Hi all, my first post here, though I've been using these forums for quite a while. I always wondered why Android lacks behind its competitors in the Audio segment. I searched for hours trying to find a good App that would get me some surround sound on my new LG Optimus One and I was surprised to find none. I heard about the Cyanogen MOD with the DSP manager, but then, this phone is just 3 days old and I don't want to void my warranty rooting it or something.
I know these surround effects I've mentioned are possible on android, since the Galaxy 3 with a 667Mhz processor, 256Mb Ram with its TouchWiz UI is able to provide its users with Virtual 5.1 Surround effects in addition to some basic Reverb effects on its Music Player. More over, I noticed that even a basic Nokia 7210 Supernova with just JAVA in it is able to support stereo widening! Why hasn't android got any stereo widening features or apps (atleast) ?
However, I did find some resources for you developers, which may help you in developing some surround effects like that Dolby's or SRS's
1)hxxp : / / android . modaco . c0m/content/acer-liquid-liquid-modaco-com/313571/dolby-mobile-update-zip/
2)hxxp : / / w w w . megaupload.c0m/?d=5PN5PFJ0
3)hxxp: / / w w w . iqmagazineonline.c0m/current/pdf/Pg11-15-Ittiam-Intergrating.._IQ_no31.pdf
4)hxxp: / / w w w . khronos.0rg/developers/library/overview/khronos_overview.pdf
^(Check out the section titled "OpenSL ES Features Overview")
Replace X's to t and 0's to o
I'm just keeping my fingers crossed as of now, hoping that someone will be able to develop an app or something with these Surround sound enhancements. I guess I'm not alone, there are many, many people waiting for these features on Android like me! Let me know if its possible to implement these surround sound feautres on Android..
Have a gr8 day ^_^
stereo widening
fwiw ....
I was missing srs enhancement on my stock desire z using westone um3x's earbuds ..
I think the sound quality was better on my old windows mobile 6.5 phone using srs wow enhancement.. but the wm6.5 srs enhancer itself was similiar to an equaliser with a lot of user options and NOT the simple on/off toggle "take it or leave it" srs enhancement found in android phones to date.. (see link below)
Nevertheless i thought i'd try android srs so I rooted my phone and flashed virtuous unity 2.37 to test the srs enhancement not available on a stock desire z ..... and whilst it improves the sound the improvement is not significant ....
I have since gone back to stock gingerbread (NO android srs enhancement) and purchased music playerpro from the market; its audio effects use the new audio enhancements built into gingerbread including stereo widening.... (the "virtualiser") ... and imo are superior to the dsp power pack... and now i feel i'm almost back to where i was on the music front using wm6.5 and srs wow enhancement....
http://attachments.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=64030&d=1199272739
PS - I'd gladly pay srslabs for something like the old srs wow application working on android .... also i'm not affiliated to playerpro in any way ....
Hi! I'm a musician and would like to know if there is a good way to connect a stereo microphone to the Samsung Galaxy SIV (3,5 input jack, USB or Bluetooth).
Thanks.
What do you means?
Wanna a good earphone?
jomiber said:
Hi! I'm a musician and would like to know if there is a good way to connect a stereo microphone to the Samsung Galaxy SIV (3,5 input jack, USB or Bluetooth).
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wanna take high quality recordings.
Thanks, but I don't want to listen music. I need to record sounds in high quality with my smartphone.
Actually, with the app RecForge Pro, you can use the top and bottom mics on the GS4 to make stereo recordings. The quality is actually very good. The only limitation is that that mics will overload somewhere around 100 dbs, so you can't record a super loud concert. I have a nice Tascam recorder, but I actually just use the RecForge Pro and my GS4 to record our quiet jams/practices. Just make sure, in RecForge Pro, in the Settings to set File Format to Stereo Native. You can set recording level and can recording in 16 bit wav, MP3, or Ogg. RecForge 2 is out from the same guy, but it's in beta and does not yet allow stereo recording.
harpdoc said:
Actually, with the app RecForge Pro, you can use the top and bottom mics on the GS4 to make stereo recordings. The quality is actually very good. The only limitation is that that mics will overload somewhere around 100 dbs, so you can't record a super loud concert. I have a nice Tascam recorder, but I actually just use the RecForge Pro and my GS4 to record our quiet jams/practices. Just make sure, in RecForge Pro, in the Settings to set File Format to Stereo Native. You can set recording level and can recording in 16 bit wav, MP3, or Ogg. RecForge 2 is out from the same guy, but it's in beta and does not yet allow stereo recording.
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I do actually record a lot with the phones mikes, too (before that with my S2 either).
But it would be a hell of a project, to transform our device to a stereo-recording with better HQ Mikrophones attached.
There is access to the mics. With enough soldering and additional wires and some non permanent connectors, it could be practicable.
BUT i am no expert in circuits - so i will let that part handle someone else! There certainly would be a need for something like that.
Putting a small hightech mike anywhere with a small Smartphone is not that obvious than having a real Recorder with you to have a good bootleg!
jomiber said:
Thanks, but I don't want to listen music. I need to record sounds in high quality with my smartphone.
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Click to collapse
I'm a studio musician myself and have looked into this a bit. You might want to have a leer at USB Audio Recorder Pro (in the play store); getting a high-quality ADC (with built-in mic pre) that is documented as working with that software; and an OTG cable.
Email the gentleman who created USB ARP and he'll give you a few choices that are proven.
Beyond that, get a high-quality USB analog-to-digital converter that works with the software I mentioned and use the mic that you would for a normal recording. I favor the AKG C414 for guitar, but that's just my preference. For field recordings, there are numerous setups to research on sites dedicated to that area.
One issue with Android is that it isn't a real-time OS, and there aren't as many music creation software options that work as there are for iOS. That's also because Apple has a legacy business with pro recording. The only reason I ever bought a mac is because I had to in order to work. All of the recording studios in New York required me to be proficient on it, since I'm a keyboardist and often end up running the show.
However, when it comes to smartphones, I tend to buy Android. I much prefer offerings by Samsung, HTC and Google to the iPhone.
Tablets are another matter. I love my Nexus 7 2014 for everything else, but for music creation and recording, the iPad Air destroys it. That's what I'd tend to use: an iPA with any of the proven ADCs that work with that tablet (and the camera kit) as well as PCs and Macs (no point in having to buy different I/O for my laptop).
The Surface Pro tablets have the potential to do the same in theory (legacy software, true Windows 8.1, etc.), but I haven't had any experience with them. You can read about people who have had on Gearslutz, which might be a better place to ask about recording on the S4.
Thanks for your answers!!!!! They have been very usefull!!!
http://www.ebay.it/itm/Cavo-sdoppia...289?pt=Computer_portatili&hash=item1c3b265d51 this will allow you to connect any microhpone to the audio jack.
It has been a bit frustrating trying to find an answer to something that I would think would be a common question (or not common since people with real surround systems are rare). Anyway, is it possible to output 5.1 surround sound (Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, etc) to an external device like a TV? If you can't mirror cast/screen cast that, is their a way to get that kind of audio output from some kind of usb-c to hdmi cord/adapter?
If the answer is no to both, and that it's impossible to do at all, why would such a seemingly basic thing never come to be supported?
The only possible way to retain full resolution is using the C port and keep the signal in the digital realm (minimum output should be 24/96 khz) to a quality reciever.
Normally Dolby, DTS, HDCD, etc is then decoded by the reciever and brought into the analog realm.
BT LDAC is the best bluetooth option available for this device, but this will degrade the image.
It lacks the bandwidth to fully support 24 bit/48 khz and higher resolutions.
A degraded image will be especially noticeable with a stereo image or more channels on a room sound system. They lower the resolution, the more of sound stage you lose. Mp3 have about none, CDs better, HDCDs much better, 24 bit and higher, best.
blackhawk said:
The only possible way to retain full resolution is using the C port and keep the signal in the digital realm (minimum output should be 24/96 khz) to a quality reciever.
Normally Dolby, DTS, HDCD, etc is then decoded by the reciever and brought into the analog realm.
BT LDAC is the best bluetooth option available for this device, but this will degrade the image.
It lacks the bandwidth to fully support 24 bit/48 khz and higher resolutions.
A degraded image will be especially noticeable with a stereo image or more channels on a room sound system. They lower the resolution, the more of sound stage you lose. Mp3 have about none, CDs better, HDCDs much better, 24 bit and higher, best.
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Alright, so, I bought one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G2GJFF3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_KNVWFbWRMZRWP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 hooked it up to my TCL 75Q825 TV, and I was able to get a 4K 30fps connection. My TV has an HDMI ARC channel I use to bitstream audio to my Integra DHC-80.3 reciever so that I get Dolby Digital Plus and DTS output from my Smart TV app's shows and movies, but the Note 20 Ultra will only play 2.1 channels.
So if I directly connected the hdmi adapter to the reciever, and fed the video and audio through there to the TV, would I get the 5.1 channel sound? Or am I misunderstanding what you said and basically you can't really do it?
I'm actually going to be returning the hdmi adapter because I found out that there are better adapters that will allow me to have 4K 60fps from my ultra, but honestly, if I can't get HDR out of it and surround sound, I probably will forget the whole thing.
I'm not for sure what the 20 is outputting in the digital realm. It would need to preserve the digital DTS encryption for it to work. Same for Dolby 5.1
I doubt it will glean these though.
However as long as it outputs 24bit/48khz in the digital realm it will preserve the HDCD encoding subtext (my only interest at this point).
Sorry I never had use for this. The C port digital is how the get the highest possible resolution throughput from it.
The hardware/firmware/software must support formats like Dolby 5.1 or DTS.
Does Sammy even support Dolby 5.1 let alone DTS on this?
Sammy been pretty backward in this respect so I doubt it.
Best I can tell it doesn't.
https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00080318/
blackhawk said:
The only possible way to retain full resolution is using the C port and keep the signal in the digital realm (minimum output should be 24/96 khz) to a quality reciever.
Normally Dolby, DTS, HDCD, etc is then decoded by the reciever and brought into the analog realm.
BT LDAC is the best bluetooth option available for this device, but this will degrade the image.
It lacks the bandwidth to fully support 24 bit/48 khz and higher resolutions.
A degraded image will be especially noticeable with a stereo image or more channels on a room sound system. They lower the resolution, the more of sound stage you lose. Mp3 have about none, CDs better, HDCDs much better, 24 bit and higher, best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
blackhawk said:
I'm not for sure what the 20 is outputting in the digital realm. It would need to preserve the digital DTS encryption for it to work. Same for Dolby 5.1
I doubt it will glean these though.
However as long as it outputs 24bit/48khz in the digital realm it will preserve the HDCD encoding subtext (my only interest at this point).
Sorry I never had use for this. The C port digital is how the get the highest possible resolution throughput from it.
The hardware/firmware/software must support formats like Dolby 5.1 or DTS.
Does Sammy even support Dolby 5.1 let alone DTS on this?
Sammy been pretty backward in this respect so I doubt it.
Best I can tell it doesn't.
https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00080318/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright so this is what confused me about the audio capabilities https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-note20-5g/specs/ just use find in page and put "Dolby" and you should find the sentence that throws me off. Makes it sound like it can at least decode those formats? From my perspective the whole thing just seems odd, I mean to give a piece of hardware those kind of capabilities, and then not be able to output that to something that could really make use of it, makes those capabilities a bit pointless. But to be fair, I do have a usb-c to aux adapter that allows 32 bit audio to pass from the phone to some high end equipment and I rather like it, just wish there was a way to bitstream that audio so as to have a solid surround sound playback.
dece870717 said:
Alright so this is what confused me about the audio capabilities https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-note20-5g/specs/ just use find in page and put "Dolby" and you should find the sentence that throws me off. Makes it sound like it can at least decode those formats? From my perspective the whole thing just seems odd, I mean to give a piece of hardware those kind of capabilities, and then not be able to output that to something that could really make use of it, makes those capabilities a bit pointless. But to be fair, I do have a usb-c to aux adapter that allows 32 bit audio to pass from the phone to some high end equipment and I rather like it, just wish there was a way to bitstream that audio so as to have a solid surround sound playback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you go into the reciever in the digital realm and get a Dolby or DTS indicator light up you got your answer.
Don't think you'll see this but it be cool if you did
By the way for HDCDs you don't need a decoder; a reciever with high resolution DAC(s) will glean 90+% of the subtext and yield around a 22 bit image.
You must stay in the digital realm going in though to preserve that encoding.
Many CDs are HDCDs but not marked as such.
Example: B52's Time Capsule album is an HDCD.
blackhawk said:
If you go into the reciever in the digital realm and get a Dolby or DTS indicator light up you got your answer.
Don't think you'll see this but it be cool if you did
By the way for HDCDs you don't need a decoder; a reciever with high resolution DAC(s) will glean 90+% of the subtext and yield around a 22 bit image.
You must stay in the digital realm going in though to preserve that encoding.
Many CDs are HDCDs but not marked as such.
Example: B52's Time Capsule album is an HDCD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so I tried plugging in the hdmi from the adapter directly into the receiver, when I look at the audio information display from the receiver on that input, it shows as 2ch PCM audio as what's being received, tried different apps on my phone that I thought maybe support Dolby Digital Plus (Vudu, Anywhere Movies, and tried MX Player Pro with a couple movie trailers that contain and able to select Dolby Digital audio) but to no avail. And as I thought about it, I forgot something basic that I should have immediately remembered, I won't be able to get actual Dolby Digital Plus or DTS audio coming through to the receiver unless the phone and/or app allowed/had an option of bitstreaming audio. I was hoping though, that at the very least, the phone could send out 5.1 PCM audio. So either the phone just hasn't been given that ability or I need a certain adapter that would allow it.
It would be really awesome if they made the screen mirroring and/or USB-C outputs of a phone more customizable, like being able to adjust video resolution output, color format, bit depth, and of course audio options with bitstreaming and/or speaker channel options.
Make sure the phone's UHQ Upscaler is enabled/active after hook it up.
blackhawk said:
Make sure the phone's UHQ Upscaler is enabled/active after hook it up.
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Click to collapse
I'll try that when I get home, assuming that option becomes selectable, from what I read that option is for use with headphones, I guess I'll find out if that USB-C connection with the adapter allows it to be enabled. I assume it might, I'm sure my USB-C to aux cord would allow its enablement as that connection would be for headphones as well.
I guess this frustration is what I get for being part of that very tiny minority of audio/video "weirdos", lol. What I see as basic options that should be available considering the hardware capabilities of a device, most phone engineers will never think about.
At one point I had a Denon flagship 7.1 reciever driving all identical THX bookshelf speakers with two 400 watt subwoofers on the mains in a stereo configuration.
Excuse me while I kiss the sky
So... now I have this silly Note 10+
And yes Sammy's engineers have dropped the ball with sound so many times their faces are imprinted on the tarmac. Feel the wuv.
blackhawk said:
Make sure the phone's UHQ Upscaler is enabled/active after hook it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was able to and enabled the UHQ Upscaler, checked my receivers audio display info, and what it did was change the sampling rate from 44kHz (or I think it was 48kHz) to 192kHz. It's possible that it also raised the audio bit depth, but my receiver didn't display that info.
Yeah best thing that could be done would be Samsung adding a bitstreaming capability, if it had that, a speaker channel option would be less of an issue, since bitstreaming would carry the speaker channel information built into the audio codec that is bitstreamed.
I would think something like that could be implemented through software alone, as whatever source is sending the audio doesn't need to decode it or anything, it just has to be sent untouched.
dece870717 said:
Alright so this is what confused me about the audio capabilities https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-note20-5g/specs/ just use find in page and put "Dolby" and you should find the sentence that throws me off. Makes it sound like it can at least decode those formats? From my perspective the whole thing just seems odd, I mean to give a piece of hardware those kind of capabilities, and then not be able to output that to something that could really make use of it, makes those capabilities a bit pointless. But to be fair, I do have a usb-c to aux adapter that allows 32 bit audio to pass from the phone to some high end equipment and I rather like it, just wish there was a way to bitstream that audio so as to have a solid surround sound playback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dece870717 said:
Was able to and enabled the UHQ Upscaler, checked my receivers audio display info, and what it did was change the sampling rate from 44kHz (or I think it was 48kHz) to 192kHz. It's possible that it also raised the audio bit depth, but my receiver didn't display that info.
Yeah best thing that could be done would be Samsung adding a bitstreaming capability, if it had that, a speaker channel option would be less of an issue, since bitstreaming would carry the speaker channel information built into the audio codec that is bitstreamed.
I would think something like that could be implemented through software alone, as whatever source is sending the audio doesn't need to decode it or anything, it just has to be sent untouched.
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Click to collapse
Excellent. It may support up to 32 bit certainly 24 bit.
Never looked into that as my music database is .wav and HDCD files. As long as I have 24 bit throughput they're good to go.
I know I wasn't able to rip DTS audio files to hard drive but since I only had one album at the time I dropped the issue.
The only reason I know as much as I do about HDCDs is Tony Harding at Denon* was kind and generous enough in 2004 to fully explain the technology and how to save/decode them. I have over 200 gb of .wav files on my 10+, my whole CD collection in my hand.
That's pretty cool.
Some of the high end audio sites would be good places to find answers. There are definitely people there that know.
*Denon gives near unconditional product support including hardware and firmware. They are on the bleeding edge of high end home audio.
Dollar for dollar they give you the most bang for the buck.
Their flagship receivers rival those costing thousands more including standalone audiophile products.
There devices always exceed their written specs and they support them for life.
Denon has even have issued hardware/firmware upgrades for their flagship recievers which is unheard of at this price point. They've been a industry innovator for over a century.
Rub up against them and you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Hello there, guys!
The question is not a new one. It has already been asked a couple times over the years. For some strange reason though, nothing changed.
Surround Sound is glorious. You don't even need an expensive setup, nowadays even normal headphones or sound bars can utilize algorithms or separate drivers or speakers that can create a wonderful experience - even "just" from your everyday phone. No matter if it's 5.1, 7.1, or if it's labeled Dolby Atmos, or some other fancy 360 algorithm, just like Sony created with their newer in-ear & over-ear models ("360 Reality Audio").
It's been bothering me for years. Especially if you think about video game footage - or just in general: content - that has been created and could be improved so much by a more immersive sound experience.
Even phones nowadays can utilize spatial algorithms. Just think about phones that can be improved with Dolby Atmos. Samsung has already enabled this. Yeah, those tiny little speakers. And yes, Thomas - around the corner in his sound bunker - with his $9,000 dedicated & custom-made Dolby atmos home speaker setup will at this point call me a fool. Even though he will likely benefit a lot by surround sound with YouTube.
It's almost undeniable that surround sound is great. Everyone that has ever played a game or watched a movie with a device that can enable a sound experience will be quite likely to agree here.
So the question remains, why doesn't Google give a sh*t?
Back in the days, people argued with the amount of data required. Nowadays, where streaming services prove with all their fancy algorithms that even a tiny 20 Mbit connection can sustain a 4K Dolby Atmos stream, that's just out of the question. Especially since YouTube can buffer and you don't even need a perfect connection, worst case you just need a little patience.
So I would like to hear your opinion on the topic. Do you give a sh*t? And in case you don't, please be honest here, have you ever had the chance to experience surround sound?
It is known that Google has dived into this topic a little bit. They have enabled surround sound with Stadia and with YouTube TV. So the next logical step should be YouTube. But nobody talks about it. And that's a shame.
I want you guys to talk about it. I want us to have a conversation. I want Google to notice.
And then to give us surround sound. I mean 120 Hertz would be a nice addition, or Dolby Vision or something like that, but you take what you can get, right?
Cheers!