Develop Bugs

Headphone Discussion for your EVO!

Hey everyone,
Long time lurker, first time poster. I'd like to start a discussion on the various types of headphones that everyone has bought for use with their EVO (or other smartphone) and what their thoughts were - got any suggestions for EQ apps, settings for each type of headphone? Which ones work best for you? Which built-in controls are the most natural for you? etc etc etc.
So, I'll start.
The first thing I want to say is that I acknowledge there are a ton of places the audio could go sour between the original media (CD, DVD, blu-Ray, etc) to the final product coming through your headphones. The whole process will go like this for a typical user:
Buy CD
Import CD using audio program (iTunes/WMP/MediaMonkey/CDRip)
Put songs onto device
Listen to device with music app (usually stock)
Your mileage may vary (you may have your own custom extraction settings, bitrate settings, encoder settings, music apps, etc etc etc), but I want to focus on not necessarily the most accurate sound possible, but the most practical and "best-sounding-to-the-untrained-ear" sound. Personally, I have my own settings, and I have something of an affinity for music encoding and playback, but most of my friends are happy with Skullcandies (*shudder*)
So, after an extremely long ramble for the first, I'll tell you about my headphones:
1. Sennheiser HD280 Pro Over-The-Ear phones
These phones are great, and now sell for about $90 cheaper than when I bought them. They provide a nice sound, and even response using the stock app. I can adjust settings from DSPManager and they sound even better. However, as I've used them over the years, the sound has decayed slightly to become more "middy" and they don't have the original shimmer they had before. Also, they aren't very useful for travel, but they're great for listening at home with, although the big "pigtail" twisted cable looks strange hanging out of your pocket.
2. Klipsch Image S4 Enhanced Bass Earphones
A nice pair of in-ear headphones, they provide a colorful sound and nice overall response to a wide variety of music. They're a relatively cheap set of phones (probably for the holidays) and they sound great. Again, messing in DSPManager I can get an even better sound. These are very comfy headphones and look great, they feel great in the ear, provide nice isolation to keep the music in your ears and the outside out.
3. Sennheiser CX-300II-B Earphones
My favorites so far. I just got these a little bit ago at a bargain price ($30), and I haven't looked back. For being such small headphones, they provide a powerful punch and a great sound. They can take loud volumes with no distortion (until you add EQ). The fit is comfortable, they have a Y-shaped cord (so the right ear cable is longer than the left ear). They stay in place, and look great. They came with a nice magnetic case that keeps the buds safe and secure and super-portable for travel.
4. Sennheiser CX-300-B Earphones
I have these phones also, and they are almost identical to #3, just not quite as bassy.
I have some other phones, but they aren't worth mentioning (Apple headphones, skullcandies, and some other cheap ones). The sound just isn't good, even after significant modification with EQ and such.
For my music app, I use the "stock" app that comes with CM6.1 RC1, and I EQ with DSPManager. Lately, however, I've started using powerAMP (AWESOME APP - Look for it in the Market), the built-in 10-band EQ w/preamp is a must-have in music apps.
I know this is a lengthy post, just wondering if you all have any favorite headphones/music apps/eq settings for headphones?

Well my dilemma in using headphones is that I pretty much always need to be ready to take a call at any time and you can't take calls very well on stereo heaphones.
So, not being much of an audiophile I just pipe pretty lame music into my bluetooth headset using Super BT Mono software. It sucks for music but will do for talk radio.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I have a pair of Shure SE-115's. Didn't buy them, thankfully as the retail was around $130 at the time. Got them through a points system at work.
They are by far the best headphones I have ever had. I ride a motorcycle everywhere, and these are the only headphones I've ever had that can almost completely cancel out the sound of the bike at city to highway speeds.
They sound excellent in normal conditions as well. They have awesome bass and clarity, and they fit quite comfortably.

I have a pair of Shure E5Cs (I think they are called SCL5s now), a pair of Shure SE530s, and a pair of AKG k240s.

Can anyone recommend a a good pair of over the ear (not over the head) headphones with headset controls and a mic?

I loved my Shure E3Cs, but hated the cables. I really like my MEElectronics M11p+ set, especially the cables. The Shures may have sounded a touch better, but only slightly, and you can't beat the price especially with a coupon. Actually just won a set of their M6p phones, so I will see which ones I like better and keep the others as backup.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I use the M-Audio IE-30 and they sound fantastic on my EVO.

I use my Dr. Dre beats pro with the MIUI music app on my EVO, I have also sanded the back so it matches nicely with the evo and pros. I also have the 3500 mha battery from ebay with Calkulin's EViO 2 ROM v1.6.2 and I get over 25 hours with heavy usage and music and game playing. The Pros are about 400 dollars plus insurance and tax 500 from best buy. If you are rz member next Sunday they will be 350 during the special event sale. Hope any of this helps. Also I added my own icons and can be found here to match dr. dre take a look. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=793055

mitchellvii said:
Well my dilemma in using headphones is that I pretty much always need to be ready to take a call at any time and you can't take calls very well on stereo heaphones.
So, not being much of an audiophile I just pipe pretty lame music into my bluetooth headset using Super BT Mono software. It sucks for music but will do for talk radio.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should try the Halo headset. It's sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

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!

Which headphones are recommended for the HTC 10?

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.