent concert footage seem to record at a consistently high quality (i.e., my old Incredible sampled around 8-13KHz/sec . . . ouch) and minimizes most of the bass. The recording sound tinny, but at least it can sometimes avoid the overwhelming saturation from large bass sounds or high volume in general.
- ooofest

Audio out quality

Hi all
Ordered my 32gb, white N5, which should be delivered early next week.
But while anxiously waiting and reading first feedbacks, I had a question that seemed to have not been answered yet.
What about audio jack quality? I don't expect a smartphone to drive a high spec earbud like a professional DAC, but the N4 was a bit disappointing. Muddy bass, irritating highs, it was definitely not enough for my Fidelio S2.
So what to expect from the N5? Does it come with a Wolfson DAC (I don't think so) or with the same DAC the G2 is equipped with? How does it sound?

i would imagine it uses a Qualcomm dac like the N4 before it only perhaps an updated one. i found the N4 to sound alright on my Sure SE535's but bass not as clear / punchy as any wolfson ive had previously.
if you goto the snapdragon S800 page if i recall it does talk about the DAC
Also the S800 now has a Dedicated DSP processor and 4.4 uses direct audio tunneling to the DSP so it will be interesting to see how this will effect the audio quality to.
EDIT: from what i understand tho the Qualcomm DAC's are more analytical in sound they tend to give detail and lack warmth in the sound.

How is the volume? I'm hearing impaired and I was always listening my music on full volume.
I read somewhere that the N5 would be louder. Can someone confirm this for me?

audio is a big one for me as well.
if it isnt a big improvement over the n4 it will be getting sold. Ive been spoiled with my htc one after having the n4.

aimetti said:
audio is a big one for me as well.
if it isnt a big improvement over the n4 it will be getting sold. Ive been spoiled with my htc one after having the n4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, I used to listen my music on my ipod touch 64GB but it broke down. Just recently I started using my N4 as my daily music-"machine" D) and google music all access is great. However, the N4 was just not loud enough for some albums (usually older and quieter stuff) and 16GB weren't much enough.
I hope my new N5 white 32GB will be better as music player... I will find out at the latest on monday..

Just pasting my comment from a discussion on G+, some may find it useful:
From a quick test I believe it sounds better than my good ol' Nexus 4. The sound is a bit more bass-y, though I'm not sure if it's just "coloured", or the fact that Nexus 4's sound is a bit on the "tinny" side (note: I'm not using audiophile-grade gear, just slightly(?)-above-the-average Klipsch S4 in-ears). I'd say the sound is more balanced now. Also, output appears to be higher than on the Nexus 4.
Take the above with a grain of salt, this is a matter of personal preference after all. For proper analysis you should wait for Supercurio or someone with the proper tools + time to do it.
Edit: Before anyone asks about external DACs, just tried to connect my ODAC hoping for some sound to play from my speakers. No luck. Not even with a Y-Cable so I guess we're going to have to rely on custom kernels again.

phunkycow said:
Just pasting my comment from a discussion on G+, some may find it useful:
From a quick test I believe it sounds better than my good ol' Nexus 4. The sound is a bit more bass-y, though I'm not sure if it's just "coloured", or the fact that Nexus 4's sound is a bit on the "tinny" side (note: I'm not using audiophile-grade gear, just slightly(?)-above-the-average Klipsch S4 in-ears). I'd say the sound is more balanced now. Also, output appears to be higher than on the Nexus 4.
Take the above with a grain of salt, this is a matter of personal preference after all. For proper analysis you should wait for Supercurio or someone with the proper tools + time to do it.
Edit: Before anyone asks about external DACs, just tried to connect my ODAC hoping for some sound to play from my speakers. No luck. Not even with a Y-Cable so I guess we're going to have to rely on custom kernels again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
With higher output, do you mean more volume, louder?
I also have Klipsch S4 (II) and I found it already quite (too?) bassy on my N4

Blocoholi said:
Thanks!
With higher output, do you mean more volume, louder?
I also have Klipsch S4 (II) and I found it already quite (too?) bassy on my N4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the S4 (I), not sure if there's a difference!
Yep, that's what I meant about the output, sorry for the confusion.

Indeed. I hope the audio is better than the n4. Heck, my i9100 has better audio quality than the n4.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4

I'm coming from a GNexus and when I plug my phone into the aux jack in my car it sounds absolutely terrible. It's just horribly muffled and muddy compared to virtually anything else I've plugged in.
Anyone know what kind of improvements I can expect? Was the N4 any better than the GNexus? It's pretty embarrassing to want to share a song with friends and after someone unplugs their iphone my phone sounds like garbage.

feedtheducks said:
Indeed. I hope the audio is better than the n4. Heck, my i9100 has better audio quality than the n4.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4
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Nope nooope no no no no no nopity nope no no no. I'm sorry but having owned both Galaxy S2 and Nexus 4, the Nexus 4 definitely has better music-playing quality through headphones. 100%.
Will receive my Nexus 5 hopefully Monday!

Hopefully the audio quality can compete with a Samsung Galaxy S3 + Boeffla Sound Engine. I´ll really miss this one