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[Q] Sound chip quality & support for 64-bit

So how's the sound chip compared to the Iphone 5s and other top smartphones ? I heard that since the chipset is SNP800 , the sound chip should be good too, but i'm no pro and have yet to try the headphone out.
Can anyone provide an explanation ?
2nd question (to avoid making 2 threads) :
I know kitkat 4.4 is only 32 bit now , but if for some reason Google releases android 5.0 in the future and it's 64 bit ...will the nexus chipset support it ?

1. Sound is good
2. Doesn't matter

[hfm] said:
1. Sound is good
2. Doesn't matter
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Not sure what you meant for the 2nd answer ?

64 bit computing hardly matters in the mobile space currently. Currently it is only relevant in marketing.
To answer the question. You are still using 32-bit hardware even if 64-bit capable software came out. Odds are Google will not release a 64-bit exclusive operating system in the near future.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

ravenwood27 said:
So how's the sound chip compared to the Iphone 5s and other top smartphones ? I heard that since the chipset is SNP800 , the sound chip should be good too, but i'm no pro and have yet to try the headphone out.
Can anyone provide an explanation ?
it ?
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According to the test done by GSMarena, the Nexus 5 sound quality is no where near iOS devices. It has similar sound performance compared to the LG G2 but lower volume output. http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-review-1011p7.php As the graph is shown, there is quite a lot of "wobbling" which isn't good compared to the iOS devices (link is the 5s sound quality: http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_5s-review-994p7.php). This is assuming you actually rip songs from CDs, download 320+ kbps (if you don't know what this is you don't download it), download from Google Play or iTunes, rather than using an app or random website to get free music. Otherwise it wouldn't matter what device you get to listen to music since the sound file wouldn't have enough detail to actually use the iPhone soundboard properly. From experience even the Voodoo sound board on the Galaxy S3+ (not sure about the S4) doesn't reach the levels of iOS devices especially on loudness and clarity. Otherwise for the casual listener, the sound quality on the Nexus 5 should be more than enough unless you're really serious about sound quality.
Edit: according to the benchmarks done on the same website, the Samsung S4 holds it ground fairly well but there is some wobble at later parts of the graph and that's just nitpicking. Won't be hearing the effects of that unless you have songs that are 500 kbps+ and are playing on a good speaker.

RoboWarriorSr said:
According to the test done by GSMarena, the Nexus 5 sound quality is no where near iOS devices. It has similar sound performance compared to the LG G2 but lower volume output. http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-review-1011p7.php As the graph is shown, there is quite a lot of "wobbling" which isn't good compared to the iOS devices (link is the 5s sound quality: http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_5s-review-994p7.php). This is assuming you actually rip songs from CDs, download 320+ kbps (if you don't know what this is you don't download it), download from Google Play or iTunes, rather than using an app or random website to get free music. Otherwise it wouldn't matter what device you get to listen to music since the sound file wouldn't have enough detail to actually use the iPhone soundboard properly. From experience even the Voodoo sound board on the Galaxy S3+ (not sure about the S4) doesn't reach the levels of iOS devices especially on loudness and clarity. Otherwise for the casual listener, the sound quality on the Nexus 5 should be more than enough unless you're really serious about sound quality.
Edit: according to the benchmarks done on the same website, the Samsung S4 holds it ground fairly well but there is some wobble at later parts of the graph and that's just nitpicking. Won't be hearing the effects of that unless you have songs that are 500 kbps+ and are playing on a good speaker.
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This is what I really dont get. I had an iphone 5s for a couple weeks and everything besides the earphones that came in the box sounded horrible. Zero bass, zero highs, just the mids. Also had the HTC one, which is supposed to have a great audio chip, and it did. That phone soudned the best out of all the phone's I've had. (I turned beats off, that is just pure junk). Compared to the HTC one, this phone is actually very good. I still get deep bass, and good highs with no distortion even at high volumes. With the iphone, anything higher than 50%, things got a bit crackly and distorted especially hooked up to my speakers.
OP: The sound chip, in my opinion (I listen to a LOT of music and am pretty much a huge audiophile.), is very good. As some users said, the pure loudness of it isn't that great, but the quality is very good. Not as good as the HTC one, but very close.
EDIT: Quote from GSM arena pretty much saying what I said.
The scores stay close to perfect even when you plug in a pair of headphones. The stereo crosstalk worsens a bit but the rest of the readings are virtually unaffected (frequency response actually improves a bit). Unfortunately, the volume levels remained just as uninspiring.
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aooga said:
This is what I really dont get. I had an iphone 5s for a couple weeks and everything besides the earphones that came in the box sounded horrible. Zero bass, zero highs, just the mids. Also had the HTC one, which is supposed to have a great audio chip, and it did. That phone soudned the best out of all the phone's I've had. (I turned beats off, that is just pure junk). Compared to the HTC one, this phone is actually very good. I still get deep bass, and good highs with no distortion even at high volumes. With the iphone, anything higher than 50%, things got a bit crackly and distorted especially hooked up to my speakers.
OP: The sound chip, in my opinion (I listen to a LOT of music and am pretty much a huge audiophile.), is very good. As some users said, the pure loudness of it isn't that great, but the quality is very good. Not as good as the HTC one, but very close.
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The review on the website show that the HTC One has a excellent audio output but at best decent audio quality. The bass is overemphasized but nothing compared to the One X which was a disaster in terms of audio quality. Realized that the iPhone sound quality may sound worse to many people since it has a "flat" and stabilized audio quality which is what actually is looked for. Many companies tweak the audio to make it more "pleasing" to the masses and overshadow the bad soundboard which include bigger bass (blame Dr. Dre).
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

RoboWarriorSr said:
The review on the website show that the HTC One has a excellent audio output but at best decent audio quality. The bass is overemphasized but compared to the One X which was a disaster in terms of audio quality. Realized that the iPhone sound quality may sound worse to many people since it has a "flat" and stabilized audio quality which is what actually is looked for. Many companies tweak the audio to make it more "pleasing" to the masses and overshadow the bad soundboard.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I know flat sound is technically prefered in benchmarks and things, but I haven't met a single person that actually likes listening to it. Anyway, that was just my opinion. IMO, no matter how technically good the quality is on the iphone, I still think that it sounds horrible. And the software is hideous/crashed way too often.
EDIT: I see you have an iphone. Do you have a N5 as well, or are you just posting here? I'm not trying to be an idiot, just wondering if you have compared the quality between the two

N5 sound sucks.. I'm biased because I upgraded from a HTC one lol. Everything else is solid with my n5
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

The built-in speaker is mediocre to crappy. The audio through other connections is quite good, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 5

Ajfink said:
The built-in speaker is mediocre to crappy. The audio through other connections is quite good, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 5
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its a bug. http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus...one-and-software-may-be-hurting-what-you-hear

aooga said:
I know flat sound is technically prefered in benchmarks and things, but I haven't met a single person that actually likes listening to it. Anyway, that was just my opinion. IMO, no matter how technically good the quality is on the iphone, I still think that it sounds horrible. And the software is hideous/crashed way too often.
EDIT: I see you have an iphone. Do you have a N5 as well, or are you just posting here? I'm not trying to be an idiot, just wondering if you have compared the quality between the two
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I'm just basing this off the gsmarena benchmark and from previous experience. Not in my sig but I have a HTC Desire HD and Acer A100 running custom ROMs since both devices are not supported. I hopefully plan to get a Moto G since I kinda would like to get an android device that is current and not gimped by some developers *nvidia*. I tend to randomly post in random device forums usually trying to get up to date with new devices. I have listened to Galaxy S 3 and One X since my friends have them so I have an idea how they sound. Nexus 5 just came out so gsmarena was the only site that had soundboard benchmarks, but like I said it works more than enough for most people and the tweaks made are probably for the better. If you wondering I do prefer the "flat" sound since my speakers don't play well with equalizers especially the Beats one in my HTC. I also tend to listen to more instrumentals than the average listener so the "flatness" help bring out the other instruments in the background that usually would be hidden by the bass or treble.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

zephiK said:
its a bug. http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus...one-and-software-may-be-hurting-what-you-hear
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I really fail to see how that was overlooked. Hopefully they push it out sooner than later.

iPhone5 & 5s have a relatively high output impedance. They'll be a little more temperamental when used with third party buds.
I don't know if we have an impedance reading for the Nexus 5.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

If listening to music, just use Noozxoide E.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

There is definitely a bug wrt audio on the N5, but the speaker is also very crappy and so easy to completely obstruct (v similar positioning on iPhones and some Lumias)

iOStoAndroid said:
There is definitely a bug wrt audio on the N5, but the speaker is also very crappy and so easy to completely obstruct (v similar positioning on iPhones and some Lumias)
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It's going to obstruct wherever they put it. Top, bottom or back especially if you put it in your pocket. The Optimus G had such a high speaker volume even though the speaker was just a small slit in the back and the back was flat.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

You obviously never used one of the devices I mentioned above then.
It's the only thing that stops the N5 being the perfect device (all right maybe a bit better battery life)

Phone call:
On Handset is good...no issues.
On Speaker is ok...on full volume sound distortion is evident.
On Headphones is good but other person can't listen clearly unless I hold headphone mic in front of my lips...or speak loud.
Music:
On Speaker is terrible.
On headphones (Klipsch S4A)...quality is really good for 320kbps mp3 files...I feel best audio quality is between 50% - 70% of volume level.

[Q] z3 Audio Quality

I have a galaxy s4 rooted with a sound modification called viper4android and i am wondering if the z3 (z3 unrooted) audio quality is better than my s4.

Go to GSMArena they have audio tests in their review for each phone measuring crosstalk, dynamic range etc.
Z3 is better than the S4 when it comes to the internal speakers.
The S4 with headphones/earphones is probably better according to their stats. But I doubt you'd notice the difference, unless you are an extreme audiophile.
Go to the bottom of page on each link, you will see the audio values for the given phones and their competition.
Results for Amp and Headphones below:
Xperia Z3
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z3-review-1140p7.php
Galaxy S4
http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_g2_vs_samsung_galaxy_s4-review-984p6.php

patrickbartalesi22 said:
I have a galaxy s4 rooted with a sound modification called viper4android and i am wondering if the z3 (z3 unrooted) audio quality is better than my s4.
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The Z3 sound quality is beyond incredible when using Walkman under Hi Res Audio conditions.
Hi Res Audio on the Z3 line has been mostly ignored by the press, NO idea why.
With Sony's better headphones, and WAVE music files, be prepared to never ever accept awful MP3 again.
So good, nothing else out there with Android touches this line... unless you grab the Walkman Xz1 that is.
( which I highly recommend )

DZH1 said:
The Z3 sound quality is beyond incredible when using Walkman under Hi Res Audio conditions.
Hi Res Audio on the Z3 line has been mostly ignored by the press, NO idea why.
With Sony's better headphones, and WAVE music files, be prepared to never ever accept awful MP3 again.
So good, nothing else out there with Android touches this line... unless you grab the Walkman Xz1 that is.
( which I highly recommend )
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The stats from GSMArena don't lie and using same headphones the GS4 is better, you are being subjective not objective. The Z3 is good but many phones are slightly better including the M8, GS4, GS5, LG G2/3.
The LG G2 also supported HD Audio since release in 2013.
Also there are many companies that make equal/better headphones.
I know you love the Z3 like all of us here but I'm trying to be objective for the OP.

abhinav.tella said:
The stats from GSMArena don't lie and using same headphones the GS4 is better, you are being subjective not objective. The Z3 is good but many phones are slightly better including the M8, GS4, GS5, LG G2/3.
The LG G2 also supported HD Audio since release in 2013.
Also there are many companies that make equal/better headphones.
I know you love the Z3 like all of us here but I'm trying to be objective for the OP.
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I have that phone, can't STAND the sound through same headphones.. .. not even close.
At least IMO, as everyone has different hearing.
...But not even close.

You are not being objective (statistics) you are being subjective.
To each his own, but the rest of the bunch have a cleaner output I have yet to read a review where the Z3 is superior heaphone audio wise over the mentioned phones anywhere. If you find me an article please link it. It however is good but not M8/G3 level.
I suggest you read the testing methods in the links, either you are using bad headphones or a defective LG G2 if you find that much difference against the G2. The other phones I mentioned have cleaner output, according to audiophiles that I know.
I my own opinion however honestly can't tell the difference between any of them.

abhinav.tella said:
You are not being objective (statistics) you are being subjective.
To each his own, but the rest of the bunch have a cleaner output I have yet to read a review where the Z3 is superior heaphone audio wise over the mentioned phones anywhere. If you find me an article please link it. It however is good but not M8/G3 level.
I suggest you read the testing methods in the links, either you are using bad headphones or a defective LG G2 if you find that much difference against the G2. The other phones I mentioned have cleaner output, according to audiophiles that I know.
I my own opinion however honestly can't tell the difference between any of them.
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The best test is to test them yourself. I have used almost all of the current flagships, hell i've owned most of them, and the Z3 is first of all better sound quality than the S4 with or without viper4android, but not as loud.
As for the rest, i'd argue the Z3 sounds better, to my ears as well.
This is of course with the headphones that come with it. I'm sure there's better headphones.
Review websites are never, ever objective or honest, ever.

Im just saying GSMArena uses equipment to measure/audio quality so I doubt their equipment lies, just look at the stats in the links.
Signal
Unlike you two, we TMO guys get no headphones with our phones.
I'm using a $60 MEElectronics M-Duo which is very good for its price range, and as good as some $100 headphones.
Audio Stats for GS4/Z3 Amp and headphones in images below:

Statistics aside - S4 doesn't come even close to Z3 with Noise Cancelling and DSEE HX turned on - which sounds amazing, especially when you listen to Hi Res tracks.

Akiainavas said:
Statistics aside - S4 doesn't come even close to Z3 with Noise Cancelling and DSEE HX turned on - which sounds amazing, especially when you listen to Hi Res tracks.
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I agree, HD Audio is nice but problem is large retailers like GooglePlayMusic, iTunes, etc do not even offer them yet, The only HD tracks I have heard are the Vienna Boy's Choir tracks which came with my LG G2, one of which is "Pick up your phone" :laugh:.
Unfortunately, until Apple's iPhone supports it I doubt many online stores will push HD out quickly. At least the major stores that is.

Thanks for your input and I have decided I will buy the z3 soon.

patrickbartalesi22 said:
Thanks for your input and I have decided I will buy the z3 soon.
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Enjoy! Its a great device, the statistical differences I mentioned are very minute in real world perception so you won't be dissapointed, not to mention the stereo speakers which is a nice upgrade from the GS4 (My sister has one).

Akiainavas said:
Statistics aside - S4 doesn't come even close to Z3 with Noise Cancelling and DSEE HX turned on - which sounds amazing, especially when you listen to Hi Res tracks.
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DSEE is meant to "upscale" or attempt to rebuild compression losses, not to be used on losless formats.
DSEE Research Article: basically from testing it says DSEE just adds some made up highs, though if you like it or not depends person to person.
http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=2240
Excellent article on HD Audio, by the creator of the Ogg Vorbis format.
http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html

abhinav.tella said:
DSEE is meant to "upscale" or attempt to rebuild compression losses, not to be used on losless formats.
DSEE Research Article: basically from testing it says DSEE just adds some made up highs, though if you like it or not depends person to person.
http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=2240
Excellent article on HD Audio, by the creator of the Ogg Vorbis format.
http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
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I know that. Maybe I should have added "where applicable" Doesn't change the fact - hi-res audio + noise cancelling or low-res audio+noise cancelling+dsee - both give amazing results.
As you said before - it's a shame that so little hi-res music is available. I recommend trying David Helpling's "Found" album in Studio Master option ( flac, 24bit, 96khz ) - results are amazing.
It's actually shocking that iPhone 6 doesn't support hi-res audio, especially looking at Apple's years of commitment to music.

Akiainavas said:
I know that. Maybe I should have added "where applicable" Doesn't change the fact - hi-res audio + noise cancelling or low-res audio+noise cancelling+dsee - both give amazing results.
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True, good discussion though.

abhinav.tella said:
True, good discussion though.
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Of couse
Anyway, @op - hope you will be happy with your Xperia Z3. I have been using it for two weeks now and so far it keeps impressing me on audio and battery life sides.

Akiainavas said:
Of couse
Anyway, @op - hope you will be happy with your Xperia Z3. I have been using it for two weeks now and so far it keeps impressing me on audio and battery life sides.
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Love it here as well, I'm sure OP will like it. I had the LG G2, the Xperia Z3 feels like a true worthy succesor to it, the LG G3 felt like a downgrade lower battery and lower contrast screen just so they could stuff a power hungry QHD, which is more a gimmick than useful.

abhinav.tella said:
a power hungry QHD, which is more a gimmick than useful.
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Tell me about it... I might be blind but I can't distinguish between pixels on my 1080p screen even if I keep it 1cm from my face... why the hell would I want to sacrifice so much gpu power and battery to display so many more pixels that won't really affect what I see... silly, isn't it ? But I'm quite sure we will see 4K displays soon enough, but wait another 10 years for a battery that lasts 3 days.

Akiainavas said:
Tell me about it... I might be blind but I can't distinguish between pixels on my 1080p screen even if I keep it 1cm from my face... why the hell would I want to sacrifice so much gpu power and battery to display so many more pixels that won't really affect what I see... silly, isn't it ? But I'm quite sure we will see 4K displays soon enough, but wait another 10 years for a battery that lasts 3 days.
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Well some teenage researcher in California created a battery tech that allows full charge in minutes, so at least on the charging front things are improving.

What? The S4 has good audio quality? I thought it was absolutely garbage compared to the S3 when the same headphones are plugged in. Are you talking about the i9505 or i9500 because I am pretty sure the i9505 DAC in the Snapdragon is trash, whilst I can't comment on the Wolfson on the i9500 it was amazing on the i9300. I highly doubt Sony can come up with something worse than the i9505.

Why video sound comes out so bad in live shows?

Hey guys, yet another try to record video in a live show... And again.. The audio of it comes so ****ty and distorted.
So i don't expect any solution from oneplus anymore. I even tried to take the microphone gain a little which didn't really helped so i guess it's just the mic isn't so good.
Any ideas how to get good audio in loud environments? I just don't think it's legit that an iPhone 4 can peform good in these kind of environments when the OPO (which is a better device a hundred times) cannot do such simple thing.

There are more than one available video recording apps on the play store that allow you to lvl the audio input whether it comes from the OPO mic or an external hooked up. I use a Zoom H1 with my OPO which has far superior performance for recording audio in loud environments. Plus I can hook in external LAV mics for interviewing
Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Bad audio quality when recording videos

Hey people,
When recording videos I noticed the sound quality is veeery bad, but only when I use the front camera of the stock camera app. Rear camera works fine, so it seems like a software problem. It sounds like there is some kind of extreme noise reduction. Now I found another google camera app here on XDA which records the audio fine on both front and rear camera, but it still sucks that on other apps (like snapchat and instagram) the sound quality still sucks. Can't really find a solution for this on the internet, is there anyone who's found a fix for this?
Oh and I'm on OOS Pie btw. Haven't tried flashing another rom yet as I really love this rom.

Thats sadly an Hardware Thing. Thats why I bought an iPhone 8+ only for concerts... For simple pics I take my OP6

The problem of bad audio when recording is from the first oneplus. Sure it got better buy time but with the first one bass was like you were blowing on the mic, with 5 and 5t bass was like it was sucked out, with the six it just a little bit better, but for a flagship it's waaay too bad some mid range phones are better at this even my old xperia arc has better sound recording in clubs and concert or nay place with loud music

Good audio recording with video

I have a Pixel 1 and absolutely love the audio recording characteristics while video recording. I play drums, and this is the first phone that I can just aim at the drums and play loud or soft, and the playback is excellent. Not distorted, and also very little annoying sluggish or excessive changes in recording volume. Even the deep punchy b ass drum is felt as much as it is heard, and the high end of the cymbals is good. It has made great recordings of live music whether front row or far away. The phone needs to be replaced. Does anyone know of another affordable phone with similar audio recording characteristics? Thank you.

No need to reply at this point. I gambled, and picked up a Samsung Galaxy A51. The audio section seems better than that of the Pixel, and the phone overall is superior to the Pixel, too. $6.24/ month seems pretty good too. Glad I piscked it up.