So, how does it fair to Galaxy S3? Does the Octo version comes with Wolfson audio chip?
So, Exynos version will have wolfson wm5102 sound chip afterall...
I want to know about the volume level - my Nexus 4 went back to Google due to the low aux volume. I aux out all the time and it's an absolute requirement for my phone to be able to output at a reasonable volume. The N4 is laughable in that department, and yes that's with hacks too. Someone please confirm the output volume via the headphone jack is LOUD and I'll be happy!
SMS92 said:
I want to know about the volume level - my Nexus 4 went back to Google due to the low aux volume. I aux out all the time and it's an absolute requirement for my phone to be able to output at a reasonable volume. The N4 is laughable in that department, and yes that's with hacks too. Someone please confirm the output volume via the headphone jack is LOUD and I'll be happy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GSM Arena's review said that the S600 S4 was clear, but had low output. They also said that the HTC One was much louder, which is why I'm almost considering it over the S4.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Accourding to GSMArena, in the latest unit the speaker volume is pretty decent, even better than One.
When connected to the amplifier, the sound is superior than almost every phone available in the market. But the DAC is the embedded DAC of S600, so don't know why the difference can be that big.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914p8.php
Wolfson DAC in Exynos Octa maybe even better
The volume of the headphone output was one of my main complaints about Galaxy S III. No headroom at last year's flagship Samsung was not, in fact, using rebar headphones Etymotic hf5 maximum volume is not enough for comfortable listening to classical music (which usually has a wider dynamic range than other music genres). Fortunately, the Galaxy S4 solved this problem: using the same headphones and listening to the same records I've never had to turn up the volume to the maximum. Also, if the Galaxy S III was a telephone and a deep voice sounded muffled because of this, the Galaxy S4 boasts a more even tonal balance. In general, continuous improvement, anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://gagadget.com/cellphones/2013-03-27-obzor-samsung-galaxy-s4/
hung2900 said:
Accourding to GSMArena, in the latest unit the speaker volume is pretty decent, even better than One.
When connected to the amplifier, the sound is superior than almost every phone available in the market. But the DAC is the embedded DAC of S600, so don't know why the difference can be that big.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914p8.php
Wolfson DAC in Exynos Octa maybe even better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They said the crosstalk was the only downside of the One and you'd need high tech equipment to even hear it. However, they also said that the S4 was still quiet when compared with the One/Butterfly, which is what the OP is focusing on the most.
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jtc276 said:
They said the crosstalk was the only downside of the One and you'd need high tech equipment to even hear it. However, they also said that the S4 was still quiet when compared with the One/Butterfly, which is what the OP is focusing on the most.
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Click to collapse
Of course the One/Butterfly are louder, they have a separate inbuilt headphone amplifier like all of HTCs recent phones (I think it first appeared in their WP models from last year).
That isn't, in and of itself, a reason to get a One over an S4 necessarily - it still depends on your use-case scenarios and what headphones you use etc. The majority using fairly sensitive IEMs are not going to experience a great deal of benefit from the headphone amplifier. For those who are using harder to drive headphones and don't want to use an external headphone amp then it starts to make more sense.
NZtechfreak said:
Of course the One/Butterfly are louder, they have a separate inbuilt headphone amplifier like all of HTCs recent phones (I think it first appeared in their WP models from last year).
That isn't, in and of itself, a reason to get a One over an S4 necessarily - it still depends on your use-case scenarios and what headphones you use etc. The majority using fairly sensitive IEMs are not going to experience a great deal of benefit from the headphone amplifier. For those who are using harder to drive headphones and don't want to use an external headphone amp then it starts to make more sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the OP definitely stated that if the S4 is not very loud, it won't be the phone for him due to Aux purposes (I'm guessing in his/her car). And GSM Arena proved the One to be louder. So the better choice (in terms of sound) for the OP would be the One.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Let's put it this way, set an alarm on the one and you won't sleep through it..
If the differences are slight, too slight to hear with standard headphones then the one is definitely better sound output wise than the s4.
Depending on what kind of user you are, this could make your choice fairly simple.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
jtc276 said:
But the OP definitely stated that if the S4 is not very loud, it won't be the phone for him due to Aux purposes (I'm guessing in his/her car). And GSM Arena proved the One to be louder. So the better choice (in terms of sound) for the OP would be the One.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, the OP said nothing of the sort. I wasn't replying to anyone in particular, only trying to generally point out that there is more to consider than a straight numbers comparison of volume outputs.
NZtechfreak said:
Ah, the OP said nothing of the sort. I wasn't replying to anyone in particular, only trying to generally point out that there is more to consider than a straight numbers comparison of volume outputs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whoops. You're right. I was referring to the third poster in this thread.
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I find it curious that GSMarena reviewed the snapdragon version, rather than the "real gsm" exynos version with wolfson. On S3 with Wolfson, increasing hardware volume levels takes about five minutes. Root and change one number in a text file. Not sure on the snapdragon one.
After hearing how different the Nexus 4 sounded compared to their review, I take anything they say with a grain of salt.
Supercurio's twitter feed is worth watching for commentary on audio quality also: https://twitter.com/supercurio
Indeed, GSMArena's sound tests need to be taken with a degree of scepticism, having been heavily criticized by people like Supercurio.
That's why i never quoted gsmarena's review in any part of my posts here and other thread... The test itself is "unproper" to begin with...
I got S3 and recently got HTC one and can confirm that its a best quality sound I heard in phone from speaker and headphone since 2002 and I have Bose headphone, urbets from dr dre and standard headphone in box and I found that htc's headphone got excellent clarity, loundness, deep bass and trable which is better than Bose headphone and as good as urbets of course in HTC one
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
onlinejobwork said:
I got S3 and recently got HTC one and can confirm that its a best quality sound I heard in phone from speaker and headphone since 2002 and I have Bose headphone, urbets from dr dre and standard headphone in box and I found that htc's headphone got excellent clarity, loundness, deep bass and trable which is better than Bose headphone and as good as urbets of course in HTC one
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the HTC One in-store the other day, i agree the speakers on there is quiet good, but headphone wise, its not as good as compared to my Note 2. The Note 2 is much more cleaner and fuller audio quality without any tweaks, with wolfson audio kernel, the HTC One does not even come close.
ama3654 said:
I tried the HTC One in-store the other day, i agree the speakers on there is quiet good, but headphone wise, its not as good as compared to my Note 2. The Note 2 is much more cleaner and fuller audio quality without any tweaks, with wolfson audio kernel, the HTC One does not even come close.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree,with some audio kernel , wolfson DAC is untouchable(with headphones)
sent from an Galaxy s3 GT I9300
Running perseus kernel 33.1 , XELLA 4.1.2 leaked build
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1784401
Dont click,you might regret , I won't be responsible if you brick ur head
Did a blind and volume-matched test with the One and S4 (i9505 international version with the same DAC as the one). Listened on 12 and 16ohm IEMs and 32ohm cans.
First interesting thing was that the Samsung stock player is noticeably louder than PowerAMP (not yet tested other third party players). Around 10dB louder if PowerAMP has direct volume control off and ~5dB louder if PowerAMP is using direct volume control. Since we wanted to use the same player in both devices we had to drop the HTC One volume down three notches for them to match closely (only one step to match with the S4 stock player).
Turned off Beats on the One.
Noted with interest that when blinding was removed we both preferred the S4 sound over the One overall, better instrument separation and clarity, less fatiguing and harsh. Generally preferred the bass on the One, although the One was quite boomy. There was one MAJOR problem with the S4 though - crackling with prominent low bass frequencies. This was absent on the T5p at 32ohm, noticeable on the 16ohm IEMs, and very noticeable on the 12ohm IEMs. If this is output impedance related as it appears to be this would put the S4 (i9505) output impedance somewhere in the 4-8ohm range, making it impossible to recommend to anyone using more sensitive IEMs.
ADDIT: Confirmation from users of CIEMs re: crackling on the i9505.
WARNING: DO NOT BUY THE INTERNATIONAL S4 i9505 IF YOU USE SENSITIVE IEMS and plan to use it as a music player without taking advantage of USB audio. This is why you cannot trust any of the major sites audio reviews for handsets.
I now urgently need to test the i9500...
ama3654 said:
I tried the HTC One in-store the other day, i agree the speakers on there is quiet good, but headphone wise, its not as good as compared to my Note 2. The Note 2 is much more cleaner and fuller audio quality without any tweaks, with wolfson audio kernel, the HTC One does not even come close.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Obviously Stereo speakers in itself makes it HTC One hands down the best in that department. But nothing beats Wolfson DAC for headphone audio quality IMHO.
Is it just me or is the audio quality abysmal out of the Nexus 5's 3.5mm headphone jack? With my ATH-m50x it sounds like someone is making popcorn in the background of every song I play. The crackling is so intense that it ruins a lot of my tracks. One of the best examples I can find is Lamb of God - Black Label. If anyone can try this song out on Google Music or Spotify on their phone and let me know if it sounds abysmal as well I would highly appreciate it.
All of my music is on Spotify, and I use their "Extreme quality" download option which is 320kbps. Man, it sounds HORRIBLE!
I'm going to try a headphone amp this weekend because this is ridiculous. I tried out the same song my my Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100 yesterday and it sounded crystal clear!
I use viper4android highest audio driver, Spotify extreme and ath-m50x and I LOVE my sound quality. The DAC is pretty poor though so viper is a must.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
rootSU said:
I use viper4android highest audio driver, Spotify extreme and ath-m50x and I LOVE my sound quality. The DAC is pretty poor though so viper is a must.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Thanks RootSU, I just installed Viper4Android and the sound quality is definitely better and the crackling/popping is a little less but is still present. Do you think this is a hardware issue? Like I said, my i9100 sounds perfectly fine with stock drivers and so does my dad's i9300! Idk why I have this popping!
I haven't got any crackling or popping. I get a bit of hiss but that's to be expected with my set up.
It could be hardware or even software. Its hard to say.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
My Nexus 5 sounds better than my PC.
My PC has a SoundBlaster Recon3D PCIe lol..
Hi guys,
I'm interested in earphone. But I'm consider htc max 301 and some of sony.have you ever listened to music with htc max 301 earphone? How do you feel? And I'm using lg gx. Htc max 301 is good sound on my phone?
Sent from my LG-F310L using XDA Free mobile app
tkdh said:
Hi guys,
I'm interested in earphone. But I'm consider htc max 301 and some of sony.have you ever listened to music with htc max 301 earphone? How do you feel? And I'm using lg gx. Htc max 301 is good sound on my phone?
Sent from my LG-F310L using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My personal choices:
If you want in-ear earphones, I'd highly recommend the Skullcandy JIB Noise Isolating earphones ($5 to $10). Comfortable, amazing sound quality, and a great price. Just make sure not to get the Skullcandy Ink'd earphones instead - strangely, they have much, much worse sound than the JIBs.
If you want over-ear headphones, get the Sony MDR-ZX100 headphones (~$20). Surprisingly good sound quality for the price, a great, true one-size-fits-all band, and nicely-padded earpieces. Don't get Beats by Doctor Dre!
I'm using the Panasonic RP-HJE120E1K. They fits well and has a good sound (for my opinion).
What's your opinions and why?
And any particular settings for the app of your choice tp get the best sound?
Discuss.....
Sent from my Xperia z5 using Tapatalk
Lots of views but no responses. I'll bite. I'm interested in this topic as well. I use the stock player. I just started looking into audiophile equipment and it is all over the place financially. I'll stick with Z5 and headphones for now. I like the sound reproduction of this phone but would like it a little louder. I leave the DSEE HX ticked and go with that. It upscales the mp3 slightly but at a cost of volume.
Meridian player (free and simple), Jet audio. Good, as for me. There is not application that make sound better than hardware can give.
salex111 said:
Meridian player (free and simple), Jet audio. Good, as for me. There is not application that make sound better than hardware can give.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to like the walkman app shipped with previous Z series, I find it plays all my audio files very well, clear, crisp as it can be. If you read around on Audio threads they all use the walkman app, there is on here as well (catch must be rooted to flash the zip)
---------- Post added at 07:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 AM ----------
augie7107 said:
Lots of views but no responses. I'll bite. I'm interested in this topic as well. I use the stock player. I just started looking into audiophile equipment and it is all over the place financially. I'll stick with Z5 and headphones for now. I like the sound reproduction of this phone but would like it a little louder. I leave the DSEE HX ticked and go with that. It upscales the mp3 slightly but at a cost of volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed the volume output is rubbish, you need very low impedance headphones to get volume because of the low headphone voltage output. I read somewhere on one of the audiophile threads that the Sony is half the voltage output of the iphone, and significantly lower that quite a few others, I am guessing this is a trade off Sony is doing to cause less drain on our batteries.
I listen to most my audio as flac or high quality encoded mp3, so don't need DSEE. I also use Pandora and have enabled the higher quality audio playback.
N7 Player, Neutron, Rocket, Stock Sony or Apollo.
Prefer Apps by XDA
Sent from my E6653 @ XDA Portal
I use Poweramp. But It's more down to quality of the song rather than quality of the player. For example if you have 64kbps music file, it'll sound crap on everything that plays audio.
PlayerPro
Poweramp can't be beaten on Stock. Unfortunately Z5 is very quiet through headphones so only so much you can do.
Sony Music with Viper4Android.
I recommend trying PowerAMP 3.0 alpha
Headphone voltage is low but the Z5 can drive most IEMs well enough at max volume. I haven't noticed as much hissing as HTC Butterfly s where hissing was pretty bad.
MSR7 is quite loud at max volume but can sound a tad harsh [some reviewers suggest an amp is needed to tone down sibilance]; ATH-M50 is fairly loud at max volume.
FYLin21 said:
I recommend trying PowerAMP 3.0 alpha
Headphone voltage is low but the Z5 can drive most IEMs well enough at max volume. I haven't noticed as much hissing as HTC Butterfly s where hissing was pretty bad.
MSR7 is quite loud at max volume but can sound a tad harsh [some reviewers suggest an amp is needed to tone down sibilance]; ATH-M50 is fairly loud at max volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got a link for alpha?
Sent from my Xperia z5 using Tapatalk
I would suggest trying out a USB to audio converter and downloading audio files in Flac. It's said you get better quality out of the USB then the Jack
Ben36 said:
Got a link for alpha?
Sent from my Xperia z5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.powerampapp.com/index.php?/topic/8494-poweramp-alpha-build-700/
It has a new audio engine and visualizations
Sony Music (Walkman), you can find it on apkmirror.com. Installation for non-Sony devices - copy apk to system/priv-app.
Recomend to use with Viper4android.
salex111 said:
Sony Music (Walkman), you can find it on apkmirror.com. Installation for non-Sony devices - copy apk to system/priv-app.
Recomend to use with Viper4android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that the stock music player?
Sent from my Xperia z5 using Tapatalk
Ben36 said:
Isn't that the stock music player?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's stock. My device is not Sony.
Lenovo A916, works good.
All versions:
http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/sony-mobile-communications/walkman-music/
Viper4Android FX (system audio processor-equalizer):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191223
FYLin21 said:
I recommend trying PowerAMP 3.0 alpha
Headphone voltage is low but the Z5 can drive most IEMs well enough at max volume. I haven't noticed as much hissing as HTC Butterfly s where hissing was pretty bad.
MSR7 is quite loud at max volume but can sound a tad harsh [some reviewers suggest an amp is needed to tone down sibilance]; ATH-M50 is fairly loud at max volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the stock player against the new poweramp side by side. Playing the same songs and jumping between the two etc.. I don't think there was much difference, if anything to my ears the stock app was still slightly better sounding
Sent from my Xperia z5 using Tapatalk
TheJah said:
I would suggest trying out a USB to audio converter and downloading audio files in Flac. It's said you get better quality out of the USB then the Jack
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't even know where to start with that suggestion. Lol
Sent from my Xperia z5 using Tapatalk
Ben36 said:
I wouldn't even know where to start with that suggestion. Lol
Sent from my Xperia z5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yeah it's barely getting in to the scene but it makes sense because audio only broadcasts in 3 channels where as micro USB can digitally broadcast with much more. Check it
zorloo.com
TheJah said:
Haha yeah it's barely getting in to the scene but it makes sense because audio only broadcasts in 3 channels where as micro USB can digitally broadcast with much more. Check it
zorloo.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But now..
Are those earphones in the link actually good quality? And will you notice any difference on normal mp3 files?
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