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Like the title I'm looking for the best speakers and sub for that low price. Preferably under 150, my max for speakers alone is 100. If there are speakers that can produce a decent bass response that would be fine as well. I'm on a budget and need sound for my tv and laptop. My TV has an optical audio out and my laptop AFAIK only has 3.5mm so please recommend something with optical audio. Thank you.
My background for Audio is Samsung P2-P3 and Cowon J3 as dedicated MP3 players, HTC M7,M8 and M9 as for smartphones.
Tested earphones are the stock bundled HTC iem, Hifiman RE-262 and RE-272
Tested BT are HTC Car Stereoclip and Sony SBH-50
The HTC bundled iem didn't sound well because the sound was somehow plasticky and cheap nothing to do with the bundled Beats earphones that were bundled with some old HTC phones, so I will focus on the Hifiman sound.
Hifiman RE-272 is a 20 Ohm pair of iem that normally need an additional AMP or DAC like a Fiio or HM801, but since the M8 HTC is integrating a professional DAC, the M9 and the A9 got a 24bit/192khz chip, though it looks like the A9 Amp is louder.
The HTC A9 has what is called Boomsound which will make the bass and mids better without getting muddy, this mode will also boost the overall loudness.
I tried the RE-272 on the LG G4 that has no Amp or DAC and the sound volume was low and without the crisp details the RE-272 should give, the HTC A9 is the total opposite!
Bass is deep and powerful even if these Hifiman were not known to be bassy, Bass even though high and deep will not overshadow on mids and treble.
Details are superbly present and crisp.
Soundstage is as wide as the RE-272 can go meaning very wide.
Mids and highs are pretty well balanced, they are well boosted without losing in quality.
Tested with Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Infected Mushrooms, some Trance tracks and the new album of Astrix He.Art.
Volume is pretty high,I like high volumes with Psytrance tunes but with the A9 + RE-272 I can't put them at max because they are too loud, but even at max sound is not distorded at all.
So these A9 can drive correctly a 20 Ohm RE-272 meaning they are perfect for all kinds of audiophile earphones.
Bluetooth:
The HTC A9 is capable of aptx + BT 4.1 like its predecessors M9 and M8 but the BT chip is now louder, paired with my HTC Car Stereoclip which are aptx and BT 4.0, sound never been so loud, bass so deep and details crystal clear, it even better when using V4A to boost even more the volume.
A9 vs M9: They probably share the same DAC but the Amp is different, the sound signature of the A9 is a bit more dynamic too, loudness is better.
A9 vs G4 As said before it's a whole universe of difference, sound is not only 3x louder but sound quality and details are way better than G4.
A9 vs Iphone 6+: My friend who has an iphone 6+ and I tested the difference between his phone and A9, the A9 wins with a slightly better audio quality and even a bit more loudness.
Well while waiting for the HTC M10 that would most probably use the same DAC/Amp the HTC A9 is undoubtedly the king of Audio on smartphones, and I recommend it highly for audiophiles.
I listen to a lot of music on my phone especially on headphones, I use poweramp but find I need to turn boomsound off for a better experience I have some Sony over ear headphones, my previous phone was a nexus 6p the sound was nowhere near as good as the A9, single biggest reason I'm a HTC fan from M7 on sound has been impressive...
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
What phone has better audio (dac), HTC A9 or HTC 10 ?
CroCop18 said:
What phone has better audio (dac), HTC A9 or HTC 10 ?
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Hard to say.... I don't have the 10 yet but I would guess it's damn near the same from the specs really. The HTC 10 is newer so it's better but not by a huge range is what I'm getting at lol. I could be wrong idk
Someone knows which Amp and Audio-Codec is used ?
HTC just says Hi-Fi HD Amp with 24bit/192khz and Dobly.
Samsung with the S7 and BQ with the Aquarius X5 Plus where more precise (Even if both are only able to play up to 96khz/24bit) both are using the Qualcomm WCD9335.
For the HTC 10 (I bet the A9 uses the same dedicated Stuff) , AndroidCentral used RMAA to test the Audio-Quality. :
http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-10-audio-testing-boomsound-evolved
I have to agree with this post. By a fair margin the A9 is louder while stunningly crisp even at full power with my Aiaiai TMA-2 Nextbit Robin editions. Better than every other device i've tried(20+).
Can anyone offer impressions of the audio quality, of the 3.5mm jack output?
The SD 845 should provide a decent DAC, but the question is: How good is the audio amplifier feeding the 3.5mm jack output? (Power, distortion, S/N, etc.)
Wondering if this might be one place OP economized to reduce cost. Don't see any discussion about it anywhere...
TIA...
Any info or comments on OP6 3.5mm jack audio quality would be appreciated.
TIA....
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I only have cheaper in-ears and they sound as bad as everywhere else If you really need a good output maybe consider the G7
My apple ear buds sounded just fine with the OP6 but the sound volume is a bit low when i use the aux out with my car stereo. My iPhone 6 had a better audio output on my car stereo compared to OP6. I will do more tests and try to come to a proper conclusion.
I normally use a Dragonfly red DAC but for science I used the 3.5mm jack. Unfortunately it sounded very average at best, kind of flat and narrow sound stage. Tested it with a pair of Shure 535.
roniistar said:
My apple ear buds sounded just fine with the OP6 but the sound volume is a bit low when i use the aux out with my car stereo. My iPhone 6 had a better audio output on my car stereo compared to OP6. I will do more tests and try to come to a proper conclusion.
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That's useful info, thanks.
Seems like iPhones have audio output that is good or better, so that is a good comparison.
Weak output is exactly what I am concerned about with the OP6. I believe the DAC function is handled by the SD845 which should be pretty good, but the power amp section between that and the 3.5mm jack is where OP may have reduced cost with lower spec hardware.
Weaker output will increase distortion, at normal listening levels the amp has to operate closer to max output which increases distortion.
I had a phone once with cheap audio HW feeding the 3.5mm jack, and I will not do that again. I had high hopes for the OP6, oh well.
What's striking about the OP6 is that there is virtually no mention anywhere about the 3.5mm audio output quality. A few bits here and there about the speakers, but all phone speakers sound tinny, more or less, audio quality is poor with all phone speakers, that's not where quality is ever good so who cares?
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I got to test the audio jack comparing to my OP3, using Sennheiser IE-8 IEMs. Now, you could probably get different results with other headphones, but these are very easy to drive, and the audio output was just so low compared to the OP3. I kind of also agree to the post above saying the soundstage being flat/narrow. Honestly I don't want another phone since OnePlus checks almost all of the smartphone boxes for me, but I gave up on the OP6 after doing that test.
I am using SONY wh-1000xm2 both with mini jack cable and over BT LDAC coded. In both conditions sound is rich and crips yet sligtly louder over BT.
MeggaMortY said:
I got to test the audio jack comparing to my OP3, using Sennheiser IE-8 IEMs. Now, you could probably get different results with other headphones, but these are very easy to drive, and the audio output was just so low compared to the OP3. I kind of also agree to the post above saying the soundstage being flat/narrow. Honestly I don't want another phone since OnePlus checks almost all of the smartphone boxes for me, but I gave up on the OP6 after doing that test.
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Thanks, another review indicating sub-par audio output power on the OP6 headphone jack.
I'm out, my V30S is on the way. (B&H has a really good deal right now, and bootloader unlock & root are available.)
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Tinkerer_ said:
That's useful info, thanks.
Seems like iPhones have audio output that is good or better, so that is a good comparison.
Weak output is exactly what I am concerned about with the OP6. I believe the DAC function is handled by the SD845 which should be pretty good, but the power amp section between that and the 3.5mm jack is where OP may have reduced cost with lower spec hardware.
Weaker output will increase distortion, at normal listening levels the amp has to operate closer to max output which increases distortion.
I had a phone once with cheap audio HW feeding the 3.5mm jack, and I will not do that again. I had high hopes for the OP6, oh well.
What's striking about the OP6 is that there is virtually no mention anywhere about the 3.5mm audio output quality. A few bits here and there about the speakers, but all phone speakers sound tinny, more or less, audio quality is poor with all phone speakers, that's not where quality is ever good so who cares?
....
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According to iFixit, OnePlus 6 has WCD9341 chip on board which is pretty decent DAC
LINK
masi0 said:
According to iFixit, OnePlus 6 has WCD9341 chip on board which is pretty decent DAC
LINK
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I saw that, but the info on that "codec" (DAC etc.) by Qualcomm is not clear with respect to power amplification. WCD9341 appears to be integrated to the Snapdragon 845, and it would seem that analog audio power amplification of the output of the DAC itself would best be done outside of the SD845 because of heat dissipation and possibly EMI. Which means that a separate power amp section is used if this is so, and that is the place that OP might skimp.
Multiple anecdotes in this thread about weak audio on the OP6 3.5mm jack also support this likelihood.
I don't have a stake in this anymore, ordered a V30S. Headphone jack audio quality is more important than raw speed to me, and the V30S also has other advantages, for a B&H discounted price not much higher than OP6 right now.
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let's be honest - if you want good sound quality buy AudioQuest Black or Red and use it with good/decent headphones.
Despite I cant complain on headphone output/i use mailny Sony over LDAC I am planning to get one external DAC anyway
masi0 said:
let's be honest - if you want good sound quality buy AudioQuest Black or Red and use it with good/decent headphones.
Despite I cant complain on headphone output/i use mailny Sony over LDAC I am planning to get one external DAC anyway
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The problem with separate DAC like the Dragonfly is that... it is a separate DAC, with an extra $200 cost (Red). Using it with a phone on the go would require some kind of rigging e.g. Velcro. And that is the smallest/lightest example I think.
The ESS DAC in the V30(S) is said to perform similarly to DACs like the Dragonfly. It has a few caveats, like auto-detect load > auto-adjust output. There are a couple ways to address that stupidity though.
Not plugging for B&H, but their limited-time discount V30S price delta vs. OP6 is less than the price of a Dragonfly Red, and that also brings USB 3.1, a micro SD slot, and IP68.
Bowing out from OP6 thread now. Good luck.
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I am getting familiar with this a/b config tree....I will optimize the sound system, to a point that not even mainland will recognize it...... also, will try to make it dual speaker, when output=speaker.
untl then,
TURBO.
TURBO2012 said:
I am getting familiar with this a/b config tree....I will optimize the sound system, to a point that not even mainland will recognize it...... also, will try to make it dual speaker, when output=speaker.
untl then,
TURBO.
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That sounds interesting. Looking forward. All the best.
IMO you can't even listen to any phone w/out V4A. My OP6 sounds awesome with this installed and the power output was surprising.
I only shared how it is compared to the OP3 - now, you can surely software mod it, bit if the HW is limited, there's little you can do there - but to each their own. I value headphone output/quality too much so I'll just grab the next LG V40 when it comes out and don't bother with any trickery/external DACs/Amps.
Speaker is louder than my HTC10 (not quite as good sound quality but ok), earphone quality using black player and Jays-a-Jays heavy bass earphones is fine, I'm pleasantly surprised
vibrantliker said:
IMO you can't even listen to any phone w/out V4A. My OP6 sounds awesome with this installed and the power output was surprising.
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Mind sharing the installer!? And process too?
P.S. - I hope you did it without twrp!
I've also noticed quite a difference between power output on the OP6 compared to the OP3, sadly.
Well it says that it supports Hi-Fi audio. But how Hi-Fi is it? What DAC is inside? In particular, I would like to know how the sound quality is from the 3.5mm audio jack compared to Hi-Fi mode of LG v30, my current phone. I simply cannot get a phone that downgrades my audio experience, you know?
Andrew Lin said:
Well it says that it supports Hi-Fi audio. But how Hi-Fi is it? What DAC is inside? In particular, I would like to know how the sound quality is from the 3.5mm audio jack compared to Hi-Fi mode of LG v30, my current phone. I simply cannot get a phone that downgrades my audio experience, you know?
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Go for htc u12 plus
It jas the same impressive sound like v30
rowihel2012 said:
Go for htc u12 plus
It jas the same impressive sound like v30
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It doesn't even have 3.5 jack. HTC makes my heart hurt...
Anyone else?
You find your answer here :
http://eng.soomal.com/edoc/10100000237.htm
Cirrus Logic CS43199
Andrew Lin said:
It doesn't even have 3.5 jack. HTC makes my heart hurt...
Anyone else?
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Its mind blowing through wired headset. I have used Lg G4 and V20 (both had dac) , Nex's sound output is at par with them or maybe even more.
Noticed that Nex plays the hifi and dsd mode only if played in imusic app and with DSD format file....tried all other formats including FLAC but the DSD nor HIFI modes get enabled...
The V30 gets way louder, I have headphones that trigger the Quad DAC on the V30 and I used volume at 70%, on the nex I use it at 100% and still wish that it would go a bit louder, sound quality is about the same, but V30 is superior no doubt, I compare the DAC on the Nex with the Note 8 or S8.
Vivo has always excelled in the audio side. They implement it very well
Louder is not better always . Please understand. Unless your earphones don't need that much output then activating quad dac is no use. A quote from respectable audiophile member from head-fi who used to test a lots of phone
"Listening to nex s is sweeter mid than lg v30. NexS provides better Imaging and fuller soundstage. Nex S is warmer than lg v30 thus making music more natural. Nex S provides more bass detail while lg v30 focus on treble and character brighter."
If you have heavy or high impedance headphones only then quad dac makes a sense. Low impedance heavy headphones don't drive enough well on LG cos of not activating quad dac
ben cherian said:
Louder is not better always . Please understand. Unless your earphones don't need that much output then activating quad dac is no use. A quote from respectable audiophile member from head-fi who used to test a lots of phone
"Listening to nex s is sweeter mid than lg v30. NexS provides better Imaging and fuller soundstage. Nex S is warmer than lg v30 thus making music more natural. Nex S provides more bass detail while lg v30 focus on treble and character brighter."
If you have heavy or high impedance headphones only then quad dac makes a sense. Low impedance heavy headphones don't drive enough well on LG cos of not activating quad dac
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Could you tell me some high impedance headphones will work great with my vivo nex ?
rowihel2012 said:
Could you tell me some high impedance headphones will work great with my vivo nex ?
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Beyerdynamics DT 880 250ohms version, Sennheiser HD 600series(600,650) . It doesn't need to be always high impedance headphones. You should choose headphones according to your music taste. Even the most rated headphones doesn't always have high impedance but generally around 32-80ohms. So don't make impedance as a deciding factor for buying headphones. I know it because i was thinking same as you did now.
using vivo next s with Beyerdynamics DT 990 pro 250ohms . sound great but use it with app named poweramp. it takes volume and quality to the next level( you can control gain in it and allmost everything)
lortwarCECH said:
using vivo next s with Beyerdynamics DT 990 pro 250ohms . sound great but use it with app named poweramp. it takes volume and quality to the next level( you can control gain in it and allmost everything)
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Does it support hi fif dac?
rowihel2012 said:
Does it support hi fif dac?
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yes it does
I have not compared with V30, but I am an audiophile and my AKG 240STUDIO sounds amazing with these headphones I agree what someone else said its a balanced sound with focus on midrange, high end is just enough detailed, I really love this sound, it sound even better then My Mi MIX that sounded wonderful in headphones too. The reason why phones dont include headphone jack is just lazyness they dont want to put effort into the art of creating a good sound. **** wireless audio! and long live the headphone jack with its superior sound quality.
---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:47 PM ----------
lortwarCECH said:
using vivo next s with Beyerdynamics DT 990 pro 250ohms . sound great but use it with app named poweramp. it takes volume and quality to the next level( you can control gain in it and allmost everything)
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Honestly... to just a high ohm headphones with a smartphone is just stupid to me.... Beyerdynamics are known to be some of the most hard to drive headphones, they really need a good headphone amp to sound good, and that is little but too much to ask for a smartphone. I own the Beyerdynamics DT1350 they are more suitable for smasrtphone since its low ohm and more easy to drive, with higher ohm headphones you will hear more sound artifacts because they are hard to drive for a smartphone amp.
By the way, have you tried the app AIMP ? From what I knew this is the best sounding media player on android. And its free, feel free to compare them if you want in terms of sound quality.
and to use any kind of volume boost is a no no, then you just need a stronger amp.. for podcast etc you can use volume boost but not for music then you will just destroy the sound.
blackinfinity said:
I have not compared with V30, but I am an audiophile and my AKG 240STUDIO sounds amazing with these headphones I agree what someone else said its a balanced sound with focus on midrange, high end is just enough detailed, I really love this sound, it sound even better then My Mi MIX that sounded wonderful in headphones too. The reason why phones dont include headphone jack is just lazyness they dont want to put effort into the art of creating a good sound. **** wireless audio! and long live the headphone jack with its superior sound quality.
---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:47 PM ----------
Honestly... to just a high ohm headphones with a smartphone is just stupid to me.... Beyerdynamics are known to be some of the most hard to drive headphones, they really need a good headphone amp to sound good, and that is little but too much to ask for a smartphone. I own the Beyerdynamics DT1350 they are more suitable for smasrtphone since its low ohm and more easy to drive, with higher ohm headphones you will hear more sound artifacts because they are hard to drive for a smartphone amp.
By the way, have you tried the app AIMP ? From what I knew this is the best sounding media player on android. And its free, feel free to compare them if you want in terms of sound quality.
and to use any kind of volume boost is a no no, then you just need a stronger amp.. for podcast etc you can use volume boost but not for music then you will just destroy the sound.
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yea i know its better to have powerfull amp for them , I think I'll get some portable amp if i find some good one and no so expensive. i bought 250 ohm version beucase i use it with pc too, not only with phone. ok i try that app.
Does Nex's Amp need to be triggered like V30's?
Just a fast and easy question: does Nex's Amp need to be triggered in High Gain mode like the one on LG V30? Maybe using an adapter first and then plugging your headphones and playing music to enjoy it at the best it can gives. This is a well-know trick to trigger Hi Gain on LG and Meizu phones with dedicated DAC.
Please let me know
Which phone has a better LG v30 audio codec from Saber or VIVO Nex S Cirrus Logic?
a qualcuno può interessare https://www.evosmart.it/recensioni/...ex-s-potenza-sopita-scottante-sorpresa/18116/
I think the weakness of the amplifier is it output kind of low volume however, its still very clean even at 100% so other manufactures my get higher volume but probably not as clean..
Anyway it defintely would need more power, considering I use kind of easy to drive headphones AKG 240Studio the volume should be able to boost louder.
I would say it is not a problem with my headphones but if you get any more higher ohm headphones it wil not be enough jucie.
Friends can u help me to select a good amp which cost not that much so that I can use my audio technica M50X to its full potential with my one plus6
Thanks in advance.
With the 38 ohm the op should be able to play them loud enough :s
The amp should be loud enough, but maybe you're looking for an amp +DAC (digital audio converter) combo? I'd argue a dedicated DAC would give a slightly better audio experience. Are you using any rooted audio modules like Viper4Android?
I believe Fiio makes a wide range of mobile amp + DAC devices you can take a look at
Thanks brother but I don't want to root my phone and yup m50x are loud but I want best quality from them so suggest dac or amp if specific one them tell me thanks in advance