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Now that this phone has officially launched, I'd like to get an idea about the audio quality of the Sensation through the 3.5mm headphone jack. Audio quality is a huge deal for me when it comes to purchasing new phones so please be as detailed as you can.
i to would like to know, im coming from the Nexus S with the one hack i forget what its called havent use my Nexus S since like March, damn o yea its called Voo Doo sound. And it sounds ****in amazing excuse my language its just that great in ear headphones with voo doo. I would like for the Sensation to be better or @ least on par with it.
Also, someone who has the phone can tell us about the quality of the external speaker and if it is any better than that of older HTC phones. The one on my desire really sucks in comparison with the Galaxy S or the iphone.
giorgisp said:
Also, someone who has the phone can tell us about the quality of the external speaker and if it is any better than that of older HTC phones. The one on my desire really sucks in comparison with the Galaxy S or the iphone.
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Someone said it was an improvement over their previous HTC phone (I think it was sjgore saying it was better than the Desire HD)l
I can honestly say the sound quality is good and clear. Lacking bass though and not loud through the speaker
Virtue94 said:
Now that this phone has officially launched, I'd like to get an idea about the audio quality of the Sensation through the 3.5mm headphone jack. Audio quality is a huge deal for me when it comes to purchasing new phones so please be as detailed as you can.
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I'm also very curious on this as I'd value such a device as an audio player to use with audiophile headphones (some of the ones I have are low impedance IEMs, others I'd use with portable amplifiers like the Meier Corda Move), mostly to play flacs.
I've owned the Samsung Galaxy S and the audio quality was pretty decent, flat, black silence and so on. Wondering if this latest HTC is better than previous HTC models.
I only care about the 3.5mm jack audio, not the speaker.. don't use that for music.
sound
And as the whole quality of sound on Sensation? Slightly better Desire HD or well?
Im more interested about the speaker quality when you talk to someone thorough the speaker phone.. can you hear the person loud and clear? can he hear you clearly?
yea like the guy 2 or 3 post above me said, im wayy more interested in the Sound Output from the headphone jack. Ive heard that the Thunderbolts external speaker is absolutely amazing like the HTC Surrounds so if the sensation is on par or even better than those 2's then itll be great for internal speaker. But im not sure about external output to the phone
The sound quality is great on the phone, it is louder than a stock DHD and the quality and bass is perfect through the headphones especially with the SRS effects. The headphones I am using are Sennheiser cx400, it would be wise to use a good pair of headphones
Audio quality TI Audio chip v/s Wolfson 8994 ???
HTC Sensation if "TI Audio chipset" then crappy sound.
If HTC sensation comes with "WOLFSON 8994" then amazing sound.
Still looking for the HTC sensation internal motherboard pics or plan.
agent.m said:
I can honestly say the sound quality is good and clear. Lacking bass though and not loud through the speaker
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Are you talking about the sound quality through headphones or the loud speaker? I could care less about the latter.
beautyangel said:
HTC Sensation if "TI Audio chipset" then crappy sound.
If HTC sensation comes with "WOLFSON 8994" then amazing sound.
Still looking for the HTC sensation internal motherboard pics or plan.
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Wrong. Preamps dictate the sound signature of the phone. DACs don't matter as much as you think they do. As long as it's clean, we're good.
Preamps
If preamps Over rule on sensation, thats a great news. Thx for the correction if the Sensation is carrying a preamps.
m1r4j91 said:
The sound quality is great on the phone, it is louder than a stock DHD and the quality and bass is perfect through the headphones especially with the SRS effects. The headphones I am using are Sennheiser cx400, it would be wise to use a good pair of headphones
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+1, except that I'm using Sennheiser CX 300's.
can anyone comment about the loudspeaker quality when talking to a person? can you hear him well without distortions and vice versa?
Virtue94 said:
Wrong. Preamps dictate the sound signature of the phone. DACs don't matter as much as you think they do. As long as it's clean, we're good.
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Wrong.
Crap in crap out, if the source is low grade, the OPA will do nothing to change that. I'm not saying that DACs are the most important thing, but they are definitely at the beginning of the system. Of course, the very very beginning would be the sound file in question.... FLAC(which stock android wont even support), or low bitrate MP3.
PhaedraCorruption said:
Wrong.
Crap in crap out, if the source is low grade, the OPA will do nothing to change that. I'm not saying that DACs are the most important thing, but they are definitely at the beginning of the system. Of course, the very very beginning would be the sound file in question.... FLAC(which stock android wont even support), or low bitrate MP3.
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I am aware of that fact. But us users can actually do something about the source files that we play. FLAC and ALAC support is included with certain apps like PowerAmp so it can remedied to a certain extent. Audio hardware however, can't be modified so easily; you're basically stuck with a certain audio setup once you buy the device. So am I right on point this time?
Virtue94 said:
I am aware of that fact. But us users can actually do something about the source files that we play. FLAC and ALAC support is included with certain apps like PowerAmp so it can remedied to a certain extent. Audio hardware however, can't be modified so easily; you're basically stuck with a certain audio setup once you buy the device. So am I right on point this time?
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Well my point is, while the DAC is definitely not the most important part of the system, it is more important that the OPA(optical parametric amplifier), which you said was more crucial than the dac. .
This fact is only applies for 99.99% of circumstances though, you could be the oddball with the full sized headphones that are hard to drive... but really, if you're going to spend $200+ on headphones, you might as well get a portable amp along with it.
PhaedraCorruption said:
Well my point is, while the DAC is definitely not the most important part of the system, it is more important that the OPA(operational amplifier), which you said was more crucial than the dac. .
This fact is only applies for 99.99% of circumstances though, you could be the oddball with the full sized headphones that are hard to drive... but really, if you're going to spend $200+ on headphones, you might as well get a portable amp along with it.
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Lol I am that oddball And I do have a portable amp btw. I just really hate walking around with it since it isn't very portable.
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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Got the S4 (I), not sure if there's a difference!
Yep, that's what I meant about the output, sorry for the confusion.
Indeed. I hope the audio is better than the n4. Heck, my i9100 has better audio quality than the n4.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4
I'm coming from a GNexus and when I plug my phone into the aux jack in my car it sounds absolutely terrible. It's just horribly muffled and muddy compared to virtually anything else I've plugged in.
Anyone know what kind of improvements I can expect? Was the N4 any better than the GNexus? It's pretty embarrassing to want to share a song with friends and after someone unplugs their iphone my phone sounds like garbage.
feedtheducks said:
Indeed. I hope the audio is better than the n4. Heck, my i9100 has better audio quality than the n4.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4
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Nope nooope no no no no no nopity nope no no no. I'm sorry but having owned both Galaxy S2 and Nexus 4, the Nexus 4 definitely has better music-playing quality through headphones. 100%.
Will receive my Nexus 5 hopefully Monday!
Hopefully the audio quality can compete with a Samsung Galaxy S3 + Boeffla Sound Engine. I´ll really miss this one
i need a good pair of bluetooth headphones (music and voice) for ny n4. I tried out over the ears and didnt like the pressure on my head. i tried the lg tones 7 and 8 series and either the bluetooth didnt work well or the audio quality wasnt great. i want to try the infinium, the new lg tones but cant justify to pay that much for similar types of headsets on thr market.
thoughts?
buy the sony sbh20 and add whatever headphones or earbuds you like
I ordered the JayBird BlueBuds X Sport from Amazon along with a case for the phone. People seem to like the BlueBuds X.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AIRUOI8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.jaybirdsport.com/bluebuds-x-bluetooth-headphones/
Any BT that uses apt x codec will sound great for being bt headphones. The jaybird x are nice as they support apt x. As well as many of the LG tone headphones. I know the Tone 730 I used sounds great for music. I wonder if your old phone did not have apt x support. Not all of them do. What price range are you looking at?
rfs830 said:
Any BT that uses apt x codec will sound great for being bt headphones. The jaybird x are nice as they support apt x. As well as many of the LG tone headphones. I know the Tone 730 I used sounds great for music. I wonder if your old phone did not have apt x support. Not all of them do. What price range are you looking at?
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i have the z10 currently therefore i am estatic to get my n4
my budget is up to 100 but the more cost effective, the better so i can spend more on other accessories!
I have own the jaybirds x for a while now. Couldn't be happier with them. Sure they are a bit expensive but in my opinion worth every penny. My backup pair is the Motorola s10. The range is awesome on them. I could run a 1/8 mile track and never lose signal with my device.
I love my jaybirds bluebuds x they have amazing sound
The jay birds are the best, i found the next best at a fair price to be the Plantronics backbeat 2 to be the next best thing. Great sound good range and small footprint. People have claimed poor battery life. I avagerage about 5 to 6 hours of constant use. They claim 4 to 6 from the company i believe. Can be purchased around 50 dollars.
TaZ2k said:
i need a good pair of bluetooth headphones (music and voice) for ny n4. I tried out over the ears and didnt like the pressure on my head. i tried the lg tones 7 and 8 series and either the bluetooth didnt work well or the audio quality wasnt great. i want to try the infinium, the new lg tones but cant justify to pay that much for similar types of headsets on thr market.
thoughts?
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waiting for the Samsung Circle Gear (believe thats the name) to release . Saw it in Best Buy but it was only on dilay. you can see it on Samsung site.
Blaqdymun said:
waiting for the Samsung Circle Gear (believe thats the name) to release . Saw it in Best Buy but it was only on dilay. you can see it on Samsung site.
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i saw the sammy gear circle as well! i may wait out for that as well.
thanks everyone for your input, i may try out the jay birds, i have small ears so not sure if that wings thing will work out well, but no harm in trying them out.
rfs830 said:
Any BT that uses apt x codec will sound great for being bt headphones. The jaybird x are nice as they support apt x. As well as many of the LG tone headphones. I know the Tone 730 I used sounds great for music. I wonder if your old phone did not have apt x support. Not all of them do. What price range are you looking at?
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Click to collapse
TaZ2k said:
i need a good pair of bluetooth headphones (music and voice) for ny n4. I tried out over the ears and didnt like the pressure on my head. i tried the lg tones 7 and 8 series and either the bluetooth didnt work well or the audio quality wasnt great. i want to try the infinium, the new lg tones but cant justify to pay that much for similar types of headsets on thr market.
thoughts?
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Click to collapse
I've tried two models of the LG Tone with my Note 2. At times they sounded horrible, and also frequently cut the microphone out; the people on the call thought I hung up but I could still hear them but they couldn't hear me. That seemed to be a software issue on the Note 2. And it also got to where the headphones were staticy or went out even though they were only 2 feet from the phone. A reboot 90% of the time fixed those problems for a while.
So far I haven't experienced that with the Note 4 thankfully.
I have a pair of these under the anker brand. Not bad for only 30 bucks that I paid for them.
http://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Blue...qid=1413976840&sr=8-1&keywords=atpx+bluetooth
But i know the jbird x sound much better then these. Do you have to have bt headphones? Maybe get a cheaper set for working out and a better set like these?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUNUOJW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have these and they are great for the price.
I think my next headphones may be something like the samsung Level on set. Just waiting for a better price on them.
For those with the Jaybirds, how is the battery life?
AS long as they don't cut out/mute when wifi is on.. Had that issue with my Note 3 and LG HBS-750
I got the jaybirds. Love them. I've never ran them completely out of battery before charging, so I don't know the exact battery life. Have gotten over 5 hours many times though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A
I want something unintrusive, to take advantage from android wear to actually control the device: so earphones, sound quality and almost no cable... right now the only thing I found are the Jaybirds.
JasonJoel, may I ask how fares the mic and noise cancellation system? The only complaint I've ever heard is about poor voice in-call!
I think the noise cancelation is pretty good. The mic quality is ok, but not great.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A
I just purchased the Plantronics Backbeats 2 about 3 days ago. Had never seen them but I went into Vzn to look for Note 4 accessories and saw the last pair hanging. I thought to myself, WOW only one pair....that's a good sign, right? lol. Anyway, I have to say I am satisfied with the sound quality. I love the pouch & fact that it is a on the go charger as well. I had plantronics before as a bluetooth earpiece about 10yrs ago and that was a good device way back then. I have issues with finding the proper sized buds to use. Oddly enough the large ones work best as fully plugging my ear for best sound quality. I am still gonna try Sammy' s Circle Gear though.
I have these http://www.amazon.com/MEElectronics...qid=1414287587&sr=8-1&keywords=airfi+matrix+2 MEElectronics Air-Fi Matrix2 AF62 Stereo Bluetooth Wireless + Wired Headphones with aptX, AAC, and NFC . They sound great with BT 4.0 and aptx codec and there isn't much clamping force
mike13ftw said:
buy the sony sbh20 and add whatever headphones or earbuds you like
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Thanks! I have the Platronics Backbeat Go 2, but the ear tips are terrible. There isn't any Comply Foam I can order either. No budget earbuds seem to have better fit and audio quality than the good old Klipsch S4a. I'll definitely pick these up to use with my Klipschs.
So I just received my Z3 yesterday and I love everything about it except the BT audio into my 2013 BMW 3-Series (F30). It sounds way too compressed, having that "tinny" sound like it has been down-sampled to 8-bit, especially noticeable in the lower frequencies. I've also used an HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone 5 in this car and they all sound great over BT. To top it off, my car refuses to recognize the Z3 over USB, no matter what configuration I use. Upon searching, I noticed that some earlier Sony Z's seemed ot have similar BT problems but couldn't find any reliable fixes. Does anyone have any suggestions? This is a deal-breaker for me and I'd hate to send this otherwise-wonderful Z3 back.
Have you messed around with the ClearAudio+ and Dynamic Normalizer settings to see if there is a difference?
jayr04 said:
Have you messed around with the ClearAudio+ and Dynamic Normalizer settings to see if there is a difference?
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Yes, I've fooled with all the audio settings. Done the factory reset too. I even tried the app used to fix the Z1 bluetooth media issue to no avail. I happen to have a NAD Viso 1 on the way and will test with that as well. Right now, however, I'm leaning towards ditching this Z3 and keeping the M8. :/
Mashuri said:
It sounds way too compressed, having that "tinny" sound like it has been down-sampled to 8-bit, especially noticeable in the lower frequencies.
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Smells like that two devices won't share a A2DP connection.
I never experienced any problems with that, but it might be worthy to have a look at your car stereo's manual, seek for the keywords "A2DP" and "aptX".
Maybe your stereo is regarded as an aptX device by the Z3, but some problems prevent establishing an aptX connection, so there's a fallback to plain BT audio, which delivers "phone quality" (and below). Your stereo's manual should point you to some methods for forcing your stereo to use aptX; hopefully.
Chefproll said:
Smells like that two devices won't share a A2DP connection.
I never experienced any problems with that, but it might be worthy to have a look at your car stereo's manual, seek for the keywords "A2DP" and "aptX".
Maybe your stereo is regarded as an aptX device by the Z3, but some problems prevent establishing an aptX connection, so there's a fallback to plain BT audio, which delivers "phone quality" (and below). Your stereo's manual should point you to some methods for forcing your stereo to use aptX; hopefully.
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It may indeed be some compatibility issue with my car. My NAD should arrive this Monday or Tuesday and I'll do another test. Even if it is a compatibility issue, I need to have quality tunes in my car.
Considering you have 2013 BMW it's very outdated by now, time to upgrade the car to support latest technologies on your phone
dkreviews said:
Considering you have 2013 BMW it's very outdated by now, time to upgrade the car to support latest technologies on your phone
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lol, anyway do other phones work fine?
abhinav.tella said:
lol, anyway do other phones work fine?
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Quote from my OP:
I've also used an HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone 5 in this car and they all sound great over BT.
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I've also used an HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone 5 in this car and they all sound great over BT.
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Exactly my point, old stuff works fine with old car
dkreviews said:
Exactly my point, old stuff works fine with old car
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Which is why it's important to have backward compatibility. If I have to choose between trading in my car or my phone, the Sony is out.
You know this is really funny, because I have the complete opposite experience! I am coming from an M8 and had massive issues with Bluetooth disconnecting for no reason in my 2013 Lexus, but the Z3 seems to be performing better, with more sound in the lower frequencies!
I just upgraded today from an iphone 5 and I feel like my audio quality has improved. Using a sony headunit though and it has extensive EQ/compatibility with the phone
Z3 is on its way back to T-Mobile. Bummer.
Mine pairs fine with my belkin N9 bluetooth adapter, and sounds fine. At first the headphone cable was a bit loose and it sounded like you described, but some fidgeting got it sounding great. Sorry the BMW didn't like your phone!
Interesting, because I've always thought the opposite. There's a HUGE difference playing spotify over the stereo of my Focus ST compared to my old Nexus 4. It is borderline CD quality for me.
Sounds spectacular in my car and connects like a dream. I never had a Samsung actually connect without fiddling with it every so glad time.
I had some issues with my E-class Merc , it just didn't want to play well with the Z3 but was fine with my Samsung S5.
I contemplated upgrading the car, then I came to my senses lol.
I ended up buying the Sony Bluetooth receiver supports AptX, which sounds so much better then plain old A2DP. Seems to work very well so far.
Heres a link
http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en...bluetooth-music-receiver-bm10/specifications/
Its slightly bigger then a small matchbox.
Paul
Sounds absolutely brilliant on my modest Ranault Captur as well. In fact sounds much better than my previous M8 by a massive ammount.
Also have the opposite, BT is way nicer than my old S4. Like richer or something.
At the last minute, I yanked the UPS box containing my Z3 from my company's Out Box and decided to keep it. F&@# it. This thing is too beautiful and performs great with everything else. I'll just connect it to my car via 1/8" jack and deal with the slight inconvenience.
EDIT: FYI, I connected the Z3 to my Viso 1 via APT-X and it sounded fantastic. On a side note, I can't recommend the Viso-1 more highly. It blows even the B&W Zeppelin out of the water when it comes to sound quality and bass extension. The old models with the iPod docks (that fully support APT-X) are being blown out for $250. Get yourself one! NAD Viso 1 at Amazon
Hi.
I'm holding off on pre-ordering until I see some real world reviews.
A must have for me is very good headphone audio quality. I did have high hopes since the phone is made by HTC who have have a good reputation using dedicated quality DACs in their phones previously.
I can't find any information on the internet describing what to expect form an audio perspective apart from the dual speakers which don't really interest me.
Since the phone delivers audio over the USB-C port via a digital signal, am I correct in saying there will be no on-board DAC and sound quality will be solely driven by the headphones or/and the 3.5mm converter which contains something to decode the digital signal?
In-short, is the Pixel 2 Headphone audio likely to be inferior to something like the HTC 10 for example?
owens2000 said:
Hi.
I'm holding off on pre-ordering until I see some real world reviews.
A must have for me is very good headphone audio quality. I did have high hopes since the phone is made by HTC who have have a good reputation using dedicated quality DACs in their phones previously.
I can't find any information on the internet describing what to expect form an audio perspective apart from the dual speakers which don't really interest me.
Since the phone delivers audio over the USB-C port via a digital signal, am I correct in saying there will be no on-board DAC and sound quality will be solely driven by the headphones or/and the 3.5mm converter which contains something to decode the digital signal?
In-short, is the Pixel 2 Headphone audio likely to be inferior to something like the HTC 10 for example?
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Click to collapse
My understanding is all device currently out that uses USB C still sends an analog signal because it is still handled by an internal DAC. The Pixel 2 doesn't use an Internal DAC to push the signal and the adapter has a DAC inside of it to convert the signal. You can't by a pass through or it won't work. Apple current devices you can use any as long as it is supported, and some of them don't have DAC's inside. I actually think internal DAC's so be on the way out and it should drop the costs of devices. There's a lot better DACs out there, and are universal you can get the sound you want when you find the one for you. I prefer to not have a huge list of things just to buy a phone. I'd rather have like 5 things I am looking for and the rest I already have in my pocket if you know what I mean?
Someone told me that the iPhone adapter has a DAC in it but after seeing it I am a bit skeptical. I think it's their anti-cheap cable chip thing which is supposed to go into all cables to be certified by Apple.
Actually HTC devices without a jack only output digital audio, and I'm 99.9% certain the Essential is the same. Both of their adapters contain DACs and amps (I read an explicit statement from Essential that this was the case), and we know the HTC adapter works with the Essential phone. I don't know about Motorola; I've read there are compatibility problems between their adapters and some other manufacturers, but that may be because not everyone is applying the digital audio standard correctly rather than one being analogue.
Unlike USB-C Apple's Lightning port has no analogue outputs, so their adapter must have a DAC in it. Since they are using custom chips they may have integrated it with some of the other functions (same as the Qualcomm SoCs contain a DAC as well).
As for the original question, is the Pixel 2 wired headphone output likely to be inferior to a phone with a headphone jack: it will depend on the quality of the DAC and amp in the adapter you use (and we'll include "external USB DAC" as an "adapter" for this discussion). If the Google adapter is inferior it should be possible to find a better one (with more options as phones using this standard become more common). At this point I don't think anyone has any idea what the quality from the bundled adapter will be, though using the HTC 10 as your reference you set the standard higher than most phones with a jack (and certainly higher than the first generation Pixel). I've bought a HTC adapter to test with the Pixel 2, and assuming it is compatible I'll do some comparisons between that and the Google one when I have time (I won't be completely surprised if they turn out to be the same thing in different packages though, given HTC's involvement in the Pixels).
Large Hadron said:
Actually HTC devices without a jack only output digital audio, and I'm 99.9% certain the Essential is the same. Both of their adapters contain DACs and amps (I read an explicit statement from Essential that this was the case), and we know the HTC adapter works with the Essential phone. I don't know about Motorola; I've read there are compatibility problems between their adapters and some other manufacturers, but that may be because not everyone is applying the digital audio standard correctly rather than one being analogue.
Unlike USB-C Apple's Lightning port has no analogue outputs, so their adapter must have a DAC in it. Since they are using custom chips they may have integrated it with some of the other functions (same as the Qualcomm SoCs contain a DAC as well).
As for the original question, is the Pixel 2 wired headphone output likely to be inferior to a phone with a headphone jack: it will depend on the quality of the DAC and amp in the adapter you use (and we'll include "external USB DAC" as an "adapter" for this discussion). If the Google adapter is inferior it should be possible to find a better one (with more options as phones using this standard become more common). At this point I don't think anyone has any idea what the quality from the bundled adapter will be, though using the HTC 10 as your reference you set the standard higher than most phones with a jack (and certainly higher than the first generation Pixel). I've bought a HTC adapter to test with the Pixel 2, and assuming it is compatible I'll do some comparisons between that and the Google one when I have time (I won't be completely surprised if they turn out to be the same thing in different packages though, given HTC's involvement in the Pixels).
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Thanks for your reply and I look forward to reading your findings.
I must say, I find this whole trend towards usb-c driven headphones not exactly consumer friendly. I've not seen a strong enough argument by any of the manufacturers to justify the change, rather than reclaiming space to cram in other tech. Having to carry around an adapter as well as my existing headphones is just plain inconvenient.
Had Google included a pair of quality usb-c buds in the package with the Pixel 2 (and an adapter) while promoting a better than average audio experience (as per the HTC 10) that would have been enough for me to commit and pre-order without hesitation. Perhaps I'm not the typical mobile user these days whose priority, after the basic capability of making a phone call is to listen to quality audio.
You will probably can get a better DAC than the one generally included in the phones SoC.
Any small DAC should have a similar quality to phones DAC.
Now the Type C is strong. I can even power a Fulla 2 DAC/AMP with my 6P.
Sent from my Nexus 6P
One of the reviews I've read today (can't remember which) stated that the HTC adapter does work with the Pixel 2. That's a positive sign with regards to standards, which is what's needed if we're to have more options.
So, any news about this topic?
I've been using the Pixel 2 since Thursday and the audio with the dongle is fine. If audio quality is really important, then get an external DAC. I have a Fiio E18 and the quality is exceptional.
Without decent headphones the audio output method is almost meaningless, especially if you use earbuds.
I recently got a pair of Audeze EL-8 Over Ear, Closed Back headphones and the audio from the Pixel 2 with or without the DAC is excellent (better with, of course).
The audio with the dongle is absolutely terrible. I spent some time listening to it this morning and was appalled at the quality. So much so that I came here specifically looking for a solution.
Blown 89 said:
The audio with the dongle is absolutely terrible. I spent some time listening to it this morning and was appalled at the quality. So much so that I came here specifically looking for a solution.
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The solution is an external DAC: Audioquest DragonFly Black or Red are absolute hit.
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/Google-Pixel-2-XL_id10568/benchmarks
They said in the presentation that the dongle includes a DAC (I remember hearing it, please correct me if I'm wrong) Apparently the Pixel 2 sounds louder than most phones, close to iPhones. Don't know about the quality though...
omarfarrah said:
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/Google-Pixel-2-XL_id10568/benchmarks
They said in the presentation that the dongle includes a DAC (I remember hearing it, please tell me if I'm wrong) Apparently the Pixel 2 sounds louder than most phones, close to iPhones. Don't know about the quality though...
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Yes, it will contain a DAC. It uses USB-C digital audio, so with the output being digital there must be a DAC in order to produce the analogue waveform needed by your headphones. The same is true for most if not all phones using USB-C audio (certainly the HTC U11 and Essential PH-1, and I've read others confirm that the HTC adapter works with both the Essential and the Pixel 2).
I've had the pixel 2 xl for a few days now. I've used my regular headphones through the usbc dongle. It worked ok the first time I tried it. But last night I couldn't get any sound through it. So I unplugged and replugged it back it. The dongle was really warm. I rebooted and tried it again. The audio did finally come through but there was a lot of static and again the dongle was uncomfortably warm.
Fidgiting with it seemed to change the audio but it was very finicky. Hoping it was just the dongle.
Blown 89 said:
The audio with the dongle is absolutely terrible. I spent some time listening to it this morning and was appalled at the quality. So much so that I came here specifically looking for a solution.
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That is so disappointing. Do you think it might be dodgy dongle and have you asked Google for a replacement?
Can others confirm if the above is also your experience?
owens2000 said:
That is so disappointing. Do you think it might be dodgy dongle and have you asked Google for a replacement?
Can others confirm if the above is also your experience?
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I was listening to some music I loaded at the Verizon store. Comparing it to the V30 made it sound even worse. I have a friend that's an audio engineer that tested his. His comments were "finicky trying to get it to work, once it does....sounds like garbage. would be fine for a podcast or probably mostly youtube content, but music blows."
FWIW I was listening with Futuresonic G10's
I have no idea what people here are tripping on when they say audio quality from the dongle sucks?? Maybe they have a defective piece. Just compared sound from my s7 with viper vs pixel, and obviously the s7 sounded better cuz, it has viper on it but honestly couldnt complain about the sound of the pixel. No way it was close to being terrible, no WAY. It was almost the same,once viper comes and a few tweaks are made, it will be just as good or very close to it. I tested with samsung headphones and even sennheiser over the ear headphones fwiw
BTW. They RMA'd the phone, when I told them about the dongle heating up.
Hopefully the next one will be better.
owens2000 said:
That is so disappointing. Do you think it might be dodgy dongle and have you asked Google for a replacement?
Can others confirm if the above is also your experience?
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It is not my experience. Audio seems fine.
94wolfpack said:
BTW. They RMA'd the phone, when I told them about the dongle heating up.
Hopefully the next one will be better.
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Interesting. I'd have thought it would have been cheaper to send you a replacement dongle and see whether that fixed it, and replace the phone if not.
Blown 89 said:
The audio with the dongle is absolutely terrible. I spent some time listening to it this morning and was appalled at the quality. So much so that I came here specifically looking for a solution.
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I have the opposite experience. I download my Spotify library using the "extreme quality" setting enabled. Not sure what technical quality "extreme" is, but listening to The Beatles white album was amazing and sounded great. Could hear all the nuances, highs and lows.