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Well, after lurking XDA for about six months, I finally actually need to post about something. Also please note that I am not an audiophile by any means, I just listen to music a lot.
I have owned a Desire since its Australian launch, and it is unequivocally the best phone I have used since the venerable Nokia N95.
I also have an iPhone 3GS provided by my benevolent employer, which in general I don't particularly like.
There is only one thing about the iPhone that is going to make it hurt to give it back to my employer when I leave at the end of this month. Audio volume.
Specifically, when I have my Desire connected to an external amplifier such as the car stereo (a daily occurence) or the stereo in my loungeroom, while it sounds pretty good, it cannot match the iPhone for volume, or the general 'meatiness' of the sound, and in the car it means I have to turn the stereo's volume up way higher than I do compared to when I use the iPhone, while still not getting sound of the same quality.
I have looked at the Dell Streak based on positive comments about its audio quality, and I will buy one in a heartbeat if I can establish that its sound is noticeably louder and or better than the Desires.
My question is: Which Android phones have the best audio quality when connected to an external amp, and can any match the iPhone?
Or has anyone used both the Desire and the Streak for external audio that can give some feedback?
I have tried GSMArena, but their technical measurements of audio quality mean nothing to me.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Of all my phones so far, the only one that even comes close to matching if not exceeding the iPhones audio quality is the Samsung Galaxy S.
I have the exact same experience with my Desire. What helped me greatly was to install the music player PowerAmp, which is in the market. On the equalizer settings page increase the preamp slider to the point before it starts to distort. I still need to crank the volume a bit in my car but it's much better than before. The bass, treble & EQ also work very well. Hope this helps.
I am considering switching from the SGS2 to the X. The sound quality while listening to MP3's on the S2 was average at best even with tampering with all the settings etc.
What is the quality of the sound like on the X ? Anyone know what DAC is inside ? I have a set of Shure E535's and want to make best use of them. If the quality is the same as the SGS2 i think i will use the bit i have saved and buy a Cowan Z2 and keep the SGS2.
Thanks for any advice
I'm interested in this myself. I've already ordered the phone though, as I need a new one.
I'm hoping I finally can put away my mp3-player, but I guess it will still be some years until a phone reach Cowon sound quality. :--/
finduz said:
I'm interested in this myself. I've already ordered the phone though, as I need a new one.
I'm hoping I finally can put away my mp3-player, but I guess it will still be some years until a phone reach Cowon sound quality. :--/
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The original Samsung Galaxy S and any other device with a Wolfson DAC came close, with Supercurios Voodoo app. Best sound on a mobile device! But SamsUng dropped the Wolfson for a Yahama DAC on the SGS2! Wonder what DAC the HOX has!
i'm no mod, but i already made a thread about this.
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finduz said:
I'm interested in this myself. I've already ordered the phone though, as I need a new one.
I'm hoping I finally can put away my mp3-player, but I guess it will still be some years until a phone reach Cowon sound quality. :--/
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i don't think a phone is ever going to include good audio. the amount of people that actually use expensive headphones and lossless files are too small for the companies to care. i sold my Cowon D3 because they messed up trying to use Android 2.2 with insufficient hardware. i'm looking at the S9, J3, or X7 now. i'll use the beats audio eq bs until i have the spare 250-280.
brent8577 said:
i'm no mod, but i already made a thread about this.
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i don't think a phone is ever going to include good audio
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My good ol' Sony Ericsson w950 had a fantastic sound quality!
As a user of an iPhone with high end multidriver in ear monitors (Westone UM3x and Shure SE420) sound quality ranks very high in my list.
Thus i would appreciate if some owner of multidriver iems could chime in with an opinion on the headphone out sound quality. With all effects turned off. If the audio hardware is any good (low output impedance, low distorsion and low crosstalk) the sound should be very good (Just as it is off the iPhone headphone out) and no need of audio tweaking would be necessary.
elfary said:
As a user of an iPhone with high end multidriver in ear monitors (Westone UM3x and Shure SE420) sound quality ranks very high in my list.
Thus i would appreciate if some owner of multidriver iems could chime in with an opinion on the headphone out sound quality. With all effects turned off. If the audio hardware is any good (low output impedance, low distorsion and low crosstalk) the sound should be very good (Just as it is off the iPhone headphone out) and no need of audio tweaking would be necessary.
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On every iPhone/iPod I've tried since their inception the DAC hasn't been the talking point, and flaked out when the eq is modified, even with a decent pair (sennys/shures) of 'phones.
I think buying a phone to replace a (good/non-ipod) portable player is a bad idea.
It's also entirely subjective; you could have a Cowon S9 and top-end in-ear sound-cancelling headphones, but if you're listening to 192kbps CBR mp3s you may as well be using your phone and a pair of £20 Porta-Pros - in most situations the source is the bottleneck, then the headphones, then the DAC. (IMO, of course)
qpop said:
On every iPhone/iPod I've tried since their inception the DAC hasn't been the talking point, and flaked out when the eq is modified, even with a decent pair (sennys/shures) of 'phones.
I think buying a phone to replace a (good/non-ipod) portable player is a bad idea.
It's also entirely subjective; you could have a Cowon S9 and top-end in-ear sound-cancelling headphones, but if you're listening to 192kbps CBR mp3s you may as well be using your phone and a pair of £20 Porta-Pros - in most situations the source is the bottleneck, then the headphones, then the DAC. (IMO, of course)
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I just asked for an opinion from a high end iem user about the HTC One X headphone out. Honestly I don't need your view on portable audio. But thanks for enlightening me.
Parameters like the impedance output impedance are nothing but subjective. iPhones output impedance is lower than 2 so they will always get a linear signal to your multidriver iem where a high z source like the galaxy S2 will get a pretty skewed signal that will ruin the frequency response of the iems.
Sound and electricty are sciences even if some people find it hard to believe and prefer esoteric approaches to the matter (That's specially true amongst Cowon fans
elfary said:
As a user of an iPhone with high end multidriver in ear monitors (Westone UM3x and Shure SE420) sound quality ranks very high in my list.
Thus i would appreciate if some owner of multidriver iems could chime in with an opinion on the headphone out sound quality. With all effects turned off. If the audio hardware is any good (low output impedance, low distorsion and low crosstalk) the sound should be very good (Just as it is off the iPhone headphone out) and no need of audio tweaking would be necessary.
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There is way more to those 3 factors for sound quality, plenty of things have those but don't sound good.
Anyways for most multidriver IEMs to make the most out of the IEM you will want some sort of amperage, even my Cowon C2 isn't powerful enough to make some IEMs shine (power doesn't always need to equal volume, but power to drive with authority)
My Soundaudio Rocco-P however, at the same volume, blows the Cowon out of the water, and there was a time you could of gotten it only for $1 + shipping on head-fi
But the SGS > SGS2 that is IMO but neither hold a candle to the C2 or the Rocco.
To the OP the cowon is a fine DAC but if you just need music playback (and if you need FLAC) there might be better options in your budget
I'm still looking for portable setup that doesn't involve carrying a brick around that will power my modded Fostex T50RP
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qpop said:
On every iPhone/iPod I've tried since their inception the DAC hasn't been the talking point, and flaked out when the eq is modified, even with a decent pair (sennys/shures) of 'phones.
I think buying a phone to replace a (good/non-ipod) portable player is a bad idea.
It's also entirely subjective; you could have a Cowon S9 and top-end in-ear sound-cancelling headphones, but if you're listening to 192kbps CBR mp3s you may as well be using your phone and a pair of £20 Porta-Pros - in most situations the source is the bottleneck, then the headphones, then the DAC. (IMO, of course)
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First of all, many ipods and the iphones sound great, their EQ sucks but their SQ is quite good, really good if you pass the headphone out, and use the line out into an amp via a LOD.
They are not the end all of players though.
Porta pros are amazing IMO, they are one of my fav headphones under $100
Any update on DAC? Audio Quality?
Personally waiting for GSM Arena to do their audio test. Below from The Verge's review:
AUDIO
Audio quality on the One X is superb across the board. The earpiece offers clear, loud calls, and the rear-mounted loudspeaker does as well — for whatever reason, HTC's managed to make this placement of the loudspeaker work far better than Samsung did with the Galaxy Nexus, which produces exceptionally quiet, easy-to-muffle sound. Callers reported that I was easy to hear even in significant background noise and wind, a good sign that this phone's dual-mic noise canceling system is really well tuned.
The 3.5mm headphone jack outputs clean, noise-free music — clean enough that I was easily able to pick out the depressingly low bitrate of Rdio's tracks. Of course, the One X carries the Beats Audio branding, as most HTC devices are now expected to (HTC owns 51 percent of Beats, after all). I find it ironic that the One series' tagline is "Amazing Camera, Authentic Sound" when Beats' audio processing is anything but authentic — in fact, if anything, it intentionally diverges from the artist's intentions. Every time I hear music with Beats enabled, it just sounds like bass boost to me, which is a trick we've seen in various forms in portable audio products for at least 30 years.
I'm not saying some users don't appreciate Beats — it definitely makes music more "exciting" sounding — but if you're looking for "authentic" music reproduction, Beats definitely isn't the answer. Personally, I'll be leaving it turned off. And fortunately, it's easily toggled either from Settings or from the notification tray while music is playing. It should also be noted that Sense 4.0 (and Sense 3.6 as found on HTC's Android 4.0 upgrades for older devices) makes Beats processing compatible with any audio app, which is a big improvement; previously, it only worked with HTC's baked-in apps.
Now that a few people are receiving their One X's can anyone answer my question please
Daemos said:
To the OP the cowon is a fine DAC but if you just need music playback (and if you need FLAC) there might be better options in your budget
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Yeah its just music playback i want if i have to get another device. What do you think of the Cowon J3 ??
I agree nikzDHD about waiting for the GSM Arena review. I read the Verge review earlier and it sounds good though i would prefer a more detailed review on the subject.
darrenjdoc said:
Now that a few people are receiving their One X's can anyone answer my question pleaseYeah its just music playback i want if i have to get another device. What do you think of the Cowon J3 ??
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Honestly, I wouldn't trust the verge's gsmarena's or most other techsite's for their "audio quality" reviews.
just FYI. having fancy bar charts, graphs etc isn't the end all, having someone be able to compare it to another device, with tons of experience, using high end audio gear is MUCH more important.
Unfortunately phones usually don't get tested in audiophile type things and you are better at looking at audiophile forums and seeing if experienced members have used them.
I'm just saying for SQ, cowon isn't the best there is, but their EQ system is one of the best, but EQ can't replace energy, soundstage, or detail reproduction, all it does is emphasize certain regions of the sound changing the "sound signature" like I said my RoCoo P is superior to the Cowon but is far cheaper, but the UI sucks, and it's missing features, but I use it almost every day when I need to walk somewhere.
I suggest reading here: http://www.head-fi.org/f/15/portable-source-gear then after reading through there potentially asking your question there, but please do list your headphones, source type, type of music, and if you *need* eq or not.
It all depends on your budget and how large of a device you want to carry. I can recommend things like the ibasso DX100 or hifiman HM-801 which are basically almost as good as you can get in a portable audio player, but they cost more than a new phone, and they are very bulky.
um.. no disrespect/no intended banter to the above poster
but we simply just want to find out if the audio quality is sufficient for use of mp3s
in comparison to say the S2, which everyone knows has disappointing sound quality . Yes we all know the S1 had a good DAC etc, this thread is more so about the phones sound quality and not about how much of an audiophile we are etc.
I need to know as if it's good enough, I don't have to bring my Cowon J3 with me everyday to work as well : )
darrenjdoc said:
Now that a few people are receiving their One X's can anyone answer my question pleaseYeah its just music playback i want if i have to get another device. What do you think of the Cowon J3 ??
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I can't recommend the sansa clip enough. Cheap, good battery, flac support and even better with a portable amp! One of the best sounding players I've had.
thanhson87 said:
um.. no disrespect/no intended banter to the above poster
but we simply just want to find out if the audio quality is sufficient for use of mp3s
in comparison to say the S2, which everyone knows has disappointing sound quality . Yes we all know the S1 had a good DAC etc, this thread is more so about the phones sound quality and not about how much of an audiophile we are etc.
I need to know as if it's good enough, I don't have to bring my Cowon J3 with me everyday to work as well : )
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What is "sufficient"? What is "good enough"? It varies for different people.
If you want to know if it plays music, yes it'll play mp3s. If it's good enough to you or not, I can't say.
I can tell you this, in terms of SQ I'd rank what I've used as this SGS2 << SGS1 < rockboxed Sansa Clip/fuse (first gen) < Rockboxed earlier ipod < Cowon players < RoCoo P
This is of course FLAC, if we add mp3 playback I'd say the iphone/ipod touch fits in better than the SGS1 but can = sansa clip/fuse
These are also only what I'd consider portable DAPs.
The OP wanted to know if they should keep the SGS2 and get a J3 or get a one X instead and was focused on audio quality.
I just happened to say I think he could get better than the J3 for better SQ for the money. I'm just trying to help the OP.
Most people just want to carry one device, I've also got a rockboxed Sansa Clip its small enough to take anywhere and sound quality is very good. Again to OP Sansa Clip is the cheapest way of getting some good sound but good sound is only good if you pair it up with a good set of headphones to take advantage of it.
If only Supercurio lived in the UK I would of let him borrow my phone his analysis is very good.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
I have a Sansa clip+ lying in a box that i haven't used in a long time and just rockboxed it. Teamed with my Shure E535's and a few flac albums this little guy sounds heads and shoulders above my SGS2. Actually shocked how such a small player can sound so good. Going to get a portable amp and this will save me a few quids. Many thanks for the replies
nice! Yeah a rockboxed clip+ is definately the way to go for small awesome sound. They are also basically impossible to beat at the price you can get a clip+ and fuze for
if you want my help, let me know how much you want to spend on an amp and i'll point you in the right direction
But basically in terms of portable (and affordable amps) ibasso, jds labs and fiio (if you get their higher end stuff)
Good luck with your search, hopefully you can find a good amp that pairs well with the 535's
Hey guys,
Firstly, Ive started this thread as I heard ALOT of bad-press about HTC with their audio output,
I heard such story's of:
"Beats audio is a gimmick"
"HTC have always had bad sound quality"
"Sound quality from the microphones are a piece of ****"
Etc etc,
Allow me to say, I'm coming from the Samsung Galaxy S series of phones & this is my first HTC phone, so I cannot give my opinion about past HTC devices, - I ran my original Galaxy S with SuperCurio's VooDoo sound which dramatically improved its music-listening experience, & I ran my Galaxy S2 with SuperCurio's VooDoo Louder application.
Let me start with saying, my audio experience on my 'Stock' HTC ONE X trumps both my ex Galaxy S phones, its clearer, has excellent Lows, good mids & highs. The Volume output is even higher than my original Galaxy S phone with Voodoo sound. - Very happy.
Regarding my beats urbeats earphones, I think they are great. - Sure, I understand they won't be for everyone as the Bass on these things when combined with beats audio built into the device is EXTREME, however - whilst that may be, its clear, crisp with zero distortion at all. (Impressive in itself) - after just completing a music-listening binge test of over 9hrs constant music streaming, I've listened to all different genres of music, & if you are a rock/metal fan, you will also love these earphones - The guitar solos really do bring you right into the track, as if you were there yourself, but even on pop tracks (chart music), I found myself enjoying music I'm not even in to, I found it a different experience, but a great one that I'm enjoying. The earphones of course gave a stupid-high amount of bass on R&B & Dance/Trance tracks, although I noticed it the most on R&B - again, that said, I could still hear everything in the track, loud & clear - it still gave a very good enjoyable experience.
Regarding the audio quality of the microphones, both myself & the receiver of my phone calls have found it to be loud & clear and exactly what a customer would want from a phone. (Speakerphone volume is loud, albeit a little distorted at full volume- but again, its nit-picking & when compared to my previous high-end Samsung devices, it is better!)
Today, I've focused on camera & mainly video audio quality, again - it doesn't offer the crisp sound that music offers via the earphones, but its a video camera on a phone (& I went into this with that in mind) & its no better, nor worse when compared to my past devices - I really don't see or understand all the complaints. I found audio pickup from the microphone to be very good, it was recording voices from the next room too (good & bad), but this would stop when the person who i was recording was closer to my camera lens.
I'm not ignorant to say, OMG - the audio on this thing is perfect, but I can only compare it to my past experiences with past/current devices, I use music/podcast streaming ALOT, so it was quickly evident to me that I have upgraded in this area, of which I'm absolutely delighted with.
I'm tired of hearing all the moaning about HTC & their audio quality, before purchasing this device, it was 'almost enough' for me to not choose this phone as my next purchase, as i tend to lurke in the forums, & read tons of reviews of a device before making my decision to buy, but I'm very glad I did.
I've wrote this mini-review as a customer (as that's what I am), point of view from my experiences with the audio, as before my purchase, I seemed to hear nothing but negative reviews to this area of the phone.
I understand there will be people who don't agree with me, but this is my experience & I just wanted to put-it-out-there for all to see, especially for those people who may be on the fence (as I were), on this particular issue with the phone.
Anyway, just thought I'd get this off my chest instead of trying to give multiple comments in various audio threads.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2
I concur with you. I am 1/2 a audio buff, and so on its own without comparing to other phones I find the audio farily acceptable.
For audio quality, it depends a lot on the source. If the source is lousy, then a good audio system will let you hear it. Unfortunately a lot of inferior systems cannot "faithfully" reproduce the faults, and can actually be perceived to be good since the fault can't be heard.
For One X the problem is that you will get clicks sometimes, and sometimes the music would skip around for 0.5 second. This all seems to link to beats itself.
(just for fun, some people will tell you any form of signal processing on the audio data is distortion in itself. So by that definition what you said is incorrect. Beats "distorts". )
I agree. But connecting this thing to a Fiio E11 dropped my jaw to the floor! I have a top range audio card in my pc but it doesnt even come close with the same headset. I am very surprised indeed. Reminds me when I bought B&W 805 Matrix speakers with subs back in the days
As per usual lots of conflicting information re: audio quality. Will be most interested to get mine next week and see for myself. I'll be using FLAC with very high quality headphones, so the HOX will be the rate limiting step in my setup (Audeze LCD-2 and Sennheiser HD25-I II headphones of my own, and probably also top of the line Grado's and Audio Technica headphones too since I met a computer store owner today who specialises in high-end headphones and wants to get a One X so will be happy to let me audition a bunch of headsets).
I have one difficulty with your review; I very much doubt the veracity of your statement that it's louder than a Galaxy S with Voodoo Sound. For one thing objective measures at several sites of the phones volume output show it to be quite low compared to most phones, and furthermore with Voodoo Sound and it's headphone amplifier section the Galaxy S goes louder than any phone will ever go stock from a manufacturer (who necessarily err on the side of protecting peoples hearing). I'd love to be wrong about this, but I just can't see it being louder than a Voodoo'd Galaxy S.
Besides that, thank you for your review on this aspect of the device, makes me want to get mine and make my own judgement on it even more!
NZtechfreak said:
Sennheiser HD25-I II headphones
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This one with amp sounds excellent.
I am an audiophile but mainly for speakers rather than headphones. I do have the Denon D7000 high-end cans. I have to say the One X is just above okay. It is certainly not audiophile level. But I never listen to my phone at home, only when I am travelling about and then I don't use my Denon's anyway. It has a fun bassy output (with Beats). But the benchmark for me, is the Xperia S for which audio output quality is its one redeeming quality. The sound is smooth, deep, hiss free and well refined.
ive used internet radio on it and its a lot better than my old desire but havent tried with propper phones yet
Guys i am planing to buy sennheiser HD 518 and i have a confusion that these headphones will work great with our S3 or do i need an external amp for sound quality issues. thanks for ur help guys!!!
They should sound good. I have a pair of Audio Technica M50's and they sound great. Plenty of bass and the highs are just perfect. I also have the AC!D mod installed, and it makes a very big difference. The only two problems that I have is that at a low volume you can hear a hiss, but that's due to the amplifier in the phone. The second problem is that I have to download only high quality music. Anything besides high quality sounds like crap.
I just bought these last week and I'm no expert on head phones and such, but I can tell you straight they sound almost perfect to me, I don't think you'll be needing any external amplifier for it as they sound pretty great to me.
I have Sennheiser HD555 and I can say the sound quality is exceptional (very detailed and clear with 192kbps ogg). Don't worry the sensitivity because I only need to turn half way.
I was lucky and got an HTC 10 with high res earbuds but now my other headphones suck except the beyerdynamic DT 770 pro but they are not for everyday use
What do you guys use?
Btw. Are the Apple Earpods working for you? Mine are not recognized by the phone...
there really isn't a specific recommendation.... it's totally dependant on your tastes...
I will buy your hi res headphones from you
Hehe I don't sell them
I have beats Tour and beats power and they sound aweful.
My beloved earpods are not recognized by my phone, sadly.
Maybe they are too old.
I also tested some Philips and they were aweful too.
I need some recommendations
I bought 1more dual driver and im really satisfy
Enviado do meu HTC 10 através de Tapatalk
I'm using ultimate ears triple fi 10 with headphone amplifier. Works great, but i have to put off boom sound software feature to get full range music. The bass boost with boom sound is just rubbish and kills the mids completly. So i dont really use 10's special music features unless the enhanced powered headphone jack. Besides that every 820 device should sound the same as they are using the same DAC.
xperia x root said:
... every 820 device should sound the same as they are using the same DAC.
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HTC claimed they worked with Qualcomm to optimise the output circuitry to work with the DAC so it would be better than other implementations. I don't know how much difference it made...
What type of earphones are you looking for? In ear, on ear, over ear?
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers mobile app
No in ears
Something like https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B0080..._SR100,100_&psc=1&refRID=WSNP2ASJPR562DCAQCKY
Or.
https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B014W...bo+play+h7&dpPl=1&dpID=419IfVJf+sL&ref=plSrch
I've been very satisfied with the RHA Ma750s. If you like cheaper earpods I've tried Samsung's ear pods that are included w/ the gs6 which sound pretty good.
I've also found on bass heavy sets (in my case Bose IE2s, in your case beats tour) it helps to create an audio profile and set the first 2 frequencies to minimum, set mid to 3-4, and set the two high freqs to 9-10. This helps with the lack of treble response on bass heavy earbuds.
I recommend checking out head-fi forums for some advice, but for ear buds, I love my AKG K318s. They are open back ear buds and the have pretty fantastic clarity and openness to them for being ear buds. They are great in the mids to highs, but bass response isn't that great - depends on your music tastes. They are perfect for rock/classical/vocals stuff like that. For bassier stuff, I use a pair of V-Moda BassFreq but I dont believe either of these are made anymore. I use mostly Sennheiser Momentum over-ear and on-ears at work, and Philips SHP9500/Grado SR80 at home.
I use klipsch x12i in ears.
They're pricey but well worth it.
Came from klipsch x10i and x11i.
Once you've had a pair, you're hooked.
They sound amazing...
The HTC 10 is a great audio device but it certainly doesn't sound the same as any other mobile device using the Qualcomm 820 SoC....
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/02/qualcomm-aqstic-sets-new-standard-audiophiles
Audiotechnica ATH-M50 headphones for the win!
I use the headphones at work and there is a SIGNIFICANT sound quality difference from when I plug it into my PC vs my HTC 10. The 10 adds another dimension to the music and makes it sounds more... vibrant?
chetly968 said:
The HTC 10 is a great audio device but it certainly doesn't sound the same as any other mobile device using the Qualcomm 820 SoC....
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/02/qualcomm-aqstic-sets-new-standard-audiophiles
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Not quite my friend...
Taken from:
http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-10-audio-testing-boomsound-evolved
"Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 does a lot of things right, but clear audio isn't one of those things. Something in the digital to analog converter circuit introduces an extreme amount of noise and crosstalk into the analog output, and phones like the U.S. Galaxy S7 and LG G5 sound pretty poor because of this. After doing some testing, I was presented with results that just didn't make sense from the HTC 10 — it was better than it should be, even with extra work and attention to the analog circuit that brings signal from the DAC output to the headphone jack. You can only do so much magic to a bad signal. I asked HTC how they did it, and found out that some assumptions about the HTC 10 audio hardware that the internet (and myself) has are incorrect. The HTC 10 uses a stand-alone DAC as well as headphone amp and isn't using the Snapdragon 820 DAC. This is pretty important, and why the HTC 10 sounds as good as it does.
We use a discrete DAC (not one on the SoC) in addition to the amp and have done a ton of PCB engineering to insure the best possible signal-to-noise ratio. Credit to HTC engineering, not off-the-shelf components.
So much for relying on the internet. That's a mistake I won't make again.
Needless to say, the results of my benchmark testing with the HTC 10 are pretty damn outstanding."
The discrete DAC is the Qualcomm Aqstic and it sounds awesome, the best I've ever heard in a phone.
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/02/qualcomm-aqstic-sets-new-standard-audiophiles
Xiaomi Piston 3's sound AMAZING for the price, which is around $12, but for best SQ you need to be careful to avoid fakes, replace the tips (included tips are rubbish), and burn them in for ~50 hrs.
I currently use the Audio-Technica ATH-CKR10 and it sounds amazing for my type of music (edm, trance, vocal trance) although they are quite expensive at around 200 your best bet is to get them from amazon and make sure its fulfilled by amazon, for some reason the other listings are always 300-600 bucks....
Ordered some Sony bluetooth over the ear headphones on Amazon prime day, work great. They were 50% off
Sent from my 2PS64 using XDA-Developers mobile app
whatthefunk said:
The discrete DAC is the Qualcomm Aqstic and it sounds awesome, the best I've ever heard in a phone.
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/02/qualcomm-aqstic-sets-new-standard-audiophiles
Xiaomi Piston 3's sound AMAZING for the price, which is around $12, but for best SQ you need to be careful to avoid fakes, replace the tips (included tips are rubbish), and burn them in for ~50 hrs.
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Would you mind sharing a link of a legit seller for the Xiaomi earbuds? I tried purchasing a set last summer but got burned by eBay seller and received a knock off. One of the earbuds volume was significantly lower (almost nonexistent) than the other earbud. Would like to try out some quality hi-res earbuds, my 2013 Beats Tours are pretty disappointing in both the sound department, as well as them constantly falling out of my ears.
But as far as Headphones go, My Beats Studio 2.0's sound amazing when I Calibrate the sound profile to them. The Dolby effects "Studio" setting really helps separate the sound stage nicely. So nice, it's allowed me to fight off the itch to mess around with V4A and all the other sound mods I have run in the past, and a much nicer richer listening experience as well.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
For bang for the bucks, try VSONIC GR07, despite the lame plastic chassis, it really does sound like a ~200-dollar-headphone. I like it more than my UE triple.fi, even UE900, sound-wise.
So i'm using the "Bose Soundsport" while in gym, on the bike or just walking outside. Although i'm not a big fan of Bose products i can highly recommend these because they are so damn comfortable as they are between real In-Ears and EarPods and sound excellent for their size. (way better than the High Res HTC In-Ears)
At home or while working i take my "Bowers & Wilkins P7", which were brought on a new level when i switched from HTC M7 to HTC 10!
But in the end it depends on what sound you like and the quality you use...for me it was always hard to find good headphones as i hear very different genres like Hiphop, Rock, Punk-Rock, House, Jazz etc.