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Official Sound Quality Thread

So, how does it fair to Galaxy S3? Does the Octo version comes with Wolfson audio chip?

So, Exynos version will have wolfson wm5102 sound chip afterall...

I want to know about the volume level - my Nexus 4 went back to Google due to the low aux volume. I aux out all the time and it's an absolute requirement for my phone to be able to output at a reasonable volume. The N4 is laughable in that department, and yes that's with hacks too. Someone please confirm the output volume via the headphone jack is LOUD and I'll be happy!

SMS92 said:
I want to know about the volume level - my Nexus 4 went back to Google due to the low aux volume. I aux out all the time and it's an absolute requirement for my phone to be able to output at a reasonable volume. The N4 is laughable in that department, and yes that's with hacks too. Someone please confirm the output volume via the headphone jack is LOUD and I'll be happy!
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GSM Arena's review said that the S600 S4 was clear, but had low output. They also said that the HTC One was much louder, which is why I'm almost considering it over the S4.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Accourding to GSMArena, in the latest unit the speaker volume is pretty decent, even better than One.
When connected to the amplifier, the sound is superior than almost every phone available in the market. But the DAC is the embedded DAC of S600, so don't know why the difference can be that big.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914p8.php
Wolfson DAC in Exynos Octa maybe even better

The volume of the headphone output was one of my main complaints about Galaxy S III. No headroom at last year's flagship Samsung was not, in fact, using rebar headphones Etymotic hf5 maximum volume is not enough for comfortable listening to classical music (which usually has a wider dynamic range than other music genres). Fortunately, the Galaxy S4 solved this problem: using the same headphones and listening to the same records I've never had to turn up the volume to the maximum. Also, if the Galaxy S III was a telephone and a deep voice sounded muffled because of this, the Galaxy S4 boasts a more even tonal balance. In general, continuous improvement, anyway
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http://gagadget.com/cellphones/2013-03-27-obzor-samsung-galaxy-s4/

hung2900 said:
Accourding to GSMArena, in the latest unit the speaker volume is pretty decent, even better than One.
When connected to the amplifier, the sound is superior than almost every phone available in the market. But the DAC is the embedded DAC of S600, so don't know why the difference can be that big.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914p8.php
Wolfson DAC in Exynos Octa maybe even better
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They said the crosstalk was the only downside of the One and you'd need high tech equipment to even hear it. However, they also said that the S4 was still quiet when compared with the One/Butterfly, which is what the OP is focusing on the most.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

jtc276 said:
They said the crosstalk was the only downside of the One and you'd need high tech equipment to even hear it. However, they also said that the S4 was still quiet when compared with the One/Butterfly, which is what the OP is focusing on the most.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
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Of course the One/Butterfly are louder, they have a separate inbuilt headphone amplifier like all of HTCs recent phones (I think it first appeared in their WP models from last year).
That isn't, in and of itself, a reason to get a One over an S4 necessarily - it still depends on your use-case scenarios and what headphones you use etc. The majority using fairly sensitive IEMs are not going to experience a great deal of benefit from the headphone amplifier. For those who are using harder to drive headphones and don't want to use an external headphone amp then it starts to make more sense.

NZtechfreak said:
Of course the One/Butterfly are louder, they have a separate inbuilt headphone amplifier like all of HTCs recent phones (I think it first appeared in their WP models from last year).
That isn't, in and of itself, a reason to get a One over an S4 necessarily - it still depends on your use-case scenarios and what headphones you use etc. The majority using fairly sensitive IEMs are not going to experience a great deal of benefit from the headphone amplifier. For those who are using harder to drive headphones and don't want to use an external headphone amp then it starts to make more sense.
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But the OP definitely stated that if the S4 is not very loud, it won't be the phone for him due to Aux purposes (I'm guessing in his/her car). And GSM Arena proved the One to be louder. So the better choice (in terms of sound) for the OP would be the One.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Let's put it this way, set an alarm on the one and you won't sleep through it..
If the differences are slight, too slight to hear with standard headphones then the one is definitely better sound output wise than the s4.
Depending on what kind of user you are, this could make your choice fairly simple.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app

jtc276 said:
But the OP definitely stated that if the S4 is not very loud, it won't be the phone for him due to Aux purposes (I'm guessing in his/her car). And GSM Arena proved the One to be louder. So the better choice (in terms of sound) for the OP would be the One.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
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Ah, the OP said nothing of the sort. I wasn't replying to anyone in particular, only trying to generally point out that there is more to consider than a straight numbers comparison of volume outputs.

NZtechfreak said:
Ah, the OP said nothing of the sort. I wasn't replying to anyone in particular, only trying to generally point out that there is more to consider than a straight numbers comparison of volume outputs.
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Whoops. You're right. I was referring to the third poster in this thread.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I find it curious that GSMarena reviewed the snapdragon version, rather than the "real gsm" exynos version with wolfson. On S3 with Wolfson, increasing hardware volume levels takes about five minutes. Root and change one number in a text file. Not sure on the snapdragon one.
After hearing how different the Nexus 4 sounded compared to their review, I take anything they say with a grain of salt.
Supercurio's twitter feed is worth watching for commentary on audio quality also: https://twitter.com/supercurio

Indeed, GSMArena's sound tests need to be taken with a degree of scepticism, having been heavily criticized by people like Supercurio.

That's why i never quoted gsmarena's review in any part of my posts here and other thread... The test itself is "unproper" to begin with...

I got S3 and recently got HTC one and can confirm that its a best quality sound I heard in phone from speaker and headphone since 2002 and I have Bose headphone, urbets from dr dre and standard headphone in box and I found that htc's headphone got excellent clarity, loundness, deep bass and trable which is better than Bose headphone and as good as urbets of course in HTC one
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

onlinejobwork said:
I got S3 and recently got HTC one and can confirm that its a best quality sound I heard in phone from speaker and headphone since 2002 and I have Bose headphone, urbets from dr dre and standard headphone in box and I found that htc's headphone got excellent clarity, loundness, deep bass and trable which is better than Bose headphone and as good as urbets of course in HTC one
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
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I tried the HTC One in-store the other day, i agree the speakers on there is quiet good, but headphone wise, its not as good as compared to my Note 2. The Note 2 is much more cleaner and fuller audio quality without any tweaks, with wolfson audio kernel, the HTC One does not even come close.

ama3654 said:
I tried the HTC One in-store the other day, i agree the speakers on there is quiet good, but headphone wise, its not as good as compared to my Note 2. The Note 2 is much more cleaner and fuller audio quality without any tweaks, with wolfson audio kernel, the HTC One does not even come close.
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I agree,with some audio kernel , wolfson DAC is untouchable(with headphones)
sent from an Galaxy s3 GT I9300
Running perseus kernel 33.1 , XELLA 4.1.2 leaked build
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1784401
Dont click,you might regret , I won't be responsible if you brick ur head

Did a blind and volume-matched test with the One and S4 (i9505 international version with the same DAC as the one). Listened on 12 and 16ohm IEMs and 32ohm cans.
First interesting thing was that the Samsung stock player is noticeably louder than PowerAMP (not yet tested other third party players). Around 10dB louder if PowerAMP has direct volume control off and ~5dB louder if PowerAMP is using direct volume control. Since we wanted to use the same player in both devices we had to drop the HTC One volume down three notches for them to match closely (only one step to match with the S4 stock player).
Turned off Beats on the One.
Noted with interest that when blinding was removed we both preferred the S4 sound over the One overall, better instrument separation and clarity, less fatiguing and harsh. Generally preferred the bass on the One, although the One was quite boomy. There was one MAJOR problem with the S4 though - crackling with prominent low bass frequencies. This was absent on the T5p at 32ohm, noticeable on the 16ohm IEMs, and very noticeable on the 12ohm IEMs. If this is output impedance related as it appears to be this would put the S4 (i9505) output impedance somewhere in the 4-8ohm range, making it impossible to recommend to anyone using more sensitive IEMs.
ADDIT: Confirmation from users of CIEMs re: crackling on the i9505.
WARNING: DO NOT BUY THE INTERNATIONAL S4 i9505 IF YOU USE SENSITIVE IEMS and plan to use it as a music player without taking advantage of USB audio. This is why you cannot trust any of the major sites audio reviews for handsets.
I now urgently need to test the i9500...

ama3654 said:
I tried the HTC One in-store the other day, i agree the speakers on there is quiet good, but headphone wise, its not as good as compared to my Note 2. The Note 2 is much more cleaner and fuller audio quality without any tweaks, with wolfson audio kernel, the HTC One does not even come close.
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+1. Obviously Stereo speakers in itself makes it HTC One hands down the best in that department. But nothing beats Wolfson DAC for headphone audio quality IMHO.

How's the audio quality through headphones?

Hey guys, this is a question for the existing owners of the Honor View 10. I like to listen to my music loud via headphones, currently I own a HTC 10 and I am planning to upgrade to the Hoonor View 10. Typically Honor phones have a track record of providing below average loudness through the 3.5mm jack, as indicated by many gsmarena reviews. However, in case of the View 10 gsmarena notes that loudness remains nicely high when plugging in a pair of headphones. Can you guys please confirm this statement? It would really help me make up my mind. Thanks

nealzXincredible said:
Hey guys, this is a question for the existing owners of the Honor View 10. I like to listen to my music loud via headphones, currently I own a HTC 10 and I am planning to upgrade to the Hoonor View 10. Typically Honor phones have a track record of providing below average loudness through the 3.5mm jack, as indicated by many gsmarena reviews. However, in case of the View 10 gsmarena notes that loudness remains nicely high when plugging in a pair of headphones. Can you guys please confirm this statement? It would really help me make up my mind. Thanks
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They are not overly loud.. But they are loud enough to not hear ppl
Depending on headphones it's a bit on the bassy side.
1 to 10. About a 8.5...
Sent from my HUAWEI BKL-L09 using XDA Labs

br54 said:
They are not overly loud.. But they are loud enough to not hear ppl
Depending on headphones it's a bit on the bassy side.
1 to 10. About a 8.5...
Sent from my HUAWEI BKL-L09 using XDA Labs
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Cheers for the review mate, this really helped me out!

nealzXincredible said:
Hey guys, this is a question for the existing owners of the Honor View 10. I like to listen to my music loud via headphones, currently I own a HTC 10 and I am planning to upgrade to the Hoonor View 10. Typically Honor phones have a track record of providing below average loudness through the 3.5mm jack, as indicated by many gsmarena reviews. However, in case of the View 10 gsmarena notes that loudness remains nicely high when plugging in a pair of headphones. Can you guys please confirm this statement? It would really help me make up my mind. Thanks
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I am quite impressed about the sound from this phone (via headphones). The volume may not be hyper-loud but the sound is really full-bodied, the stereo image is very good. Much better than my S6 Edge, my previous mobile.

kindgott said:
I am quite impressed about the sound from this phone (via headphones). The volume may not be hyper-loud but the sound is really full-bodied, the stereo image is very good. Much better than my S6 Edge, my previous mobile.
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I'm not saying loudness should be on par with my HTC 10 but at least somewhere near it. Thanks for your input

nealzXincredible said:
I'm not saying loudness should be on par with my HTC 10 but at least somewhere near it. Thanks for your input
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Sorry can't really compare as my last HTC phone was the mythical HD2...

I made the same switch, from HTC 10 to Honor View 10. I am very impressed by the audio quality through my headphones (AKG N60NC). In terms of loudness, I think it reaches ~80% of that of the HTC 10. The highs are a not as good as on the HTC 10, but I do have the feeling that there's less noise on the View 10.

Sound Quality Note 3

Hi Guys:
I been using Note 3 with first Stable Rom + Unlocked + Root + Vipersound last version. With it, i use earphones Piston 2, KZ ZS10 and KZ ZSR, so, very good pair of earphones.
I considerer myself a audiophile and i enjoy ear my music in detail as possible.
Problem:
I still own my old Oppo Find 7 (Snapdragon 801) with Wolfson DAC if not mistake, and also Vipersound, version 2.3.3.
As comparation......there isn`t any! Note 3 looks like a old tape cassete from 80`s ( and i own a good one with 3 heads), in comparative with my Oppo.
Sound is metallic, not natural, uncontrolled and the stage is very bad.....
Oppo has a amazing natural sound, from deep bass to treble and higs, great stage, everything is on the correct place. Infortunaly i dn`t have a cable jack to jack to make a record of one and other sound with the same music, so i can share and you get your own judgements...
Believe-me.....at this moment is very very bad. There is a gap of 4 years between one and other, but even so, im very disappointed to the point to think to sell this terminal.
At this moment, i have to use 2 phones: one for music, and the other to all the rest.
I am i missing anything here?

Mord0rr said:
Hi Guys:
I been using Note 3 with first Stable Rom + Unlocked + Root + Vipersound last version. With it, i use earphones Piston 2, KZ ZS10 and KZ ZSR, so, very good pair of earphones.
I considerer myself a audiophile and i enjoy ear my music in detail as possible.
Problem:
I still own my old Oppo Find 7 (Snapdragon 801) with Wolfson DAC if not mistake, and also Vipersound, version 2.3.3.
As comparation......there isn`t any! Note 3 looks like a old tape cassete from 80`s ( and i own a good one with 3 heads), in comparative with my Oppo.
Sound is metallic, not natural, uncontrolled and the stage is very bad.....
Oppo has a amazing natural sound, from deep bass to treble and higs, great stage, everything is on the correct place. Infortunaly i dn`t have a cable jack to jack to make a record of one and other sound with the same music, so i can share and you get your own judgements...
Believe-me.....at this moment is very very bad. There is a gap of 4 years between one and other, but even so, im very disappointed to the point to think to sell this terminal.
At this moment, i have to use 2 phones: one for music, and the other to all the rest.
I am i missing anything here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to flash Dolby Atmos, I am using it with Viper FX via Magisk. I think it sounds good this way.

Hi.
I already tryed Dolby Atmos, but Vipersound options and sound, are much better than Dolby. But i can try, what i have to loose?

Ok.
Installed Dolby, but the "base" sound is the same....lack of stage and transparency..... ((

Mord0rr said:
Ok.
Installed Dolby, but the "base" sound is the same....lack of stage and transparency..... ((
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hi. I noticed that if i touch my ears with the speaker of mi note 3 i can hear some kinda noise. it is very low, but i can hear only if it's to close.

Have you tried last miui? They said ldac support was been added even in bluetooth headset. Let us know.

the dac chip of mn3 is good but not that great.
But as an audiophile. I appreciate what this device brings me.

Maybe because im using first version of Global Stable?
Still sounds horrible....i have to update to Xiaomi.eu....and retry again.

front facing speakers?

Hi,
I was all over ZTE when their phones had front facing speakers, but they seemed to stop doing that stand-out differentiation. How is this new phone on that front (pun intended)?
Max.

davidmaxwaterman said:
Hi,
I was all over ZTE when their phones had front facing speakers, but they seemed to stop doing that stand-out differentiation. How is this new phone on that front (pun intended)?
Max.
Click to expand...
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They're using the earpiece as a speaker for the stereo effect, although it is technically still stereo the top speaker is not as powerful!
Regards,
acervenky

acervenky said:
They're using the earpiece as a speaker for the stereo effect, although it is technically still stereo the top speaker is not as powerful!
Regards,
acervenky
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Hrm, interesting. The important thing about front-facing speakers, to me, is the reproduction of high frequencies, and I don't much care about stereo effect - in fact, I turn it off in the accessibility settings. I should probably give it a try to see how it sounds.
Thanks,
Max.

Sound really sucks. The Axon 7 leaves this in the dust when it comes too sound. I was hoping for something from ZTE with as good sound quality as the 7. Unless they make some changes, this will probably be my last ZTE phone.

jim262 said:
Sound really sucks. The Axon 7 leaves this in the dust when it comes too sound. I was hoping for something from ZTE with as good sound quality as the 7. Unless they make some changes, this will probably be my last ZTE phone.
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Agreed. The bottom firing speaker is not loud at all and is very tinny. The earpiece speaker is an absolute joke. I also had the Axon 7 and those speakers blow this phone away. That said, the speakers are about my only complaint with this phone aside from maybe lack of camera OIS.

xphyle1971 said:
Agreed. The bottom firing speaker is not loud at all and is very tinny. The earpiece speaker is an absolute joke. I also had the Axon 7 and those speakers blow this phone away. That said, the speakers are about my only complaint with this phone aside from maybe lack of camera OIS.
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While I totally agree this phone is pretty ordinary. Nothing about it says I have to have it. In fact, phones like the Realme X2 Pro, with a similar (actually cheaper) pricetag or the OnePlus 7T for a few bucks more, seem like better values.

jim262 said:
While I totally agree this phone is pretty ordinary. Nothing about it says I have to have it. In fact, phones like the Realme X2 Pro, with a similar (actually cheaper) pricetag or the OnePlus 7T for a few bucks more, seem like better values.
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True, but in the USA, most of the Realme, Redmi, Xiaomi phones don't support all the used LTE bands by my carrier (T-Mobile). The Axon 10 Pro supports every single band, including the brand new ones (66 and 71).

xphyle1971 said:
True, but in the USA, most of the Realme, Redmi, Xiaomi phones don't support all the used LTE bands by my carrier (T-Mobile). The Axon 10 Pro supports every single band, including the brand new ones (66 and 71).
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As long as they have at least bands 2, 4, 12 they are fully functional here in San Diego. I'm also on Tmobile.

Audio Playback

Sorry added here as not possible on the Real Life Review thread.
I'm using Hi Res audio files from Qobuz and Amazon HD and using Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro headphones. My bebchmark is my HI FI system which is streamer, amplification and speakers over £5k in value and I am blown away by the V60 Quad DAC.
Great bass control smooth sound and reasonable sound stage depth. Can follow each instrument.
Tracks tested with Van Morrison Moon Dance 24 bit / 96 kHz. And Emmylou Harris Wayfaring Stanger CD quality.

Agreed. This phone hits all the important notes for audiophiles.

jah said:
Sorry added here as not possible on the Real Life Review thread.
I'm using Hi Res audio files from Qobuz and Amazon HD and using Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro headphones. My bebchmark is my HI FI system which is streamer, amplification and speakers over £5k in value and I am blown away by the V60 Quad DAC.
Great bass control smooth sound and reasonable sound stage depth. Can follow each instrument.
Tracks tested with Van Morrison Moon Dance 24 bit / 96 kHz. And Emmylou Harris Wayfaring Stanger CD quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm disappointed. Stupid Amazon app doesn't support or recognize Android DACs USB or internal. So all Hi Rez is resampled to 48khz.

mc_365 said:
I'm disappointed. Stupid Amazon app doesn't support or recognize Android DACs USB or internal. So all Hi Rez is resampled to 48khz.
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Agreed, that is disappointing. But works fine with Qobuz. I assume Tidal would also be okay.

jah said:
Agreed, that is disappointing. But works fine with Qobuz. I assume Tidal would also be okay.
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Well of course it works with Tidal. LG has a strategic partnership with Tidal and the creators / founders of MQA (Tidals preferred HiRez format) which currently can only be streamed on Tidal.

mc_365 said:
Well of course it works with Tidal. LG has a strategic partnership with Tidal and the creators / founders of MQA (Tidals preferred HiRez format) which currently can only be streamed on Tidal.
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The issue was that Amazon HD does not recognise the DAC and I can't test Tidal therefore I made the point that Tidal will likely detect the Quad DAC.