[All Carriers]Hiss, signal to noise ratio through headphone jack - T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII

I don't know if you guys have noticed, but the audio through the headphone jack has massive noise. Its maddening when listening to music quietly. Worst I've ever heard on a portable device, although the audio quality is pretty decent. What we need to fix this is control over the headphone amplifier (voodoo sound offers this on other devices fingers crossed) to lower the level and reduce noise. SO my question is, does anyone know how to lower the headphone amplifier volume with a hack? We can also use this thread to beg supercurio to support our usa versions with voodoo sound
On a related note, if anyone wants to list what eq program they use that could be interesting. They all suck in my opinion. The one CM uses is pretty good, so I'm looking forward to that.
Edit: here is the answer to the problem. Lower the app volume using this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teamkang.fauxsound

I was going to retire my nexus S with voodoo(and get the SG3-have the 32 GB pre order) until the info came out about the difference between the US version and International in regards to audio. Disturbing to learn about the hiss. The US version has basically the same hardware, audio wise as the HTC Evo LTE. Certainly nothing to brag about unless anyone has info to the contrary. Waiting for voodoo may be a long time.
My nexus S is absolutely quiet between tracks, no hiss, pops.

bjrmd said:
I was going to retire my nexus S with voodoo(and get the SG3-have the 32 GB pre order) until the info came out about the difference between the US version and International in regards to audio. Disturbing to learn about the hiss. The US version has basically the same hardware, audio wise as the HTC Evo LTE. Certainly nothing to brag about unless anyone has info to the contrary. Waiting for voodoo may be a long time.
My nexus S is absolutely quiet between tracks, no hiss, pops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know I had the nexus s too. I'm not exaggerating about the hiss. The amp is way too high. I think I'll see a significant improvement with reduced amp volume. Just need to figure out how.

HOXL isn't great in this area either.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

I would love it if this could be fixed. Its driving me ocd!

I installed AwesomeBeats and use my Beats Solo headphones and dont have that problem... not sure if my setup makes any difference though because i never use OEM headphones
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Indeed, I have the same problem on my unit and attribute it to the analog gain that is too high. I'm also looking for a way to turn down the headphone amplifier. Note that I also have an HTC One XL which uses the same audio hardware. On that phone, the amplifier isn't turned up as much (overall volume is lower), and the hiss is lower, though still perceptible.
However, I've found a thread with info that suggests that not all GS3 units exhibit this problem.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...sign-fault-audio-buzz-hiss-crackle-noise.html
Therefore I'm really curious: does anyone not hear noise/hiss at low volume levels?
Note that you will only hear the noise with ear buds or low-impedance headphones. Bigger headphones aren't sensitive enough.

I do not hear the noise you speak of on any of my headphones or earbuds.
I tried the stock music player and Power Amp. Power Amp is my main choice of listening to music. I also tried different EQ settings. Nothing.

i dont hear the hiss through my headphones but when I have it hooked up in my car through AUX, i get the hiss =/

Listen to a song that is very quiet, with lower impedance headphones (16 ohms). Classical music or music with areas that are bit more quiet will exhibit this. Also if you listen close, you can even hear the hiss/white noise when you push a capacitive button for a few seconds until they stop the lighting effect.
I think this problem exists on all phones, just some people cant hear it and some listen to their music at louder volumes. I have tested this across a few roms and players, it shows up on everything. I believe it is the amplifier inside this thing being cranked too loud as well.

onebelo said:
i dont hear the hiss through my headphones but when I have it hooked up in my car through AUX, i get the hiss =/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By chance, do you have the phone plugged in when you get the hiss? And does the hiss only appear when nothing is playing? If it's plugged in to the car charger, try unplugging it and seeing if the hiss goes away. My phone makes all sorts of noise through aux when nothing is playing (like between podcasts or if I'm searching for a song). I noticed that if I unplug the charger, all the noise goes away.

Docks said:
Listen to a song that is very quiet, with lower impedance headphones (16 ohms). Classical music or music with areas that are bit more quiet will exhibit this. Also if you listen close, you can even hear the hiss/white noise when you push a capacitive button for a few seconds until they stop the lighting effect.
I think this problem exists on all phones, just some people cant hear it and some listen to their music at louder volumes. I have tested this across a few roms and players, it shows up on everything. I believe it is the amplifier inside this thing being cranked too loud as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'm a loud music listener. Will try with OEM earphones to see.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

people who say there's no hiss either have earbuds that rest outside the ear, or are deaf/dumb. There are no units that don't have the problem. If there is I'll eat my hat. We need to find a way to lower the analogue headphone volume. Supercurio is the only person capable, to my knowledge. He doesn't seem thrilled to try the US model. I feel like starting a bounty or something.

stonew5082 said:
people who say there's no hiss either have earbuds that rest outside the ear, or are deaf/dumb. There are no units that don't have the problem. If there is I'll eat my hat. We need to find a way to lower the analogue headphone volume. Supercurio is the only person capable, to my knowledge. He doesn't seem thrilled to try the US model. I feel like starting a bounty or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have a pair of Ultimate Ears $1,500 In Ear Monitors, and when listening to Flac, or streaming from Google Music, there is absolutely no noise more than any other phone. Listening to Jazz, Classical, Soul for the most part. Actually aside from iPhone (doesn't do Flac), my Verizon SGS3 performs much better (In the noise, and balance department) than any of my previous Android phones: Verizon or GSM Galaxy Nexus, HTC Rezound, AT&T's HTC One X to name a few.
HTC's One X actually blew up my right bass driver on my UE18's because of the retarded "Beats" moniker crappy EQ which I was very pissed about, and no one should be using EVER with a pair of good headphones... good thing I ended up getting IEM rebuilt for free by peeps at Ultimate Ears.
Moral of the story, you shouldn't be throwing the assumptions, you haven't tried the entire inventory of SGS3...
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stonew5082 said:
I don't know if you guys have noticed, but the audio through the headphone jack has massive noise. Its maddening when listening to music quietly. Worst I've ever heard on a portable device, although the audio quality is pretty decent. What we need to fix this is control over the headphone amplifier (voodoo sound offers this on other devices fingers crossed) to lower the level and reduce noise. SO my question is, does anyone know how to lower the headphone amplifier volume with a hack? We can also use this thread to beg supercurio to support our usa versions with voodoo sound
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been through 3 different android devices and countless headphones and I know exactly what you mean. This background noise is simply unbearable. Some people either don't mind or listen to volumes high enough to drown out the hiss. Personally, it is driving me nuts and I've tried everything I could to solve this problem and came to 2 solutions that will help you out.
1. Jack up phone's volume to max and use a passive dual potentiometer to lower volume back to desired level effectively lowering the background noise as well. At loud volumes the SNR is great so turning volume to max and then lowering it with an external device will lower the both the volume of music AND the background noise to exactly what you want, low volume music with great SNR. The only downside is you'll have to buy/build that external volume control device. I built mine from scratch and it looked something like: http://beavishifi.com/articles/Volume_Control/
2. Get an external DAC to effectively bypass phone's crappy audio DAC altogether. I bought a FiiO E7 external DAC and an OTG cable. SGS3 supports them both right out of the box. Fiio E7 is built around Wolfson WM8740 DAC and the sound quality it produces is simply mind blowing. At night, in a room with everything turned off, using in-ear (canal) headphones with all volumes set lowest and I still have to listen very hard in order to hear the background noise. And of course, the audio is crystal clear as well. If you care about audio quality, this will be the best $71 you'll ever spend.

KreepyKen said:
By chance, do you have the phone plugged in when you get the hiss? And does the hiss only appear when nothing is playing? If it's plugged in to the car charger, try unplugging it and seeing if the hiss goes away. My phone makes all sorts of noise through aux when nothing is playing (like between podcasts or if I'm searching for a song). I noticed that if I unplug the charger, all the noise goes away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm you're right. I tested this morning on drive to work and only hear the loud hiss when charging cable is plugged in. Volume is lower though compared to playing from other sources (usb, sd) on my head unit. Seems like I have to up the volume by like +5 to get similar loudness.
I'll test it again with my car dock i have (Infuse 4g dock) and see if its similar. I'll also test with my old Evo and Zune player through AUX to hear hte sound difference.

milan03 said:
Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have a pair of Ultimate Ears $1,500 In Ear Monitors, and when listening to Flac, or streaming from Google Music, there is absolutely no noise more than any other phone. Listening to Jazz, Classical, Soul for the most part. Actually aside from iPhone (doesn't do Flac), my Verizon SGS3 performs much better (In the noise, and balance department) than any of my previous Android phones: Verizon or GSM Galaxy Nexus, HTC Rezound, AT&T's HTC One X to name a few.
HTC's One X actually blew up my right bass driver on my UE18's because of the retarded "Beats" moniker crappy EQ which I was very pissed about, and no one should be using EVER with a pair of good headphones... good thing I ended up getting IEM rebuilt for free by peeps at Ultimate Ears.
Moral of the story, you shouldn't be throwing the assumptions, you haven't tried the entire inventory of SGS3...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you've made me second guess myself. But it just seems so unlikely. Maybe some units have a lower default amp volume? I hate you. :banghead:
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

frifox said:
Been through 3 different android devices and countless headphones and I know exactly what you mean. This background noise is simply unbearable. Some people either don't mind or listen to volumes high enough to drown out the hiss. Personally, it is driving me nuts and I've tried everything I could to solve this problem and came to 2 solutions that will help you out.
1. Jack up phone's volume to max and use a passive dual potentiometer to lower volume back to desired level effectively lowering the background noise as well. At loud volumes the SNR is great so turning volume to max and then lowering it with an external device will lower the both the volume of music AND the background noise to exactly what you want, low volume music with great SNR. The only downside is you'll have to buy/build that external volume control device. I built mine from scratch and it looked something like: http://beavishifi.com/articles/Volume_Control/
2. Get an external DAC to effectively bypass phone's crappy audio DAC altogether. I bought a FiiO E7 external DAC and an OTG cable. SGS3 supports them both right out of the box. Fiio E7 is built around Wolfson WM8740 DAC and the sound quality it produces is simply mind blowing. At night, in a room with everything turned off, using in-ear (canal) headphones with all volumes set lowest and I still have to listen very hard in order to hear the background noise. And of course, the audio is crystal clear as well. If you care about audio quality, this will be the best $71 you'll ever spend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice. Not sure it's worth it as I have a cowon j3 with a similar chip in it. What do you think? I like only carrying 1 device and listening to Pandora, that's why I don't usually carry the cowon. I use 1964 ears quads too. The device you made is intriguing.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

Anybody try this?

motohip said:
Anybody try this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that will eliminate noise usually caused by unshielded wires and noisy power sources (such as crappy car chargers) but won't improve SGS3 DAC's SNR. I didn't actually experiment with one of those so I'm just speculating.

Related

So much for beating the iphone...

I hate Apple with a passion and I was rather excited to have a viable (superior) alternative to the iphone with the Touch Pro2. Everything about this phone has been fantastic until just now when I plugged in my headphones. I'm something of an audiophile and thus use some decent headphones. In the course of my listening, here are my findings:
The Touch Pro 2 performs great with less sensitive headphones (like Beyerdynamic DT770 80ohm), but with sensitive headphones like Grado's it sounds like CRAP.
Even more disappointing, using sensitive high end earbuds like my Super.Fi Pro 5's reveal SIGNIFICANT and DISTRACTING electrical noise. If you listen to quiet music like some classical or jazz, you will definitely notice it. While annoying, at least with music, the music itself usually overwhelms the noise.
Unfortunately, watching a video is a completely different story. In short, watching a video on this phone is like Chinese Water Torture with the electrical noise easily heard 100% of the time.
It's simply unacceptable for a manufacturer to produce a device in this day and age that has this kind of interference. They should really test a $500 device with earbuds that cost more than $10.
The whole point of this phone is for power users, and power users like us are the exact demographic that would have expensive (usually high sensitivity) headphones.
The noise is worst in the left channel.
This is on a Verizon TP2 for reference. Is this possibly just a defective phone or do others experience the same noise? FWIW you probably won't notice it with normal ibud's.
I have a pair of Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia's and dont have any issue with device feedback or interference. While they arent as nice as your headphones, they do a pretty good job, and have been a fantastic match on my Sprint TP2. Video/Music, no difference. I did tweak the equalizer a bit (Audio booster in programs menu), but that was for personal preference, and my music tastes.
What add-on programs have you installed? There could be something that got screwed up...
Otherwise take it in to the store with another MP3 player that has the same mp3 on it as your tp2 and have the rep listen to both, and ask to try it on a demo phone they have there, I'm sure they'll fix you up.
headshok said:
I have a pair of Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia's and dont have any issue with device feedback or interference. While they arent as nice as your headphones, they do a pretty good job, and have been a fantastic match on my Sprint TP2. Video/Music, no difference. I did tweak the equalizer a bit (Audio booster in programs menu), but that was for personal preference, and my music tastes.
What add-on programs have you installed? There could be something that got screwed up...
Otherwise take it in to the store with another MP3 player that has the same mp3 on it as your tp2 and have the rep listen to both, and ask to try it on a demo phone they have there, I'm sure they'll fix you up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, your Fontopia's look like they only have 100db sensitivity rating compared to 119db of my headphones. That could be why you don't hear the noise (please note that I'm not putting down your headphones, as sensitivity has very little to do with actual sound quality - it's simply an electrical measurement).
I can't hear any noise on my Sennheiser eh150's, nor on my 6.5" component speakers in my car.
Well... I'm surprised you would expect good sound quality from a device aimed squarely at the business market. The iPhone is designed for multimedia and does some businessy stuff on the side. The TP2 is designed for business use and does some multimedia stuff on the side. The performance is what you would expect, given that goal.
Shasarak said:
Well... I'm surprised you would expect good sound quality from a device aimed squarely at the business market. The iPhone is designed for multimedia and does some businessy stuff on the side. The TP2 is designed for business use and does some multimedia stuff on the side. The performance is what you would expect, given that goal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
If I want to listen to music I pull out my mp3 player and Shure's.
computerpro3 said:
Hmmm, your Fontopia's look like they only have 100db sensitivity rating compared to 119db of my headphones. That could be why you don't hear the noise (please note that I'm not putting down your headphones, as sensitivity has very little to do with actual sound quality - it's simply an electrical measurement).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that sucks your not happy with the audio quality. I'd try to check the same song with your buds on another persons phone, and rule out a faulty device.
But if its not specific to your device I guess in this case more expensive isnt always better.
I'm very happy with the sound quality of my Fontopia's, I have a 16gb gen 2 ipod touch and I there is no quality difference between it and the TP2....
Absolutely no noise-floor issues here, using Shure se530s. In a direct comparisonj between my TP2 and the 3GS I would say the TP2 is easily as good, if not better.
Sounds like you have a faulty phone. Not to be patronising but did you try a different USB/3.5mm adapter? I had one that was very "crackly", swapped it and that was perfect.
barneypooch said:
Absolutely no noise-floor issues here, using Shure se530s. In a direct comparisonj between my TP2 and the 3GS I would say the TP2 is easily as good, if not better.
Sounds like you have a faulty phone. Not to be patronising but did you try a different USB/3.5mm adapter? I had one that was very "crackly", swapped it and that was perfect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, your shures have the exact same sensitivity as my UE's, so it should be able to pick up the noise. Have you tested with video using HTC Album?
What about background hiss while music is playing?
My phone is starting to develop the oil slick problem so I might just swap it out anyway.
Also, just a note, the Verizon phone has the 3.5mm jack, so no need for a dongle. Internally though, I do wonder what the electronics look like, and if it's just a hardwired (though smaller) dongle.
I use the Sennheiser CX300-B ear buds and can definitely hear background hiss. I can hear it when I initially plug them in then, if I don't do anything the hiss goes away until it plays something. Sounds like when the amp turns on then I hear the hiss. I hear it for music, voice prompts everything. You can hear the same thing by pausing the music and you will hear a hiss for a couple seconds, then it goes away.
When I have music playing I cannot hear it, but do hear it during the quiet times of the song.
I've found this to be true with these earbuds for pretty much any player I use that is not dedicated to audio only. I always figured they just do not spend the $$ to put in good audio capabilities in the multi-use devices.
dave
If I listen to the FM radio I can definitely hear interference, usually listening to NPR (talk radio). Though not sure if it is slightly less then perfect reception or an actual sound issue. I feel as though the mini usb connector is less then ideal. It has a lot of wiggle. Wonder if that is part of the problem.
This is with the factory ear buds.. have yet to really listen to music on it, or with good ear buds.. or through my car stereo(where I usually listen to music with my phone)
OK, after typing all that I guess I am not sure if mine has this problem! LOL But I will leave this post here so I can update it after I use the sound output more.
I think it is laughable to use the word audiophile and earbuds in the same sentence.
Your best headphones for monitoring are over the ear
Don't have any issues with my Verizon unit. I have hooked it up directly to RXV3800, Sennheiser HD380, and M-Audio DSM2 and hear nothing I have not heard with other MP3 players including the ipod.
I noticed my Verizon TP2 had flatter sound than my mp3 player with the same phones, but after a little EQ adjustment in Nitrogen, they sound just fine.
You guys have way too much time on your hands to complain about those things.
dezoris said:
I think it is laughable to use the word audiophile and earbuds in the same sentence.
Your best headphones for monitoring are over the ear
Don't have any issues with my Verizon unit. I have hooked it up directly to RXV3800, Sennheiser HD380, and M-Audio DSM2 and hear nothing I have not heard with other MP3 players including the ipod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find it's laughable that you don't know what you're talking about.
My earbuds are every bit as good as your headphones, and earbuds exist (like the UE11) that obliterate even the best studio monitors in detail, frequency response, linearity, immediacy, transient resoponse, etc. In fact, they obliterate studio monitors in literally everything MAYBE soundstaging and impact.
www.ultimateears.com
Besides, you completely missed the entire point of the thread by saying "Nope, everything good driving my low sensitivity headphones!"
For the umpteenth time, you will not be able to hear this noise with low sensitivity headphones (as I confirmed with my DT770's). This problem only relates to driving high sensitivity cans.
lovingHDTV said:
I use the Sennheiser CX300-B ear buds and can definitely hear background hiss. I can hear it when I initially plug them in then, if I don't do anything the hiss goes away until it plays something. Sounds like when the amp turns on then I hear the hiss. I hear it for music, voice prompts everything. You can hear the same thing by pausing the music and you will hear a hiss for a couple seconds, then it goes away.
When I have music playing I cannot hear it, but do hear it during the quiet times of the song.
I've found this to be true with these earbuds for pretty much any player I use that is not dedicated to audio only. I always figured they just do not spend the $$ to put in good audio capabilities in the multi-use devices.
dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This confirms what I was saying. The sensitivity of your earbuds is 112db, which is far higher than the other posters 100ish range.
It would appear that this might not just be a defective phone that I have, and that it could actually be a more widespread problem.
computerpro3 said:
This confirms what I was saying. The sensitivity of your earbuds is 112db, which is far higher than the other posters 100ish range.
It would appear that this might not just be a defective phone that I have, and that it could actually be a more widespread problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except that he claims to hear it on several devices, not just this phone. Also he claims to hear it only during the quiet parts, not during actual sound reproduction, whilst you hear it at all times...
It could be the adapter, a faulty phone, or just a phone not designed for high-end hedphones.
Good luck with this. I love high quality headphones but use bluetooth to listen to music (yes, I hear the difference, but when I have cables they always get wonky and stop working properly).
Now if the phone had KLEER technology I'd happily go for that
This sounds more like thread on bragging about your super duper headphones than anything to do with the TP2.
But maybe they arent so super duper if cheaper ones sound better.
Get past it, if you want a dedicated music player that lets you become immersed in 1024bit crystal clear audio go get whatever that is.
If you want a music player that sounds pretty damn good, can also take phone calls, browse the web, manage your schedule, send/receive emails and txt, take pictures, go buy a cheaper set of headphones.
why use expensive earpiece
why use all that fancy stuff .. can you really hear a difference? whats wrong with the set of stock headsets that come in the box with the phone?

Headphone Amplifiers

Hi. Has anyone used headphone amplifiers with the SGS2? Has it improved sound quality? Not just volume as well. I'm considering buying the FiiO E5.
I actually have the E5 and it really does improve audio quality. I won't give you any of the linguistic crap that tells you nothing. Simply put, it makes the mid and high range more crisp and clear. It is espcially noticeable if you listen to female vocals. There is a super tiny amount of increased static with the amp on maximum volume, but you will not hear it unless you turn off all audio and really try hard to hear it in a quiet environment. As always, garbage in, garbage out. Take advantage of the phone's ability to play lossless FLAC.
I'm thinking about getting another E5 for my SGS2 since the one in this pic is effectively welded to my Sansa Fuze.
I got my E5 from dealextreme before and so far I've never been disappointed by anything I've bought from there. It's free international shipping so the price you see is what you pay.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/fiio-e5-3-5mm-earphone-volume-booster-power-amplifier-black-18350
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Can it used with the headset ( ie. does the mic fn remain intact) ?
Yes. The amplifier has a 3.5mm input and output. The E5 also comes with 2 auxiliary cables so you don't need to buy additional cables.
Well unless the sgs2 gets some sort of line out output, whatever audio they comes out of it still has to be progressed through that crappy yamaha dac.
What we need is a line out adaptor if you truly want to make an amp worth its weight
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
True say. I'm wondering if the HDMI out provides line out. I don't think an MHL adapter would work though. I've never seen micro USB to 3.5mm jack either. Then again, if you're really worried about audio quality then you wouldn't be using the phone as a quality music device anyway.
Jeremy said:
Well unless the sgs2 gets some sort of line out output, whatever audio they comes out of it still has to be progressed through that crappy yamaha dac.
What we need is a line out adaptor if you truly want to make an amp worth its weight
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. Line-out bypasses the AMP section of the phone's SOC, meaning you will get output DIRECTLY from that "crappy" DAC.
Truth be known, someone needs to work on digital out, using that OTG port so we can use our OWN external DACs, but it seems that this might NOT be possible before Ice Cream comes along (usb audio).
widowmaker777 said:
I actually have the E5 and it really does improve audio quality. I won't give you any of the linguistic crap that tells you nothing. Simply put, it makes the mid and high range more crisp and clear. It is espcially noticeable if you listen to female vocals. There is a super tiny amount of increased static with the amp on maximum volume, but you will not hear it unless you turn off all audio and really try hard to hear it in a quiet environment. As always, garbage in, garbage out. Take advantage of the phone's ability to play lossless FLAC.
I'm thinking about getting another E5 for my SGS2 since the one in this pic is effectively welded to my Sansa Fuze.
I got my E5 from dealextreme before and so far I've never been disappointed by anything I've bought from there. It's free international shipping so the price you see is what you pay.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/fiio-e5-3-5mm-earphone-volume-booster-power-amplifier-black-18350
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like it's worth the plunge. It's not a great cost anyway. I wonder how well it'd work with a phone though. Think the sound would vary depending on the device you're using. Hopefully they will make a USB solution like the poster above mentioned.
eiraku said:
Lol. Line-out bypasses the AMP section of the phone's SOC, meaning you will get output DIRECTLY from that "crappy" DAC.
Truth be known, someone needs to work on digital out, using that OTG port so we can use our OWN external DACs, but it seems that this might NOT be possible before Ice Cream comes along (usb audio).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would LOVE that, although I am satisfied with the SQ of Poweramp via my custom IEMs, I wouldn't mind hooking it up to an amp via line out, or digital out to my Alien DIY dac.
If only Samsung kept the Wolfson Dac on the S2... how dare they change it..
chiefroastbeef said:
I would LOVE that, although I am satisfied with the SQ of Poweramp via my custom IEMs, I wouldn't mind hooking it up to an amp via line out, or digital out to my Alien DIY dac.
If only Samsung kept the Wolfson Dac on the S2... how dare they change it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know, if you've tried using the stock player, you'll find that it gives you way superior output than Poweramp. Unless you're using some $5 earbuds.
Heck, the difference is even audible on $5 earbuds, or even apple stock earbuds.
moooxooom said:
You know, if you've tried using the stock player, you'll find that it gives you way superior output than Poweramp. Unless you're using some $5 earbuds.
Heck, the difference is even audible on $5 earbuds, or even apple stock earbuds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But how do you get the stock player (I'm assuming your talking about the "Music" app?) to play ALL songs? I've got a few gigs worth of music and I want to get it to play them all in a random order but when I try to create a playlist of all of them I get told it can't add any more songs....?
And i'd love to find a way to boost the volume properly, I have the stock earbuds but with the Media volume up max I can't hear them very well over my exhaust Damn regulators, why do we have to live in a "Nanny state" world?
Monty Burns said:
But how do you get the stock player (I'm assuming your talking about the "Music" app?) to play ALL songs? I've got a few gigs worth of music and I want to get it to play them all in a random order but when I try to create a playlist of all of them I get told it can't add any more songs....?
And i'd love to find a way to boost the volume properly, I have the stock earbuds but with the Media volume up max I can't hear them very well over my exhaust Damn regulators, why do we have to live in a "Nanny state" world?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
volume + app
rab1412000 said:
volume + app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup - tried some of those "boosting" apps and none have worked for me.
Monty Burns said:
Yup - tried some of those "boosting" apps and none have worked for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
volume + works perfectly for me at +3 and good quality equalizer.
has made a big difference for both stock (rock equalizer) and poweramp (smiley face equalizer setting).
do note there are seperate settings for headphones and phone speakers on volume +
as the guy above mentioned, the stock music player is quite good. poweramp beats it by a tad if you fiddle with settings, but really for something free you get good sound on the music player.
of course the first thing to do is get a good pair of iem's that are impedance matched to the sgs2. my woodees in-ear(16ohm) sound fabolous on my ipod but sound only average on my sgs2. but my koss portapros (60 ohm) sound great on my ipod(not as good as the woodees), but is excellent on my sgs2
Sorry, to didn't realise Volume+ was an app!! I thought you were being a bit of a muppet by saying use Volume and an App to boost heheh .... sorry! My mistake.
Just downloaded Volume+ and set the headphones to max and boosted to max, lots louder now and should do the trick!.... there is a down side to this though, I won't hear my exhaust popping and burbling on the overrun anymore
rab1412000 said:
volume + works perfectly for me at +3 and good quality equalizer.
has made a big difference for both stock (rock equalizer) and poweramp (smiley face equalizer setting).
do note there are seperate settings for headphones and phone speakers on volume +
as the guy above mentioned, the stock music player is quite good. poweramp beats it by a tad if you fiddle with settings, but really for something free you get good sound on the music player.
of course the first thing to do is get a good pair of iem's that are impedance matched to the sgs2. my woodees in-ear(16ohm) sound fabolous on my ipod but sound only average on my sgs2. but my koss portapros (60 ohm) sound great on my ipod(not as good as the woodees), but is excellent on my sgs2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a plan. Don't suppose you know the impedance of the SGS2?
Well I tried and Volume+ did nothing for me like all the other boosters. Maybe its my Litening v1.5 rom?
Guess I'll give up, at least i hear pops n gurgles and maybe the odd emergency siren as well!
steviewonders said:
Sounds like a plan. Don't suppose you know the impedance of the SGS2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I don't. But it's a perfect match for my koss portapros, if that helps any
sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk
Monty Burns said:
Well I tried and Volume+ did nothing for me like all the other boosters. Maybe its my Litening v1.5 rom?
Guess I'll give up, at least i hear pops n gurgles and maybe the odd emergency siren as well!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't there a much newer version of that rom
sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk
rab1412000 said:
Isn't there a much newer version of that rom
sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup but i'm hesitant to change as it works perfectly for me and I can only guess that the volume is an issue of this ROM. I'll survive as I am and I'm sure the police would be happier about it

Audio is awful!

I really think to sell my HTC One X because the audio quality is awful especially on speaker. Yes thats right I'm audiophile and it sounds so compressed especially on higher volume. Its like limiting the sound with slow release and sounds like high-low-high-low every second plus bonus compression. I really hope it can be fixed with some mod otherwise I will just sell it and get galaxy s3 (yeah htc fans kill me but it sounds much better) puke for dr. Dre and his beats audio. Not to even mention that it makes the lossless music sound so much worse literally. Somebody else noticed my problem?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Beats audio uses too much compression. Try disabling any audio enhancement and listen to your music as is.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Beats audio can't be used on speaker.
You're talking about being an audiophile yet you're complaining about sound quality on an external speaker and not headphones? ._.
Check this out http://www.moonaudio.com/titan_spkr.htm
Yeah because I care about it too. On headphones is not much different even with beats disabled. I think it sounds the same with CM9 but I have to try again.
Edit: What you showed me is ridiculous. I have my own studio monitors and I can listen on them. But when I'm in the other room for example and don't have headphones it really sucks to listen to this bad audio.
The fact that HTC made such an expensive phone full of crap (not just the audio) is awful.
No audiophile will listen COMPRESSED music on SMARTPHONE
The best audio i was experiencing on mobile phone was on SGS1 with VooDoo sound mod.
HOX is kinda comparable.
Jack Barrett said:
Yeah because I care about it too. On headphones is not much different even with beats disabled. I think it sounds the same with CM9 but I have to try again.
Edit: What you showed me is ridiculous. I have my own studio monitors and I can listen on them. But when I'm in the other room for example and don't have headphones it really sucks to listen to this bad audio.
The fact that HTC made such an expensive phone full of crap (not just the audio) is awful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sell it and get another phone then...What's the point of making this thread? Unless you want to open it up and stick a better speaker in there and show us all how it's done? :3
i can bet he is not a one x owner just a troll. Come on buddy who cares listening to music through phone speaker mireover its not that cheap china phone with big speakers at back pumping music loud
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
I sometimes wonder how people will say anything to hide a flaw with their phone. Why not just accept it, and let the OP know that he/she is not alone facing it... after that its on the individual whether he wants to live with it or go for a change!!
OP i agree with you, HOX has the worst speaker on any phone i have seen till date (forget about this being an expensive phone). Volume is too low for ringtone in noisy conditions and sound is so distorted that you'll never want to listen to music on it. That said, i think sound on earphones is quite decent and with good quality earphones and DSP manager it fares really well (at least to my ears).
Personally, i love various other features of HOX and ready to bear with the bad speakers on the phone. How important are speakers to you on a phone is for you to decide.
jainanshal said:
I sometimes wonder how people will say anything to hide a flaw with their phone. Why not just accept it, and let the OP know that he/she is not alone facing it... after that its on the individual whether he wants to live with it or go for a change!!
OP i agree with you, HOX has the worst speaker on any phone i have seen till date (forget about this being an expensive phone). Volume is too low for ringtone in noisy conditions and sound is so distorted that you'll never want to listen to music on it. That said, i think sound on earphones is quite decent and with good quality earphones and DSP manager it fares really well (at least to my ears).
Personally, i love various other features of HOX and ready to bear with the bad speakers on the phone. How important are speakers to you on a phone is for you to decide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you look around the soundboard folder you can edit and force srs processing on the speaker (disabled by default) did it on my phone at lower levels its better but maxed out you can here it distorts, you can edit the gain and other eq settings not looked to much no computer while im looking for a house :/
@op
if you root you can use dspmanager just the compression doesn't work but not like that's wanted but I'm looking into that. if you're not you can install the apk but you can't use custom eq but the defaults work just fine.
You should give it a go.
But the speaker is loud to me just not the best sounding.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD app
jainanshal said:
I sometimes wonder how people will say anything to hide a flaw with their phone. Why not just accept it, and let the OP know that he/she is not alone facing it... after that its on the individual whether he wants to live with it or go for a change!!
OP i agree with you, HOX has the worst speaker on any phone i have seen till date (forget about this being an expensive phone). Volume is too low for ringtone in noisy conditions and sound is so distorted that you'll never want to listen to music on it. That said, i think sound on earphones is quite decent and with good quality earphones and DSP manager it fares really well (at least to my ears).
Personally, i love various other features of HOX and ready to bear with the bad speakers on the phone. How important are speakers to you on a phone is for you to decide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I did a side by side comparison with my desires, and It's a ten fold improvement. Couldn't even hear the desires, just a tinny wasp sound. This speaker actually has bass (relative ) and some mid range.
But yes, It's a phone, no audiophile would give it the time of day, especially the speaker lol..
Also it depends on how compressed the track is when they mixed it down. Rip your tracks from audiophile vinyl as flac, get some £200 headphones, then see what it sounds like. That's the only way to get a real feel for its capabilities as a music player.
@Op,
Yes it hurts my eyes too. :cyclops:
hapticc said:
i can bet he is not a one x owner just a troll. Come on buddy who cares listening to music through phone speaker mireover its not that cheap china phone with big speakers at back pumping music loud
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed..dont feed the troll..even if every single inch of you begs you to..it will irritate them more..
@Op
While not as good of a device, you should look at the GS3 for its Wolfson Audio chipset. If you're like me and listen to everything in lossless on your home computer, then here's what I recommend.
#1: Turn off Beats Audio
#2: Use PowerAmp
#3: Just put the raw flac files on your phone. MP3 shouldn't even be in your vocabulary.
#4: I recommend moving over to head-fi.org and finding a good set of earbuds. I listen to my HOX over Bluetooth (aptX allows for lossless send over stereo) or using my Sennheiser 650s.
The Bluetooth stack is pretty terrible in Android, but that's hardly the fault of htc. Tegra3 isn't a great choice for audio. See here:
Dynamic range comparison (less is worse):
HTC One X (T3): 80.6dB
iPhone 4S: 91.3dB
HTC One S (S4): 90.6dB
Galaxy S III: 90.2dB
Galaxy S II: 90.2dB
Galaxy S: 90.6dB
Nexus One: 85.8dB
IMD+ noise comparison (more is worse):
HTC One X (T3): .459
iPhone 4S: .071
HTC One S (S4): .065
Galaxy S III: .090
Galaxy S II: .647
Galaxy S: .329
Nexus One: .088
All of that said, I'd still rather have the HOX over the S3.
Is everyone talking about the in-built external speaker? I'm far from an audiophile but listening to anything from any phone's in-built speaker is a painful exercise.
I got one of these primarily because of its portability. It sounds amazingly good. I’m probably going to get a second one because when used in pairs they playback in stereo.
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I have a pair of Shure 530's which are considered decent headphones. I got a chance to play with a DoCoMo SGS3 which has the Qualcomm DAC and I owned a i9100 which had the Yamaha DAC. I'd rate the phones in the following order:
1) One X
2) SGS3
3) SGS2
The Samsung phones are brighter, more so the SGS3, but the One X has far better separation and range. And on decent headphones the Beats enhancements are god awful. The best setting is “none” or for vocals “treble boost.” At least in my opinion. Anyone using A2DP should skip Samsung phones entirely. With my i9100 I thought BT was responsible for making my music sound like an XM broadcast. The One X is exceptional at A2DP and in a different league than the two Samsung phones I have experience with. The international SGS3 may be different because I haven't used one yet.
True audiophiles who are buying a phone specifically for high quality audio output should only be buying the SGS3 international version. Not only because of the Wolfson DAC but because supercurio has signed on to create his Voodoo apps for it.
definiteform said:
@Op
While not as good of a device, you should look at the GS3 for its Wolfson Audio chipset. If you're like me and listen to everything in lossless on your home computer, then here's what I recommend.
#1: Turn off Beats Audio
#2: Use PowerAmp
#3: Just put the raw flac files on your phone. MP3 shouldn't even be in your vocabulary.
#4: I recommend moving over to head-fi.org and finding a good set of earbuds. I listen to my HOX over Bluetooth (aptX allows for lossless send over stereo) or using my Sennheiser 650s.
The Bluetooth stack is pretty terrible in Android, but that's hardly the fault of htc. Tegra3 isn't a great choice for audio. See here:
Dynamic range comparison (less is worse):
HTC One X (T3): 80.6dB
iPhone 4S: 91.3dB
HTC One S (S4): 90.6dB
Galaxy S III: 90.2dB
Galaxy S II: 90.2dB
Galaxy S: 90.6dB
Nexus One: 85.8dB
IMD+ noise comparison (more is worse):
HTC One X (T3): .459
iPhone 4S: .071
HTC One S (S4): .065
Galaxy S III: .090
Galaxy S II: .647
Galaxy S: .329
Nexus One: .088
All of that said, I'd still rather have the HOX over the S3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can edit the compression level the codes is this in default global
srs_wowhd_0:wowhd_trubass_compressor =0.250// TruBass Compressor - control
There are different settings for different devices and things the file is etc/soundimage/ srs_global.cfg, remember to change srs_route_out:speaker to 1 to force srs if you guys fancy testing stuff I really don't have time.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD app
Mine sounds awesome on my beat headphones I got free, better than my senheissers I used on my S2.
Then again I know A. how to keep my ears clean, and B. How to wear headphones...
The amount of people who are "Audiophiles" but dont know how to do the above is rediculous.
Also an audiophile never listens to music on a phone, I use my Yamaha amplifier and Mission speakers, or in the car the Bose setup.... for christ sake its a phone not an amp....
Haha.. well said.
I think it must be a kind of masochisme as 'audiophile' listening to a phone's external speaker. :laugh:
BarryH_GEG said:
Is everyone talking about the in-built external speaker? I'm far from an audiophile but listening to anything from any phone's in-built speaker is a painful exercise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ffs just dl poweramp, disable beats audio and adjust it to your liking. One x audio is awesome, I don't care what anyone says, I'm no audiophile, but I go through my Cyrus setup which includes two psx and Russ Andrews powerblock so my hifi cost was a little over 5k (good but not hi end), the one x was a revelation. It sounds better than my gfs iphone.
Please get poweramp, its even been specifically optimized for one x now. You'll change your mind.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
andyl66 said:
Ffs just dl poweramp, disable beats audio and adjust it to your liking. One x audio is awesome, I don't care what anyone says, I'm no audiophile, but I go through my Cyrus setup which includes two psx and Russ Andrews powerblock so my hifi cost was a little over 5k (good but not hi end), the one x was a revelation. It sounds better than my gfs iphone.
Please get poweramp, its even been specifically optimized for one x now. You'll change your mind.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the poweramp tip.
Massive improvement that exceeded my expectations. Wow.

Review of Super Bass portable bluetooth speaker (tvc-mall) with lots of pics!!!

Actually this is a double review where I would like to share with you my latest two portable speakers, one is Hi-Fi Super Bass Bluetooth speaker music player for $14.50 (http://www.tvc-mall.com/details/HI-...ne-Intelligent-Voice-Speaker-Black-MINS-597A/) and the other one is Kaidaer Mini-speaker music player for $8.30 (http://www.tvc-mall.com/details/Cir...e-MP4-MP3-PC-Support-TF-Card-Green-MINS-491F/)
When I started doing my reviews early this year, my main goal was to prove to myself and to others that you can get a high quality product and don't spend a fortune. That was mainly in reference to phone cases and screen protectors. I was skeptical about anything else outside of that, especially something like speakers where even big name companies with products $100+ can't get it right. Recently I had success with quality of stuff I got from tvc-mall.com, so I figured to give it a shot with a few speakers that were dirt cheap and looked cool as hell on a picture and in description. Turned out that I was in for a huge surprise when I got these in this week. I actually been playing with these for a few days just to make sure it wasn't my first impression reaction. Still LOVE it and planning to order more since both of my kids already got their hands on it lol!!!
Let's first start with Hi-Fi Super Bass speaker. When it comes to portable speakers, small is great and this one is about 55mm in height and 60mm in diameter, but also you want it to be heavy thus knowing it has a better driver - and this one at 206 g feels nice in your hand! The construction is very solid, aluminum, with a top firing speaker covered with a grill The bottom of the speaker has a non-slip rubber-ring pad to keep it steady on the surface, comes handy during bass shaking It has a rechargeable battery, 700 mAh, so no need to worry about replaceable batteries, just use mini-usb cable (included) to charge it up and you are ready to go! The speaker is both bluetooth and also has micro-sd card which turns it into a music player. The play controls are at the bottom where you have Play/Pause, +/- for volume up/down when you hold those buttons or Next/Prev track skip when you just press it briefly, and M mode change button to switch between bluetooth and micro-sd card, as well as pairing up function button. There is a guiding voice that tells you when you turn the speaker on, when its bluetooth or card, and when it gets paired up with your phone. In bluetooth, its also a speaker phone and switches seamlessly when you are playing a music from your phone and receive a call - it pauses the music, switches to call, and when you are done goes back to music. The volume control is DUAL, which means you can use either +/- control buttons or a specially designated ring volume control which is located around bottom of the speaker. That volume control is super cool, just turn the dial clockwise/counter-clockwise to raise or lower the sound.
Here is where it gets totally insane - the sound quality. Yes, it has a nice deep bass sound and a very loud overall sound with clean and clear mids/highs. The bass is so good, it will shake in your hands! For a no-name generic speaker - this is very impressive. Another very impressive part is that playing the same song through bluetooth or directly from micro-sd card - doesn't change the sound quality. Due to bandwidth limitation, bt compresses the sound often cutting lows and highs - not in this case. Overall I was very impressed, considering this is $14.50 speaker with so many features, controls, and great sound quality. You can definitely use it both indoors and outdoors because it's loud enough.
Here are the pictures.
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The second speaker is actually brand name, although its probably local HK company which I never heard of, Kaidaer. It's only a speaker with micro-sd card, no bluetooth. But it also offers Line Input to connect any other device or to use 3.5mm cable as antenna since it has built in FM receiver. You also get headphone output for private listening, you get different playback modes and a separate EQ setting buttons, along with Play/Pause button and Skip Next/Prev which doubles as volume up/down when you press and hold it. This one is also rechargeable and mini-usb cable as well as 3.5mm audio cable come with included accessories. The speaker is even smaller than a previous one, being under 2" in height and diameter, about 130g in weight, top firing speaker with a nice mesh grill, solid aluminum design (my youngest dropped it a few times already, still like new!), and a small built in translucent stand with non-slip surface which also transmits light from a blue led inside of the speaker. Although smaller than previous one and also cheaper (at $8 plus change) - it actually LOUDER and has even cleaner mids and crispier highs which actually sound natural rather than exaggerated. OK, I do listen mostly to EDM and Dubstep but I'm comparing it to other high quality sources I'm referencing it against (like Klipsch and UE). According to the description of this product, it has aluminum vibration loud speaker film. Whatever it is - its brilliant and for $8 and 8 different color case choices - I highly recommend it! Turn off the lights in the room, and have a rave party lol!!! (I have it demonstrated in my last picture).
Here are the pictures.
Last but not least, I was also using micro-sd card from tvc-mall (http://www.tvc-mall.com/details/4GB-MicroSD-TF-TransFlash-Memory-Card-with-SD-Adapter-MCARD-401B/), another no-brand product but for $5 this 4GB card with sd adapter and class 4 rating did a good job being used with both of the speakers to host my music. I have no idea if its reliable for long term use in your phone (considering even my trusted Sandisk failed and had to be replaced under warranty), but I'm definitely using it for the music.
A few pics as well.
Bottom line, I was more than impressed with a built quality, functionality, and sound quality for such a small price, and without naming other brands I can tell you these $14 and $8 speakers sounded the same or even better than some $100+ I heard and tested before.
Nice Review!
I have the Kaidaer, but mine has bluetooth. It has a very nice and solid build, and actually feels quite heavy for its size.
Volume adjustment on Super Bass portable bluetooth speaker
Hi
Is it possible to adjust the volume of the lady who tells us when the device is connected to the bluetooth or not? She's quite load.
Thanks!
Torew said:
Hi
Is it possible to adjust the volume of the lady who tells us when the device is connected to the bluetooth or not? She's quite load.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question I absolutely hate how loud that voice too. Unfortunately, you can't change it. It's the same controller chip with the same voice and volume level they use in a lot of these wireless speakers. I already replied to a number of distributors to get back to those companies with a feedback about loud voice. At the current time, there is no way to adjust it.
Thanks alot, hope you get an answer some day.
vectron said:
Good question I absolutely hate how loud that voice too. Unfortunately, you can't change it. It's the same controller chip with the same voice and volume level they use in a lot of these wireless speakers. I already replied to a number of distributors to get back to those companies with a feedback about loud voice. At the current time, there is no way to adjust it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again
Can you please compare this to the Xiaomi bluetooth speaker. They look alike, and I really like the controller on Xiaomi one, where you can control it by pressing on the speaker from the different parts, since the controllers are at the bottom, holding the whole speaker...
Eleo said:
Can you please compare this to the Xiaomi bluetooth speaker. They look alike, and I really like the controller on Xiaomi one, where you can control it by pressing on the speaker from the different parts, since the controllers are at the bottom, holding the whole speaker...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a link to Xiaomi speaker, and hopefully in English? Never seen one before. I'm afraid I will not be able to get a sample since Xiaomi brand is still not popular outside of China and not too many retailers carry it. Everything I review comes either directly from a vendor or sent to me by a retailer. Xiaomi Pistons 2.1 headphones was an exception because there is a retailers on Amazon US from China which carries it for sale, but I haven't seen their bt speakers. Either way, sounds like that speaker is better than the one I reviewed above?
vectron said:
Do you have a link to Xiaomi speaker, and hopefully in English? Never seen one before. I'm afraid I will not be able to get a sample since Xiaomi brand is still not popular outside of China and not too many retailers carry it. Everything I review comes either directly from a vendor or sent to me by a retailer. Xiaomi Pistons 2.1 headphones was an exception because there is a retailers on Amazon US from China which carries it for sale, but I haven't seen their bt speakers. Either way, sounds like that speaker is better than the one I reviewed above?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO the designis better, but I don't have any information about the sound quality, which I'm interested in very keenly
Eleo said:
IMHO the designis better, but I don't have any information about the sound quality, which I'm interested in very keenly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have at least a link?
vectron said:
Do you have at least a link?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know whether it will do it, I have a youtube link ("http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmIyb_bFVYI"), and I know that it has the same battery as the phone itself. I have found it in a e-shop either ("http://www.xiaomiworld.com/xiaomi-original-bt-speaker.html").
Old one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjaZIQ0U7FQ) (http://www.arigbuy.com/high-quality-musical-bluetooth-speaker-dock-station-xiaomi-smartphone.html) (http://vimeo.com/70177241)
Does the first speaker (super bass portable speaker) support aux input?
Love this thing!
swassi said:
Does the first speaker (super bass portable speaker) support aux input?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have pretty much exactly the same speaker, with a matte aluminium finish, got it from DealExtreme.com during a sale, was $10. Mine came with a mini usb to both normal usb and a standard 3.5 jackplug.
Sadly, it appears my cable was DOA, the speaker doesn't charge from it (Had to use a mini usb cable from a camera) and the audio barely transmits. If I put both my phone and the speaker at full volume, I can hear the speaker hissing the music when I put it to my ear. :crying:
The audio is great though! At full volume, mine starts crackling at 60 Hz beats, so I had to dampen those a bit using the equalizer on my phone. The sticker on the bottom says it had a frequency range from 60Hz to 18 KHz, but audio gets a bit distorted at the edges of that spectrum at high volumes. It was loud enough to fill a double classroom with dubstep though
Battery life is pretty good too. I had a project day at school today, had the thing blasting dubstep at full volume while working for 4 hours non-stop, and then some later on the day. It died in my backpack while walking to the station... I guess it would be better with an SD-card though, so I'll try that tomorrow.
All in all, a great machine! Although I guess I'm going to file a complaint with DealExtreme.com for the broken audio cable. I guess they'll just send me a fresh cable, or even a replacement speaker, DX customer service is pretty generous most of the time. :fingers-crossed:
TL;DR:
It's supposed to have AUX support, at least, with my model, but the cable I got was broken, could be an incident.
Good audio, loud, gets a little flaky at low Hz at high volume.
Battery life is good with Bluetooth, SD-Card and AUX untested.
Would recommend. :good:
P.S. If I made any grammar/spelling errors or typo's, please tell me, I'm Dutch, not my first language. (It is a very close second though).
P.S.S Does anyone know in what order the speaker will play songs you put on an SD-Card? Is there a way to arrange them? I'll try it in a few hours, but if someone know more about this, please tell.
Very nice review. Pictures you posted are very nice and descriptive. I bought this kind("Super bass portable speaker", the one you have reviewed 1st) of speaker from amazon.in 4 days ago. But here it is sold under brand name Maxxlite. It is exactly same and is in blue colour. I want to know whether this speaker is Mono or stereo? I am unable to decide. Sometimes I feel it is mono, sometimes stereo. The bluetooth connection to PC shows it as a "BT stereo speaker" in device manager. There is no mention on the box and no manual also. I also searched some of the chinese websites, but some say it is 2.1 channel and some say it is 1 channel. ... ... This sounds really really really good, it was a total surprise for me!

Headphones that get best use of the V20 audio

Title says it all. Post your suggestions and experiences with headphones that maximize the audio potential of this phone.
That quad DAC when wired and APTx when on BT.
CHH2 said:
Title says it all. Post your suggestions and experiences with headphones that maximize the audio potential of this phone.
That quad DAC when wired and APTx when on BT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm listening to my Sennheiser HD 598's right now using the quad DAC (high impedence). It is definitely driving them very well, I get my Audioquest Dragonfly black in tomorrow so I can try A&B comparisons with that vs the internal audio. I've also enjoyed using it with my Backbeat Pros but those do not have aptx.
I'm using my Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 250 Ohm headphones, it's amazing. It's a step up from the V10, including the volume department (especially with high impedance headphones).
I'm currently listening music with the AKG K712s. No doubt an improvement from the V10. The best phone yet that truly brings out the detail in
WAV and FLAC formats. I swear this quad DAC reincarnated my cans
Should be getting my V20 some time today, I hope. I don't have anything truly God-tier, but I'm going to try to do a few comparisons if I can. I've got Shure SE215s on one hand (triple-flange tips) and Samsung earbuds for a baseline, compared to whatever LG's included in the box. In a few weeks, I can add the H3s to that list, but not until they arrive, and they won't arrive until I sign up for them on the 28th, so...
In the world of full-size cans, I don't have a solid baseline, and I'm not looking forward to the idea of spending $20 so I can have a pair of cheap cans I will never listen to again. So instead, all I've got are my Koss ProDJ100s and my V-Moda M100s.
But I'll try to give my thoughts when I can. (Also, posting so I make sure I remember that this thread exists.)
---
I didn't get to really sit down and do heavy listening. Phone arrived pretty late and my fiancee was a little sad so I didn't want to have my headphones blasting for an hour or two straight without being able to hear a word.
Noticing that there is a little more clarity (at least) between the on-off settings. Might be some EQ going on as well, though, which is not what I want. EQ is an easy way to make something sound more "clear" without actually making it clearer. My last car literally had a setting that I used that I considered the "clear" setting, and for everything other than podcasts. The bass was deeper, and yet more articulated, and the highs had sparkle. Every other setting was muddy.
So EQing to a muddy sound, and then having a "hi-fi" EQ that clears up the mud isn't good. Still, like I said, I don't actually know that to be what's going on. It's just a possibility I'm keeping my ears open for.
Audio technica ATH-M50x Have to say, I can't hear a difference at all toggling on and off using Poweramp/Spotify/USB Audio Player Pro or Car with Bose speakers setup. What can be the reason? I was thinking it would sound better (or as good) as V4A. Not close for me. Maybe my phone's defective?
vibrantliker said:
Audio technica ATH-M50x Have to say, I can't hear a difference at all toggling on and off using Poweramp/Spotify/USB Audio Player Pro or Car with Bose speakers setup. What can be the reason? I was thinking it would sound better (or as good) as V4A. Not close for me. Maybe my phone's defective?
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Click to collapse
Not sure if they fix the issue were the DAC was only able to be used by the stock music player. On the PlayStore there's an app that allows the DAC to work with all music players. I think it's called lgv10fix something like that. You can tell when you turn the DAC when your music skips or mutes for a second.
j0a0a7 said:
Not sure if they fix the issue were the DAC was only able to be used by the stock music player. On the PlayStore there's an app that allows the DAC to work with all music players. I think it's called lgv10fix something like that. You can tell when you turn the DAC when your music skips or mutes for a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I found that and installed it but it's the same.
Sony MDR-EX800ST with Tape Mod via External (AUX) Audio Mode with adapter.
vibrantliker said:
Audio technica ATH-M50x Have to say, I can't hear a difference at all toggling on and off using Poweramp/Spotify/USB Audio Player Pro or Car with Bose speakers setup. What can be the reason? I was thinking it would sound better (or as good) as V4A. Not close for me. Maybe my phone's defective?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's probably nothing wrong with it.
Sound is an incredibly subjective topic.
?
Andrew025 said:
There's probably nothing wrong with it.
Sound is an incredibly subjective topic.
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Click to collapse
So used to V4A nothing comes close.
I prefer PowerAmp Alpha...
Especially with my Sony MDR-100AAP in External Mode.
dragion said:
I prefer PowerAmp Alpha...
Especially with my Sony MDR-100AAP in External Mode.
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Click to collapse
What's external mode, something on your headphones?
All Hi Res iem or headphones will do the job, but it's up to your ears to know what is best, as all headphones/iem all have their own sound stage, for me I use the Sony list in my sig.
I was actually considering getting a pair of the A-T 50x's but those Senn's look nice too. (I'm a big fan of over the ear.)
vibrantliker said:
What's external mode, something on your headphones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By plugging in the detachable headphone cable into the LG V20's headphone jack first before connecting the cable to the headphones, causes the Hi-Fi DAC to go into "An External Audio Device Is Connected" mode which produces a higher output compared to "Normal" mode.
dragion said:
By plugging in the detachable headphone cable into the LG V20's headphone jack first before connecting the cable to the headphones, causes the Hi-Fi DAC to go into "An External Audio Device Is Connected" mode which produces a higher output compared to "Normal" mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not know that and will try it.
So excited to use my Custom Art Harmony 8 Pro, custom headphones with these. The V10 did a good job, I bet the v20 will be better!
For reference, here's the playlist I used to compare. I didn't want to spend all day doing tests, so this is mostly stuff I can listen to while I work, but trying to hit as many different sound signatures as I could. I don't have any classical in my collection, though probably I could have used some. I listened to most of the playlist (skipped around a little getting details) on my laptop for a little while before picking up the phone. Probably going to do some listening with the S4 mini I've got on loan from my wife, too. Would have been nice to compare the Note7, but it's already back in T-Mobile's hot little hands. Played using the
Acoustic Guitar
Leo Kottke (FLAC)
Vaseline Machine Gun
Watermelon
The Fisherman
Earl Klugh (MP3 320)
Alice in Wonderland
Moon River
Autumn Leaves (VBR V0)
Country/Folk
The New Lost City Ramblers (MP3 320)
Talking Hard Luck
Don't Let Your Deal Go Down
Old Fish Song
Charlie Daniels Band (MP3 320)
The Devil Went Down To Georgia
Uneasy Rider
Anais Mitchell (M4A VBR)
Epic, Part I
Hey, Little Songbird
Epic, Part II
Pop
The Killers (MP3 VBR, not V0)
Mr. Brightside
When You Were Young
Sia (FLAC)
Chandelier
Eye Of The Needle
Elastic Heart
Electronic
Super Eurobeat Presents: Initial D Special Stage Non-Stop Mega Mix (FLAC)
Killing My Love
Running In The 90s
Grand Prix
Kavinsky (MP3 320)
Night Call
Night Runner (OGG VBR)
After Hours
Nuclear Countdown
Hip-Hop/Trip-Hop
KA (MP3 320)
Just
Wax Tailor (FLAC)
Exordium
From the Dark
As for my thoughts:
First, I was surprised that as far as I can tell, LG hasn't included any headphones. That seems weird. I'm glad now that I have a million bajillion of the things lying around because if I just bought this off the shelf, it would be a long wait for LG to send me my "only" wired headset option. At least a few weeks. Disappointing, but not a deal-breaker by any means.
Started with the Samsung headset, Hi-Fi DAC off. It's not super comfortable, not at all isolating. I'm still listening to the last couple tracks and I can easily hear myself typing with the volume at around... well, in the Hi-Fi volume it would be 45. I should note that it goes much higher (I believe the highest is 65 or 75) but 45 is where I would typically listen to music. Louder than that started to strain my ears a little. Louder is generally better for detecting little things in a song, but I don't want to suffer, and I certainly don't want to suffer for the time it takes to listen to a 90 minute playlist 4 times at painful volume.
(Incidentally, someone above complained that it wasn't as good as V4A--I haven't listened to V4A in a long time, but my recollection was that it does 2 things: EQ and boost. All their stuff comes down to highly advanced adaptive EQ and a volume boost. Essentially an Instagram filter for your audio. That's all you really can do with a software solution, so I don't blame V4A's team, but what we're looking for with a hi-fi hardware DAC is closer to putting your glasses on if you're near-sighted: increased clarity without changing or coloring the sound any more than necessary, including volume changes. That's what your choice of headphones and your EQ settings are for, not your DAC.)
Moved to the Shures next. The SE215 has a slightly bassy sound, IMO, much better for dance music than e.g. the Koss cans. Not quite basshead cans. I was impressed by performance, and volume. I felt "comfortable" for the first half of the playlist before checking the volume and discovering it wasn't at 45, where I'd wanted it--I had it at 30! Turned it up to 45, and I was at a point where it wasn't quite uncomfortably loud. Which is to say, these things can push power to a pair of headphones no problem.
Equally surprised that the Koss cans didn't have an equivalent bump in volume from what I'm used to (which is maxed out on the Note7, and remember that I'm nowhere near maxed out on the V20). Oh, sure, I could have turned them up, but I didn't. Clarity was as-expected. Much better, I think, than the SE215s.
What I'm looking for here is silence and separation. On the country tunes, in particular, you end up with a mandolin, banjo, and guitar all fighting for 'space' on the recording, so I was listening to make sure I could make out guitar chords from banjo rolls from mandolin... whatever mandolin players do. I'm sure they're very important musicians. The other part I listened to carefully was the intro to Chandelier; There's an etremely isolated snare in the beginning, and it should fade to nothing, not fade to sort-of-nothing. I didn't get that with the Shures as much as I wanted, but I did get it with the Koss headphones.
V-Modas don't do much to change my opinion. The bass is defined, clear, not boomy. I'd say the V20 seems to have a fairly balanced sound signature, which makes sense because that more-or-less matches what I've heard about the B&O sound signature. If the V20 DAC was developed with their input, that would make a lot of sense.
So in the end, I'd agree with kms108:
kms108 said:
All Hi Res iem or headphones will do the job, but it's up to your ears to know what is best, as all headphones/iem all have their own sound stage, for me I use the Sony list in my sig.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TheJesus said:
I'm using my Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 250 Ohm headphones, it's amazing. It's a step up from the V10, including the volume department (especially with high impedance headphones).
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Can't wait to try my beyer's. Have exact same ones and custom one pros. Cop's are a more fun sounding headphone and a burning can push it. The 770's and cop's can put out mind rattling bass, and by that I mean rattle your chest, with the right content and amp. Can't wait to hear the sound signature of the 9218 with my assorted cabled gear.

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