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
Related
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
Guys post your opinions on the audio quality of the device and if possible also a comparison with your previous phones.
Thanks.
Already quite heavily discussed...
Disappointed. Don't like the headset at all. got replacement and it's fine and waiting for the smart headset to come out.well hopefully it'll be the best, I love listen to music and this time I'm really disappointed with Sony for sure. (Sad Face)
Why disappointed? Everyone knows that standard headsets are bad.
Use your own, be happy.
chesterr said:
Disappointed. Don't like the headset at all. got replacement and it's fine and waiting for the smart headset to come out.well hopefully it'll be the best, I love listen to music and this time I'm really disappointed with Sony for sure. (Sad Face)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you expand a little - what exactly are you unhappy about? When you say you 'don't like the headset' - is it the sound quality or the ergonomics/comfort that you don't like? what aspects exactly are bad?
When we assess the audio performance of a phone, there are several separate aspects:
1. Audio output signal quality, i.e. the analog signal coming out of the phone jack. I would argue that this is superb, as can be witnessed by connecting it directly to a quality Hi-Fi system or high-performance headphones.
Has anyone noticed anything different in this respect - like distortion, noise or other defects? I haven't.
2. The audio quality in the main use of the device: as a telephone (unless we have forgotten that it can also make calls). Taken for granted most of the time, this audio quality was disappointing in my previous X10 - but on the X-S is significantly better. Call audio quality (including volume) is on par with the best phones I've used.
3. The sound quality when listening to music 'over the air', i.e. form the phone's built-in speaker. There are limitations how much loudness and/or bass you can extract form a tiny speaker in a tiny box - I hope nobody expects it to sound like a 500 Watt stereo system On speaker, the X-S is on par with the following models found around my household: Xperia X10, SE C905, SE C902, Nokia 5800. Differences are minor and, at this compromise level, not worth analysing. Subjectively, on built-in speaker the X-S sounds to me slightly but certainly better than the X10.
4. Audio quality via the standard headset provided in the pack. NOT (!) any extra /additional headphones - those are subject to your taste (and investment), see (1) above.
The kit headset is a hands-free unit optimised for making calls and not for music consumption. Yes, they certainly can play music (and many models do it decently, depending on the listener's audio culture and expectations) - but they absolutely must not be assessed and criticised as a musical device, they simply are not that.
Anyone who has the ears to hear the difference and values audio quality normally buys dedicated musical headphones. (Or already has them - as technology in them evolves slower than phones and they need less frequent 'updates'. I keep them over the life of 2-3 phones).
When we rely on the headset provided in the box, we voluntarily agree with the limitations - that those are a compromise, designed for making calls and also designed to minimise the cost of the bundle.
- - -
I'd like to think that we all agree with the above logic. Please feel free to prove me wrong (with facts) on any aspect of it. In this light, I would like to hear:
- What aspects of the audio is @chesterr (and others) unhappy about?
- If Sony disappoints, who else doesn't? What are you comparing the X-S with? What is your example of the ideal mobile audio experience (straight out of the box)?
Anyone could recommend a headset at, at max 50 dollars, for listening to music that works on it. Cable at least 1 meter and has to be in-ear.
Sent from Xperia X10 Mini Pro using CM9 by paul-xxx
Since my kplisch x10i won't work with the Sony @) I have gone back to my trusty denon ach 360's
Very nice warm sound in my opinion even though they are considered an older model.
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/accessories/earphones/301807/denon_ahc360_review.html
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium
Using Soundmagic E10s with mine and have to say I'm impressed - easily on a par with my iPhone 4s for audio quality - sounds pretty neutral to me and more than adequate for a phone imho.
maistora said:
Can you expand a little - what exactly are you unhappy about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow man you're promoting Sony or something I thought that I was doing that..
well It's Sony dude they should've done more better than this, I don't blame it but I don't like the headset.Okay If you're telling me to be happy with what I get for the price that I paid for, Okay then.
BTW I'm waiting for their new Smart Headset. and Hopefully it'll be better and yes the call quality is to the maximum comparing to the other devices and they've done a pretty good job with the equaliser and with the xLoud.But I feel like I'm not getting enough Bass. Anyways I hope Smart Headset will be out soon to get
Included earbuds are always crap. If earbuds cost less than €50/$75 they are crap by definition. I've heard the audio output quality of the Xperia S is brilliant and amongst the best of all phones ever made.
chesterr said:
they've done a pretty good job with the equaliser and with the xLoud.But I feel like I'm not getting enough Bass. Anyways I hope Smart Headset will be out soon to get
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bass is very dependent on the headphones. I just tried on a pair of Sony MDR-EX81 and the bass is thumpin!
Tip: If you really wanna splurge, try the Sony balanced armature series...
I'm really impressed with the audio quality on the xs. I came from a Samsung Galaxy s2 which is a truly awful mp3 player.
The only criticism I can find with the Sony is that the highs and percussion are often more pronounced than vocals, but having said that the highs are very detailed and defined, and a pleasure to listen to!
This is the best performing phone for audio I have owned. That includes the Iphone 3gs...
Hi!
Could anyone compare the sound coming from the backside speaker to the Iphone 4 speaker output (music without headset).
Cause coming from the X10i and comparing to Iphone of my wife, x10i has a miserable sound (small tweeter behind speakerhole at the left side), Iphone4 has a much richer base when playing back music without headset.
Reading that SXS is "on par" with my X10i in that aspect is really not what i hoped to hear ....
Greetings,
Bax
Baxxx said:
Hi!
Reading that SXS is "on par" with my X10i in that aspect is really not what i hoped to hear ....
Greetings,
Bax
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
When I compare the built in speaker of my XPS with my old x10 mini pro, the x10 mini pro has a better sound, but with stock hearphones I think XPS is better.
chesterr said:
Wow man you're promoting Sony or something...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I'm not promoting Sony. Unlike Appleheads, I am not a blind fan - every time I am buying a new device I research all products in the market, from all brands and makers. I have a (rather complex) set of comparison criteria and carefully score all available options. The fact that my last few phones happened to be Sony (Ericsson) is not brand loyalty, they just scored top marks according to my criteria. As a rationally-minded (stupid engineer) I can only compare facts and measurable parameters. 'Cool' factor, fashion trends and media hype are not among my criteria - otherwise I always gave Apple a chance in my shortlists.
Talking of audio, I cannot completely ignore the fact that among all phone makers Sony is the only one that has been making audio equipment for more than half a century, including high-quality HiFi systems and components. That includes a (very) deep vault of patents, but more important - a wealth of experience and expertise that no other phone maker has, and no 'think different' genius can easily replace.
Talking about cameras (sorry about straying off-topic for a moment) - apart from Samsung no other phone maker has any experience in making 'normal' cameras, and even they started much later and excel at the cheaper end. Sony have been making (photo) cameras longer and long before that they were making professional TV cameras used by every major broadcaster in the world. That counts for some (deep) understanding of electronic imaging that no one else has. In fact, Apple respect this and have chosen not to reinvent the steam engine, but have built a Sony camera in their phone. There can hardly be a higher recognition.
- - -
No 'Sony-heads' and blind fans here, just noticing objective facts and using my head, not my 'heart' (or other body parts).
To everyone in this forum (you must already have Sony phones, since you are here?) - and on topic: Enjoy the Sony sound, it's objectively better than others!
Sony actually include the package with livesound in malaysia .
The best bounded earphone i ever have inside phone box for the phone i brought .
Having moved from an iPhone 4 to the Xperia S I would say that the audio quality is ok but nothing special.
Listening through decent headphones (Klipsh Image X10s) the Xperia produces a good sound but I don't think it is as good as the iPhone. It is perfectly serviceable but the iPhone does a lot better in my view, especially with lossless files where you can really hear the difference on the iPhone and on the Xperia it is marginal at best compared to 320Kbps mp3.
I've no complaints about the Xperia and it beats the iPhone in most other respects but I think audio quality is an area where it could be improved.
I guess it comes down to the quality of the DACs used within it. Sony's audio experience may help but it cannot compensate for lower quality audio circuitry at the end of the day.
The output is also noticably louder on the iPhone and the Xperia may struggle to drive some headphones at a decent volume level. Its ok with mine but I find I am using 85% volume on the Xperia to get the same sound level as my iPhone running at around 70%.
Great phone though.
The sound quailty of the phones speaker is good.
The bundled headphones are poor.
The sound output via analogue is okay but not great.
The call quality is very good.
I moved from iphone 4 to xperia arc to samsung s2 to samsung note to xperia s.
Xperia arc's noise level is too high and both samsung s2 and note sounded too soft.
If lack of low frequency is not a concern to you, iphone obvious has a more open and detailed mid-range frequency reproduction (e.g. vocal voices). However, I still prefer XS for the more balanced sound.
output volume from XS is too low... hope it will be fixed by firmware upgrade.
anyway, XS is the best music player among all mobile phones i've ever had.
btw, I am using Shure 425 earphone and 840 headphone.
I don't think xs has good quality of sound indeed, I heard that there is a deficit for android or Qualcomm chips dealing with 48k (or 44.1k sound ). I am not sure about it but the default music player does improve music quality a lot.
Sent from my LT26i
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
Click to expand...
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.
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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.
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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".
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
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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...
Hi Xperia users!
I've been doing some basic research into which of the 2012 Xperias have the best audio quality, as tested on sites such as
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_sola-review-766p5.php
The tests that this site does focuses on: Frequency response, Noise level , Dynamic range, THD and IMD Noise and stereo crosstalk.
I've tried pasting results here but it becomes a mess. If you have one of these phones already, you can click on your phone from here: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony-phones-7.php
and click on skip to review of music player to find out how your phone performs. From what I can see, Sony's 2012 phones on the whole, don't compare well. The audio output through the speaker is generally excellent, but through the earphones there is a significant drop in quality across the board. If you look through the results, you can compare a phone with almost anything you like, but I focussed on the Xperia S, Arc and all the Apple iPhones and the latest iPod classic. A key element in performance seems to be not performing well in just one area, but across all of them, which the reviewers from the site claim is what makes Apple products the best in the business.
Any comments? Any notes?
I'm in the market for a newer Xperia, but unfortunately, I'm not sure there is a good iPod replacement in this list. The more mid-range Go beats the S and Sola high end phones. I would love to hear Sony's reasoning for this. Also, one of my 2011 phones, while not expensive, beats all of the 2012 phones according to these tests which I don't understand. Any guidance or perspective? I really appreciate the results of tests like these which overcome human bias and subjectivity with terribly overused words such as 'crisp' and 'clear sound' etc. but on the other hand, I realise that numbers in a test don't indicate audio pleasure...so personal and practical use is relevant. :victory:
Are these results reliable do you think? Anything else to consider?
XS: the DAC (think 'soundcard') is great, the headphones themselves are ****ty. Get something better and you'll have really nice sound.
i am also interested in this. i am planning to but Xperia S in saturday but have my worries about the sound quality. its using the same sound chip with sensation xe and the sensation. i can tell that from the frequency graph of them all. they all have same vibrating between 1K 10K.. but when i look at the dynamic range (the ability of pruducing the most differet notes at the same time) and the noise level (basicly the loudness without losing the clearity) are worse than sensation brothers. we can adjust them easily with software (because the difference is something like %1).
but the most important part is the distortions. i mean you can listen your music with %1-2 less volume but no one would want to listen any distorted sound. sony seems like doing better on the IMD+ values but the most important is Total Harmonic distortion and it is very high on the xperia S. however, by looking at the positive values of the sensation XE i believe this problem can be sorted out with software too..
in real life? with a lossless music or comparison sound file we can feel the difference by listening to both an ipod and sony xperia s with the same earphones. and luckily we can change our sound chip software by flashing new mods. and we also can use cyanogenmod which enchances the sound capabilities of many devices.
so there is no way of measuring what we can do with a fully sound tweaked sony device (maybe we can ask gsmarena to run their regular test on a tweaked sony device) but there is room for development in sound department too for sure
That's a really interesting point about tweaking devices. I'm not totally sure I can rely on it though - my last Xperia phone had great audio tweaks but on my latest Xperia phone, all of the audio mods that I've tried detracted from quality, not added so I uses stock audio options.
Good to see someone else in the market for a new phone on the same line of thought as me. I was almost definitely going to get the Xperia Sola but the audio tests on that site indicate it is WEAK with audio! Other phones like the GO which are not marketed as multimedia devices have much, much better results. I cannot buy the Sola if the audio is that bad.
I was going to ask can there be any compromise on the performance indicated; there were around 5 criteria tested, would you buy a phone that ranked poorly on one of them, two of them?
K900 said:
XS: the DAC (think 'soundcard') is great, the headphones themselves are ****ty. Get something better and you'll have really nice sound.
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Do you have the Xperia S?
This is the first thing that i felt when i moved from Lg Optimus Black to Sony Xperia S: a drop in sound quality. I use a Koss Porta Pro in everyday listening.
I think the Xperia S has excellent sound quality. To give you some context, I used to own a Creative Zen Vision:M MP3 player, which sounded better than all the iPods and iPhones I compared it with (up to iPhone 4). I wasn't expecting my Xperia S to replace the Zen, but to my surprise it actually sounded better to my ears. The general frequency response is a bit flatter and it's a lot clearer.
I also compared it with a Cowon Z2 (which many people believe to be the best-sounding MP3 player out there) and there was very little difference. Believe me, the Xperia S is a very good music player indeed. The review on the site you posted said it: "A solid overall performance, which should please anyone but the most demanding audiophiles."
As the review states, the only limitation is a bit of distortion at higher volumes, but we're talking deafening volumes here. There's also a way around it, if you're really serious: a portable headphone amp (I use a cheap but very good Fiio E6), enables you to take the clean lower-volume signal from your phone and amplify it cleanly through your headphones. However, I can assure you it sounds fine without an amplifier.
That is very interesting ^^
I was hoping there might be people who take the holistic view too; looking at the stats but also just listening to what your ears tell you. I'm truly open to these ideas. I was particularly looking at the Sola, but of all the 2012 phones it's stats are the worst. Is that really something to worry about? That info. on the S really changes things...:fingers-crossed:
p.s. I found another site that does these tests. Some of the results differ a little, I guess different testing equipment and earphones. There are 3 very different results for the iPod 6th gen. With that kind of variance, maybe the results for the 2012 Xperias is one snapshot - and not definitive?? For anyone interested,
here's the list of devices tested: (no Xperias unfortunately) http://www.markuskraus.com/RMAA/rmaa complete - html.html
Here is the 6th gen iPod Classic: http://www.markuskraus.com/RMAA/iPodClassicFiiOE1/data.htm
The iPhone 4S: http://www.markuskraus.com/RMAA/iphone4s/data.htm
Also, on this site: http://macintoshhowto.com/itunes/which-ipod-has-the-best-audio-quality.html they keep talking about the audio chip used in devices. They mention that certain iPhones and Galaxies use the Wolfson audio chip, which seems to very highly regarded.
Here is a great article on smartphone audio, audio chips and stats comparison: http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/0...ne-x-isnt-amazing-at-all-even-by-the-numbers/
SharpnShiny said:
That is very interesting ^^
I was hoping there might be people who take the holistic view too; looking at the stats but also just listening to what your ears tell you. I'm truly open to these ideas. I was particularly looking at the Sola, but of all the 2012 phones it's stats are the worst. Is that really something to worry about? That info. on the S really changes things...:fingers-crossed:
p.s. I found another site that does these tests. Some of the results differ a little, I guess different testing equipment and earphones. There are 3 very different results for the iPod 6th gen. With that kind of variance, maybe the results for the 2012 Xperias is one snapshot - and not definitive?? For anyone interested,
here's the list of devices tested: (no Xperias unfortunately) http://www.markuskraus.com/RMAA/rmaa complete - html.html
Here is the 6th gen iPod Classic: http://www.markuskraus.com/RMAA/iPodClassicFiiOE1/data.htm
The iPhone 4S: http://www.markuskraus.com/RMAA/iphone4s/data.htm
Also, on this site: http://macintoshhowto.com/itunes/which-ipod-has-the-best-audio-quality.html they keep talking about the audio chip used in devices. They mention that certain iPhones and Galaxies use the Wolfson audio chip, which seems to very highly regarded.
Here is a great article on smartphone audio, audio chips and stats comparison: http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/0...ne-x-isnt-amazing-at-all-even-by-the-numbers/
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Just get the Sola, then get the Wireless Bluetooth Pro Sony headphones which have the new Wofson decoder which is about the best mobile decoder around. I have done that and it is great. Best of both worlds.
mrsatan said:
Just get the Sola, then get the Wireless Bluetooth Pro Sony headphones which have the new Wofson decoder which is about the best mobile decoder around. I have done that and it is great. Best of both worlds.
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I only seen the promo yesterday, she is a sexy beast! :highfive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVS36ggZz1o
hey,
just trust your ears, don't see bad or good depend on testing etc...
i have xperia s, arc, w995, aino, iPod nano 4
the best sound quality for me is
1.W995 (but lack of FLAC)
2. XS (can play FLAC)
3.Aino
4. Arc
5.iPod. ipod sounds great, but after i used itu 2 years, becomes crap sound (don't know why) maybe bad capacitor?
i used FLAC or WAV in my phone (85%)
Which phone do you have now? FLAC eeh? That must burn up the battery! Do you still have an iPod now too? Which one? The iPod I'm using now is the 6th generation Classic. I'll almost definitely have a new phone next week.
SharpnShiny said:
Which phone do you have now? FLAC eeh? That must burn up the battery! Do you still have an iPod now too? Which one? The iPod I'm using now is the 6th generation Classic. I'll almost definitely have a new phone next week.
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how can one get better once one've had the best? lol.. imo, FLAC is the best audio compression right now the battery drain isnt that much.. but the quality of the audio, is that much .. remember when talking bout audio, it's "garbage in, garbage out.."
and yeah, just trust your ears, and dont forget that synergy made better sound than all that graphs and frequency.. and what i meant in synergy is the hardware (dac, dsp, etc), the software (in sxs: walkman and its sound enhancement ), and of course the output (earphone, headphone, speaker, etc)
i did a quick test in flac-listening in SXS (unknown dac , walkman) and SGS3 (the so called wolfson dac, stock audio player), with Yuin PK3 (imho, a decent earphone), and i found out that SXS did sound better. well, i've seen there are mods for sgs3's audio, but didnt try them, both phone are at default (in terms of audio )
m1st3r1 said:
how can one get better once one've had the best? lol.. imo, FLAC is the best audio compression right now the battery drain isnt that much.. but the quality of the audio, is that much .. remember when talking bout audio, it's "garbage in, garbage out.."
and yeah, just trust your ears, and dont forget that synergy made better sound than all that graphs and frequency.. and what i meant in synergy is the hardware (dac, dsp, etc), the software (in sxs: walkman and its sound enhancement ), and of course the output (earphone, headphone, speaker, etc)
i did a quick test in flac-listening in SXS (unknown dac , walkman) and SGS3 (the so called wolfson dac, stock audio player), with Yuin PK3 (imho, a decent earphone), and i found out that SXS did sound better. well, i've seen there are mods for sgs3's audio, but didnt try them, both phone are at default (in terms of audio )
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Its many Sony's software and optimizations that make it sound good. Wolfson is the best DAC when tested, while Sony uses a run of the mill snapdragon DAC. Just goes to show Sony knows sound.
FLAC actually doesn't drain more battery because it uses less calculations to decode.
K900 said:
FLAC actually doesn't drain more battery because it uses less calculations to decode.
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i think we should not consider "compressed" music files like zip or rar files. because they are compressed in an unusable way and needed to be unzipped to become usable again and once they are uncompressed there is no loss in the actual data. so in order to be able to use (listen/watch/execute) a compressed data you need to make lots of procceses through CPU.
however that is not the case in the compressed audio. when compressing a lossless (just recorded the way it was played in real life) audio the codec (or whatever it is that has the alghoritm to compress) listens and analysis the audio and decides which sound to combine. for example; imagine 3 different waves are present at the same time and the alghoritm creates a 4th wave which has the very similar sound of those 3 played at the same time and it records that 4th one only instead of the first 3. and there are some certain signals that give the impression of surrounding when applied to human ear. finally the alghoritm writes these signals on to the "simulated" waves.
so, basically when we listen an mp3 or any other compressed audio we have the impression of hearing everything but actually we hear a replicated sound which is very very much similar to the total amount of the original sounds for the human ear.
since both FLAC and the mp3 formats are both read only and there is no real time compressing and uncompressing every time the, load on the CPU (or the DAC) should be measured by the "waves" or "codes" that needed to be read. according to this we can say there is much more signal to read and convert to analog in FLAC files..
_delice_doluca_ said:
i think we should not consider "compressed" music files like zip or rar files. because they are compressed in an unusable way and needed to be unzipped to become usable again and once they are uncompressed there is no loss in the actual data. so in order to be able to use (listen/watch/execute) a compressed data you need to make lots of procceses through CPU.
however that is not the case in the compressed audio. when compressing a lossless (just recorded the way it was played in real life) audio the codec (or whatever it is that has the alghoritm to compress) listens and analysis the audio and decides which sound to combine. for example; imagine 3 different waves are present at the same time and the alghoritm creates a 4th wave which has the very similar sound of those 3 played at the same time and it records that 4th one only instead of the first 3. and there are some certain signals that give the impression of surrounding when applied to human ear. finally the alghoritm writes these signals on to the "simulated" waves.
so, basically when we listen an mp3 or any other compressed audio we have the impression of hearing everything but actually we hear a replicated sound which is very very much similar to the total amount of the original sounds for the human ear.
since both FLAC and the mp3 formats are both read only and there is no real time compressing and uncompressing every time the, load on the CPU (or the DAC) should be measured by the "waves" or "codes" that needed to be read. according to this we can say there is much more signal to read and convert to analog in FLAC files..
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I know how it works. Yet, due to specifics of the implementation, FLAC is faster to decode in the specific case of Android.
Ok.. after reading this thread, I decided to compare the audio quality of my SXS with my good old Samsung wave (having wolfson DAC), and my cousin's ipod nano. I am no audiophile here, but to my ear the SXS sounds the best with wave & ipod definitely sounding louder (but bit harsher). I used the default music players and philips shp 2700 to compare them. Tbh my eyes (wrt camera output) n ears (wrt sound quality) really don't go along with the gsmarena test results! Thats just my opinion.
BTW, has anyone tested the auido quality through bluetooth? since i ll be using it with my cars bluetooth i wonder if i ll get any problems with the audio quality or the bluetooth itself..
Dpk1 said:
Ok.. after reading this thread, I decided to compare the audio quality of my SXS with my good old Samsung wave (having wolfson DAC), and my cousin's ipod nano. I am no audiophile here, but to my ear the SXS sounds the best with wave & ipod definitely sounding louder (but bit harsher). I used the default music players and philips shp 2700 to compare them. Tbh my eyes (wrt camera output) n ears (wrt sound quality) really don't go along with the gsmarena test results! Thats just my opinion.
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Thanks for sharing your results! I was beginning to wonder which devices everyone has here, we could mention which you think works best for you and run with it.
I've been using and testing music on various Xperias and iPods over the last few years. My nanos beat my classic and yet my 2011 Xperia has clearer sound with less hissing, especially at higher volume.
As I've been exploring on another thread, to get the best out of your Xperia on Android, it seems we need better class SD cards (I'm now looking at only class 10) to overcome the longer 'distance' that the data has to travel (computer, cable, phone, SD vs iPod 'distance' of computer, cable, iPod) and such an SD would boost transfer speed of course. I want to get each piece right; quality of audio on phone, better SD and perhaps cable and better earphones.