My Take on Music Players. - Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0, 5.0

First off let me say i understand that everyone's hearing is different and what sounds good to one may not sound good to another.
I decided to do a little comparison of jetAudio PowerAMP & PlayerPro to see which one i thought had the best audio. Not features or operation ect. Just the best audio to my ears. The test went like this. Install them and set all audio extras off. No bass boost. No eq. No virtaulizer. No stereofx. nada, nothing. Nothing but just the unaltered sound from the player.
I chose a lot off different tracks to compare but concentrated on Saving Abel- The Sex is Good and ZZ-Top- Blue Jean Blues along with Matchbox20- Hang. I would load up a song in all three. Play it back to back to back listening to each one closely for bass, mids and treble. Drum clarity. The sound of fingers gently breathing over the strings. Upfront vocal quality.
Before i get to the results let me give a little info about the setup. It's a Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 with TerraSilent 1.3.5 kernel, Klin's Icy~Fusion 2.3 ROM. Voodoo Sound Control. The cans are a-Jays-ONE and MEElectronics SP51's. I also conducted the test with and without DSP Manager (which is included in the custom rom.) For settings in DSP. No bass boost. No Compression. No Loudness Compensation. Just eq with the first set to +2.2 for a little bass boost. All others at 0. I also like Virtual Room Effect set to ROOM.
The results: HANDS DOWN PlayerPro! Seriously, it was no contest. Every song i tried resulted in PlayerPro kicking there backside. Jet and Pamp sounded very similar. The bass just seems muddy, the mids are lackluster and the highs are over exaggerated. Overall an unclean sound. PlayerPro was clear and precise.
This isn't the first time I've conducted this test either. I've tried the same test with the 4.0 in stock condition and also with steves custom rom with voodoo. The results are always the same for me. One reason i keep doing the test is because i see so much in forums singing the praises of PowerAmp and i keep telling myself that maybe the test was a fluke, my hearing wasn't having a good day ect. But low and behold there's not even a maybe this sounds just as good or better. It's always the same surprised look on my face with a smile when i hit play on PlayerPro.
PowerAMP fans don't flame me If it sounds that good to you, well more power to ya (pun intended). I'm uninstalling all others for about the 4th time and sticking with PlayerPro. Good day!

DVC
IMO Poweramp's DVC feature makes it stand out from the rest. However, you need to have some knowledge on how to properly adjust the EQ in order to fully maximize its potential. Right now I'm using neutrino music player and it sounds good out of the box, you don't need to do extensive tweaking unlike in poweramp. I'm not giving up on poweramp yet though

See here is my take on eq's. From what I've read all my life, eq's should never be used to boost frequencies. Most audiophiles will say if the player is doing what it needs to do, then boosting frequencies will only add unwanted distortion. So if eq'ing is used it should be to cut not boost.
I tend to agree with them. I want to hear exactly what the sound producer/mixer wanted me to hear when they cut the track. Not something thats been artificially added. And agan, not trying to start a war of words on the matter, just giving my honest opinion. looking forward to others opinions on the subject.

I personally like poweramp. The dvc feature is great. I only slightly adjust the eq to give a little more bass and also a boost around 4k. It sounds to me better than player pro. My headphones are sennheiser hd 205 ii. So they're pretty good and I can hear that the clarity in player pro is a little better than in poweramp. But again, the dvc allows me to get the warmer, cleaner sound that I want. The player pro's eq flat out sucks.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda app-developers app

Ok, after hearing others opinions on the subject i decided to revisit my test again but this time with DVC on in PowerAMP. Well as they say,,,,,this is a game changer It's unbelievable how much difference putting that one check in the box made! I believe i'm going to have to call it a tie now between PowerAMP and PlayerPro. After loading up several of the same songs in each one and listening side by side, it was real hard to pick a clear winner.

kesongpinoy said:
IMO Poweramp's DVC feature makes it stand out from the rest. However, you need to have some knowledge on how to properly adjust the EQ in order to fully maximize its potential. Right now I'm using neutrino music player and it sounds good out of the box, you don't need to do extensive tweaking unlike in poweramp. I'm not giving up on poweramp yet though
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Click to collapse
I'm with you, I ALWAYS leave my EQ's on any of my players FLAT as that is really the only way to compare different apps.
---------- Post added at 02:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:30 AM ----------
mwclark7 said:
Ok, after hearing others opinions on the subject i decided to revisit my test again but this time with DVC on in PowerAMP. Well as they say,,,,,this is a game changer It's unbelievable how much difference putting that one check in the box made! I believe i'm going to have to call it a tie now between PowerAMP and PlayerPro. After loading up several of the same songs in each one and listening side by side, it was real hard to pick a clear winner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your gonna test sound on this level you should also flash like 1.4 or 1.5 versions of Stratus ROM (EtherealRom) so you can compare the difference BEATS Audio makes, personally I felt that gave the best clarity, despite the loss of DVC in poweramp.

daniel644 said:
I'm with you, I ALWAYS leave my EQ's on any of my players FLAT as that is really the only way to compare different apps.
---------- Post added at 02:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:30 AM ----------
If your gonna test sound on this level you should also flash like 1.4 or 1.5 versions of Stratus ROM (EtherealRom) so you can compare the difference BEATS Audio makes, personally I felt that gave the best clarity, despite the loss of DVC in poweramp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I if you do, make sure you use my latest version, because I applied a better, cleaner beats mod in it.

what's irritating about the DVC though is its uneven volume scaling which can badly hurt your ears if you forget to turn down the volume

Also, remember you need a MINIMUM 192 kbps bit-rate to properly judge audio quality.
IMHO the best albums to use for testing sound quality are "Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon" remastered of-course and "Evanescence's Fallen".

Related

Sound quality compared with other devices.

How does everyone feel about the sound quality? BEATS rolleyes sounds ok, a bit "overblown."
The real issue, is that compared to my iPhone 4s; the rezound doesn't sound as good. It sounds better than my GS2, but I honestly feel like the 4s has better sound. Anyone else have any input?
I'm using Shure SE215s right now, they sound much better than the beats headphones or the Apple In-ear ones I have.
I think it may depend on the type of Music you listen to man. I listen to mostly rock/hard rock and both the Beats and SkullCandy buds I have sound awesome on the phone! If you install another EQ, I found using the HTC Music app it will screw with Beats. You can only use the alternate EQ outside of HTC Music, like in Google Music, etc. My phone sounded like absolute **** on HTC Music with both Beats and the other EQ on at the same time. Since most other EQ's run in the background, I didn't realize what was going on and almost got pissed off.
I listen to all sorts of stuff. I was lying in bed last night with three sets of headphones, and iPhone 4s, and my rezound. Comparing all sorts of stuff. The same parts of the same track, beats on/off, etc.
No extra equalizer on either.
I can only compare it to my iPod from 2005 and first gen zune but I think it sounds much better, honestly. I listen to rock only, though. I think the ear buds are pretty nice. I never really use earbuds because I use over the head cans for recording etc, but I think these sound pretty good on here!
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
Thats kind of my point, I wouldn't say the rezound sounds "bad" by any means. It sounds quite good actually! It sounds better than my GS2.
I just think maybe the iPhone sounds better. I will do more "testing"
Why not just go get an I-Phone 4s ???????
Sent from my Galaxy Tab 10.1
When you're stating your thoughts, you should state at the minimum:
App you were using to play music
Beats on or off or other EQ etc...
What you were listening on
I want to know how it sounds when connected to a car or home theater system. My thunderbolt sounds just fine with headphones but connect it to a car or HT system and there is quite a bit of hiss included with the audio. This has persisted over multiple roms, kernels, and apps. I imagine the hiss is still there with headphones as well but the volume is less when using headphones. When connected to an external amplifier, the volume is maxed just to get a reasonable signal to the other device.
jbh00jh said:
Why not just go get an I-Phone 4s ???????
Sent from my Galaxy Tab 10.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... I have one. Great post by the way.
When you're stating your thoughts, you should state at the minimum:
App you were using to play music
Beats on or off or other EQ etc...
What you were listening on
I want to know how it sounds when connected to a car or home theater system. My thunderbolt sounds just fine with headphones but connect it to a car or HT system and there is quite a bit of hiss included with the audio. This has persisted over multiple roms, kernels, and apps. I imagine the hiss is still there with headphones as well but the volume is less when using headphones. When connected to an external amplifier, the volume is maxed just to get a reasonable signal to the other device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stated all that? I tried apple in ear, beats that came with the rezound, and my shure SE215s.
I tried beats On and Off, that was part of my first post.
Just using the standard HTC music app and the standard iphone music app.
I use my rezound to listen to audiobooks on my long commute hooked up to the car, i'm actually not into car audio at all, so I wont' be any help there. I don't notice any kind of hiss with the rezound, I definitely had it with the garbage Bionic. I usually keep the rezound a notch below max and compensate with the car volume.
My Rezound has weak audio threw the speaker... not sure if anyone else is experiencing this. Choppy, distorted and low, but it might be because of the type of music. Most of my music has a lot of bass.
The reason other EQs sound bad w/ BA enabled is because BA when on is a custom EQ setting. In other words you shouldn't mix 2 EQ settings together, BA(beats audio) is simply a EQ profile made by HTC or Beats.
what ace said. if someones using Eq with beats, then sigh lol...
but i don't have an iphone4s to try out, so i don't have a comparison..all i've got is a 6 year old ipod that isn't even a touch lol
eallan said:
How does everyone feel about the sound quality? BEATS rolleyes sounds ok, a bit "overblown."
The real issue, is that compared to my iPhone 4s; the rezound doesn't sound as good. It sounds better than my GS2, but I honestly feel like the 4s has better sound. Anyone else have any input?
I'm using Shure SE215s right now, they sound much better than the beats headphones or the Apple In-ear ones I have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
'call quality' is comparable to the Incredible 2(and definitely better then the Thunderbolt), especially when using Skype.
'sound quality', not really an improvement per se, just they add in a custom 'Beats' EQ to the stock player to try and awe people.
all beats is is a custom EQ setting with more emphasis on lows + you can't even adjust the EQ to your liking. the headphones are ok for being throw ins, but the Bose headphones for around the same price have a bit better clarity and the bass response is a bit better to(just that the dres hit a tad harder).
I'm not trying to put down the phone(heck I bought one) or anything... it does have a really nice screen and performs slightly better then an overclocked Thunderbolt(probably due to Google doing a poor job with the dual-core architecture).... but if you bought/want this phone just because of the whole "Beats By Dre" bit, then you've been had sucka!
p.s. btw, the one thing Apple has done with pure excellence is iphone/ipod EQ. probably the best out there period.
i believe i read somewhere the beats eq is an active eq that constantly adjusts to compensate for frequency loss etc. if so, that's a nice feature.
I don't care who invented beats anyways, I love Monster's products, and this is one of them, lol. People are under the perception this is a Dr. Dre owned and operated business, wrong. It's just the branding, and like the above said, to awe people.
jayochs said:
i believe i read somewhere the beats eq is an active eq that constantly adjusts to compensate for frequency loss etc. if so, that's a nice feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, but check the engadget review of sensation xe, they show you the eq settings of beats audio.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
The external speaker on my Incredible sounded louder than the one on my Rezound, although through the beats headphones music sounds great. At times it's a little too bass heavy for me because I listen to a lot of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal and the bass drum and detuned bass guitar over power the guitars and vocals.
l7777 said:
When you're stating your thoughts, you should state at the minimum:
App you were using to play music
Beats on or off or other EQ etc...
What you were listening on
I want to know how it sounds when connected to a car or home theater system. My thunderbolt sounds just fine with headphones but connect it to a car or HT system and there is quite a bit of hiss included with the audio. This has persisted over multiple roms, kernels, and apps. I imagine the hiss is still there with headphones as well but the volume is less when using headphones. When connected to an external amplifier, the volume is maxed just to get a reasonable signal to the other device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a thunderbolt before this and I hook my phone up through AUX input in my truck EVERY time I drive it. The quality of sound that comes from the rezound is light years ahead of my thunderbolt. Like its a night and day difference, even in pandora the sound quality is WAYYYYYYYYYYY better. I never had the hiss you speak of but I the sound was just super low compared to this phone. Yesterday we had my phone and an iphone4 hooked up through the AUX port in 2 different cars and it didn't matter what we played it sounded better on mine. I will say that the other two guys with me preferred the Power amp app over the stock music player with beats.
voxigenboy said:
'call quality' is comparable to the Incredible 2(and definitely better then the Thunderbolt), especially when using Skype.
'sound quality', not really an improvement per se, just they add in a custom 'Beats' EQ to the stock player to try and awe people.
all beats is is a custom EQ setting with more emphasis on lows + you can't even adjust the EQ to your liking. the headphones are ok for being throw ins, but the Bose headphones for around the same price have a bit better clarity and the bass response is a bit better to(just that the dres hit a tad harder).
I'm not trying to put down the phone(heck I bought one) or anything... it does have a really nice screen and performs slightly better then an overclocked Thunderbolt(probably due to Google doing a poor job with the dual-core architecture).... but if you bought/want this phone just because of the whole "Beats By Dre" bit, then you've been had sucka!
p.s. btw, the one thing Apple has done with pure excellence is iphone/ipod EQ. probably the best out there period.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest I don't care much about call quality. I hate talking on the phone.
I just figured marketing this phone with beats and audio and packing in decent head phones they may have used some nice hardware as well. I'd love to see a total teardown and chip li st.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium

[Q] Best earphones for the Wolfson chip?

Hi guys,
Any ideas what would be the best music player (MP3) app and earphones to go with the S3?
I'm currently on the stock earphones, and it sounds kind of flat, even with live 7.1 switched on.
Any good recommendations?
Sony EX510
Sound magic e10
monster turbine gold (these are quite expensive but they sound amazing and have a lifetime warranty)
http://www.head-fi.org/f/103/portable-headphones-earphones-and-in-ear-monitors
The best will cost you more than the phone itself. It all depends on your budget, but that link above will guide you. Probably the best forum on earphones out there.
Best app?
If you're an audiophile and want the best sound quality then it has to be neutron player but that has a horrible ui.
Poweramp would be my second choice where the ui is more friendly and mainstream and the sound quality is still noticeably better than the maintstream music apps out there.
P.S every single person in that earphone forum will slam you if you even so much as hint that beats headphones sound good.
Monster Beats Solo HD + Play Music (v4.3.605.392829 (jellyBean)
very nice
I prefer earphones such as the AKG K324(P)
to fat headphones.
However the best earphones only bring so much if the Samsung-software has limitations.
You should get the Siyahkernel which ports the old Voodoo from S1 to the S3 and bring an awesome quality boost. Enabling Dynamic Range and setting Bassboost to "small speaker" further increments the experience.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
This thread here is a review of 200+ earphones grouped into different price brackets for easy viewing:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/mul...00-monster-miles-davis-trumpet-added-06-19-12
Pick your price bracket and read through the reviews of the earphones that fall in that range. The people in that forum are way more experienced in this area than the majority of posters here who will end up recommending you the wrong thing.
It's like going on a car forum and then asking them whats the best rom to use on your phone. The majority of posters would be of no actual help to you and you're better off asking people who are more knowledgeable on the topic.
Switch off 7.1. Majority of music for consumers is stereo so just 2.0. 7.1 would modify it further from the way it was meant to be heard. Also if you haven't done so already make sure your mp3's have a bit rate of 320kbps or are in a lossless format.
1. Ultimate Ears Triple fi 10 Earphones
2. PowerAmp[1] Pro[2]
3. Your music in .flac
My combination exactly.
We have dif ears and taste in music... no one can tell you what's best except your ears... Source (S3) is already good sounding, what you need is a good medium (no lower than 256kbps mp3/aac or even loseless FLAC) and a good player app (Poweramp)... Headphones? its for you to decide... Music to my ears might be noise for you (example: most of people likes bass, a lot of lows... not for me, i hate artificial bass thats why i hate the Hiphop Genres and alike... im more of classical/jazz guy, so i have to choose what headphone that suits to my prefered genres) .. Hope this help
jaytana said:
We have dif ears and taste in music... no one can tell you what's best except your ears... Source (S3) is already good sounding, what you need is a good medium (no lower than 256kbps mp3/aac or even loseless FLAC) and a good player app (Poweramp)... Headphones? its for you to decide... Music to my ears might be noise for you (example: most of people likes bass, a lot of lows... not for me, i hate artificial bass thats why i hate the Hiphop Genres and alike... im more of classical/jazz guy, so i have to choose what headphone that suits to my prefered genres) .. Hope this help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And that is the problem a big majority are not asking for sound quality but more BOOM BOOM distortion .
jje
exactly... thats why thread like this will continue in a way that there will be no ending...

Over ear headphones

Hey im looking for some over ear headphones
as I never really owned any headphones besides the normal ones that you get whit a phone i just fell like all over ear ones play very good so would really like some opinions on some and maybe a few idea's for what too buy
these are the ones im going to choice between:
Beats studio:
a huge minus is the battery's and the price the price can i live whit but the battery's i really dont like
Sms street wired:
could't hear any big differences on these from the studio ones as i tried them in the shop and they are a bit cheaper too so these are the ones i like the most right now
Marley Destiny TTR:
these look quiet nice but i cant really get a chance to try them before buuying
but it will be one of those i will consider
AKG K550:
these im in love whit tried them yesterday night and they sound just amazing i would really think about using a little biy more money and get these
im open to nearly every recommend
just not wireless ones as they are for use on my prime/DHD im streaming much of the music (spotify) and the wire is not a problem
Heard much about that BT and WIFI is'nt the best combo
Battery powered ones i also a huge minus for me
And ofc the price but this is not a huge problem
in general I listen to nearly all modern music but mostly its electro dubstep and so.
if want some more info just ask
I picked up a pair of Marley over the ear head phones about a month ago. Good sound, variety of styles and prices.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
Wesc bongos and plattans are pretty nice looking sound good for what your doing and are much cheaper in price than beats and the likes.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
So are you looking for something trendy, inexpensive, or good quality?
If you want something trendy go with beats. Trendy is about all they have going for them, they are expensive, comparitively the sound is crap, and they are overpriced.
If you want something inexpensive there are tonnes of options under $100
if you want quality then check out Headphone.com, they have good comparisons (Objective, not subjective) for most major headphones. You can find something with the specs you like, with great audio reproduction, and in the price range you like. They have a nifty compare graph tool that graphs the sound reproduction at different frequencies (you will notice beats are very bass heavy, part of why they suck), you can also check how much they isolate outside noise (big deal for me), how well they go from high frequencies to low frequencies, audio reproduction of simultanious high and low frequencies, etc. Looooots of good info.
The AKG 550's are highly recommended on most audiophile sites. check out this link to start comparing:
http://www.headphone.com/learning-center/build-a-graph.php
Good luck!
---------- Post added at 08:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:57 PM ----------
Additionally
Stay away from beats. period. they are craptastic headphones. You can get much better for much less.
Stay away from the ones that require batteries. Good headphones shouldnt need to use active noise reduction, remember Isolation is always better than reduction
Bluetooth until recently only had lossy codecs. With brand new high end devices (think galaxy S3) they support the new bluetooth profiles that offer lossless audio. The prime, as far as i know, does not support lossless bluetooth audio. So unless you want sound that clips or gets distorted, skip the bluetooth.
Stay away from wireless unless your not really interested in clean pure sound. Same deal as with bluetooth, it compresses the audio stream, you get choppier sound.
Use the link i sent and www.headphone.com as a resource, its got LOTS of good info. Happy hunting!
epeereboom said:
I picked up a pair of Marley over the ear head phones about a month ago. Good sound, variety of styles and prices.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
these look very good imo only minus i can see is that they use battery's but will for sure be on my list when deciding in the end
Thanks for your input
pileot said:
So are you looking for something trendy, inexpensive, or good quality?
If you want something trendy go with beats. Trendy is about all they have going for them, they are expensive, comparitively the sound is crap, and they are overpriced.
If you want something inexpensive there are tonnes of options under $100
if you want quality then check out Headphone.com, they have good comparisons (Objective, not subjective) for most major headphones. You can find something with the specs you like, with great audio reproduction, and in the price range you like. They have a nifty compare graph tool that graphs the sound reproduction at different frequencies (you will notice beats are very bass heavy, part of why they suck), you can also check how much they isolate outside noise (big deal for me), how well they go from high frequencies to low frequencies, audio reproduction of simultanious high and low frequencies, etc. Looooots of good info.
The AKG 550's are highly recommended on most audiophile sites. check out this link to start comparing:
http://www.headphone.com/learning-center/build-a-graph.php
Good luck!
---------- Post added at 08:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:57 PM ----------
Additionally
Stay away from beats. period. they are craptastic headphones. You can get much better for much less.
Stay away from the ones that require batteries. Good headphones shouldnt need to use active noise reduction, remember Isolation is always better than reduction
Bluetooth until recently only had lossy codecs. With brand new high end devices (think galaxy S3) they support the new bluetooth profiles that offer lossless audio. The prime, as far as i know, does not support lossless bluetooth audio. So unless you want sound that clips or gets distorted, skip the bluetooth.
Stay away from wireless unless your not really interested in clean pure sound. Same deal as with bluetooth, it compresses the audio stream, you get choppier sound.
Use the link i sent and www.headphone.com as a resource, its got LOTS of good info. Happy hunting!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for sharing this site this will be really helpful when deciding
I had a little idea about that beats only was because of the trend but you really made me think about it but no i dont think about the trend when it comes to elextronics
Sony MDR-XB500
Ya, i mean the beats do have good quality materials, they are Monster after all, but the audio is so base heavy it drowns out everything else. Great for the uninformed but were better than that Let us know what you pick!
i decided to go for the AKG K550 they cost the same as the studio beats but just plays so much better
thanks to all for helping me to decided
will make a little rewiew when i have used them for some time

Are you satisfied with the Sound Quality on the HTC EVO LTE 4G?

Why are there no sound mods for our phone? I set a poll, so please vote. Please use it to motivate a development. Can we get better sq for our EVO? After the new update Beats Audio doesn't sound as good anymore. It is missing the Beats eq profiles. This also happen on both the oneX OTA as well.
I find the sound quality to be just fine on my Evo. You can only get so much out of a device that isn't designed mainly to play music. If I wanted top quality audio, I'd be carrying around a dedicated MP3 player with expensive headphones and a portable amp, but when I want to listen to music on the go or at the gym that's just not realistic.
If you're worried about SQ, never use Beats. It ruins the overall quality of the music. I would suggest tweaking the EQ yourself.
SoraX64 said:
I find the sound quality to be just fine on my Evo. You can only get so much out of a device that isn't designed mainly to play music. If I wanted top quality audio, I'd be carrying around a dedicated MP3 player with expensive headphones and a portable amp, but when I want to listen to music on the go or at the gym that's just not realistic.
If you're worried about SQ, never use Beats. It ruins the overall quality of the music. I would suggest tweaking the EQ yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are some of the better eq out there that works for our phone. I tried DSP with no luck with headphones..
I find sound a bit lacking but I do love bass and the atomic headphones I bought deliver just that, honestly its like there's a tiny amp in my head
Had a Samsung Epic Touch and hell yeah I am satisfied with sound quality. I plugged in to car's aux input and the Beats kicked in and made the rental car stereo sound great. Also the fact that you can now use poweramp and volume+ together and with built in Beats...there are options
Sent from my EVO using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2
A good set of headphones makes a huge difference. I just bought a pair of klipsch reference 1 headphones and the sound is great, especially if you have fairly high bit rate mp3's. Amazon is offering 250kbps songs which sound pretty outstanding.
I definitely recommend atomic head phones, they are relatively cheap and many many reviewers have said they match the performance of a pair of basic $99 shure ear buds. They are designed for bass but you can easily raise the highs and mids to compensate. I tested my pair with some bass heavy music and carefully raised the bass in equalizer and then boosted it in tone and then adjusted virtualizer (stereo expansion) to see how far I can reliably push the drivers and these things are absolutely clear coming from a 320kbps file and power amp. It really really sounds like an amp is in your head. For $30 these things are sick!
I like it so far. The quality is great, but that's coming from a guy who can't really tell the difference.

Sound Enhancer?

I got Xperia Neo V for testing, and being an audiophile I am, one of the first things I've tested is sound equality.
Also, being an audiophile I am, I hate having any sound enhancers, SRS, beats audio etc. (other than rarely a bit of EQ).
First thing i noticed is rather bass-heavy, dark sound, and not really the best accuracy and limited soundstage. Not really the best I've heard. Instantly came to me that it may be caused by some kind of sound enhancer, but I've already disabled what was there to disable(and it was only for speakers).
Is there any hidden enhancer(driver, or a background tool/process) in stock rom, or is it how this phone really sound?
I've already tried non-stock player(mixzing), but it's still the same.
Yes in stock gingerbread, there is a dirty base sound that's why most people use a sound mod but in ICS or jellybean there is no need.
Try Xenoamp from the market, the built in eq alters system eq only, no extra mods, also has an inbuilt headphone calibrator
Sent from my Xperia Neo V using xda app-developers app
Use TTPOD or (even better) Rockbox
I've been pursuing better sound quality ever since I got this phone - at first it sounded significantly worse than Nationite N2 mp3 player or my old Panasonic discman.
So I tried PowerAmp and the sound was even worse with everything disabled. Then came Neutron, which did actually improve in transparency from Xperia S GB player.
Then I tried TTPod 3.6 translated by shardul_seth IIRC - what an improvement! The sound was really clear, with good bass contour and sharpness to the treble.
One day I decided to try Rockbox again (the first time it didn't work). I like the interface better than TTPod. As for the sound - at the first glance it was comparable, but since I tried Brainwavz B2 earphones the difference is apparent. Rockbox has better soundstage/imaging, treble that is sparklinh without being overly sharp and fast, transparent bass. Actually the bass was more hard-hitting and full on TTPod, but it just intergrates with the music better on Rockbox.
But the biggest improvement was in the midrange - on B2 it came really powerful, clear and weighty, more physical. TTPod would play mids in a more distant, grey, uncolored but boring way - that's not the case with rockbox.
I have too little posts to post the direct link so to find Rockbox replace the underscore with a dot
rasher_dk/rockbox/android/
I'm using it with Codename 8 GB Rom, tried different roms with ICS, JB, Beats, XSIncrediblebass - to me the "pure" roms sounded the same, while the enchancements sounded way worse, very muddy.
If you like the sound I'd like to hear your feedback
I also tried the Xperia Fidelity script, but it is more of a placebo difference. The same guy wrote Fidelizer for Windows, though - and it does noticeably improve the sound.
i use volume +
It has different mode for headphones/bluetooth and speakers
So for example i have max BASS at headphones BUT i have setted speakers to no bass and increased sound quality
@roladyzator
Thanks a lot for your post!
Main problem with the sound was that I use FA eterna, and that bloated bass, suppressed highs and limited soundstage was exactly the worse sound you can give to those iems.
At first installed rockbox... what. a. difference. Totally different sound. Finally can listen to that. I wasn't too satisfied with UI though.
Decided to try TTPOD too. Wow, this UI is exactly what I was looking for. Sound was good too. More distant than Rockbox, bass a bit bloated, but I can live with that. Excellent player. Finally made me stop missing the iPhone.
I posted that thread more out of curiosity(got father's neo V just for a few day testing), cause I'm switching to Desire S soon, but I'm really glad I asked. Finally found my player of choice. Thanks again!
btw. any idea how desire s sounds? good enough?
which resolution for rockbox do you use for sony neo?letters are messed up in my screen
I used volume+ and stock music player / walkman apk from w8.. I think its good enaugh.. haha or if u have unlocked ur BL I suggest u use codename 8.. that rom has better audio compare to the others.. haha
broky said:
which resolution for rockbox do you use for sony neo?letters are messed up in my screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
480x800, works fine for me.
thepgo,
I know it's slighty OT, but I just can't help myself but recommend to you Brainwavz ProAlpha earphones.
I am well acquainted with FA Eterna and they are really not the best IEMs for android smartphones. They all sound muddy and need an earphone that has speed and resolution to compensate that.
ProAlphas have very good detail and treble extension and fast, full and hard hitting bass. The bass is not of high volume, but doesn't roll off quickly (the mid-bass doesn't dominate the lower end of the spectrum), actually very fun and energetic. While being good at analysis, they don't sound overly sharp or lean at all (like Head-Direct RE-0, which have totally anemic bass and ear piercing treble. IMO ProAlphas are RE-0 done right). They are cheap (~40$) so you could use them as an alternative to Eternas.
I would write it if it wasn't for superb pairing of these with smartphones. Aside from B2s these are best for my Neo V. Better than Westone 1, Fischer A151, Meelectronics CC51 (which are similair to proalpha, but have less bass and coloured treble - the extra sparkle makes it sound the same across different records, which for me is a no-no). My friend with HTC Wilfire S also preferred them. Another friend has HTC One V. He sold Phonak Audeo 112 (he had all three types of filters, so three adjustable sound signatures) to buy Proalpha, and stayed with them ever since.
If you can try those out somewhere don't hesitate. These are the best earphones you will find in this price range, showing detail that is not beaten by ones like Audeo or Westone 1, while having fairly neutral tone and sparkly, fun, energetic sound.
Thanks for the recommendation, but I'll pass
When it comes to brighter iems, I already got K370 - sq probably around the same level as proalpha.
Next time I'll dive into my pocket, I'm probably going for vsonic gr06
I was thinking about gr06 too, I wonder if it works well with android smartphones. Never had any of those midrange-happy earphones

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