[Q] Yamaha sound chip or Wolfson DAC ? - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-I777

I remember reading a while back on some thread that Wolfson had a line on their earnings call sheet saying one of the US models of the GSII uses the Wolfson DAC.
I have always been a fan of the DAC on my Zune and Captivate. I sure hope this is the one that has the Wolfson and not the T-mob.
Has anyone figured if the DAC inside is a Wolfson or (shudder) Yamaha ?

thelastjedi said:
I remember reading a while back on some thread that Wolfson had a line on their earnings call sheet saying one of the US models of the GSII uses the Wolfson DAC.
I have always been a fan of the DAC on my Zune and Captivate. I sure hope this is the one that has the Wolfson and not the T-mob.
Has anyone figured if the DAC inside is a Wolfson or (shudder) Yamaha ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll need to double-check tonight, but 90% certain it's Yamaha - we're almost identical hardware-wise to the international variant.
It's probably either the TMo or Sprint variant that have Wolfson. Probably TMo - the E4GTouch is pretty similar to our device other than the radios.

Entropy512 said:
I'll need to double-check tonight, but 90% certain it's Yamaha - we're almost identical hardware-wise to the international variant.
It's probably either the TMo or Sprint variant that have Wolfson. Probably TMo - the E4GTouch is pretty similar to our device other than the radios.
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Click to collapse
Hasn't the Sprint version already been confirmed to have the Yamaha ?
I thought of this question because of all the audio issues people are having after rooting and also because of a few reviews stating that the audio quality on this is awesome (one of them being GSMArena). Fingers crossed for a Wolfson, though don't have much hope

Well it might be a Yamaha chipset that's different (improved) from the one that gave Yamaha a bad name...

Yamaha is not that bad. Android 2.3.5 in International SGS2 improves the sound tremendously compares to 2.3.3 and 2.3.4. Sound quality is very close to my Cowon J3 now.

/sys/devices/platform/soc-audio/sound/card0 # cat id
cat id
C1YMU823 <--- same chip as the international version
sorry everyone... it's still yamaha

Samsung, Y U NO use high quality audio chip?
I mean c'mon if this is their flagship, why would they stay away from the wolfson....

halfnelson117 said:
Samsung, Y U NO use high quality audio chip?
I mean c'mon if this is their flagship, why would they stay away from the wolfson....
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Voodoo Sound will surely make things better.

I've only played with mine for an hour or so, but I've listened to some of my "test" tracks with my Etymotic ER6is, Audio Technica M50s, and Portapros and it sounds decent enough to me, definitely better than the Nexus One it's replacing. No perceivable noise floor to speak of, no treble rolloff in anything I listened to, and it seems to be able to drive bass well (a problem with the N1 IMHO)
Wish I still had access to audio test equipment...

pokey9000 said:
I've only played with mine for an hour or so, but I've listened to some of my "test" tracks with my Etymotic ER6is, Audio Technica M50s, and Portapros and it sounds decent enough to me, definitely better than the Nexus One it's replacing. No perceivable noise floor to speak of, no treble rolloff in anything I listened to, and it seems to be able to drive bass well (a problem with the N1 IMHO)
Wish I still had access to audio test equipment...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it suffer from the same static hissing and also some processor sounds when UI is being manipulated ? I remember reading all sorts of crappy noises made by this DAC when headphones are plugged in and the phone is being used in Supercurio's test on Anandtech. Still true ?

Milkshakes00 said:
Voodoo Sound will surely make things better.
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Click to collapse
VS is only for Wolfson headphone amps. There's a reason it doesn't exist for the I9100 as far as I know - if it did, it would be a complete rewrite.

thelastjedi said:
Does it suffer from the same static hissing and also some processor sounds when UI is being manipulated ? I remember reading all sorts of crappy noises made by this DAC when headphones are plugged in and the phone is being used in Supercurio's test on Anandtech. Still true ?
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Click to collapse
Yes, but I think turning off UI sounds (the little pop when you click things) will prevent some crappy noises when using the UI while listening to headphones. I'm guessing the chip isn't very good at playing multiple audio streams at once. Also, the drivers were updated in 2.3.5 for the i9100 and audio is supposedly much improved.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

gtg465x said:
Yes, but I think turning off UI sounds (the little pop when you click things) will prevent some crappy noises when using the UI while listening to headphones. I'm guessing the chip isn't very good at playing multiple audio streams at once. Also, the divers were updated in 2.3.5 for the i9100 and audio supposedly much improved.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope against hopes, this phone gets a quick 2.3.5 update to enable the FM radio, give us Google wallet for NFC and improve the DAC. I might put the NFC to good use with banks now charging for debit transactions. Come on AT&T shows us that your are not an Android enemy after all.

Overall, audio quality seemed more than acceptable in my preliminary listening tests. It isn't as good as audio on the Thrill and original Galaxy S variants like the Infuse and Captivate, but it sounded on par or better than some other Android phones like the Inspire and Aria. If you have cheap headphones you likely won't notice a difference between any of these phones anyways.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

gtg465x said:
Overall, audio quality seemed more than acceptable in my preliminary listening tests. It isn't as good as audio on the Thrill and original Galaxy S variants like the Infuse and Captivate, but it sounded on par or better than some other Android phones like the Inspire and Aria. If you have cheap headphones you likely won't notice a difference between any of these phones anyways.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
i will be listening to it mostly on a medium range Sony in-ear or Harman-Kardon 2.1 at home. So I don't think it will sound much different, but it is sad to know the Wolfson DAC is gone.

thelastjedi said:
I hope against hopes, this phone gets a quick 2.3.5 update to enable the FM radio, give us Google wallet for NFC and improve the DAC. I might put the NFC to good use with banks now charging for debit transactions. Come on AT&T shows us that your are not an Android enemy after all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If 2.3.5 had a kernel update for the DAC with no userland component, we might have gotten those fixes in our kernel.

Entropy512 said:
If 2.3.5 had a kernel update for the DAC with no userland component, we might have gotten those fixes in our kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And is there a way for us to verify if that update was done to the i777 kernel ?

gtg465x said:
Overall, audio quality seemed more than acceptable in my preliminary listening tests. It isn't as good as audio on the Thrill and original Galaxy S variants like the Infuse and Captivate, but it sounded on par or better than some other Android phones like the Inspire and Aria. If you have cheap headphones you likely won't notice a difference between any of these phones anyways.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the audio issues only apply to headphone usage. I read a few threads in the Optimus 3D forum regarding audio quality. There were some links to a review of the O3D that showed the SGS II having a bit of an edge (from a measured standpoint) over it. The Thrill is essentially the same so I would assume that the sound quality of the SGS II is slightly better than the Thrill. Again, this was compared in a measured test environment. The issue with the O3D and Thrill was due to stereo crosstalk. The O3D and SGSII were both given an average rating though.
Personally, I rarely use headphones and more often use the headphone jack as an audio out to an amplified system. Really not an issue for me. It is kind of interesting that the original Galaxy S has a better audio chip though.

thelastjedi said:
Does it suffer from the same static hissing and also some processor sounds when UI is being manipulated ? I remember reading all sorts of crappy noises made by this DAC when headphones are plugged in and the phone is being used in Supercurio's test on Anandtech. Still true ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My ER6is are really sensitive and isolate really well, so if there's a noise floor to be heard I'd hear it. And on a second try, in a quiet room with these headphones and paying very careful attention I can hear a tiny bit of noise after a system sound or music is playing up until about 3 seconds later when the amp powers off. But I REALLY have to be listening for it.
I did not hear any CPU activity or radio related interference at all, but I've been on HSDPA constantly so far. Maybe EDGE/GSM is worse. Induced noise is usually not the fault of the chip itself, but a result of bad PCB design, bad power supply filtering, and shielding. Maybe Samsung fixed this in the 777.
The Anandtech test does show some shortcomings, but think about it this way: for 16 bit audio, the difference between the quietest sound that can be represented and complete silence is 96dB, or 1 bit of audio. The noise floor according to the tests is 95.1dB. You will never notice this when listening to music.
The distortion and crosstalk, particularly the intermodulation from that article doesn't look so hot, but it isn't bad really. It's entirely possible that this can be fixed with tweaks to chip settings once we get a datasheet or some register setting info.

pokey9000 said:
My ER6is are really sensitive and isolate really well, so if there's a noise floor to be heard I'd hear it. And on a second try, in a quiet room with these headphones and paying very careful attention I can hear a tiny bit of noise after a system sound or music is playing up until about 3 seconds later when the amp powers off. But I REALLY have to be listening for it.
I did not hear any CPU activity or radio related interference at all, but I've been on HSDPA constantly so far. Maybe EDGE/GSM is worse. Induced noise is usually not the fault of the chip itself, but a result of bad PCB design, bad power supply filtering, and shielding. Maybe Samsung fixed this in the 777.
The Anandtech test does show some shortcomings, but think about it this way: for 16 bit audio, the difference between the quietest sound that can be represented and complete silence is 96dB, or 1 bit of audio. The noise floor according to the tests is 95.1dB. You will never notice this when listening to music.
The distortion and crosstalk, particularly the intermodulation from that article doesn't look so hot, but it isn't bad really. It's entirely possible that this can be fixed with tweaks to chip settings once we get a datasheet or some register setting info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome input. Thank you. So far from what we have heard i think its safe to assume that this is a Yamaha DAC, but with some changes to shielding/PCB design or updated kernel or probably even both. If Anandtech does a detailed analysis on all 3 US variants, it would be awesome, but chances are they won't. Lets hope one of you guys take up the audio on this beast as a challenge and give us some great tweaks.

Related

[Q] Any way at all to fix my audio issues?

Finally gave up the ol iPhone 3G and "upgraded" to an SGSII. I paid a lot of money and figured it'd work, but there are two extremely niggling problems that I cannot fix.
1. No one calling me can hear me unless I use speakerphone. I did successfully fix that once with some settings accessed by typing in a number and changing a few things, but that reset when I reset my phone...I've yet to be able to fix this.
2. When listening to music on my massive Sennheiser headphones I can't hear much at all. On the iPhone if I'd even approached full volume, I woulda blown my head off, on the SGSII, even on full, Metallica sounds like a soothing lullaby.
Are there any fixes for these issues? Or are these things that perhaps are fixed simply from having a different firmware? An almost 800 dollar phone, it'd be nice if it did two basic functions without flopping.
All help is appreciated.
EDIT: Oh and forgot to mention, I know the mic works thanks to speaker phone making me heard and I know headphones/sound output can be louder because the app Volume+ or whatever boosts it fine. I just don't want to use a seperate app each time, I want a more permanant fix.
EDIT2: Okay, Poweramp works fine, and I also see types of headphones are to blame. Like the earphones that came with the phone are fine. They have 3 notches on the plug as opposed to 2. I'd say that's a fair indication. Anyway, can consider this problem solved.
Also I've been told my warranty was indeed automatic, so if I truly cannot fix the mic problem again, apparently I can send it away to get fixed. Although I guess I'll have to reset and all, hide root and all that. Don't even know how, nor do I want to be phone-less, so help will still be very appreciated.
Rizaria said:
1. No one calling me can hear me unless I use speakerphone.
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Click to collapse
Sounds like a defect to me ... I would try to get an exchange. Maybe first compre with another SGS2 in a shop.
2. When listening to music on my massive Sennheiser headphones I can't hear much at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty normal with mobile devices, which usually have an output impedance of 32 Ohm. Large HiFi headphones are optimized for much more powerfull amplifiers and so have an impedance of 250 Ohm or even more. This results in much lower volume, if high impedance headphones are used on mobile devices like phones, notebooks or MP3 players.
A further reason is, that the SGS2 has lower maximum volume, than several competitors ... seems to be limited by software.
Download Poweramp from the market ... it's worth every cent, but there's also a time limited demo. This app has a nice preamp, which allows you to raise the overall volume and it's equalizer is also very good.
I use Ogg Vorbis (224 bitrate) songs with this app combined with an AKG K319, the best mobile headphones I ever tried ... much better than even most big Sennheisers ... that being said from a former Sennheiser fan For home HiFi I recommend Beyerdynamic DT880 or DT990. Try these headphones and you'll sell your Sennheiser
The combination of Ogg Vorbis (MP3 sucks in comparison), AKG and Poweramp give me fantastic sound quality!
And don't use Metallica for testing ... their records are highly compressed ... complete junk from an accustically perspective, because all dynamics are compressed away. Google for "audio compressor" and you'll understand.
i use a combination of poweramp with a 'smiley face' or 'rocl' equalizer setting and volume+ with +3 and good quality equalizer settings.
makes my koss portapros truly shine in terms of volume and clarity.
First off, lemme say thanks for the replies. 'Preciate it.
Aymara said:
Sounds like a defect to me ... I would try to get an exchange. Maybe first compre with another SGS2 in a shop.
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Click to collapse
Possibly, it's been awhile since I got it though and I dunno where I put my receipt so I sort of doubt the shop will care. And defect or not, I feel it's more a software/firmware issue as I truly was able to fix it at some point.
That's pretty normal with mobile devices, which usually have an output impedance of 32 Ohm. Large HiFi headphones are optimized for much more powerfull amplifiers and so have an impedance of 250 Ohm or even more. This results in much lower volume, if high impedance headphones are used on mobile devices like phones, notebooks or MP3 players.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, didn't know that. Still doesn't explain why my headphones worked amazingly with my old iPhone but terrible with this. :c Not that I bought these headphones for taking out and about, rather bulky. Might hafta buy some others..
A further reason is, that the SGS2 has lower maximum volume, than several competitors ... seems to be limited by software.
Download Poweramp from the market ... it's worth every cent, but there's also a time limited demo. This app has a nice preamp, which allows you to raise the overall volume and it's equalizer is also very good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I gathered as when I used a similar app called Volume+ I found it quite capable of better sound. That's why I'd like some help with changing the Samsung audio settings. I know my way around them, but there's so many opions and changeable things I'm not sure what to do. I'll give Poweramp a look.
I use Ogg Vorbis (224 bitrate) songs with this app combined with an AKG K319, the best mobile headphones I ever tried ... much better than even most big Sennheisers ... that being said from a former Sennheiser fan For home HiFi I recommend Beyerdynamic DT880 or DT990. Try these headphones and you'll sell your Sennheiser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So cannot be arsed getting OGG versions ofall my music. xD And having to re-tag it all. If OGGs can even be tagged and have art. But yeah, way too much effort but I don't doubt you.
And don't use Metallica for testing ... their records are highly compressed ... complete junk from an accustically perspective, because all dynamics are compressed away. Google for "audio compressor" and you'll understand.
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Click to collapse
Perhaps. But they're loud songs nonetheless, particularly the live ones. I can certainly hear the difference. Way too quiet on the SGS2. :c
rab1412000 said:
i use a combination of poweramp with a 'smiley face' or 'rocl' equalizer setting and volume+ with +3 and good quality equalizer settings.
makes my koss portapros truly shine in terms of volume and clarity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using more than one app is even more than my not wanting to use one in the first place. Certainly wouldn't help battery life, as this all only matters when I'm travelling long distance and need music.
There are 2 microphones on the sgs2. One is on the bottom edge and one is on the top edge. The bottom one is for regular calls and is broken on your phone. The top one is for speakerphone, which is obviously working.
I suggest returning your phone under warranty as the volume issue is not normal either.
Sent from my GT-I9100M
Electroz said:
There are 2 microphones on the sgs2. One is on the bottom edge and one is on the top edge. The bottom one is for regular calls and is broken on your phone. The top one is for speakerphone, which is obviously working.
I suggest returning your phone under warranty as the volume issue is not normal either.
Sent from my GT-I9100M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're not broken as such because as stated I was able to fiddle with some settings and get normal calls working fine, it just lost those settings after a reset. Some sort of firmware fault, I've heard of cases where people had the same issue back on the original SGS.
I could never get the warranty going. Samsung's website wouldn't recognise it at all. Never got around to trying to start the warranty manually. Probably too late now.
Also, to those who recommended Poweramp; I'm impressed. that's not a bad work around actually. Shame it doesn't have playlist support though.
EDIT: Oh, it does! perfect little app, thanks guys. Now I just need to find settings to fix my in-call volume issue then I'm all set.
Rizaria said:
Using more than one app is even more than my not wanting to use one in the first place. Certainly wouldn't help battery life, as this all only matters when I'm travelling long distance and need music.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
volume+ has no perceptible hit on battery life fyi
edit:
why dont you give it a try first. you could always kill it or uninstall it if it doesnt work out for you. it has a v small memory footprint btw.
rab1412000 said:
volume+ has no perceptible hit on battery life fyi
edit:
why dont you give it a try first. you could always kill it or uninstall it if it doesnt work out for you. it has a v small memory footprint btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah alright, I might've imagined it. I'll use it if need-be, at least Poweramp seems to do the job as-is but thanks for the recommendation.
Rizaria said:
Hmm, didn't know that. Still doesn't explain why my headphones worked amazingly with my old iPhone but terrible with this. :c Not that I bought these headphones for taking out and about, rather bulky. Might hafta buy some others..
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Click to collapse
thats what you call impedance mismatch.
for example, my woodees in-ear sound excellent on an iphone/ipod. in fact, it is a match to a bose QC15 any day. however it sounds muffled on my laptop and sgs2.
its the complete opposite with my koss portapros which sound amazing on my laptops and sgs2 and sound just ok on the ipod.
there is most probably nothing wrong with both your headphones and phone, but just keep this in mind. it is one reason why certain audiophiles have more than one iem.
edit:
forgot about your in-call issues, yes that could be a hardware problem.
rab1412000 said:
thats what you call impedance mismatch.
for example, my woodees in-ear sound excellent on an iphone/ipod. in fact, it is a match to a bose QC15 any day. however it sounds muffled on my laptop and sgs2.
its the complete opposite with my koss portapros which sound amazing on my laptops and sgs2 and sound just ok on the ipod.
there is most probably nothing wrong with both your headphones and phone, but just keep this in mind. it is one reason why certain audiophiles have more than one iem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a pain in the arse. :c Had no idea audio could be so damn complicated.
At least Poweramp seems to make things loud enough. Might have to invest in some more portable headphones in the future though.
personally, id try to get your in-call volume issues sorted out first.
that just isnt right and could indeed point to a h/w defect.
rab1412000 said:
personally, id try to get your in-call volume issues sorted out first.
that just isnt right and could indeed point to a h/w defect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That basically is all I need sorting now. The underlying problem of the music volume may not be fixed, but the apps suggested here get around it fine.
I still don't think it was a hardware defect as I really did have it fixed at one point. Stupid reset. I think it's some semi-unique firm/software issue I have.
Rizaria said:
Had no idea audio could be so damn complicated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the downside of the MP3 age ... most people don't know nothing about audio quality and what's worse, they don't know what they missed so far.
There are several lessons to learn:
1. MP3 sucks even at highest bitrate, because frequencies above 15 KHz are cut off and basses are always distorted if the music is a bit louder. If you have good audio hardware, MP3 sounds much worse than a good Audio CD.
2. Ogg Vorbis is a good compromise for mobile use compared to Flac with it's extremly large files. If you rip a CD with quality setting Q=7 (224 kbit) you won't hear a difference to the CD except when using a DDD recording on a high end HiFi home sytem and having yourself very trained ears And what's also nice is, the file size is similar to MP3.
And yes, you can use album art with Ogg ... embed it with Media Monkey on PC or if you rip a complete album to a folder, just place a JPG in that folder which has the same file name as the album title. Both Media Monkey and the SGS2 will show it (no matter if stock player or Poweramp). No need to mention, that all MP3 tags also can be embedded in Ogg.
3. Good audio hardware is needed ... and though the stock volume is a bit low on the SGS2, it's Yamaha audio engine is quite good. But the stock audio player is crap. It's impossible to get good equalization without distortion in the bass bands. But Poweramp solves this problem, if you set it up correctly.
So all that is missing now is a good headphone. The best mobile headphone with correct impedance you can get below 100$ nowadays is the AKG K319 ... though it ships with a hardcase and has fantastic sound, it's not very popular or let's say not well known, so you can get it really cheap ... got it for only 25 Euros
But if you are a bass junkie, the Koss Porta Pro might be the better choice. It has a little bit more bass response as the AKG, but is more bulky and can't compete with the AKG's sound "crispness" in middle and high frequency bands.
Conclusion: After already switching to Poweramp, Ogg and a good mobile headphone will give give you a second WOW effect
Aymara said:
Conclusion: After already switching to Poweramp, Ogg and a good mobile headphone will give give you a second WOW effect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very interesting. I knew some of that, but not quite to that extent. Regardless though, the sheer time it'd take me to replace my songs..ugh, I shudder at the thought. Also I prefer mp3 and m4a for cross-system compatibility and iTunes use. Still my fave way of organising and listening to music I'm almost ashamed to say.
That being said, I installed Winamp just for transferring my music and playlists onto my SGS2 properly.
I'll keep the headphones in mind, but Poweramp itself solves the bulk of that problem. x3 Now if only I could fix my major problem.
Rizaria said:
Also I prefer mp3 and m4a for cross-system compatibility and iTunes use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MP3 will die over time, not only because it sounds horrible. The main reason are the licence fees, devs and manufacturers have to pay ... Ogg on the other hand is free ... did you notice, that nearly all newer devices suport Ogg?
It can understand, that switching a large archive to Ogg can be a lot of work, but it's zero hassle to use Ogg for new material.
I highly recommend to compare the sound quality.
Now if only I could fix my major problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mentioned, that you found a fix, but a reboot resets it. Do you use the latest firmware or a custom ROM?
Aymara said:
MP3 will die over time, not only because it sounds horrible. The main reason are the licence fees, devs and manufacturers have to pay ... Ogg on the other hand is free ... did you notice, that nearly all newer devices suport Ogg?
It can understand, that switching a large archive to Ogg can be a lot of work, but it's zero hassle to use Ogg for new material.
I highly recommend to compare the sound quality.
You mentioned, that you found a fix, but a reboot resets it. Do you use the latest firmware or a custom ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I don't doubt it. Gotta love that open source. I might investigate more into ogg files when I have more spare time.
As for the firmware, I believe I updated to a latest one. At least I don't think it was custom, looked the same as the stock, stupid TouchWiz and all. Only updated to root it basically. 'Cause I think my stock rom was an Optus mutated version basically, so couldn't root it. Something like that.
Lets check the settings..hmm...Android Version: 2.3.3, Baseband Version: I9100XXKDJ, Kernel Version: 2.6.35.7-I9100XWEK2-CL187606 [email protected] #2, Build Number: GINGERBREAD.XWKE2.
That's all I know.
Rizaria said:
I might investigate more into ogg files when I have more spare time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One last word about Ogg ... it's only superior to MP3 at 224 KBit and above!
At least I don't think it was custom, ...
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Click to collapse
You think? Where did you get it from? I only updated by OTA ... staying stock so far.
maybe 2.3.5 will fix that
Aymara said:
One last word about Ogg ... it's only superior to MP3 at 224 KBit and above!
You think? Where did you get it from? I only updated by OTA ... staying stock so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to only have MP3s above 192kbps, mostly higher, so I guess I'll know to keep the trend for oggs.
And yes, I believe so. The OTA updating thing didn't work. Again, I believe, because it was an Optus-edited firmware.
tuvi123 said:
maybe 2.3.5 will fix that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps. If I update again does it keep my root or will I have to do that again?
EDIT: Okay, Poweramp works fine, and I also see types of headphones are to blame. Like the earphones that came with the phone are fine. They have 3 notches on the plug as opposed to 2. I'd say that's a fair indication. Anyway, can consider this problem solved.
Also I've been told my warranty was indeed automatic, so if I truly cannot fix the mic problem again, apparently I can send it away to get fixed. Although I guess I'll have to reset and all, hide root and all that. Don't even know how, nor do I want to be phone-less, so help will still be very appreciated.
Aymara said:
But if you are a bass junkie, the Koss Porta Pro might be the better choice. It has a little bit more bass response as the AKG, but is more bulky and can't compete with the AKG's sound "crispness" in middle and high frequency bands.
Conclusion: After already switching to Poweramp, Ogg and a good mobile headphone will give give you a second WOW effect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with most everything you said except your comments on the koss portapros.
Unlike most iem's, the koss us not bass heavy and in fact shines in separation, natural sound reproduction and over all warness and crispness. It is definitely not a headphone for bass heads.
I like listening to modern music with a lot of strings and I get a lot of separation in the high frequencies.
Like i said I've compared it to a Boss quiet comfort 15 and senn 555's.
Your akg is very good too, but at a third of the price less, i personally feel the koss is a better buy.
And that's why it's design has been the same for the past 25 years
sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk

Using the sgs2 with a high-end headphone.

I've been considering for a while to buy a good headphones and I've decided to buy an audio technica ath-m50. The only thing that is bothering me is the yamaha audio chip. If I buy those headphones, I'll be using them most of the time on my sgs2.
Will the yamaha chip make the ath-m50 sound like a cheap low-end headphone?
If you happen to own an ath-m50 I wold really appreciate it if you could measure the hollow of the earth cups, diagonally and horizontally maybe. I've read that people with large ears may find them uncomfortable. The length of my ears are just below 7cm(I don't care, they are small, my mum told me that)
I've read supercurio's analysis of the audio chip but my question still remains.
Waiting eagerly for any response.
Get an iPod nano- excellent sound quality and a great price. I hate using my GSII for music though Poweramp is a great app
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
WagTwo said:
I've been considering for a while to buy a good headphones and I've decided to buy an audio technica ath-m50. The only thing that is bothering me is the yamaha audio chip. If I buy those headphones, I'll be using them most of the time on my sgs2.
Will the yamaha chip make the ath-m50 sound like a cheap low-end headphone?
If you happen to own an ath-m50 I wold really appreciate it if you could measure the hollow of the earth cups, diagonally and horizontally maybe. I've read that people with large ears may find them uncomfortable. The length of my ears are just below 7cm(I don't care, they are small, my mum told me that)
I've read supercurio's analysis of the audio chip but my question still remains.
Waiting eagerly for any response.
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Well, if you really want to use a pair of high end headphones with the galaxy sII, get a portable amp like i did. I got a fiio e7, and it powers the ath-m50just fine. Listening to them straight out of the GSII audio jack wont let them utilise their full power. And dont get an iPod if you want really high quality audio. :-/ (Just a suggestion )
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@OP go head and also look at this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1405840
Nyssa1104 said:
@OP go head and also look at this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1405840
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I have bought that app even though I rarely use it because for me the s2 is loud enough. I'm more worried about the quality of the sound.
WagTwo said:
I have bought that app even though I rarely use it because for me the s2 is loud enough. I'm more worried about the quality of the sound.
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It simple buddy take your handset into a store that sells these headsets and test the thing in house.
From there your should be able to make up your mind.
Nyssa1104 said:
It simple buddy take your handset into a store that sells these headsets and test the thing in house.
From there your should be able to make up your mind.
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I've thought of this, the only problem is finding a store that sells the audio technica ath-m50. I live in London I'm sure there is plenty of stores.
However this would not be much help because I'm not very experienced with high end headphones, so probably almost anything will sound good to me.
If you want to listen to boom boom music with heavy bass then the SGS2 is inadequate .Expensive headphones are not going to do that much .
However as a user who does not have any boom boom music i find stock player headphones or slightly upmarket low end Sennheiser headphones fine .
Power Amp for me strangely lowers sound output level .
jje
I've the same experience as JJEgan with Power Amp. It seems to boost dynamic range at the sacrifice of overall volume.
For getting the best out of high-end headphones, you could always try Neutron Music Player from Android Market. It claims to use its own "32-bit audio music rendering core", although it's debatable whether this makes a difference, given that uncompressed CDs only have 16-bits per sample. People seem to like it, though.
Just recently I noticed something when listening to music using Poweramp with a headphone.
When you click on something such as the app drawer, the volume of the music that you are listening to increases for fraction of a second then it goes back to normal.
It can be very annoying when you are using the phone while listening.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Thanks for all the replies.
I've started to change my mind about buying an audio technica ath-m50, maybe I should stick with the headphones from poundland.
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Tephlon said:
I've the same experience as JJEgan with Power Amp. It seems to boost dynamic range at the sacrifice of overall volume.
For getting the best out of high-end headphones, you could always try Neutron Music Player from Android Market. It claims to use its own "32-bit audio music rendering core", although it's debatable whether this makes a difference, given that uncompressed CDs only have 16-bits per sample. People seem to like it, though.
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Tried Neutron at the weekend, and these old ears couldn't see - OK, hear - what the fuss is about. No difference from Poweramp with a very unscientific ABX on my Sennheiser IE8s.
Definitely the worst UI I've seen on any music player though - so hideous that it should win awards.
Get rockbox.
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I use studio beats by dre, they have an amp built into them and they kick bass hard, hi fi quality audio! I work in poundland and trust me their headphones don't work well with the sg2, i hope this helps
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I'm going to buy AKG K240 mk II.
I will buy a FiiO E6 with the AKG. The last tweaks will be done with DSP.
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Senn HD25-1s and Ety ER4-Ps both sound fine straight out of the headphone socket.
Using poweramp, without any eq or tone control tweaks, just ~30% crossfeed.
I read all the reports of crappy audio on the GS2, so when I got mine and tried it I was very pleasantly suprised.
Whereabouts in Poweramp settings is crossfeed...Didn't realise Poweramp supported it ?
bejay said:
Senn HD25-1s and Ety ER4-Ps both sound fine straight out of the headphone socket.
Using poweramp, without any eq or tone control tweaks, just ~30% crossfeed.
I read all the reports of crappy audio on the GS2, so when I got mine and tried it I was very pleasantly suprised.
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On the tone/vol/bal page, next to the volume control. It's labeled stereo x.
Ahhhh. So that's what Poweramp calls crossfeed. Gotcha Yeah I normally have that on around 35% with Brainwavz M3's.
Thanks for that bit of info
Edit to add - Out of thanks for the day, will hit you up later.
bejay said:
On the tone/vol/bal page, next to the volume control. It's labeled stereo x.
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No problem

[Q] Hissing noise on Audio

Hi all! I have been reading alot of post about Streak's low quality sound output, and I'am experiencing it too, when I plug in my head phones there is no hissing sound, but when I click play or receive a call hissing sound starts and does not end till audio output end.
There is alot of post from people that have the same issue, I will Quote them below. I'm posting this because everyone that has posted this issue has been "overrun" with other people posts that they do not have that background noise.
I just want to expand on this problem, could it be Android version, or perhaps different hardware? Any suggestion is welcome.
----------------------------------------------
gadaga said:
Hi,
Personally I find that whatever I use as earphones, I have a hard time accepting the noise level on the streak. When playing music at a medium volume, the noise is really very very present.
I suppose there is no work around is there? Doesn't this bother you for serious listening?
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donalgodon said:
The sound quality is absolutely abhorrent in comparison to the Galaxy SII or any other smartphone I've ever used, including the HD2, Vibrant, several Nokia devices, etc.
There is a constant and definitely audible signal noise in the Streak that really bugged me. As a recording engineer, I can definitely hear the difference between the audio systems on the two devices. When the playback system kicks in, you can literally hear the hiss in the background. When the playback stops, the hiss vanishes. Upon further investigation, it seems that this is a known issue that found its way into several reviews. If I hadn't heard it for myself, I'd have not believed how terrible it actually sounded, and frankly, it's SO bad that I find it inexcusable on such a high-end device.
I sold my iPod and bought a larger MicroSD to use my phone as my main portable media device, and the Streak really let me down.
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hp79 said:
If it's boosted, wouldn't that cause more noise since noise will also be boosted?
I'm having the same problem. Hissing noise in the background. I also got mine couple days ago. I bought it when it was $200 unlocked from dell.
I'm on stock 347. I should have tested the earphone when I had 351.
It makes the hissing noise in music, internet radio, wherever sound is being played. It has a constant level of hiss noise even if I raise the music volume or reduce it to minimum.
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I believe it's the hardware. Doesn't matter what OS level you're running (I've experienced it on 2.1, 2.2, 2.3)
I've actually found it to be more tolerable on the Dell oem headphones when compared to my nice headphones (etymotic research er6i)
cyapalmpos said:
I believe it's the hardware. Doesn't matter what OS level you're running (I've experienced it on 2.1, 2.2, 2.3)
I've actually found it to be more tolerable on the Dell oem headphones when compared to my nice headphones (etymotic research er6i)
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I hope its OS because some don't have this issue, maybe MIUI 2.3.2 Rom wont have this problem (when they fix the problem with headphones not being recognized).
And yes, on Dell oem headphones it is less noticable but compared to 50-100$ better headphones, Dell's are low quality, although they are one of the best in box headphones that comes with device.
I have some basic knowledge in Java and C. Could anyone point in the right direction so I can try to edit/tweak some setting of audio output. Any info would be appreciated.
It's also noticible on the S7 and venue. At least on the S7 you can only really notice it in a room that's completely silent, but at least for that i'm talking about the external speakers.
All I can say is that it's pretty much not noticible for me as long as it's not silence/very low volume music. At least for me it's very easy to drown out the hiss by raising the volume as it does not/minimally scales with the volume.
Keep in mind that the speakers/headset jack simply do not recieve power when not in use, the hiss on them could be part of the inherent design of it. It might be noise after the DAC as it doesnt scale anywhere near 1:1 with the audio. But I'm just blindly guessing
TheManii said:
It's also noticible on the S7 and venue. At least on the S7 you can only really notice it in a room that's completely silent, but at least for that i'm talking about the external speakers.
All I can say is that it's pretty much not noticible for me as long as it's not silence/very low volume music. At least for me it's very easy to drown out the hiss by raising the volume as it does not/minimally scales with the volume.
Keep in mind that the speakers/headset jack simply do not recieve power when not in use, the hiss on them could be part of the inherent design of it. It might be noise after the DAC as it doesnt scale anywhere near 1:1 with the audio. But I'm just blindly guessing
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Did they came up with any fix for S7 and Venue?
In DSC rom update there is a line that says:
I'm using MIUI so can someone confirm if this changes anything?
_n0p_ said:
v1.0
[*]DSC Gain tool. Controls audio driver parameters.
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The V has pretty much no perceptable hiss, and I believe the V and S5 share the same audio drivers (dont quote me on this), it might merely be a hardware issue on the S5.
I cant really say much about the S7's headset out, as it's rather unwieldly to use that way.
Also I'm very sure that it ISNT dependant on volume, like previously mentioned unless your current headset is loud to begin with, just turn up the volume and it drowns out nicely.
But yes it will be noticable on the quiet parts of music or during track changes.
tl;dr: turn up volume, V's got a cleaner output
Equipment tested on:
S5: CM7.2
S7: SD7-r9 (514-xx)
V: SD4-250 (408)
headset: iphone in ear headphones
I think its just the poor SNR ratio of the streak, its only -79db or something, its very poor.
Scroll down in this Dell Streak review to see RMAA audio benchmark measurements.
_n0p_ said:
soul_train, 100% hardware issue.
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Makes me sad

[Q] Galaxy S2 i9100 Audio. is THAT bad?

Hi, question is simple, it's galaxy S2 audio So crappy that it isn't worth the moving from i9000 to i9100?
1)I'm not an audophile, but it's really THAT noticeable the audio quality diference between those two?
2)Does supercurio's "Voodoo Louder!" makes sound S2 sound loud as S1? or S1 is still louder than S2?
(I know that louder doesn't mean better quality, but this question is different from first)
well, that is all
I think it's absolutely fine. I'm not a music snob either. I haven't tried Voodoo Louder so I can't comment, but I can say that I've noticed a HUGE volume boost since I've moved over to MIUI. But yeah, the sound is fine, bare in mind that I've never used a SGS though.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
i'm using Voodoo Louder ... audiobeats mod for S2 ... PowerAmp and Equalizer ...
that's the best combination [so far] for my S2
bobsdeigh said:
Hi, question is simple, it's galaxy S2 audio So crappy that it isn't worth the moving from i9000 to i9100?
1)I'm not an audophile, but it's really THAT noticeable the audio quality diference between those two?
I tested on first purchase with both phones .
No difference .
2)Does supercurio's "Voodoo Louder!" makes sound S2 sound loud as S1? or S1 is still louder than S2?
My S2 is loud at 30% volume 50% is to loud .
The defining point for many is relatively simple SGS2 not so good at the low end .
So if you listen to boom boom bang bang extra bass stuff its not that good .
jje
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I used the stock rom for like 20 minutes before rooting. since the I used miui & omega and never had a problem with the loudness and/or sound quality.
okmijnlp said:
I think it's absolutely fine. I'm not a music snob either. I haven't tried Voodoo Louder so I can't comment, but I can say that I've noticed a HUGE volume boost since I've moved over to MIUI. But yeah, the sound is fine, bare in mind that I've never used a SGS though.
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Hi - I also have volume issues & have been thinking about switching to MIUI. can you tell me what ROM you are using?
I just switched from HTC HD2 running MIUI & I do miss it
Thanks
Hi. I got an SGSII and i also have Beats By Dre Headphones. The sound quality is amazing with PowerAMP, some EQ tweaks. I installed Beats audio but that was bad. It sounded cheap. Lower bass and the Mids & Highs were bad as well. I restored the stock Audio which is amazing for me.
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Flash Beats Audio..
Hey if your phone is rooted...you can always have beats audio on your phone like the htc phones....it really makes a difference..
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/beats-audio-now-available-on-any-gingerbread-rom/
Grrr. Beats only "makes a difference" if you don't know how music is suppose to sound and enjoy over-mastered music normalised to 99% so "it sounds good" to the masses. Or you're one of the annoying ones which put 2 x 500W subwoofers in their car (but they'll go deaf by 25, so that's ok, just cleaning the gene pool).
http://www.head-fi.org/t/534236/beats-by-dre-pro-indepth-review
The soundsignature could very well be described as muddy with overbearing low end even more than the studios already had. [...] the beats fell short no matter what I tried.
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On topic: the sound quality of the SGS 2 isn't bad, but not spectacular either. It really depends on your expectations; if you expect it to sound as a 1000$ hi-fi device, then search somewhere else. As you're listening to music on a *portable* device, you'll have external noise anyway; better get a pair of quality in-ear headphones (with good insulation); this will allow you to reduce outside noise and keep the volume down (so you'll still have hearing when you get old).
VAXXi said:
On topic: the sound quality of the SGS 2 isn't bad, but not spectacular either. It really depends on your expectations; if you expect it to sound as a 1000$ hi-fi device, then search somewhere else
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The SQ is worse than my £30 Sansa Clip... It's acceptable, but no more IMHO. For "serious portable music", I stick with my S9 and Senny IE8s. Just use the phone for music for trips to work. YMMV.
It definitely depends upon your music .
How its coded and what format .
SGS2 is not very good with boom boom stuff as its weak at the low end .
Sound level does vary on phones ( or we have a load of deaf users ) their are a number of apps that may help .
Stock phones or Cheapish Sure or Sennheiser sound level at 30% and no problems on my phone .
Tweaked very slightly with Volume + free app and Visang RO2 IEM for slightly better overall natural timbre .
jje
VAXXi said:
Grrr. Beats only "makes a difference" if you don't know how music is suppose to sound and enjoy over-mastered music normalised to 99% so "it sounds good" to the masses. Or you're one of the annoying ones which put 2 x 500W subwoofers in their car (but they'll go deaf by 25, so that's ok, just cleaning the gene pool).
http://www.head-fi.org/t/534236/beats-by-dre-pro-indepth-review
On topic: the sound quality of the SGS 2 isn't bad, but not spectacular either. It really depends on your expectations; if you expect it to sound as a 1000$ hi-fi device, then search somewhere else. As you're listening to music on a *portable* device, you'll have external noise anyway; better get a pair of quality in-ear headphones (with good insulation); this will allow you to reduce outside noise and keep the volume down (so you'll still have hearing when you get old).
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Beats audio makes a difference with high end headphones like the beats ones.........AS THEY ALREADY HAVE IT....BEATS AUDIO IS THE ONLY OPTION FOR THEM TO MAKE MUSIC BETTER....nobody is saying that you hook up your phone to a sub woofer.........
Yep Beats are high end/quality canalphones alright Muddier than CX300's.

Sound quality for SGII

The music quality through headset is quite bad for the SG2. Is it my custom rom or is it the sound chip of the phone in general which causes this problem? The music played sounds like it's under water
JoshuaLow_ said:
The music quality through headset is quite bad for the SG2. Is it my custom rom or is it the sound chip of the phone in general which causes this problem? The music played sounds like it's under water
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Try different software, different files and different headphones - most basic checks. If you still have the problem then it's either your ROM, which can be fixed by re-flashing or switching to a different ROM, or hardware related, which is obviously more serious. But do the basic checks firs, if not done already.
Nope. It's the Yamaha DAC. If you use a decent music app with an EQ & a decent set of headphones/canalphones you can get acceptable sound out of it, but if you're expecting sound as good as say, the SGS, it ain't gonna happen. Samsung had a brain explosion when they failed to use a Wolfson DAC in the SGS2 like they did with the SGS (and like they have with the SGS3; all reviews I've read for it so far say sound is really good).
MistahBungle said:
Nope. It's the Yamaha DAC. If you use a decent music app with an EQ & a decent set of headphones/canalphones you can get acceptable sound out of it, but if you're expecting sound as good as say, the SGS, it ain't gonna happen. Samsung had a brain explosion when they failed to use a Wolfson DAC in the SGS2 like they did with the SGS (and like they have with the SGS3; all reviews I've read for it so far say sound is really good).
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Yeap i'm using the Playerpro app and a pair of UE TF10. No doubt the sound is gonna be good. I also realized a huge difference between the sound of SG2 and Iphone 4

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