Develop Bugs

[Q] Audio quality

Does any body else find that the Audio quality is very low? or is it just me?

it's definitely just you.
the phone can drive my AIAIA TMA-1 headphones almost as well as my Hi-MD MiniDisc recorder. these headphones have 40mm drivers, so they're not measly headphones.

oscillik said:
it's definitely just you.
the phone can drive my AIAIA TMA-1 headphones almost as well as my Hi-MD MiniDisc recorder. these headphones have 40mm drivers, so they're not measly headphones.
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I googled it and, those are expensive headsets. I wanted to know how, the sound is with the stock headsets that come with the phone? if you've tried them. I also heard that the new music player has a EQ now, is that true?

mklass said:
Does any body else find that the Audio quality is very low? or is it just me?
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ht*p://w*w.swedroid.se/forum/58657-ljudchip-2.html#post818634
Frequency response...
Sent from my V9 using XDA App

qnet said:
I googled it and, those are expensive headsets. I wanted to know how, the sound is with the stock headsets that come with the phone? if you've tried them. I also heard that the new music player has a EQ now, is that true?
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Just tried em with the stock earphones provided and even they are louder than my Beats Solo's Hmmm... And yes you are correct the new music app does come with EQ its quite good too
I meant the audio from the actual speaker its self any ways and not ear phones
Edit...
Come to the conclusion that its the audio cable, because it doesn't fit flush.

mklass said:
Just tried em with the stock earphones provided and even they are louder than my Beats Solo's Hmmm... And yes you are correct the new music app does come with EQ its quite good too
I meant the audio from the actual speaker its self any ways and not ear phones
Edit...
Come to the conclusion that its the audio cable, because it doesn't fit flush.
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Thanks, I like my music and, that's one of the things I wanted to know about. It seems to be the least thing with most reviews because, they hardly ever mention it.

qnet said:
I googled it and, those are expensive headsets. I wanted to know how, the sound is with the stock headsets that come with the phone? if you've tried them. I also heard that the new music player has a EQ now, is that true?
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I've tried the stock headset (which is exactly the same as the headset that comes with the Nexus S) and the stock headset is alright. Better than Apple earbuds, but not earth shattering. If you're half-way serious about music then you are more likely to use your own earphones/headphones anyway
mklass said:
I meant the audio from the actual speaker its self any ways and not ear phones
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ahhh in that case then, yes the built in loudspeaker is very quiet. Much quieter than the Nexus S.

oscillik said:
I've tried the stock headset (which is exactly the same as the headset that comes with the Nexus S) and the stock headset is alright. Better than Apple earbuds, but not earth shattering. If you're half-way serious about music then you are more likely to use your own earphones/headphones anyway
ahhh in that case then, yes the built in loudspeaker is very quiet. Much quieter than the Nexus S.
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I'm using Klipsch S4A with comply tips. They sound great with the nexus s. My GN should be here Wednesday, looking forward to seeing how TI compares to the Wolfson.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

oscillik said:
ahhh in that case then, yes the built in loudspeaker is very quiet. Much quieter than the Nexus S.
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Really??? That's the only thing I hate on my Nexus S 4G - Low volume speaker, sometimes I dont even hear when my phone rings, or barely hear another person when using speakerphone..
Wasn't the case with Epic 4G (Sprint's Galaxy S), it was very loud.
I've tried Voodoo sound but it only helps headphones audio.
I was really hoping Galaxy Nexus would improve in that...

oscillik said:
I've tried the stock headset (which is exactly the same as the headset that comes with the Nexus S) and the stock headset is alright. Better than Apple earbuds, but not earth shattering. If you're half-way serious about music then you are more likely to use your own earphones/headphones anyway
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Yeah, I do have my own headphones but, I figured if it sounds good with the stock ones, it will really sound good with mine.

volume through earphones i find is quite good! Just the external volume for ring/sms tones is heaps low!!!

zok-star said:
volume through earphones i find is quite good! Just the external volume for ring/sms tones is heaps low!!!
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I use custom ringtones from an app called zedge, they're really great. If you download a certain ringtone or message notifier it can be louder.

I'm missing calls like crazy because of the low speaker volume output. I can't hear the text or email notifications either.
I'm not sure why they used such a low volume speaker on this unit. That's one thing that Motorola has always gotten right... a very loud speaker.
Oh well...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

soon enough I'm guessing the regulars will have a kernel with audio boost. Just like for the nexus one. Just food for thought.
I'm not worried about it. Nexus one had the same threads going on at the time.
*I don't have my GN yet

DiNoise said:
Really??? That's the only thing I hate on my Nexus S 4G - Low volume speaker, sometimes I dont even hear when my phone rings, or barely hear another person when using speakerphone..
Wasn't the case with Epic 4G (Sprint's Galaxy S), it was very loud.
I've tried Voodoo sound but it only helps headphones audio.
I was really hoping Galaxy Nexus would improve in that...
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It may well be possible via an update - my HTC desire HD was woefully low.. Very quite from the speaker.. After an update a few months ago I noticed a significant improvement!

Wow. I thought my GN was faulty. Setting such a low speaker volume is criminal

I can attest to he quality of the audio output on the device (via the headphone jack) to be pretty decent. On par with the 4S, if that says anything. They're powering my headphones well enough.
The speakerphone? Yeah, there's no denying that it isn't top-notch.
Sent from my GNex

Actually my loudspeaker is par. Doesn't compete with matrix loudness though. It is very clear though and no bass. My earpiece is very clear too. It could definitely use a little boost though. Earphones with mics is very loud and clear. Same for Bluetooth.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

alias3800 said:
I can attest to he quality of the audio output on the device (via the headphone jack) to be pretty decent. On par with the 4S, if that says anything. They're powering my headphones well enough.
The speakerphone? Yeah, there's no denying that it isn't top-notch.
Sent from my GNex
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Really? I was curious about this as well. I compared my Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S just now with the bundled headphones. My 4S feels much louder and had more base. The Nexus sounded low and didn't have "thump". There's always a slight hiss in the background too.

I can barely here anything from the external speaker.. The system volume like locking he screen or tapping on icons.. Can't hear them on full voulme also! its so faintt..

DAC part of Tegra 3 Chipset?

Im thinking about buying the new LG optimus 4x. But I cant find a single review, that mentions the audio quality on this phone. But it has the Tegra 3 chipset, so if the DAC is part of this, I could check a one x, to get an idea of the audio quality. Would be great, if someone could help me out
Sent from my R800i using XDA

I'm sure if you asked in a phone shop they might let you plug your headphones in and listen to some of the pre loaded music files.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

Hmmm, well then I need a good headset first here in Germany they never have the phones in shops, I am interested in so I have to rely on what the internet says
Sent from my R800i using XDA

the GS3 have a wolfsonn,no one know what have the HOX?

I don't know what's in the HOX but it pretty much sucks balls. You can even hear a *poof* when the music starts and a few seconds after it stops, not to mention the crappy sound itself.

@Gibeon - you must have a faulty phone as I don't get any of that
OP - Really is very reliant on the quality of your audio files I find, poor quality mp3's will sound TERRIBLE, worse than on some other phones. If it's high quality FLAC rips then the sound quality is really very good for a phone, better than the Desire I used to have for example and miles better than the iPod I used to have.
I have Denon in ear for going out and about with and a couple of quite high end (full size over ear) headphones and good quality files sound really good through them. The one thing I would say is that the output volume is not as high as some other phones I have tried, so you do need quite sensitive headphones if you like your music loud.
No idea what the DAC is but for me it's a great portable music player. No such thing as audiophile in any phone but it's definitely one of the better ones i have tried.

SartoriXX said:
@Gibeon - you must have a faulty phone as I don't get any of that
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Really? I've heard several cases of this behavior so I guessed it a widespread problem.
GSMarena has put the real specs to the test, here they are.

I also find the OneX sound much worse than on the desire. Beats only changes it from tinny to plasticky. It is so much worse, actually (both on stock earphones and via car stereo) that I no longer enjoy listening to music from the phone in my car, the sound gets on my nerves.
Instead of shelling out gazillions for having the name of a makebelieve gangster on their stuff, htc could have bought millions of decent audio chips and still give them a catchy name That would be the htc spirit I always liked.

Gibeon said:
Really? I've heard several cases of this behavior so I guessed it a widespread problem.
GSMarena has put the real specs to the test, here they are.
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I've seen the GSM Arena article, and I can only talk from personal experience based on my phone not yours. I do not have the issues you mention at all. Could be a bad batch of components hence why some are better than others. I've seen plenty of people say it's great quality, plenty of people say it's crap, so would seem to point towards that logically.

Gibeon said:
Really? I've heard several cases of this behavior so I guessed it a widespread problem.
GSMarena has put the real specs to the test, here they are.
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This is due to the player you're using. I swear by neutron. The ui might be a bit overwhelming for non audiophiles, but I'm getting some great sound with this app and beats disabled.
After some time with this phone, I'm finding the hox's sound to be quite different, but not necessarily of lesser quality compared to my old sgs1 with voodoo.
My advice would be to just change your music app and if you don't like neutron as I proposed, you could go with power amp or player pro with dsp pack.
On a final note, make sure you get your hands on a decent pair of headphones before commenting on the quality of a Dac. You can't really make any assumptions about these kinds of things if your basing your experience on a free or a $30 pair of ear buds.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

mr_pio said:
I also find the OneX sound much worse than on the desire. Beats only changes it from tinny to plasticky. It is so much worse, actually (both on stock earphones and via car stereo) that I no longer enjoy listening to music from the phone in my car, the sound gets on my nerves.
Instead of shelling out gazillions for having the name of a makebelieve gangster on their stuff, htc could have bought millions of decent audio chips and still give them a catchy name That would be the htc spirit I always liked.
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Well mine has perfect sound , you either have a faulty phone or your expectations were unrealistically high.

Hydrony said:
Im thinking about buying the new LG optimus 4x. But I cant find a single review, that mentions the audio quality on this phone. But it has the Tegra 3 chipset, so if the DAC is part of this, I could check a one x, to get an idea of the audio quality. Would be great, if someone could help me out
Sent from my R800i using XDA
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The sound is not the best in the world but its much much better then Galaxy S with voodoo sound while playing at the highest volume, at highest its just awesome stable with this beatsaudio thingy tested using Sennheiser HD 555, mind you galaxy S3 has a cheaper version of op amp used in S1.
The HTC One X have the very best sound in every angle: microphone/speaker/headphones/ear speaker

The volume and quality through the headset is good, unfortunately the loudspeaker is rather poor and doesn't go very loud. Typical HTC though, their speaker components tend to be rather low quality.
LG tend to have alright speakers (The Optimus 2X went fairly loud), but I can't say whether the 4X's will be any good or not
EDIT: I realise you were specifically asking about the quality rather than the volume. The quality is pretty good, you wont be disappointed by it. The Galaxy S III supposedly has fantastic audio quality though, which is likely to be better than the One X's due to the fact that the One X uses 'Beats' (which sucks) and the SIII has a Wolfson Micro WM1811 which is apparently pretty awesome (http://www.wolfsonmicro.com/products/audio_hubs/WM1811/).

yeah right "ultra-low power" is just rubbish

schiphol said:
This is due to the player you're using.
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It's not. I've tried a number of different music players, different EQ's, different thread priority for the audio. All exhibit the same fundamental problems arising from a poor quality DAC. Heck, even the volume up/down sound causes the pop/crackle issue.
schiphol said:
On a final note, make sure you get your hands on a decent pair of headphones before commenting on the quality of a Dac. You can't really make any assumptions about these kinds of things if your basing your experience on a free or a $30 pair of ear buds.
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I've tried 5 different sets of headphones on my One X, some in ear, some open back, one Bluetooth. The same problems could be heard on all of them in varying degrees.

If your guys phones are rooted, flash the latest dspequalizer on this phone. Helps tremendously with sound quality. I agree with the person talking about flac files. You don't even need to have flac, just try to get high bitrate mp3s. I listen with Beyerdynamic headphones which take more power to drive, but it's enough for me and sounds great.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Nos0x said:
It's not. I've tried a number of different music players, different EQ's, different thread priority for the audio. All exhibit the same fundamental problems arising from a poor quality DAC. Heck, even the volume up/down sound causes the pop/crackle issue.
I've tried 5 different sets of headphones on my One X, some in ear, some open back, one Bluetooth. The same problems could be heard on all of them in varying degrees.
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I totally agree and I don't think my Grado SR60i's or Shure SE215's are to blame. Really, the quality just sucks on the HOX I own.
No biggie for me though, since I have a PMP for music.

Gibeon said:
I totally agree and I don't think my Grado SR60i's or Shure SE215's are to blame. Really, the quality just sucks on the HOX I own.
No biggie for me though, since I have a PMP for music.
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Of course the dac is not the best. The point I was trying to make is that I was able to eliminate most of the hissing and strange pops upon volume changes etc by switching to the neutron player leading me to be believe that these are not necessarily related to the Dac itself.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

With my beats headsets i have excellent audio quality, didnt try the original one...and the sound from the speaker? Well i dont know what you expect, in my eyes it is good enough (i dont listen to music over it) ... and BTW, i use well ripped mp3s because over the beats headset you can hear every single detail in songs ... youtube is also great ...
I dont know, but probably i have a special OneX i dont have any single issue the guys so far had reported ... i am just confused now why i dont get a S-OFF device

As far as I know, the beats audio plugin is only a peace of software, isn't it? It has nothing to do with special hardware, its just an equalizer setting. But I'm confused some sites say, the one x's audio chip is the same, that is build in the one s, but the explanation of the Tegra 3 chipset says, that it is able to handle 7.1 surround sound, which means it includes an audio chip. I think I have to wait for reviews of the optimus 4x to solve this problem
Sent from my R800i using XDA

Speakers are not very loud...

Is it just me or are the new speakers much softer than the previous N7? It does sound much better with the Stereo setup instead of Mono, but the volume just seems low even at max volume. Maybe its just me...

The new Nexus 7 speakers are much louder for me than the old ones.

Speakers have plenty of volume...

GatorsUF said:
Is it just me or are the new speakers much softer than the previous N7? It does sound much better with the Stereo setup instead of Mono, but the volume just seems low even at max volume. Maybe its just me...
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Me too. :crying:

GatorsUF said:
Is it just me or are the new speakers much softer than the previous N7? It does sound much better with the Stereo setup instead of Mono, but the volume just seems low even at max volume. Maybe its just me...
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You're can't be on the cm-10.2 nightlies right now because for me they're almost too loud haha

JayceOoi said:
Me too. :crying:
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GatorsUF said:
Is it just me or are the new speakers much softer than the previous N7? It does sound much better with the Stereo setup instead of Mono, but the volume just seems low even at max volume. Maybe its just me...
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I am also in the same boat. Low Sound and I was wondering a way to check it.
Also, i tried listening to it by placing my ears on the speakers and I am not able to hear anything from the top speakers at all. The down seem to work fine.
So can you check and let me know which speakers are affected and also what are you software version or and using any custom rom?
I am on stock, Unrooted, locked and nothing changed from me till yet.

Mine is also not loud and I hear sound form both speakers . I just tested it against my phones and........galaxy s3, galaxy s2, galaxy note 2 are louder by alot.

Make sure you guys are testing with the right things, for example with music or podcasts mine are very loud and its great but Youtube can be sporadic because not every video is made well and the sound doesnt get through. If you are watching a professional channel then they should be great but some people dont do too well with the sound on youtube. Also netflix for me is very loud and clear and overall everything is much better than my original N7

fifasarajevo said:
Make sure you guys are testing with the right things, for example with music or podcasts mine are very loud and its great but Youtube can be sporadic because not every video is made well and the sound doesnt get through. If you are watching a professional channel then they should be great but some people dont do too well with the sound on youtube. Also netflix for me is very loud and clear and overall everything is much better than my original N7
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Is yours louder than this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuB97aR6IoQ

my speakers work fine and loud. But i read somewhere that due to the angle of the speakers (almost rear facing), some people have complained about weak speakers.

I have sound mod increase by 50 percent for my gs3. Wonder if it would work with the nexus 7. Prolly not as 4.3 might have different files.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Hnk1 said:
I am also in the same boat. Low Sound and I was wondering a way to check it.
Also, i tried listening to it by placing my ears on the speakers and I am not able to hear anything from the top speakers at all. The down seem to work fine.
So can you check and let me know which speakers are affected and also what are you software version or and using any custom rom?
I am on stock, Unrooted, locked and nothing changed from me till yet.
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Click to collapse
Everything stock. Both speakers are working fine but soft. 1st gen N7 speaker is louder.

Music through headphones?

Evening all,
So I'm on the fence at the minute,
Short story I have the option to get the M8 in replacement for my Note 3 with multiple issues
I dont want to wait for S5 because I'm kinda fed up now with Sammy not changing their S series in design or features for that matter.
So anyway can anyone tell me how good the music is through headphones? I know the dual speakers are amazing just haven't been able to test my music through the headphone jack.
I've believe there is no equalizer on the music app? which is no off putting but I do like to mess bout abit with the sound.
any input from owners would be great!!
Cheers . .

ILS_SuperNova said:
Evening all,
So I'm on the fence at the minute,
Short story I have the option to get the M8 in replacement for my Note 3 with multiple issues
I dont want to wait for S5 because I'm kinda fed up now with Sammy not changing their S series in design or features for that matter.
So anyway can anyone tell me how good the music is through headphones? I know the dual speakers are amazing just haven't been able to test my music through the headphone jack.
I've believe there is no equalizer on the music app? which is no off putting but I do like to mess bout abit with the sound.
any input from owners would be great!!
Cheers . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've played music off the SD card, Pandora and TuneIn all sounded good and plenty loud on my gaming head phones and just as well on a pair of $30 ear buds. Very happy with it here.

Cheers for you input I think I will get this as long as store has its stock . Might even try get them throw in the dot case
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Just curious but what carrier is allowing you to make that switch. I'm assuming its because you've replaced the Note 3 multiple times via warranty and the issue has not been resolved...

Yeah that's right the note 3 had same issue on two different phones . . It's with phones4u but I'm with EE but essentially it's phones4u that are swapping
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

The headphone quality is top notch, volume is super loud, very good for headphones, bass is super punchy and clean, highs aren`t grainy, plenty of power, maybe an inline amp?, hiss is minimal, ink black on most, only trace hiss on my silver cable se535`s which is very very very good, considering they would pick up hiss on my one x+ even when the internal amp was off and no music was playing!. Did I mention the bass was good?, because its probably the best i`ve heard, at least on any mobile device.

I'm glad I'm not the only one switching from a note 3. You say punchy bass, is it similar to cyanogenmods bass boost ?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app

nags92 said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one switching from a note 3. You say punchy bass, is it similar to cyanogenmods bass boost ?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
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With the bundled headphones, it sounds amazing. Better than any phone I've owned IMO, and I've owned pretty much all of them at one stage or another

GSM Arena did tests and rated it as having the best audio performance of any phone...
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_one_m8-review-1062p7.php
Difficult for me to say personally as my headphones have an odd sound signature, have to install an EQ to get them sounding good.

matt07930 said:
GSM Arena did tests and rated it as having the best audio performance of any phone...
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_one_m8-review-1062p7.php
Difficult for me to say personally as my headphones have an odd sound signature, have to install an EQ to get them sounding good.
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I had a similar problem with the LG G2. First one I had had the treble was waaay too low. Installed an EQ to fix it, and just assumed that's the way it sounded.
Got another G2 two months later and it was fine out of the box.. don't think it had been updated either. Weird.
Maybe try someone else's M8 - yours may be faulty?

siksik6 said:
I had a similar problem with the LG G2. First one I had had the treble was waaay too low. Installed an EQ to fix it, and just assumed that's the way it sounded.
Got another G2 two months later and it was fine out of the box.. don't think it had been updated either. Weird.
Maybe try someone else's M8 - yours may be faulty?
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Click to collapse
Thanks but its definitely the headphones, reviews made the sound signature sound cool but in reality it is unnatural, even though they were very expensive. Had the same problem with the One X but once I installed Poweramp and fiddled with the EQ they sounded great.

Ah OK
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Right so just got home with my lovely new M8!
Said goodbye to my note 3 which screen size is the only thing I'm missing so far but that's it.
Audio through headphones errrmm well let's just say I had viper4android on my note and it has been beaten all over ! Fantastic quality! My headphones are only Marley branded ones so nothing high spec but I got lost In the music and just sat there while the phone did all the work!
Very pleased with this phone . . Very pure android compared to other os overlays I've experienced . .
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Personally, I don't like to use any kind of equalizer.
If you rip the audio "loselessly"(not in mp4 format, mp3 spoils the quality) from the CD you bought, I think equalizer would be no needed.
As for the phone itself, the build-in music player supports flac file, it should be convenient for us, no conversion needed.:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Audio Quality?

I'm looking to buy a new phone. The audio quality is an important aspect for me..
Right now I have a Galaxy S6 which is OK. Not the best,not the worst.
Would it be a downgrade or an upgrade?Also,if anyone can compare it with the OP3(which is mediocre) ..that would be great.

Robert- said:
I'm looking to buy a new phone. The audio quality is an important aspect for me..
Right now I have a Galaxy S6 which is OK. Not the best,not the worst.
Would it be a downgrade or an upgrade?Also,if anyone can compare it with the OP3(which is mediocre) ..that would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant speak for a comparison to the OP3, but I've heard very good things about the headphone jack (if thats the kind of audio quality you're looking for) on the moto z play, and I have actually used it with my ATH-M50x headphones and it works very well. Headphone jack plays loud and clear with no background hissing. Speaker quality, I think its pretty good, its fairly loud and sounds pretty good. If you really want amazing audio quality you can use the jbl moto mod which will give you very good sound and be really loud (I own one and I love it).

jon7701 said:
I cant speak for a comparison to the OP3, but I've heard very good things about the headphone jack (if thats the kind of audio quality you're looking for) on the moto z play, and I have actually used it with my ATH-M50x headphones and it works very well. Headphone jack plays loud and clear with no background hissing. Speaker quality, I think its pretty good, its fairly loud and sounds pretty good. If you really want amazing audio quality you can use the jbl moto mod which will give you very good sound and be really loud (I own one and I love it).
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Click to collapse
I have some nice Momentum In-Ear ...I just hope it's loud enough .
Thanks

Anyone having issues with music sound quality through the headphone jack should try making sure the equalizer in the stock google play music app is completely off, and then disabling the app in settings. After that reboot the phone. For me it was a night and day difference...

metalmike6 said:
I didn't even have a chance to test this nor did I think about it until you asked. but I have a pair of Shure SHR440's they are amazing reference headphones. The sound coming out of this phone is well, it's... sound. Honestly if you're an audiophile look elsewhere. So far that's the only thing I really don't like about the phone. Like it's so bad I may return the thing. My ears are telling me that the sound is heavily compressed for some reason. The cymbals in every song sound all washy and weird like when you download a ****ty MP3 by mistake. The bass has no punch and the mids sound like your listening through a metal garbage can. For me personally it's near unlistenable but I enjoy good quality sound in my music and have a tough time listening when it doesn't sound the way it's supposed to. My LG G3 has better sound to a degree that's almost hard to imagine... I'm gonna keep running tests but I think it's the DAC in the phone itself. It just sucks. Like yeah it's loud. But that's all.
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Idk what you are talking about. I am coming from a z3 and I like the sound quality from the 3.5mm. Have you tried using poweramp?

I was using player pro... I'll give Poweramp a try. But I will say this even on YouTube the sound difference through the jack is crazy noticeable between this and the LG G3 I literally just tested it. Also what lind of music are you listening to? Because if it's dance or hip-hop or any kinda pop you're not gonna notice much of a difference.
---------- Post added at 04:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:46 AM ----------
So weird discovery? ... Rebooted the phone out of frustration but prior to rebooting I went into the google play music app disabled all the equalizer settings then disabled the app in settings. Upon reboot the sound quality seems better? Like a lot better? I have no idea why or how? But that seems to have done it. Also I did download Poweramp just for kicks and it's nice, I'll give it a shot for a while and see if it's worth buying.

Robert- said:
I'm looking to buy a new phone. The audio quality is an important aspect for me..
Right now I have a Galaxy S6 which is OK. Not the best,not the worst.
Would it be a downgrade or an upgrade?Also,if anyone can compare it with the OP3(which is mediocre) ..that would be great.
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Click to collapse
So far the best smartphone I owned in the audio department was the HTC One M9, with its frontal dual speakers, as they were stereo, loud and clear, it always blew me away whenever I saw YouTube, Netflix or listened to music (without phones). Listening to music using the audio jack (or Bluetooth phones) it was an OK experience, nothing extraordinary, compared to the previous smartphones I owned (obviously with improvements phones have over the years).
As the HTC One M9 is last year's phone, I'd be logical to look into HTC One M10 (or better), as it should have better processing and screen configurations (and if HTC is smart enough, they kept or improved the already awesome frontal speakers).
The Moto Z Play has just one frontal speaker and (for me) is good enough, nothing compared to the HTC, but packs a decent punch if you want to see a video or listen to an audio, but to really listen to music or videos out loud, I'd advise you buying the JBL Mod, I personally do not own one but I've read good reviews about it, and you'd have a little more battery, I guess this Mod also comes with its own battery to power the speakers
Sorry not to compare with the OP3, but I don't have enough knowledge with this phone to have a relevant comparison.
Hope this helped! Cheers!

metalmike6 said:
I was using player pro... I'll give Poweramp a try. But I will say this even on YouTube the sound difference through the jack is crazy noticeable between this and the LG G3 I literally just tested it. Also what lind of music are you listening to? Because if it's dance or hip-hop or any kinda pop you're not gonna notice much of a difference.
---------- Post added at 04:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:46 AM ----------
So weird discovery? ... Rebooted thej phone out of frustration but prior to rebooting I went into the google play music app disabled all the equalizer settings then disabled the app in settings. Upon reboot the sound quality seems better? Like a lot better? I have no idea why or how? But that seems to have done it. Also I did download Poweramp just for kicks and it's nice, I'll give it a shot for a while and see if it's worth buying.
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Some software glitch maybe.
I listen to metal and classical mostly, with a bit of jazz and blues. Opeth, Dt, Tool, The Aristocrats Yada Yada.

arides said:
So far the best smartphone I owned in the audio department was the HTC One M9, with its frontal dual speakers, as they were stereo, loud and clear, it always blew me away whenever I saw YouTube, Netflix or listened to music (without phones). Listening to music using the audio jack (or Bluetooth phones) it was an OK experience, nothing extraordinary, compared to the previous smartphones I owned (obviously with improvements phones have over the years).
As the HTC One M9 is last year's phone, I'd be logical to look into HTC One M10 (or better), as it should have better processing and screen configurations (and if HTC is smart enough, they kept or improved the already awesome frontal speakers).
The Moto Z Play has just one frontal speaker and (for me) is good enough, nothing compared to the HTC, but packs a decent punch if you want to see a video or listen to an audio, but to really listen to music or videos out loud, I'd advise you buying the JBL Mod, I personally do not own one but I've read good reviews about it, and you'd have a little more battery, I guess this Mod also comes with its own battery to power the speakers
Sorry not to compare with the OP3, but I don't have enough knowledge with this phone to have a relevant comparison.
Hope this helped! Cheers!
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Click to collapse
I only care about audio quality through the jack . How is that compared to your M9?

Robert- said:
I only care about audio quality through the jack . How is that compared to your M9?
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The HTC One M9 is better equalized, the bass in the Moto Z Play is more noticeable, but if you get a third party app that best equalizes the Moto Z Play it'll be just as great.
I haven't downloaded such app yet, but it shouldn't be hard to find. And use your own phones, the one that comes with the Moto Z Play sucks big time (at least for me).
I'd also be better for you to have more feedback from other users of the Moto Z Play, as audio is a very particular subject which varies from person to person.

I would like to add that the Z Play doesn't support every audio format out there. The hardware decoder is weak therefore I'd strongly recommend the "Neutron" music app which comes with its own software decoder. Or even the JetAudio or basically any app with a S/W decoder.

metalmike6 said:
Anyone having issues with music sound quality through the headphone jack should try making sure the equalizer in the stock google play music app is completely off, and then disabling the app in settings. After that reboot the phone. For me it was a night and day difference...
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Do I need to disable the Google Play Music app or Equalizer app?

Warkratos said:
Do I need to disable the Google Play Music app or Equalizer app?
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Hey man, what I did was go into the google play music app under settings and then equalizer, make sure its all set to OFF. then go and disable the Google Play Music app in system settings and then reboot...

Robert- said:
I only care about audio quality through the jack . How is that compared to your M9?
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ya agree , i am using z play rooted with viper4android installed. & it sounds Best with 3.5mm jack it can beat any device if configure proper

Quickly tested the audio quality of my new Z Play against my old Note 4 910C with Wolfson audio chip.
I use a pair of Ultimate Ears Triple FI 10. (IEM's which costed about 300€ some years ago.) Listened to some fast Punk songs.
I would not call me an Audiophile - I can't hear a difference between 320 KBit MP3 and Flac. But of course between 128 kBit and 320 kBit.
So I do care about good audio quality.
I could not notice a significant difference between the Note and the Moto. Even if there was one I wouldn't be able to tell which one was better. Different headphones or a heavily compressed audio file will for sure make way much more of a difference.
To be sure I ordered this external DAC: http://hifimediy.com/tiny-dac
It's an external Sabre DAC with improved Jitter and noise level at a very tiny size. Curious to see if I find a difference, but I don't expect very much.
I think the Moto as all recent phones delivers a very neutral and loud enough sound output at pones that don't need to much pwer.

its good but not the best

Coming from the V10, it's definitely a step down but not bad. For over-ear or on-ear portable headphones that are designed to be efficient,it's not bad at all. For sensitive IEMs, the signal isn't clean enough, you can hear a background hiss and interference from the cell radio, etc. And of course driving higher impedance headphones well like the V10 can do is out of the question.

how is the external speaker? I have seen some reviews that say its average.. I know I want to make sure its decent...
I understand it can't compete with dual front facing speakers... but how does it compare to other similar speaker setup phones? I am glad it is at least front facing!

noisyriver said:
Quickly tested the audio quality of my new Z Play against my old Note 4 910C with Wolfson audio chip.
I use a pair of Ultimate Ears Triple FI 10. (IEM's which costed about 300€ some years ago.) Listened to some fast Punk songs.
I would not call me an Audiophile - I can't hear a difference between 320 KBit MP3 and Flac. But of course between 128 kBit and 320 kBit.
So I do care about good audio quality.
I could not notice a significant difference between the Note and the Moto. Even if there was one I wouldn't be able to tell which one was better. Different headphones or a heavily compressed audio file will for sure make way much more of a difference.
To be sure I ordered this external DAC: http://hifimediy.com/tiny-dac
It's an external Sabre DAC with improved Jitter and noise level at a very tiny size. Curious to see if I find a difference, but I don't expect very much.
I think the Moto as all recent phones delivers a very neutral and loud enough sound output at pones that don't need to much pwer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did today also a small comparison with the 180 $ Sony walkman of my GF: Could not find a difference.
With high impedance headphones the Hifimediy Android DAC http://hifimediy.com/tiny-dac did a very good job to me. Tested it with 600 Ohm AKG K 141 - was still loud enough. Didn't seem to influence my battery.
So I have no concerns any more using the Moto as my portable audio device.

The sound signature thro' headphone jack is better than average. However, please don't buy moto z play if you love listening to music at lower volume thro' headphone jack. The background static, crackling sound is much higher as the radio antenna band is located very close to it ( a white band over usb type c port). Better the headphone quality more prominent is the static. I tried multiple in-ear headphones ( shure se 125 , Sennheiser cx 275s). It is design flaw.