Audio out quality - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

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.
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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.
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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
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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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Click to collapse
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

Related

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.
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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.

Pretty Disappointed with the Audio side of the SkyRocket

Coming from the Captivate, I was used to the excellent sound quality it provided with it's Wolfson WM8994 DAC processor.
Sadly, I can't say the same for the Skyrocket. The floor noise and the whining from CPU cycles is downright annoying on quieter songs with sensitive IEMs. Audio sounds mushy, more focused to lower end of the spectrum with more bass (and sloppy bass at that), Mid-Bass wasn't any better. Overall, lacks clarity and definition. In general, I've heard better sound come out of cheapy chinese mp3 players.
On the other hand, the Captivate is an EXCELLENT music player (Audiophile quality). I used it with my headphone amp and my Senn HD-600s and it was my primary source.
If you ever get a chance to listen to a Galaxy S device with WM8994 DAC w/ Voodoo enabled. 128x oversampling on a nice pair of cans and then to the Skyrocket, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Samsung, I'm Very disappointed. I know the average consumer doesn't care and wouldn't care but how could you DOWNGRADE??? How could you make a multi-media product and are not able to isolate the (AT THE MINIMUM) interference from the cpu!!! The whines, the clicks, the hissing, is downright ANNOYING and screams CHEAPNESS!
Glad I kept my Captivate, atleast it's serving me well as a source player.
I've noticed the bad sound as well
Been doing some looking around and seems like same issues can be found in the Galaxy S II....pretty much throughout the whole GSII lineup.
More than likely due to the Yamaha chip Samsung decided to go with.
Yeah I noticed that too, it was there with my old Xperia X10 and seems worse with the Skyrocket. Its not much of an issue to me since I listen to bassy music but it gets annoying when I listen to Trance during low bass intervals. All you hear is hisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ssssss
Only workaround is bluetooth
DSP manager in ics themed roms helps. The Voodoo developer just released voodoo louder for the galaxy s II but the hd and lte versions are not supported. Hopefully he will get around to it since it uses the same yamaha processor as the gsII, just a different processor. Why did Samsung have to make so many changes to the same lineup...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Personally i dont see supercurio doing anything mod wise for this phone.... i have asked before.
his rebuttle was its not exynos so no go.
plain and simple, maybe if he some how got the device i could see that.
the2rrell said:
Personally i dont see supercurio doing anything mod wise for this phone.... i have asked before.
his rebuttle was its not exynos so no go.
plain and simple, maybe if he some how got the device i could see that.
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He has the T-Mo SGS II, which has the same chip set.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
I would agree for the most part with the stock mp3 player.
That said I installed poweramp and on my HDJ-500 headphones from pioneer it sounds incredible.
Kills my old HTC Incredible S
Longcat14 said:
He has the T-Mo SGS II, which has the same chip set.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Then hey I'm not against improvement...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
power amp improves the sound and cleared up most of my complain too.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Yeah. This is where Samsung Galaxy line really sucks at. It is not unbearable for casually listening on the go. I used to consider myself an audiophile. But the difference is that I love my Galaxy S2 over my priority for audio fidelity.
If you really wanted to get lost in your music by sitting in a dark, silent room, and really have nothing between you and your visualization of music, this is absolutely not the device to do it with. The iPhone wasn't the perfect device for this either, but at least the iPhone can seemingly play noise free music, unlike the Galaxys.
It sounds like it is raining outside and a tea kettle has reached boiling point from a far but audible distance.
I think mp3 players in general, including the iPod and iPhone, have made me lose my love for music. Music feels like it lacks soul. It is probably because the soul moving subtle near inaudible parts of music has been filtered out for us by data saving codecs.
Lucidmike said:
Yeah. This is where Samsung Galaxy line really sucks at. It is not unbearable for casually listening on the go. I used to consider myself an audiophile. But the difference is that I love my Galaxy S2 over my priority for audio fidelity.
If you really wanted to get lost in your music by sitting in a dark, silent room, and really have nothing between you and your visualization of music, this is absolutely not the device to do it with. The iPhone wasn't the perfect device for this either, but at least the iPhone can seemingly play noise free music, unlike the Galaxys.
It sounds like it is raining outside and a tea kettle has reached boiling point from a far but audible distance.
I think mp3 players in general, including the iPod and iPhone, have made me lose my love for music. Music feels like it lacks soul. It is probably because the soul moving subtle near inaudible parts of music has been filtered out for us by data saving codecs.
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Haven't heard the original Galaxy S series with Voodoo Sound, have you?
Supercurio (probably the biggest audiophile of all audiophiles) made new sound drivers for the Galaxy S series, that basically make it the best sound chip in the market (Wolfson Microelectronics FTW).
It bests anything, including the iPhone, without a problem.
Headphones, etc make a big difference. I'll be ordering something from headroom, http://www.headphone.com/index.php but, I'm not spending a ridiculous amount of money.
Going with the different players and DSP manager just masks the problem by using eq at the software level. The floor noise and cycle whine is a hardware caused issue, a poorly designed system where the headphones/codec are not shielded well.
It's not just the floor noise and whining. Overall the DAC lacks substance. sounds are muffled, There's no definition in the mid bass. upper spectrum lacks detail etc etc.
You'd never know and hear this unless you hear a GOOD source with a good DAC first.
MiMart, headphones do make a difference, obviously. My senns HD-600s are one of the best out there. But it'll only perform as good as the power/source you provide it.
Sensitives IEMs don't stand a chance on this phone in my opinion. Especially something isolated and sensitive like the Etymotic er6i's.
I'm just looking for something better than craptastic in ear buds the phone came with. Agreed software, and good headphones can only do so much with a so so quality audio.
Longcat14 said:
Haven't heard the original Galaxy S series with Voodoo Sound, have you?
Supercurio (probably the biggest audiophile of all audiophiles) made new sound drivers for the Galaxy S series, that basically make it the best sound chip in the market (Wolfson Microelectronics FTW).
It bests anything, including the iPhone, without a problem.
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You beat me to it! My Captivate with Voodoo Sound was the bomb. When I got the Skyrocket I compared the two and the Captivate killed it. Used it as a WiFi media player for a few weeks and then needed money so I sold it. Wish I kept it!
I've heard no Voodoo coming for the Skyrocket. Thank you Yamaha chip set!
The more I listen with the included ear buds, the more I find the audio is lacking. I've tried multiple music players, with the same song (flac) with different setting for the eq all with the same lack luster results. I want to get better head phones, not sure if it is worth the money to spend a bit of $100 or not.
Beside the inclusion of the LTE, i believe samsung has cheapened out A LOT on this phone. A lot of people are experiencing screen issues with this model (mine included and i returned it for a different one that still has similar problems) The camera while fine in an areas that are well lit, is utterly worthless in the dark. Even my old SE k800i had better optics in the dim settings than this pos. My microUSB cable has even failed.. i mean wtf how does that fail!? it barely charges and when you connect the phone to the computer, neither devices recognizes each other. When I change the cable for my old SE microusb connect everything works fine.
I cannot recommend this phone to anyone. As soon as there are other LTE devices out there im going to book it.
I haven't owned a Galaxy S series phone before the SkyRocket, so I can't compare. I will, however, say that the sound quality out of the SkyRocket is... mediocre at best and pretty bad at worst. That said, if I want ideal sound quality why would I be using a 3.5mm stereo jack? I'll be using digital signals to get it as close to the amp as I can, and that means bypassing all of the parts of this device that are less than stellar.
Bluetooth, in this case, is what we want. A Google search for A2DP enabled bluetooth stereo adapters turns up plenty of options for those that want to go that route.
Sure the SkyRocket could have used better components. But seriously, why complain? For casual listening it is more than enough, and for premium listening I wouldn't touch a 3.5mm stereo jack if you paid me.
ADDITION: You can also give the audio output quality over MHL/HDMI a try. Not sure what pathways that goes through, but it may provide better quality than the stereo-mini jack.

Dissapointed with stock nexus S sound??

I heard alot about nexus S sound with voodoo but is stock really supposed to be rather average? While the sound "quality" seems really good the volume levels are just not good enough. My bose headphones sound so weak compared to an iphone, what gives??
Even an HTC desire had higher volume. Is voodoo supposed to make it much louder? Why cant we have it without rooting?
Update: I just tried my headphones on an iphone and well it isnt as loud as I remember it was. Whats happened is that I got spoiled by the headphone amp in my PC soundcard and thus perceived the nexus sound to be really weak in comparison. I had not yet used my headphones on a phone since getting a soundcard.
Obviously I cant expect the nexus to beat my PC and it actually compares really well with the iphone 4. I am sorry guys I feel really stupid for making this topic.
Disappointed? Not in the very least. I'm actuall extremely pleased and actually very ****ing surprised of the quality... even without Voodoo enhancements.
I had a Desire before this and that had a very tinny and high-mid/high heavy focus. It was very unpleasant watching videos let alone listening to music.
When I first heard the Nexus s (stock gingerbread at that time) I was in awe. The sound was very clear and loud. It even appeared to produce unnaturally powerful and clear low frequencies for a speaker this size.
I think something is very wrong with your phone if you prefer the Desire's sound.
My 2¢.
Later edit: I just now realize you were actually complaining about the sound volume and not the quality, but still I can't say I find it quieter than the Desire.
However, you are right. Voodoo can boost the volume quite a bit.
Oh no you completely misunderstood, the speaker on the nexus S is really good and destroys the desire. I am talking about sound through full size headphones.
Perhaps you need a headphone amplifier.
With Voodoo, the sound quality is exceptional, but quality has nothing to do with volume. In fact, turning up the volume in the phone too far will have a negative impact on the sound quality (distortion).
There are a number of factors affecting the perceived volume of a pair of headphones. Driver efficiency and impedance are the main ones; some output devices are designed for headphones which require high voltage and others for current.
The Nexus S with Voodoo, in airplane mode, playing high quality FLAC media, plugged into an amplifier, sounds pretty darn good through my AKG K271 MKII cans. Also pretty stellar through Meyer PA.
Gambler_3 said:
Oh no you completely misunderstood, the speaker on the nexus S is really good and destroys the desire. I am talking about sound through full size headphones.
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Yes, I missunderstood, thus my later edit.
And I agree with d-h. I'm only using a pair of sennheiser cx300 but I can never turn it all the way up (I even set the limit at 3dB, rather than 5dB). I keep the volume around 1/2 to 3/4 of the way and that's plenty loud... even in noisy environments.
zgomot said:
Yes, I missunderstood, thus my later edit.
And I agree with d-h. I'm only using a pair of sennheiser cx300 but I can never turn it all the way up (I even set the limit at 3dB, rather than 5dB). I keep the volume around 1/2 to 3/4 of the way and that's plenty loud... even in noisy environments.
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You have voodoo? What music player you use?
And as for headphone amplifier I never used one for other phones I mentioned. While sound quality has nothing to do with volume but without headphone amp, volume tends to be the biggest bottleneck on a smartphone. Since nexus S is hailed as one of the greatest smartphones sound wise I expect it to drive my bose headphones atleast as good as other phones.
This will take care of your sound/volume issues ...
Gambler_3 said:
You have voodoo? What music player you use?
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I use Google Music.
wmdunn said:
This will take care of your sound/volume issues ...
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I have poweramp 2.0, it can make things really loud but there is slight distortion on anything above the default level. I know my headphones can get ridiculously loud without distorting so it's the hardware limitation on the phone.
Gambler_3 said:
I have poweramp 2.0, it can make things really loud but there is slight distortion on anything above the default level. I know my headphones can get ridiculously loud without distorting so it's the hardware limitation on the phone.
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I use Volume+ on my head phones all the time, and there is no distortion. If you don't want to try it, that's fine ... I was simply trying to help.
wmdunn said:
I use Volume+ on my head phones all the time, and there is no distortion. If you don't want to try it, that's fine ... I was simply trying to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have downloaded it will try it for sure but was just saying.
Gambler_3 said:
I have downloaded it will try it for sure but was just saying.
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Click to collapse
Hope it works for you ... it has made a huge difference for me in all areas of device volume settings.
I just tried my headphones on an iphone and well it isnt as loud as I remember it was. Whats happened is that I got spoiled by the headphone amp in my PC soundcard and thus perceived the nexus sound to be really weak in comparison. I had not yet used my headphones on a phone since getting a soundcard.
Obviously I cant expect the nexus to beat my PC and it actually compares really well with the iphone 4. I am sorry guys I feel really stupid for making this topic.
hey peeps get ur facts right. loudness doesn't equate to quality. nexus s with voodoo is fine and awesome details better then iPhone. note. MOST HEADPHONES REQUIRE AN AMPLIFIER.
Gambler_3 said:
I just tried my headphones on an iphone and well it isnt as loud as I remember it was. Whats happened is that I got spoiled by the headphone amp in my PC soundcard and thus perceived the nexus sound to be really weak in comparison. I had not yet used my headphones on a phone since getting a soundcard.
Obviously I cant expect the nexus to beat my PC and it actually compares really well with the iphone 4. I am sorry guys I feel really stupid for making this topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's all good, Bud ...
Why don't you just download voodoo?
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
Yes the speaker volume is rubbish but the Samsung galaxy and Nexus S have the best audio hardware compared to any top phone out at the moment. They rock a really top spec Wolfson audio chip.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Warren_Orange said:
Yes the speaker volume is rubbish but the Samsung galaxy and Nexus S have the best audio hardware compared to any top phone out at the moment. They rock a really top spec Wolfson audio chip.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the Galaxy Nexus rock the same audio chip?
Sent from my Nexus S
While we are on this topic, I have voodoo installed for the color hack. What settings should I use for music? What do you guys use?
Nevermind, I just found out how to use the volume boost. I'm happy!
zgomot said:
Does the Galaxy Nexus rock the same audio chip?
Sent from my Nexus S
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The Galaxy Nexus has some Yamaha chip. Not nearly as good as the Wolfson in our NS, so it's not something to be really proud of - it's not shocking though. SGS and Nexus S are the two android phones with the best headphone output to date.
rocket999 said:
While we are on this topic, I have voodoo installed for the color hack. What settings should I use for music? What do you guys use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All of the settings in voodoo (aside from mono and bass boost) are there to enhance audio quality and processing. Feel free to turn on all features, just leave mono unticked and you can set bass boost to your preferred level of course. This shouldn't use noticeably more power or CPU usage either, if anything at all.

Galaxy S4 and HTC One concert video/audio quality

Found some interesting videos showing off the video and audio capturing performance of the S4 and HTC One.
Full review can be found here: http://blogs.computerworld.com/smartphones/22096/samsung-galaxy-s4-vs-htc-one-camera
HTC One
Galaxy S4
We already knew the HTC One had very good audio recording quality, that said, I'm very impressed with the S4's audio recording quality as well.
Yup. Although I do go to concerts, I never record the live performance. Still, it's good to see the GS4 can handle audio recording pretty decently even in that environment.
Is it just me or does S4 in this video have significantly better audio? Sounds more clear and less noisy?
Camera, HTC looks a bit more saturated than S4 to me.
When i listen to the two examples on my one the one's recording is clearly better, the sgs 4 sounds quite high pitched, the singers voice and cymbals aren't great.
Let's just hope HTC doesn't have to remove those microphones.
BoneXDA said:
Let's just hope HTC doesn't have to remove those microphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's cool it's cool
"-HTC will transition to improved microphone designs once its inventory of STM microphones is exhausted."
http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/24/htc-nokia-injunction/ (under Press Release)
The GS4 clearly sounds better there, a lot clearer.
I wanna know how well it does with loud music though because all Samsung handsets in the past have struggled so much you might as well not bother.
Terrorantula said:
The GS4 clearly sounds better there, a lot clearer.
I wanna know how well it does with loud music though because all Samsung handsets in the past have struggled so much you might as well not bother.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be taking a One/S4/808 to a Tool gig in a couple of weeks.
NZtechfreak said:
I'll be taking a One/S4/808 to a Tool gig in a couple of weeks.
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I listened to one of the other videos and the HTC One sounds better there where it had more bass..... so I'm afraid it'll suffer from the same issues.
I also don't get why the FoV is so narrow, it's nice in a way because it is more zoomed in, however that is the only situation really where you'd want that.
Both are very impressive quality, I still can't quite understand the rationale of recording gigs rather than just enjoying them, but at least doing it now means you get a decent recording and not an unintelligible mess.
randombirt said:
When i listen to the two examples on my one the one's recording is clearly better, the sgs 4 sounds quite high pitched, the singers voice and cymbals aren't great.
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When I listen to it on my PC, with a dedicated sound card, and through my speakers and sub. They sound so close in quality. I would give the edge to the S4 though.
-]Megacharge[- said:
When I listen to it on my PC, with a dedicated sound card, and through my speakers and sub. They sound so close in quality. I would give the edge to the S4 though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol,
Edit
When i listen to it on my htc one without a dedicated sound card, through the onboard speakers it doesn't sound so close, i would definitely give the one the edge!
So much tension...
randombirt said:
Lol,
Edit
When i listen to it on my htc one without a dedicated sound card, through the onboard speakers it doesn't sound so close, i would definitely give the one the edge!
So much tension...
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i listened to both on my 2.1 speakers both are very good
GS4 feels more natural , ONE feel like there is DRC on the audio
-]Megacharge[- said:
When I listen to it on my PC, with a dedicated sound card, and through my speakers and sub. They sound so close in quality. I would give the edge to the S4 though.
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+1 probably subjective but I prefer the more clearer vocals without much background distortion. Both sound good obviously.
I wonder which one is more "accurate" though.
It's pretty common that a less accurate sound is more appealing to the ear (the reason why stuff like Beats is liked). I'd rather a more "accurate" sound be recorded; I can always apply the processing afterwards but I can't remove it if it's already there.
Ok I have to be honest while listening to it carefully on my Genius speakers the S4 sounded more sharp and more detail while the HTC One had bad noises lol
Haha post this in the HTC side the comments will lean more HTC LOL this threads funny every time I see this year after year whos better Sammy or HTC . Well I have the one and the I9500 octs on the way and the sprint s4 soon too . But last time around s3 was louder less clear than HTC also cam on HTC in tests with my friends s4 HTC has a slight edge on the cam quality but s4 has more features . I can say I'm not biased to either cause both are great the childish anger is silly though .
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda premium
Update on the S4 concert ability: not good
Skip to around 3:00 and "enjoy" the distortion... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR2ryc-LTpI
Glad I got the One
MasterThiefGarrett said:
Update on the S4 concert ability: not good
Skip to around 3:00 and "enjoy" the distortion... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR2ryc-LTpI
Glad I got the One
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So they have a defective mic, these things happen.
Wow, on my AKG K240 Studio Headphones the One really sounds distorted while the S4 sounds absolute clear. I am actually thrilled how good the recording with the S4 sounds, even there is no "Voodoo Sound" (anybody remember this from the S1?). There is a heavy pumping on the One where the S4 seems to handle the dynamic much better.
Really good job Samsung! :good:

Verdict on Nexus 5 audio quality?

Now that the Nexus 5 has been out for a while now, and should have went through multiple iterations of hardware revisions, what is the verdict on the Nexus 5's audio quality? This is both speakerphone and headphone.
It is known that the Nexus 5 has really shoddy audio quality, especially from the headphone port. See here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7567/smartphone-audio-quality-testing/4
For me, this is really important, as I'm an audiophile, and I need to have excellent sounding audio. I'm on a Galaxy Note 3, but considering coming to the Nexus 5 as I've really had it with the ridiculous random reboots with the Note 3.
I'd really like to get some input from people who can contribute subjectively as well as those who might have tested it like Anandtech did.
Thanks in advance!
The speaker is okay, nothing to write home about but not terrible. I'd say it's better than the Nexus 4 but certainly not as good as the HTC One M7/M8. The headphone jack is awful. I'm not quite an "audiophile" but the sound is not good. It's still listenable, but it's a significant step down from the HTC One M7 or Galaxy S3 I've used in the past. It's actually to the point where I would rather listen to music over bluetooth than use my headphones because the quality drop over bluetooth isn't as significant as the difference in DAC quality between the N5 and my bluetooth receiver.
All in all, audio quality is probably the one thing that makes me regret the phone. If you plan on using headphones with the phone a lot, and don't want to deal with a USB DAC (including the issues getting it working on the Nexus 5) I would avoid the phone. I wish I had waited and picked up an HTC One M8 honestly, and that would be my recommendation. Now that they've dropped the "Beats" branding the audio quality is actually very good without the overpowering bass of the original M7.
Thanks so much for the in-depth explanation. I guess that takes me out of the running for a Nexus 5.
ajm786 said:
Now that the Nexus 5 has been out for a while now, and should have went through multiple iterations of hardware revisions, what is the verdict on the Nexus 5's audio quality? This is both speakerphone and headphone.
It is known that the Nexus 5 has really shoddy audio quality, especially from the headphone port. See here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7567/smartphone-audio-quality-testing/4
For me, this is really important, as I'm an audiophile, and I need to have excellent sounding audio. I'm on a Galaxy Note 3, but considering coming to the Nexus 5 as I've really had it with the ridiculous random reboots with the Note 3.
I'd really like to get some input from people who can contribute subjectively as well as those who might have tested it like Anandtech did.
Thanks in advance!
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Click to collapse
I use Poweramp & Flac files on my N5 & klipsch headphones, while ok it's by no means great.
You have the Note 3 atm, the N5 is no where near as good audio wise.
I had the N3 & tried the S5 both are way better than the N5.
Atm I use the M8 for proper audio quality.
It's your choice, the N5 is a great device but not for music.
I use beats headphones and Viper4android, along with poweramp and flac as stated above and I have pretty good sound. Not nearly as sweet as the M7 was but definitely above average. I think a combination of good after market headphones and a reliable audio mod can make a so-so sound situation much better. If you have the means and sound is important, then you may want a different device. But if you don't or already have the N5, there are ways to improve the sound significantly. That's my penny and a half.
Mine sounds great using Poweramp and some Klipsch earphones
Honestly, the sound is definitely sub par. I get it, it's a $349-$399 phone & corners are cut somewhere. I have been to see bands play & my siblings & friends with different phones record bands & clips & their playback makes my n5 look like garbage. (They have note3, m7, iPhone 4s/5/5s). Headphone jack isn't awesome either.
I stream music a lot in my car using an auxiliary wire & it isn't awesome, but it isn't atrocious either.
Sound & battery are really killing me with this device.
ajm786 said:
should have went through multiple iterations of hardware revisions...
...I'd really like to get some input from people who can contribute subjectively as well as those who might have tested it like Anandtech did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There have been no hardware revisions at this time so everything is the same as when Anandtech did their tests, and no one tests like Anand does so you've already read the best info out on the subject.
I think the audio quality is above average for a mobile device, but isn't in the same league as the hardware used for the high end Samsung or HTC phones. Software mods such as Viper4Android can make up most of that difference.
The only real issue with the external audio is the stereo crosstalk in the upper volume steps which I've not needed to use as it's plenty loud for my ears.
Came from an S4, and expected to be disappointed by the audio quality of the N5, but I wasn't. The speaker does suck though. N5 + faux sound + Sony MDR-1R headphones = not too shabby an experience (prefer it to the S4).

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