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So I've been looking all over the internets for good audio quality comparisons between all sorts of different phones and media players (just for the fun of it). I wanted to buy a nice pair of affordable headphones and to see which mp3 would let me get the best sound quality and user experience out of them. After a lot of research (approximately 5 days) I ended up getting the Koss PortaPros for a discounted price off amazon (and yes they are genuine). The sound quality is a real upgrade over most headphones I'v used for a period longer than a couple of days (Iv used Bose IE8, the pathetic Dr Dres, Senheisser HD280s, and the Grados S60s) .
But one thing kept bugging me. Everytime I have looked around for reviews on the Nokia 800's sound quality through headphones, all I'v heard is either complaints, even after the 12070 update, or people saying that the sound quality is mediocre at best. I do not consider myself an audiophile or an expert, but i tried my hand at this in any case.
I took out my Sansa Clip+, the Nokia E5 (that I had been using as my mp3 player even though I used the Desire S as my daily driver before the Lumia because of the ease of searching music and sound quality) and compared it with the Lumia with the Koss PortaPros, JVC Marshmellows and the Creative EP630s.
Now I listen to most of everything I can get my hands onto. There was a whole lot of Lana Del Rey, Drake and YMCMB, Guns N Roses, Coldplay, Ellie Goulding, Gotye and of course Nujabes. All my music is 320kbps .mp3. I'm not an expert or anything so please feel free to correct me where ever you think I'v made a mistake or said something wrong. Everything I heard was on the default equalisers with no effects on.
The Nokia E5.
Now according to GSMarena, the E5 has the cleanest output they've heard in a long time and audio quality is generally great. Putting on the JVCs and the EP630s, the E5 actually sounds pretty good. Its clean, its got that clean unmuddled thump and the mids are as good as those cheap headphones can deliver. The problem occurs when you put on the Koss. The sound widens up but it feels like its lacking somewhere. You can hear the vocals clearly but its cold and dull. As though theres a part of the song missing.
Sansa Clip+
Technically I should be using this as my main mp3 player if I really care about sound quality. The sound through these in every category, be it Bass heavy or adult alternative was better than the E5. They were louder, wider and i could here each and every instrument separately, they were bassier and the clarity was top notch. But going through a list of 800 songs on that tiny screen gives you a right headache. For what its worth, this is a winner right here.
Nokia Lumia 800
Now technically this should have the worst sound quality out of the lot. Its been dissed publicly, and the first post you get when you google its sound quality is a post on the Nokia forums talking about its disastrous sound quality through low impedance headphones before the 12070 update, and some even after it. Now listening through the JVCs and the EP630s it is clear as day. The Nokia Lumia 800 was never targeted to be used as a dedicated mp3 by anyone who cares about sound quality. The sound was just bassless and muffled. Not as bad as my Nokia C2, but quite bad. I felt disappointed until I listened to the same songs using the Koss PortaPros. I couldnt believe how good things sounded. Ellie Goulding's Home, Drake's Miss Me, Nujabes' Song of Four Seasons and Foster The People's Helena Beat. All of them sounded The Best I'd ever heard them. Now I dont know how. Or why. They sounded rounded, warm and nothing over the top but still really good. Listening to the same songs again on the Sansa Clip+ should have removed the placebo effect, but it was clear. The Sansa had better stereo separation and a wider sound, but the Lumia sounded better (to me) with more detail in the lows, very very good unmuddled bass (the sansa was bassier but it felt almost overpowering with the Koss), and clear vocals with it. The sansa Clip was alot louder on the highest volume setting but if you dont want to blow your ears ff, the Lumia does a commendable job. Plus the interface on Zune is miles better than anything that tiny screen can offer.
Now if I had my iTouch which I recently sold I wouldve loved to compare it with the Lumia as well, but the Sansa Clip+ sounds better than the iTouch so thats not a big problem. I would love to hear people who have Sony walkmans or Cowon's media players to make comparisons though.
Have you guys ever compared the sound on different media players or different headsets? Noone ever discusses the Lumia series as a media player. This might help. Please feel free to correct me and add your own experiences.
Nice review.
Before I got my Lumia 800, I had a Samsung Nexus S, and I can clearly tell that the Lumia 800 is the inferior media player. The main reason is not even the sound quality, but the fact that there's no equalizer settings on the Lumia 800. That, and it doesn't support FLAC. There's no such thing as Voodoo Sound either.
The sound quality itself is not bad at all on Lumia 800, but it's WAAAAAY worse than the Nexus S. Obviously because the Nexus S had a God-tier Wolfson DAC.
Hey, I want to buy new phone soon and I look on H10 and Zenfone 5(z). Someone of you can tell me something about audio quality in Honor 10 (nice if you will compare it to your previous phone).
Audio quality is excellent, way better than Xiaomi Mi 6
I can tell you that i use Huawei headset AM185, it has settings made for this set as well and the sound is incredible.
as a reference to see what headset i use i ll post this link. You can find it cheaper than that
https://www.gearbest.com/earbud-headphones/pp_347135.html
Audio quality is pretty good...
Proper etiquette aside (hint: don't use speakerphone while doing your "business" in a public bathroom), rate this thread to express how you think the Samsung Galaxy Note 9's speakerphone performs. A higher rating indicates that you love it: it's loud and it's clear.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
surely someone must have played with it lol, let us know how the speakers sound.....and how good the DAC is
I've had mine for a few days.. Ordered from Saudi Arabia with the really nice per orders...512gb.. The stereo speakers are a very noticeable improvement.. I've played them side by side with my Note 8 and Note FE... The big improvement is when you turn on Dolby Atoms.... It's not mine blowing (it is a mobile device) but it definitely kicks the speakers up a level... Very pleased... Haven't had a chance to use the headphone jack yet
I have used a store demo Note 9 for an hour or so. Side by side with my Note 8, the Note 9 speakers were a lot better. Definitely louder, but most important much better quality sound and much fuller sound with the dual speaker setup. The Dolby atmos definitely improved the sound quality also. The dual speakers are a big reason I decided to upgrade to the Note 9, and I am happy to say that with my hour of using a Note 9 store demo that the speakers are a huge improvement over the Note 8.
Received my note 9 unlocked from Samsung yesterday, it's ok. I'm really disappointed that it is not as loud as the s9 speakers. It's on par for loudness with the iPhone x though but I wouldn't say louder. The s9 is a few decibels louder then both.
Coming from the Note 8, I think the speakers on the Note 9 are pretty nice. I can immediately hear the stereo sound and it is definitely louder than the Note 8 as well.
Sound overall is definitely better. Richer sound with stereo separation. Loudness is on par with the note 8.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
vincey2kr1 said:
Received my note 9 unlocked from Samsung yesterday, it's ok. I'm really disappointed that it is not as loud as the s9 speakers. It's on par for loudness with the iPhone x though but I wouldn't say louder. The s9 is a few decibels louder then both.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed that Note 9 is quieter than my S9+.
Probably well known, but go into sounds and vibration and turn on Dolby Atmos. Made a huge difference for me. It was off by default on my phone.
Note 9 speakers play not so loud like s9plus. Galaxy s 9 plus it is louder. how come? I have check all settings, all settings was the some playing the some video and s9plus is louder. Note 9 need modification
I agree with others, not as loud as S9+. Disappointing.
Notification sounds again works only on one speaker (mono), right?!
Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
most loud
From my experencing this device is tooo loud with dolby enabled
How is the DAC on this phone? (particularly for the SD845 version) Has anyone tried it with some decent headphones? Any enthusiasts out there? How does it fair? Especially if someone has had experience with the LG V-series with a 32bit Quad DAC before... heard the Galaxy S9 and S9+ had a decent DAC.
Thanks for any and all feedback from the community.
If you want to improve the loudness and sound of your Note 9, go into settings and use the "adapt sound" tool. You have to use headphones for the tool, but once you tailor the sound with the adapt sound, it immediately improves the sound quality. Also, using Dolby Atmos helps also as others have mentioned.
Now at 4 days with my Note 9 and the difference/improvement of the external speakers from the Note 8 is quite significant. I can't compare with the S9, but IMO the Note 9 has great sound and dual speakers really make a ton of difference. Don't forget to use adapt sound and turn on Dolby Atmos.
ssnova said:
How is the DAC on this phone? (particularly for the SD845 version) Has anyone tried it with some decent headphones? Any enthusiasts out there? How does it fair? Especially if someone has had experience with the LG V-series with a 32bit Quad DAC before... heard the Galaxy S9 and S9+ had a decent DAC.
Thanks for any and all feedback from the community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lg's dac kicks Samsung's a$$.
Which Dolby profile do you guys think is the best for external speakers ? Auto, movie, music or voice?
I was leaning towards a Note 9 and then my wife got an S9+ and hearing the sound sold me. I agree with everyone else, why isn't the Note 9 as loud? I find it mildly irritating. Also has anyone else notice some weird sound handling with Google Maps? It's almost like it doesn't know what to do with stereo speakers.
hornkt said:
I was leaning towards a Note 9 and then my wife got an S9+ and hearing the sound sold me. I agree with everyone else, why isn't the Note 9 as loud? I find it mildly irritating. Also has anyone else notice some weird sound handling with Google Maps? It's almost like it doesn't know what to do with stereo speakers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mean the volume fluctuates, it happens to me sometimes with games. It sounds like the bottom speaker lowers in volume and the overall sound becomes compressed and muffled as if the stereo is too wide. If I restart the game or wait for a while it seems to fix itself. It seems to be app-specific as if I play music with the app still running in the background it seems to be fine.
I find the speakers pretty good with the music app and some YouTube videos, but Dolby Atmos seems somewhat inconsistent. For some games like Real Racing 3 and Horizon Chase they don't sound that good - they emphasize heavily on the car motor sound instead of the music. Asphalt 9 sounds a bit better as the music is more balanced although the choice of music is more harsh on the speakers. On Horizon chase that volume-dip glitch happens in about 5 minutes - only happened to me once with RR3 and not yet with Asphalt 9.
I'm coming from the S9 and yep I noticed the sound difference with the note. The s9 has great speakers. But also the note 9 makes up for it once Dolby it turned on. On the s9, didn't really notice difference unless I connected to my BT beats x. Come to think of it, I need to check out pub g and fortnite with dolby on.
Hi
Just like the rest of you guys, I could not get any data on the phone's DAC spec. sound quality etc.
So now that I have my own, I can report on the matter. Hopefully it will be of use to others.
Equipment:
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro 128GB on Three mobile UK
- Q-Jays ear buds new version ( https://www.jaysheadphones.com/q-jays )
- Ultimate Ears 700 ( https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/ultimate-ears-700-noise-isolating-earphones )
- Neutron music player ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.neutroncode.mp&hl=en_GB )
- LG G6+ ( https://techaeris.com/2018/02/10/lg-g6-prime-exclusive-review )
- Supplied Huawei USB-C to 3.5mm pass-through adapter
DAC capability
For those of you not familiar with Neutron music player, I have to say that it probably is the definitive Android Hi-Res music player.
It can detect and connect directly to a device DAC, by-passing the operating system. It is capable of playing DSD formats in DOP - and just about any bitrate and bit depth (16bit to 32bit).
Neutron reports that the DAC is a Hi-Res version!
Through experimentation I have concluded that it is capable of the following:
- 16bit - 24bit - 32bit resolutions.
- 44.1 KHz - 48KHz - not 88.2KHZ - 96KHz - not 176.4KHz - 192 KHz - 352 KHz sampling rates.
- It has no native DSD capability - if not resampled, the DAC resamples it to 48 KHz and plays it back.
technically enabling DSD in DOP inside Neutron, manages to play back a DSD track, but checking the output stream shows 48 KHz.
Disabling the Dolby Atmos, renders a better sound and a few dB's louder.
Sound Quality
First impressions were of a good volume, full sound.
The resolution of higher bitrate tracks shines through. DSD sounds very good .
I did not have any mp3's - so the findings are from lossless FLAC recordings or DSD tracks.
Perhaps the absolute highest frequencies were a little hard, but then again THIS is where many reviewers of my earphone agree it could be the earphones, .
Comparison to LG Quad-DAC capable LG G6+
The G6+ has the legendary Quad-DAC arrangement coupled to a high output amplifier, it is capable of sampling frequencies up to 192 KHz but no native DSD.
The sound of G6+ was a bit softer than Mate 20 Pro, volume was about the same, but the highest frequencies were not as hard, nor as loud! Huawei sounded a little fuller past 12 kHz. Bass was also a little fuller on Mate 20 Pro also.
Conclusion
I liked Mate 20 Pro a little better! you could hear a little more detail - was it the treble? I don't know!
But to hold it's own against the legendary LG's Quad-DAC and high output amplifier, is one hell of an achievement by itself - beating it is a WOW.
Incidentally I had tried a Samsung Note 9 also.
The Note 9 does have native DSD capability, but it does not sound any better than the LG - they sound very similar.
So there is no need for an external USB DAC as such, specially the cheapo ones built in a USB-C cable.
Huawei pass through adapter is enough , but for the most discerning Audiophiles, with deepest of pockets and bat-like ears!
Sobering Monday Morning thoughts
So I had the weekend to play a bit more with the device.
After listening to various tracks, it became obvious that the treble "issue" was troublesome!
it makes listening for more than 20 mins tiring on the ear. At first the extra treble gave the sound a sparkle, a false sense of detail but it wasn't to be.
So I dug out my trusted Fiio E18 Kunlun out of storage and tried to hook it up.
It does connect through the USB port, so no problems there.
Fiio shows where Mate 20 Pro fails! not until you listen to something better, would you know what was missing.
Fiio is a lot better, smoother and un-fatiguing.
Take "Paolo Nuttini's album Caustic Love" for example. On track " Diana" within the first few seconds, listening through Fiio, you can clearly hear start of a mix tape on the right, when a Valve Guitar amplifier is added, and although guitar player is yet to play anything, you still get to hear the distinctive Tube-amp signature noise and feedback. The slightest handling of the guitar body is also clearly heard through. This is something you can not focus on using the phones output. It is possible to listen for hours through Fiio and want some more.
Compared to Fiio , Mate 20 Pro's sound is distorted, specially at treble - I am not trying to praise Fiio here, I am just saying a good few year-old external DAC does a better job.
So perhaps a decent Hi-res external DAC is needed after all - I do hope Huawei would address this issue.
I reckon this is why Huawei has been so tight-lipped about it's phones audio capabilities after all !
Assuming we all gonna use bluetooth earphones is a bit short-sighted.
Mobile phones are trying to be all things to all men, One device to do it all with, from simple call making to organizing your digital life, social media to emails and photography - How could they miss music entertainment is beyond me.
So I take back some of the praises I had given before.
It is not as good as I hoped it would be.
After I bought the Mate 20 Pro I will never buy a Huawei phone again until they fix the crappy headphone audio quality. Why my Anker Soundcore Spirit sound on PC 10x better than on the Mate 20 Pro? And I am not talking about wired headphones. Forget it completely. You can't listen music on this device with wired headphones without getting ear pain. At least with the included USB-C-Adapter.
kentajalli said:
Hi
Just like the rest of you guys, I could not get any data on the phone's DAC spec. sound quality etc.
So now that I have my own, I can report on the matter. Hopefully it will be of use to others.
Equipment:
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro 128GB on Three mobile UK
- Q-Jays ear buds new version ( https://www.jaysheadphones.com/q-jays )
- Ultimate Ears 700 ( https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/ultimate-ears-700-noise-isolating-earphones )
- Neutron music player ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.neutroncode.mp&hl=en_GB )
- LG G6+ ( https://techaeris.com/2018/02/10/lg-g6-prime-exclusive-review )
- Supplied Huawei USB-C to 3.5mm pass-through adapter
DAC capability
For those of you not familiar with Neutron music player, I have to say that it probably is the definitive Android Hi-Res music player.
It can detect and connect directly to a device DAC, by-passing the operating system. It is capable of playing DSD formats in DOP - and just about any bitrate and bit depth (16bit to 32bit).
Neutron reports that the DAC is a Hi-Res version!
Through experimentation I have concluded that it is capable of the following:
- 16bit - 24bit - 32bit resolutions.
- 44.1 KHz - 48KHz - not 88.2KHZ - 96KHz - not 176.4KHz - 192 KHz - 352 KHz sampling rates.
- It has no native DSD capability - if not resampled, the DAC resamples it to 48 KHz and plays it back.
technically enabling DSD in DOP inside Neutron, manages to play back a DSD track, but checking the output stream shows 48 KHz.
Disabling the Dolby Atmos, renders a better sound and a few dB's louder.
Sound Quality
First impressions were of a good volume, full sound.
The resolution of higher bitrate tracks shines through. DSD sounds very good .
I did not have any mp3's - so the findings are from lossless FLAC recordings or DSD tracks.
Perhaps the absolute highest frequencies were a little hard, but then again THIS is where many reviewers of my earphone agree it could be the earphones, .
Comparison to LG Quad-DAC capable LG G6+
The G6+ has the legendary Quad-DAC arrangement coupled to a high output amplifier, it is capable of sampling frequencies up to 192 KHz but no native DSD.
The sound of G6+ was a bit softer than Mate 20 Pro, volume was about the same, but the highest frequencies were not as hard, nor as loud! Huawei sounded a little fuller past 12 kHz. Bass was also a little fuller on Mate 20 Pro also.
Conclusion
I liked Mate 20 Pro a little better! you could hear a little more detail - was it the treble? I don't know!
But to hold it's own against the legendary LG's Quad-DAC and high output amplifier, is one hell of an achievement by itself - beating it is a WOW.
Incidentally I had tried a Samsung Note 9 also.
The Note 9 does have native DSD capability, but it does not sound any better than the LG - they sound very similar.
So there is no need for an external USB DAC as such, specially the cheapo ones built in a USB-C cable.
Huawei pass through adapter is enough , but for the most discerning Audiophiles, with deepest of pockets and bat-like ears!
Sobering Monday Morning thoughts
So I had the weekend to play a bit more with the device.
After listening to various tracks, it became obvious that the treble "issue" was troublesome!
it makes listening for more than 20 mins tiring on the ear. At first the extra treble gave the sound a sparkle, a false sense of detail but it wasn't to be.
So I dug out my trusted Fiio E18 Kunlun out of storage and tried to hook it up.
It does connect through the USB port, so no problems there.
Fiio shows where Mate 20 Pro fails! not until you listen to something better, would you know what was missing.
Fiio is a lot better, smoother and un-fatiguing.
Take "Paolo Nuttini's album Caustic Love" for example. On track " Diana" within the first few seconds, listening through Fiio, you can clearly hear start of a mix tape on the right, when a Valve Guitar amplifier is added, and although guitar player is yet to play anything, you still get to hear the distinctive Tube-amp signature noise and feedback. The slightest handling of the guitar body is also clearly heard through. This is something you can not focus on using the phones output. It is possible to listen for hours through Fiio and want some more.
Compared to Fiio , Mate 20 Pro's sound is distorted, specially at treble - I am not trying to praise Fiio here, I am just saying a good few year-old external DAC does a better job.
So perhaps a decent Hi-res external DAC is needed after all - I do hope Huawei would address this issue.
I reckon this is why Huawei has been so tight-lipped about it's phones audio capabilities after all !
Assuming we all gonna use bluetooth earphones is a bit short-sighted.
Mobile phones are trying to be all things to all men, One device to do it all with, from simple call making to organizing your digital life, social media to emails and photography - How could they miss music entertainment is beyond me.
So I take back some of the praises I had given before.
It is not as good as I hoped it would be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So in summary it's ****e.? Note 9 exynos dac is better?
Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk
I don't think Neutron connects directly to the device DAC. You said in your own post that disabling Dolby Atmos makes a difference to the sound, and it seems unlikely that it's the DAC that's doing the Atmos processing. Might be wrong though.
It is possible, that this problem was already discussed, but I haven't found that thread.
After the second Android 10 update on my hongkong version of Galaxy S10, I found, that sound from internal speakers is way worse than before. Too much high frequencies, which make sound buzzy and flat. After some experiments, I found out, that devs changed the default "flat" equalizer, although graphically it remains the same. To restore the original sound quality, eq should look like this: 125 hz +1.5, 250 hz +3 (out of 5).
P.S. Atmos and other soft enhancements were not used, because of uselessness.
P.P.S The update came out just before the launch of s20 series, which were considered as worse sounding devices, than s10 series. I don't believe in Samsung any more.
I am experiencing the sam. From Macedonia thou. Thought were the speakers, but triwd with other ones same problem.
Huh, didn't notice it, but thanks anyway for experimenting! I will adjust the equalizer