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Hello guys
I'm planning to get a lumia 800. Since I always use the phone as a music player with my westone, I would like to ask whose bought lumia 800:
1. How's the sound quality of lumia?
2. In what extent the improved sound quality with the firmware update? I read the review in GSMArena and shown a disappointing result
English is not my native language, sorry for my bad english.
Many Thanks!
Audio quality
I am very disappointed with the audio quality.
If it was my only phone and I couldn't compare it to anything else I would probably think it's ok but yesterday in bed with my earphones on watching a youtube video I kept getting interference noise and the quality isn't as good as on my iPhone 4S.
Also I have tested both Lumia 800 and iPhone 4S sending audio via bluetooth to my car stereo (Nissan Connect) and the difference is shocking. The iPhone sounds as if the cable was plugged in and the quality is great but the Lumia makes it sounds like your listening to FM in a bad coverage area.
Don't worry about your english, it isn't my first language either.
If you really love your music I would recommend you stay away from the Lumia for now, also because battery doesn't last even a day. heh
Hope I could help.
Lumia really miss an equalizer
vassilihk said:
1. How's the sound quality of lumia?
2. In what extent the improved sound quality with the firmware update? I read the review in GSMArena and shown a disappointing result
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a Westone 3 user and the sound on my Lumia is beyond disastrous. I can totally confirm the GSMArena results. This was such a shocker to me when I first plugged my earphones I couldn't believe it.
Some users though report that their sound is fine (although it's difficult to sort out people who test sound on stock headset and such stuff).
I still haven't received the update, so don't know whether it helps or not.
But definitely try to test sound before buying this phone! I mean, here it's not just bad. It's totally ridiculously awful.
Soundwise you should look at three things:
1 call quality with phone earpiece
2 call quality with phone internal speaker
3 audio quality of internal speaker
4 audio quality to external device
5 mic
All have different character and should imo be included in a review. Furthermore audio is very difficult to objectively review as user experience is based on personal opinions.
anyway, my experiences with the Lumia are these:
1) call quality earpiece: normal phone calls in office, phone calls with a lot of background noise, and sound quality while in call are very ok, what you'd expect from Nokia. the volume level is okay too, the lowest setting is not too loud like on most phones.
2) call quality internal: okay, loud enough, not too much treble which is very please on prolonged phonecalls.
3) audio on internal speaker, what do you expect from a 3 mm driver in a very small cabinet. I think it's fine, not harsh, much treble and don't expect any bass.
4) audio to external:
a) tested on hi end phones, sounds very well, includes all frequencies, converters sound a bit flat but i'm sure most users won't notice.
b) bluetooth i had someone verifiy and this seems good quality
5) I had someone else call me with Lumia800 and this is as expected from Nokia
But, I'm a bit worried about "audio quality updates" like in the latest firmware. I'm sure they fiddle with algorithms, noise cancelling, auto volume, and minimal levels. I live with the philosophy that whatever is good, doesn't need to be changed.
htc12345 said:
I live with the philosophy that whatever is good, doesn't need to be changed.
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Click to collapse
That's a great philosophy, but it's obviously not good for all users. Whether an update can fix anything or this is a faulty batch of phones is another question.
htc12345 said:
4) audio to external:
a) tested on hi end phones, sounds very well, includes all frequencies, converters sound a bit flat but i'm sure most users won't notice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't believe this. MANY users say the sound is awful and I can confirm it also. It just lacks MUCH low frequencies.
What is your HW version etc. ?
Many users have reported improved sound quality and better bass after update released yesterday.
Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express
mjl_79 said:
Many users have reported improved sound quality and better bass after update released yesterday.
Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll definetely check this, but I'm almost on my way to cashback.
Thank you all
You guys do help me a lot!
I went to shop with my pair of hf5 and um2 to test the phone's demo (It still didn't release at my place.... sigh........ and the phone had not updated with the latest patch)
That's my experience
- NO BASS
- Other frequencies -> medicore
- Stereo is good, it felt like the music is surrounding you ( Better than my xperia pro )
- There are some noise when completed silent...
To be honest, I quite disappointed with lumia , its music performance (I should rephase it, lol) even cannot compete with 5800 3 years ago!
I miss my i9000 with voodoo sound... it is so hard to have a phone with nice looking , good music performance and not-a-iphone
If the sound quality is the most need of you, how do you like the mobile phone "Meizu" in China?
vassilihk, with the UM2, are you using loudness or eq on other phones if that is available?
i agree the sound quality of phones has decreased. everything is made smaller, faster, and lighter and you can see this in the build quality
htc12345 said:
vassilihk, with the UM2, are you using loudness or eq on other phones if that is available?
i agree the sound quality of phones has decreased. everything is made smaller, faster, and lighter and you can see this in the build quality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not use equalizer, what i believe a good music player is simply deliver accurate output, pure frequency response is the best.
Let the earphone do the job, not the equalizer, that's what i believe, lol~
kefty said:
If the sound quality is the most need of you, how do you like the mobile phone "Meizu" in China?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actucally I live in Hong Kong and Meizu planned to release MX on 1.1.2012
In fact, I do have a bias on china-brand phone for its built quality, goodwill... I did not know how's the foreigners think about Meizu
Ofcoz, I'll have a try on MX if it is good
vassilihk said:
I do not use equalizer, what i believe a good music player is simply deliver accurate output, pure frequency response is the best.
Let the earphone do the job, not the equalizer, that's what i believe, lol~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
true... true ..
so while typing this i listen to music using good, very good headphones. clean and crisp sound, bass included. no overkill in the bass but the frequency are definetely there. just don't use tiny in ear drivers to generate booming bass sound...
My in-ear beats headphones that came with my Sensation XL improve the sound output on the Lumia 10 fold. it's al about the headphones.
i have an a lumia 800 since 1 week and i am also pretty disappointed by the sound quality. there is no bass, even with the update :-(
i really like the phone, but this is a no-go because i hear a lot of music. if nokia diesn`t change this, i'll switch to an apple or samsung device.
i think we're running round in circles or that different phone users have different ears. however to the suggestion above of comparin hw rev numbers, noone replied.
Okay, I have finally replaced my unit and got one that has great audio quality. The difference is massive.
It has the same hardware revision number and everything is exactly the same, the IMEI is different by about 700, so they have been built in the same production run most probably. There's no way to tell apart from plugging in your earphones and testing for yourself.
Is there anyway to manually increase some frequency values?
It's frustrating as the Lumia 800 sounds great using my Denons, but the very low frequencies are flat, very flat.
I really hope there will be some fix for this because as a whole i like the device a lot and the music experience is great. That said music to me on the phone is easily on the top 3 features so it needs to work.
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
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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 )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
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
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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
Hello All. This is my first Sony phone and the volume output is abysmal on this thing. Even in a quiet empty room it seems you can hardly hear anything useful until the volume bar is at halfway. Is there a fix for this to increase the total output of the speakers? (Also seems to have low volume with wired headphones)
well, sony certainly is not among the louder ones, think that this goes a waaaaaaaay back when EU put some regulation on how loud portable devices can be. Back then it was really terrible, NC phones were nonexistent, just like chinese IEMs. Not much to chose from and to pick something with higher sensitivity. Mine sound OK with the earphones I have, even with XM2 on cable. Could it be louder? Yes. Does it need to be? Probably not. So try some more sensitive headphones or try some DAC, those are cheap and really portable this days. If you have a decent headphones, it might even improve the sound.
And the phone itself.......don't have anything in the same class and age to compare with. Seems OK or as crappy as any other phone TBH. BT speakers are dirty cheap today and any single one will outperform a phone, just like a soundbars and TVs, so I never really use phone speakers when I wanna listen something. For messages and useless videos is fine
Very good suggestions. Just seems odd that a flagship phone is this low. Even old phones I have laying around are louder. Its about as odd as the flashlight brightness. SMH lol
well, wifey has a poco f2 pro. And that one can be heard on the other floor of the house. And while certainly louder then xperia it is also certainly way worse sound the higher you go. I mean, there is only so much you can do with speakers and enclosure of that size. Clearly, bass is not something that is expected so forget that. But highs on poco getting terrible after some 75% volume, you just want it to go silent. I can tolerate the noise from xperia at max level but can't the one from poco. SONY was all about sound quality on promo materials so that might be the reason. lower volume but "better" sound quality.
Back in the days I had N900, that was a thick brick, also with stereo speakers and remember it as one of the better sounding phones.
No issue with mine for bluetooth headphones, never listen to videos/music direct on the phone so not something that concerns me at all, I always have headphones nearby. Having said that, just tested it listening to music and volume seems in line with expectations and my other phones....sorry