Database Develop

[Q] Why is Nook's Audio quality so Bad

Hey guys i have had a nook for quite some time now and it is a fantastic product but one thing that i really find annoying is the bad music quality.
The voice is so thin, and there's no bass at all. Why is that? please compare any song on a music player and a nook(same headphones) u'll see what i mean.
Is this because of the bad chip?
can i also implement audio decoding at software level and will that do any good?
Edit: am using cm7 pherimod 5.1 and Sony's headphones with miui music player
Edit: Okay finally figured out the problem, its the headphone jack. When u plug headphones in too fast ,i.e without stopping in btw the sound is kind of okay but if u plug them in slowly u lose the bass(it may be opposite for your case). If the headphones are not completely inserted, u lose the stereo but get high bass.
Hope this help's someone.

might be because they designed nook primarily as an e-reader not as a media playback device so likely they skimped on the audio part
rigy73 said:
Hey guys i have had a nook for quite some time now and it is a fantastic product but one thing that i really find annoying is the bad music quality.
The voice is so thin, and there's no bass at all. Why is that? please compare any song on a music player and a nook(same headphones) u'll see what i mean.
Is this because of the bad chip?
can i also implement audio decoding at software level and will that do any good?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

rigy73 said:
Hey guys i have had a nook for quite some time now and it is a fantastic product but one thing that i really find annoying is the bad music quality.
The voice is so thin, and there's no bass at all. Why is that? please compare any song on a music player and a nook(same headphones) u'll see what i mean.
Is this because of the bad chip?
can i also implement audio decoding at software level and will that do any good?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What ROM, what MP3 player, what version of the NC firmware are you using?
My NC, a rooted stock 1.1.0 rom using Autonooter 3.0 running the stock mp3 player sound fine. May be a bad NC or your android OS.

Have to agree with rigy73 here. The nook color is a horrible sounding device. Probably the amp chip they used was bad.

I think the speaker is just poor quality at the end of the day. You have a poor quality speaker, you're gonna get poor quality sound no matter what you do.

I Agree.
I use my CDMA Hero as my media player using a 16Gb sdcard and also with audiogalaxy. I've played the same song on both devices using the same setup (Sony headphone, from sdacrd or audiogalaxy, CyanogenMod 7 on both) and the Nook sound is always worse. The DSPManager helps a little but it is still bad. I get that it's an ereader but they do have audiobooks and if you are going to put headphone jacks in the damn thing at least make the audio decent, it's not like it's the most expensive part of any gadget.

A. Nonymous said:
I think the speaker is just poor quality at the end of the day. You have a poor quality speaker, you're gonna get poor quality sound no matter what you do.
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Click to collapse
Agreed.. Nothing is going to help with that speaker. However, the OP used the same headphones in his/her comparison.
ringbolo said:
I use my CDMA Hero as my media player using a 16Gb sdcard and also with audiogalaxy. I've played the same song on both devices using the same setup (Sony headphone, from sdacrd or audiogalaxy, CyanogenMod 7 on both) and the Nook sound is always worse. The DSPManager helps a little but it is still bad. I get that it's an ereader but they do have audiobooks and if you are going to put headphone jacks in the damn thing at least make the audio decent, it's not like it's the most expensive part of any gadget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The poor sound quality is most likely due to the hacked software. My rooted NC with stock eclair sounds fine. I would like to hear if others with rooted NC AND running BN stock have the problems. What OS is the OP running - I bet it's not rooted stock BN.
Most likely it's the interface between CyanogenMod and the audio chips that's creating the distortion.

Since the Nook Color is a e-reader I'm pretty show Barnes & Nobles went with the cheapest DAC possible.

rigy73 said:
Hey guys i have had a nook for quite some time now and it is a fantastic product but one thing that i really find annoying is the bad music quality.
The voice is so thin, and there's no bass at all. Why is that? please compare any song on a music player and a nook(same headphones) u'll see what i mean.
Is this because of the bad chip?
can i also implement audio decoding at software level and will that do any good?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All depends on the kind of headphones your using. I would bet the house your using ear buds. Those things blow if you want sound quality. Personally I like the style of headphones that cover the ear more. Bigger speakers capable of decent sounding bass and the help cancel out outside noise. Mine are made by Sony and they sound awesome. http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11037408

I agree with IFLATLINE. I use Jabra noise cancelling over the ear phones and I think the audio reproduction is first rate. I also agree that with ear buds the audio is lousy. I occasionally use ear buds with other MP3 players and it does seem that the Nook ranks right at the bottom. Big difference with better phones.

evilPERSOn2009 said:
Since the Nook Color is a e-reader I'm pretty show Barnes & Nobles went with the cheapest DAC possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DAC is an integrated Ti chip TLV320DAC3100 http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/slas671/slas671.pdf
The specs on the chip is reasonable - so I would expect acceptable sound quality at "reasonable" output levels.
rigy73 said:
Hey guys i have had a nook for quite some time now and it is a fantastic product but one thing that i really find annoying is the bad music quality.?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rigy73: what ROM are you using? I bet that it's not rooted BN stock ROM.

Is there any way you could bypass the Nook's DAC via USB to an External USB DAC?

I am using cm7 pherimod 5.1 and Sony's headphones, which are pretty good.
Is stock rom better? Should I go back to stock.

I am no audiophile, but FWIW both rooted stock and CM7 SD have a pretty decent output on corded external speakers and over the earphones including a BT FreePulse set.

rigy73 said:
I am using cm7 pherimod 5.1 and Sony's headphones, which are pretty good.
Is stock rom better? Should I go back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mostly likely it is something in cm7 pherimod 5.1. Try going back to stock and let us know the results.

There's definitely something funky going on with the headphone jack. I've found that often, when I first put them in, the sound is really tinny and the low-end is pretty much missing entirely. If I unplug them and immediately plug them back in, it improves dramatically. This has been the case both with my Sony buds and my Bose over-the-ears.
EDIT: This is on CM7. BTW.

rigy73 said:
Hey guys i have had a nook for quite some time now and it is a fantastic product but one thing that i really find annoying is the bad music quality.
The voice is so thin, and there's no bass at all. Why is that? please compare any song on a music player and a nook(same headphones) u'll see what i mean.
Is this because of the bad chip?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a problem with the Nook headphone jack, where you can push a plug into it in such a way as to get a mono sound - which has exactly the sound you describe.
Try pulling the plug out slightly.
The audio chip has excellent specs.

How much background hiss do you guys hear in CM7 off the headphone jack? I get quite a lot which is very apparent with quiet music. Volume levels don't affect it. I notice that the hiss goes away when the audio chip is reinitializing or whatever it does when apps release it.
I also hear some distortion some frequencies I think.

evilPERSOn2009 said:
Is there any way you could bypass the Nook's DAC via USB to an External USB DAC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
usb host has to be enabled on the NC, which hasnt been done yet.
swaaye said:
How much background hiss do you guys hear in CM7 off the headphone jack? I get quite a lot which is very apparent with quiet music. Volume levels don't affect it. I notice that the hiss goes away when the audio chip is reinitializing or whatever it does when apps release it.
I also hear some distortion some frequencies I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lots of hiss when the headphone out is enabled.

I use a pair of klipsch s4 in early buds. When connected to nook
Sent from Fascinate SuperClean 2.9.2 Voodoo Using Xda Premium App

Audio quality through headphones?

As my Galaxy S got stolen a few days ago, I'm looking for a new phone and 2X seems like the best option right now. Only thing that concerns me is that some reviews mention not so good audio quality through headphones.
I tend to use my phone as an mp3 player quite a lot and I use good headphones with them, so here's a question for you, kind 2X owners - how does it cope as an mp3 player? I'm no audiophile but I aint deaf either, I was satisfied with Galaxy S' audio quality and would prefer not to go lower. Thanks in advance for any info.

I am not sure about sgs, but it definitely lose comparing my old sony erisson w810
when the wires bumping to your chest, you will listen the noise in ur earphone too. I would give my old w810 9/10, and this phone 4/10.

I would say it definitely depends on the earplugs..
Have to say that with my Sennheiser in-ears i cannot complain.. Haven't done a side by side comparison with a different phone yet.. so If i will, I'll let you know!
Sorry for your loss of sgs. You will not regret the O2X i would say!

Mine is spot on as a music player. The 2x and the Desire I had are more or less the same in the headphones I have. I am not sure how they compare when you enter in the supplied headphones into the test.

Tested with high-end earphones (Westone UM2). It sounds ok but I wouldn't use my 2x as my main music player.

Sound level is a little on the weak side and slightly tame bass levels on my Sennheiser HD 565 headphones. On the plus side, very clean sounding audio. I think a set of headphones/earphones with high sensitivity rating should produce decent audio, or something with high bass reproduction for bassheads.

Might be worth looking at PowerAMP too. It improved audio quality on my Hero no end.

Sound quality is very good except for crosstalk which is awful. That makes the sound quality very average:
http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_optimus_2x-review-564p8.php

It's like 10 times better than my old Windows Mobile HTC Touch HD

submarine said:
I'm no audiophile but I aint deaf either, I was satisfied with Galaxy S' audio quality and would prefer not to go lower.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just read from LG Optimus 2x service manual that it uses the same Wolfson audio chipset (wm8994) as Samsung Galaxy S. So, in theory, both phones should be similar sounding when using the same earphones. Or, at least, LG 2x audio should not be much degraded from your old Galaxy S - if at all.

Rooted galaxy s has the vodoo sound option which really enhances audio quality
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Hi,
I as well use the phone as my main mp3 player. Before I had a iPod Touch, a HTC Desire and now the LGOS. And what shall I say: The LGOS is the best beneath them.
Maybe it's also important to say that I never even unpack those earphones coming with the devices. I never had a decent earphone coming with these devices.
I used Sure earphones (the middleclass ones - which are quite expensive already, I bought them for about 150€) but now switched to Phonak by Audeo (a Swiss company) which really deliver amazing sound.

Thanks for the input guys, I just placed an order : ) Voodoo sound on Galaxy S was great indeed, hope someone creates an equivalent for 2X in the future.

The provided headphones are really, really bad. No high definition in the sound at all.
I tried swapping them with the ones HTC supplied with my old Hero and the difference was huge (and even these ones aren't all that good either)!
Shame LG's media player doesn't listen for next/prev button presses (if the headset has that), coz I actually don't mind LG's player software.

withoutwings said:
The provided headphones are really, really bad. No high definition in the sound at all.
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Click to collapse
I was actually surprised how good they are!
(For supplied earbuds)

withoutwings said:
The provided headphones are really, really bad. No high definition in the sound at all.
I tried swapping them with the ones HTC supplied with my old Hero and the difference was huge (and even these ones aren't all that good either)!
Shame LG's media player doesn't listen for next/prev button presses (if the headset has that), coz I actually don't mind LG's player software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
God, I hate those that were supplied by HTC. They were bloody horrible. Much prefer the LG ones (I left my half decent ones at my sisters house...).
Just as a side note: PowerAMP runs beatifully on this phone.

withoutwings said:
The provided headphones are really, really bad. No high definition in the sound at all.
I tried swapping them with the ones HTC supplied with my old Hero and the difference was huge (and even these ones aren't all that good either)!
Shame LG's media player doesn't listen for next/prev button presses (if the headset has that), coz I actually don't mind LG's player software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have use both the one that came with the device and one which came with my htc wildfire and on both i can press the button 2x to go to the next song, so it should work. Or does your headset have 2 separate buttons?

2x uses the same headphone socket layout as iphone which differs from the galaxy S

I personnaly found that audio isn't a great part on Optimus 2x. I tried the earbuds, they are not bad but not really great ... And they doesn't fit my ear, I mean they doesn't isolate sound correctly or usually I never change the size of the foams ;-)
Meanwhile, I noticed that level sound isn't very high. Same for you ? (Maybe that was my divx file, need to verify that)

why can't i hear anything out of my headphones... ahhhh

What Audio Peripherals Are You Using?

Posted in the wrong section yesterday. Silly me.
Question is simple enough. What headphones, earbuds, or earpods are you all using with your M8? I'm looking for a durable set of audio peripherals that will last me longer than a crappy pair of skull candies. I've tried Bose SoundTrue in-ear headphones and am not sure they're something I want to keep. Feel free to comment below!
Also just out of curiosity for those of you with full size headphones. Does the M8 power them well enough? I know other smartphones struggle to provide the power needed for bigger headphones.

I use Arctic bluetooth headphones mainly and ps vita in-ear headphones good bass and clarity.Haven't use bigger headphones.

dima470 said:
Posted in the wrong section yesterday. Silly me.
Question is simple enough. What headphones, earbuds, or earpods are you all using with your M8? I'm looking for a durable set of audio peripherals that will last me longer than a crappy pair of skull candies. I've tried Bose SoundTrue in-ear headphones and am not sure they're something I want to keep. Feel free to comment below!
Also just out of curiosity for those of you with full size headphones. Does the M8 power them well enough? I know other smartphones struggle to provide the power needed for bigger headphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used these for years and struggle to find buds that match the sound quality for the money and available with a bit og hunting for about £10 uk sterling.
http://www.bestearphonesguide.co.uk/reviews/sony-mdr-ex50lp-review/#.VR8OeuHpUig
also having the right-angle jack plug is a much better and safer design in my opinion and i wouldnt buy any headphones without this feature to allow safe pocket transport!

I use those stock htc earbuds that came along with the phone, they're pretty good imo.
At home I use akg k518le headphones - very durable, light and sound very good for me. Never ever felt the need to play something on full volume, so I guess they're no problem for m8

ATH M50 for home use, the phone struggles to power them fully. For gym use I've got the Jaybird X's which are excellent.

I 'm using it with ViperOne ROM with a Kernel that supports Faux Sound. In fact this permit to raise the volume of the built-in amp (analog amp) too its maximum without any saturation. Harman Kardon mod activated. I also have Viper4android installed and i just modify dynamic bass to have powerful sub-bass. With my VMODA M100 it's the best sound i have ever had !
I used to have iriver mp3 player which i was using with Westome UM3X. Then i moved to Nexus 5 + viper + Fiio E6 + Logitech UE6000. I thought it was great. Then i did Nexus 5 + viper + ibasso T3 + Vmoda M100. Then when i got my HTC one M8 unlocked with good kernel that supports Faux Sound (which is the only tool that permits to unlock full volume abilities of the device) with Harman Kardon Mod that permits to just make the sound like Crystal then adding dynamic bass with viper4android. The sound is just awesome !!
For those who feel they lack of volume or their headphones aren't drived well, you should really install Faux Sound from Playstore (need a Kernel that support Faux Audio) it may solve your problems

flashmp3 said:
I 'm using it with ViperOne ROM with a Kernel that supports Faux Sound. In fact this permit to raise the volume of the built-in amp (analog amp) too its maximum without any saturation. Harman Kardon mod activated. I also have Viper4android installed and i just modify dynamic bass to have powerful sub-bass. With my VMODA M100 it's the best sound i have ever had !
I used to have iriver mp3 player which i was using with Westome UM3X. Then i moved to Nexus 5 + viper + Fiio E6 + Logitech UE6000. I thought it was great. Then i did Nexus 5 + viper + ibasso T3 + Vmoda M100. Then when i got my HTC one M8 unlocked with good kernel that supports Faux Sound (which is the only tool that permits to unlock full volume abilities of the device) with Harman Kardon Mod that permits to just make the sound like Crystal then adding dynamic bass with viper4android. The sound is just awesome !!
For those who feel they lack of volume or their headphones aren't drived well, you should really install Faux Sound from Playstore (need a Kernel that support Faux Audio) it may solve your problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... although anyone with some spare cash would do better to invest in some better headphones. In-built EQs and effects, including Harmon Kardon, Boomsound and Faux Audio don't actually do anything other than present different ways of EQ-ing the music. They can't somehow change the hardware.
It always amazes me that we're willing to spend hundred of $ on a phone but always skimp out on decent headphones. PS if you have anything by Beats, please for the love of god sell them and get something better XD
Anyway, I have some Earsonics SM64s which I drive straight - no EQ. At some point I might invest in a portable amp, but the DAC and amp in the M8 is actually one of the highest rated in a mobile device.

tmorterlaing said:
Hmmm... although anyone with some spare cash would do better to invest in some better headphones. In-built EQs and effects, including Harmon Kardon, Boomsound and Faux Audio don't actually do anything other than present different ways of EQ-ing the music. They can't somehow change the hardware.
It always amazes me that we're willing to spend hundred of $ on a phone but always skimp out on decent headphones. PS if you have anything by Beats, please for the love of god sell them and get something better XD
Anyway, I have some Earsonics SM64s which I drive straight - no EQ. At some point I might invest in a portable amp, but the DAC and amp in the M8 is actually one of the highest rated in a mobile device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand your message. I don't understand what in my message made you answering what you answered.
So let's try to make you understand what i was saying which was said to help some who may have good headphones but maybe haven't optimized their phone for it
- Firstly as i told, i had Westone UM3X earphones. It's playing in the same game that the Earsonics SM64s. If i had this earphones, and bought a HTC One M8 maybe it's cause like you i love good sound.
- Vmoda M100 is one of the rare 2 way headphones. He's famous to deliver very good sound but the main point is its abilities for BASS. I Love bass. I listen mainly to hip-hop (dj Mustard like songs) and wanted to have strong and deep bass. The Westone UM3X are awesome. However when i discovered headphones, cause i had always had earphones, i realized how the size of the headphones compared to the earphone, make it have a better soundind in my taste (Best would be to have full size speaker anytime......). I had different headphones and before the VMODA M100 i had Ultrasone PRO 900. But i prefered the Vmoda overall and especially because it needs less power to be driven and is not too big.
- I didn't talk about boomsound which is way different than Harman Kardon Clari-fi. The Clari-fi permit to restore compress audio. Maybe you should have a look here http://www.clarifisound.com/ and also give it a try without judging. Plus never forget sound is a lot about sujectivity. I know lots of people that for example don't like the Earsonics SM64s because they find it too bassy (personnaly it wouldn't annoy me at all). To finish FauxAudio is nothing about equalizing !! HTC put a built-in amp in the phone but didn't provide any application to modify the volume. That is just what FauxAudio permits to do !! So this is an important fonction ! You have digital volume and analog volume. The analog volume slider permits to act directly on the built-in amp (hardware). The digital slider is a kind of software volume modification that i don't use
- ViperAudio is very different from any EQ of any audio application cause it doesn't act on the songs but directly on the soundcard through the audio drivers(hardware)
cheers
ps: I'm french so sorry for the not so perfect english

flashmp3 said:
I don't understand your message. I don't understand what in my message made you answering what you answered.
So let's try to make you understand what i was saying which was said to help some who may have good headphones but maybe haven't optimized their phone for it
- Firstly as i told, i had Westone UM3X earphones. It's playing in the same game that the Earsonics SM64s. If i had this earphones, and bought a HTC One M8 maybe it's cause like you i love good sound.
- Vmoda M100 is one of the rare 2 way headphones. He's famous to deliver very good sound but the main point is its abilities for BASS. I Love bass. I listen mainly to hip-hop (dj Mustard like songs) and wanted to have strong and deep bass. The Westone UM3X are awesome. However when i discovered headphones, cause i had always had earphones, i realized how the size of the headphones compared to the earphone, make it have a better soundind in my taste (Best would be to have full size speaker anytime......). I had different headphones and before the VMODA M100 i had Ultrasone PRO 900. But i prefered the Vmoda overall and especially because it needs less power to be driven and is not too big.
- I didn't talk about boomsound which is way different than Harman Kardon Clari-fi. The Clari-fi permit to restore compress audio. Maybe you should have a look here http://www.clarifisound.com/ and also give it a try without judging. Plus never forget sound is a lot about sujectivity. I know lots of people that for example don't like the Earsonics SM64s because they find it too bassy (personnaly it wouldn't annoy me at all). To finish FauxAudio is nothing about equalizing !! HTC put a built-in amp in the phone but didn't provide any application to modify the volume. That is just what FauxAudio permits to do !! So this is an important fonction ! You have digital volume and analog volume. The analog volume slider permits to act directly on the built-in amp (hardware). The digital slider is a kind of software volume modification that i don't use
- ViperAudio is very different from any EQ of any audio application cause it doesn't act on the songs but directly on the soundcard through the audio drivers(hardware)
cheers
ps: I'm french so sorry for the not so perfect english
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't attacking the Westones - theyre an excellent iem. I was making a general comment that people need to invest in half decent iems (like the ones you have) and not rely on software tools. Clari-Fi is just an EQ. I know the Harmon/Karodn driver allows for high res audio to be driven, but the Clari-FI is still just an EQ. Anything that claims to 'rebuild lost details' means it has to EQ - it id a digital fact that if the detail is missing from the file, no trickery will get it back. At best it's guess based on frequency reading algorithms. It's a GOOD guess, and I know it does a good job some of the time, but it's still an EQ.
Also please can you post to the information regarding FauxAudio. I don't understand how software that's designed to be used on any phone can work directly with some sort of hardware element of a specific phone (the HTC M8 in this case) and boost analogue audio levels. I'm pretty sure this is just digital gain. Properly controlled and carefully implemented; but still digital gain.
I don't know too much about ViperAudio, but the same questions come up. What exactly does it change about the drivers? How specifically does it make audio 'better'?

Using a pair of the original LG Tone for when I'm working on cars and wires get in the way. UE Superfi 5vi when I'm out and about, V-Moda M80 for extended periods of listening and some Skullcandy Titans for throwaway beaters. Bass is not my primary concern so all these choices deliver just enough bass but also offer very good mids and highs. I drive all these straight and encode all my music from CD -> FLAC. Garbage in, garbage out is a very important aspect of audio. If you're playing off some 128 kbit/s mp3s its going to be missing definition no matter what you pump them out of.

Headphones: Monster Turbine Pro Copper Edition
Kernel: ElementalX (Comes with enhanced HD Audio)
HTC Audio: Harman Kardon Mod
Third Party Mod: Drangon-Fi Audio 24.1 Base (Dolby app skipped) (formally Project ERA, name changed on M9 release)
EQ Mod: Viper4Android Material Designed by @Zoja
Music Player: Poweramp with DVC and all of its EQs and enhancements turned OFF because it still has a better quality compared to Stock player.

I have far to many pairs of headphones (Need to sell some honestly)
IEM I have..........
Marshall Minor (fantastically underrated)
Skull Candy FMJ (Originals from like 15 years ago not the remakes)
Over Ear I have......
ATH-M40x with aftermarket red HM5 memory foam pads
Marshall Monitor (again, fantastic)
Sony MDR V6
Sony MDR 7506
Sennheisser HD 519
Personnally I prefer the 7506 and HD 519 for over ear and the Marshall Minors. I rarely use the rest, thus the reason I need to sell them LOL

I have Sony XBA-H3 and before them I had Phillips SHE9850. I love them both but SHE9850 had less bass and was better on another kind of music than I listen now. I hate only price, SHE9850 was in that time around 100 Dollars and H3 around 200-250 ...

I'll use either a modded Denon D-5000 (over-the-ear headphone) or a JH-16 Pro IEM for home listening, and either a clapped-out set of Sennheiser HD-280Pro's (great isolation) or a Denon D-2000 at work.
That's if I don't have my FiiO X5/E12DIY combo handy...

klipsch image s4 II
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app

Headphone Output Quality

I'm coming from a Oneplus One a much better phone for music than my poor old Galaxy S2. How does the Oneplus 3 do compared to its predecessor's? Is it loud, undistorted, have a good range in its built-in DAC for the 3.5mm Jack?
Thanks-
JJ

I haven't got mine yet although from all the reviews i've seen they say the earphone quality is good

It sound really good in my opinion. Even better than my Samsung GT I9000

Yes, with sony headphone the quality is very good
TED

maxl96 said:
It sound really good in my optionion. Even better than my Samsung GT I9000
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Click to collapse
No wonder it's gonna be better than a 6 year old phone.

Loving the sound from my Xiaomi Mi Piston 3 on my Oneplus 3..!

It easily tops the quality and power of the Nexus 6. My completely stock OP3 sounds just as good and loud as my rooted N6 using Viper4Android.

Not bad at all, much better than my Nexus 5X.

Sound quality is good and I was a bit worried when I got mine. Coming from a Huawei P8, which I found to be great, I have been very happy with OP3.
I use Neutron player and after I took time to disable some features and enable others, I am very pleased. Output is loud and clear makes my earbuds boom nicely. Overall, no complaints at all. Speaker volume on the other hand... not as good as I'd like.
But, headphone, for me anyway, is most important.

R3Lax1 said:
No wonder it's gonna be better than a 6 year old phone.
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Click to collapse
Thats exactly what i was thinking

R3Lax1 said:
No wonder it's gonna be better than a 6 year old phone.
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Mulayan said:
Thats exactly what i was thinking
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Right, so you clearly have no idea :laugh:
Maybe you should look up the Wolfson WM8994

maxl96 said:
Right, so you clearly have no idea :laugh:
Maybe you should look up the Wolfson WM8994
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are talking about normal Android devices and not some piece of sh*t you found somewhere on the Internet...

Mulayan said:
We are talking about normal Android devices and not some piece of sh*t you found somewhere on the Internet...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahem... I think that the Wolfson WM8994 is the audio chipset of the first Samsung galaxy ( am i right ? ) not a phone...

It has the generic Snapdragon converter. Nothing special but sound quality is decent through the h/phone out. When I had the phone I used it a couple of times with both Grado and Sennheiser cans. No real complaints, not amazing. Good enough imho.

We see here again in this thread that many people mean "loud" when they say "good quality".
Yes, the signal level on the headphone jack is quite high. This has the advantage that high-impedance headphones (i.e. "those big ones for audiophiles") work without problems with the OP3 and are loud enough; on many smartphones, this is not the case.
Furthermore, the dynamic range is really good. I.e., the difference between the quietest and the loudest parts of a recording is reproduced quite faithfully. This is also not a given on smartphones.
The actual sound quality (!) is absolutely OK but of course not on the level of more advanced DACs.
The non-audiophile listener with his usual MP3s of pop music will be completely content.

toy57 said:
Ahem... I think that the Wolfson WM8994 is the audio chipset of the first Samsung galaxy ( am i right ? ) not a phone...
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I never said it's a phone. Do I?

The Wolfson is actually the DAC which is used in The Galaxy S and there was an App called Voodoo Controller by Supercurio which enabled really undistorted and clear output.
Wolfson DACs where also used in some BMW and Mercedes by the way...

Finally mines arrived been using it for a day listening with inateck Aries earphones and I'm very impressed good amount of bass and undistorted Highs. Using viper on oxygenos. Way better than my s2 and not massively better than my oneplus one.

hasenbein1966 said:
We see here again in this thread that many people mean "loud" when they say "good quality".
Yes, the signal level on the headphone jack is quite high. This has the advantage that high-impedance headphones (i.e. "those big ones for audiophiles") work without problems with the OP3 and are loud enough; on many smartphones, this is not the case.
Furthermore, the dynamic range is really good. I.e., the difference between the quietest and the loudest parts of a recording is reproduced quite faithfully. This is also not a given on smartphones.
The actual sound quality (!) is absolutely OK but of course not on the level of more advanced DACs.
The non-audiophile listener with his usual MP3s of pop music will be completely content.
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So the sound quality is average as for the phone? So probably big difference compared to good quality mp3 player? I was thinking if zte axon 7 has really better sound quality or just dolby, useless for music 32bit. People say it's noticeably better, but just because it has more bass or whatever, or with dolby on when it can get only worse for music.
Maybe you or anyone else knows something about sound quality, has a good headphones to check it, has some comparison to good portable audio player or decent phone.
I'm not an audiophile but I can appreciate sound quality more than others, I'm using old Cowon j3 player and it sounds really well. Have also OPO which I'm using with Spotify, but can hear sound degradation over Cowon
When it's loud, or has a lot of bass or hurting ears high tones says nothing about sound quality. I would like to know how is the soundstage, if the instruments are separate, if they are heard well not mixed up with other sounds, if the sound is flat or not, you said the dynamic range is fine, that's good.
Do anyone know what sound chip is inside OP3?

Audio quality

How's the audio quality on the S10 with headphones (bt and wired)? I've rooted and used viper in the past because the built in eq usually caused a volume decrease,regardless of the phone I had.

kheltek said:
How's the audio quality on the S10 with headphones (bt and wired)? I've rooted and used viper in the past because the built in eq usually caused a volume decrease,regardless of the phone I had.
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I have wired earphones. Quality is top notch. Also volume is high enough. I use klipsch r6m and Sony extra bass xb75
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Would love for someone to take some measurements of frequency response, distortion, output impedance, etc.

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s10-review-1903p3.php
https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s10_plus-review-1901p3.php

Coming from a LG V30 which has a hi-fi built in DAC for its headphone jack...this thing sounds tinny to me. Even with dolby atmos enabled. Funny thing is, I had a $15 usb c dongle just for curiosity and the sound quality is actually better using that. I think unless if they have a built in high quality DAC, then it's unnecessary for phone companies at this point to keep the headphone jack since a cheap dongle actually provides better sound quality than a basic headphone jack does. The sound quality I got from the dongle was a lot closer to my old LG's quality, it's punchier than the S10's jack.

Mudig said:
Coming from a LG V30 which has a hi-fi built in DAC for its headphone jack...this thing sounds tinny to me. Even with dolby atmos enabled. Funny thing is, I had a $15 usb c dongle just for curiosity and the sound quality is actually better using that. I think unless if they have a built in high quality DAC, then it's unnecessary for phone companies at this point to keep the headphone jack since a cheap dongle actually provides better sound quality than a basic headphone jack does. The sound quality I got from the dongle was a lot closer to my old LG's quality, it's punchier than the S10's jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about companies keep both usb c and headphone jack to make everyone happy [emoji16]
Sent from my Mate 20 Pro

Mudig said:
Coming from a LG V30 which has a hi-fi built in DAC for its headphone jack...this thing sounds tinny to me. Even with dolby atmos enabled. Funny thing is, I had a $15 usb c dongle just for curiosity and the sound quality is actually better using that. I think unless if they have a built in high quality DAC, then it's unnecessary for phone companies at this point to keep the headphone jack since a cheap dongle actually provides better sound quality than a basic headphone jack does. The sound quality I got from the dongle was a lot closer to my old LG's quality, it's punchier than the S10's jack.
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Strange, for the most part the headphone jack quality is miles better than almost any dongle I've used in my situation. And I've used literally ALL if them. From Razer, Google, htc, Huawei, xiaomi etc. The only thing that Trump's the headphone jack for me is the Shure usb-c dongle/cable for my se846s. Distortion free and balanced in that situation. Though I do miss plugging them into the headphone jack of an old LG V20 or HTC 10, nothing mobile-wise ever beat that. Ahhh the memories, lol.

Nothing in the world is better than a phone running viper. There just is no substitute in any way. That is literally the only thing I have wanted root for and have missed. I still run an old note as a second phone because it has viper and all my Spotify playlist backed up. if somebody came up with a way to utilize viper without rooting I would have the perfect phone.

I've been using this phone (S10 Snapdragon 855) and doing some tests and looking at other peoples' research for a while now, and I've realized a few things.
1. The S10 (SD855) has a high quality audio codec onboard, but it doesn't work with the headphone jack! To sum it up, the high-res direct_pcm output only works with 3 devices: None of which are the headphone jack.
Code:
Device 1:
- tag name: Aux Device Out
- type: AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_AUX_DIGITAL
Device 2:
- tag name: Usb Device Out
- type: AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_USB_DEVICE
Device 3:
- tag name: USB Headset Out
- type: AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_USB_HEADSET
2. Using a 60 Hz test file and 30 Ohms resistor, I was reading 0.5438V without load and 0.5095V with 30 Ohms load, giving an output impedance of 2.02 Ohms.
3. SD855 version of the S10+ seems to measure better than the Exynos version, and I wouldn't be surprised if this held true for the S10. This information is available in Anandtech's review/comparison of the S10+ SD855 and S10+ Exynos.

QuadraKev said:
I've been using this phone (S10 Snapdragon 855) and doing some tests and looking at other peoples' research for a while now, and I've realized a few things.
1. The S10 (SD855) has a high quality audio codec onboard, but it doesn't work with the headphone jack! To sum it up, the high-res direct_pcm output only works with 3 devices: None of which are the headphone jack.
2. Using a 60 Hz test file and 30 Ohms resistor, I was reading 0.5438V without load and 0.5095V with 30 Ohms load, giving an output impedance of 2.02 Ohms.
3. SD855 version of the S10+ seems to measure better than the Exynos version, and I wouldn't be surprised if this held true for the S10. This information is available in Anandtech's review/comparison of the S10+ SD855 and S10+ Exynos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Andrei (Anand writer) is also a member of xda. You could reach out to him and see whether his units can access the pcm, or whether there's a hw/sw limitation in place.

Prevalent on S10e as well
I can confirm that the audio quality from the headphone jack on the S10e seems to be lacking quite a bit as well. I haven't been able to try decent USB-C headphones on it yet, but I was able to compare it to my old S9 using the same headphones with the same equalizer settings and MP3's (I know - lossy, but I'm just testing audio output here). It is very noticeably less punchy, tinnier and overall cooler than the S9's bassy, warm and full sound.
This is a huge disappointment. I really hope this can be fixed with a software update soon, or even a root. It doesn't sound awful per say as is, but in comparison to previous phones I've had, even dating back to the iPhone 4s, this is pretty unacceptable. The worst part is that no one is saying a thing about it. I must have watched about 20 S10 and S10e reviews at this point and there's even a guy who calls himself an audiophile who fails to notice it. Samsung won't do a thing if no one says a word, no?

AnonimusDinonicus said:
I can confirm that the audio quality from the headphone jack on the S10e seems to be lacking quite a bit as well. I haven't been able to try decent USB-C headphones on it yet, but I was able to compare it to my old S9 using the same headphones with the same equalizer settings and MP3's (I know - lossy, but I'm just testing audio output here). It is very noticeably less punchy, tinnier and overall cooler than the S9's bassy, warm and full sound.
This is a huge disappointment. I really hope this can be fixed with a software update soon, or even a root. It doesn't sound awful per say as is, but in comparison to previous phones I've had, even dating back to the iPhone 4s, this is pretty unacceptable. The worst part is that no one is saying a thing about it. I must have watched about 20 S10 and S10e reviews at this point and there's even a guy who calls himself an audiophile who fails to notice it. Samsung won't do a thing if no one says a word, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I compared lg g6 with quad dac sabre to the s10e sd855.
On stock without Dolby atmos and few tweaks in settings selected on s10e, the lg is the winner but it comes at cost with less battery life.
When you select Dolby atmos and few tweaks (see below) the sound of sd855 is much more balanced/neutral/warmer than the lg g6 and I prefer it overwhelmingly.
Prior there is a void in the lower/upper midrange on stock.
The tweaks
Choose the adapt sound and choose under 30 years old it helps provide some boost to the gain.
You can also select uhq up scaler and select the first one for more air and if your select bandwidth it's a bit more fuller but less air. I like the air first one (bit upscaling)
The Sound
The lg g6 quad dac has too much filtering whereas the snapdragon with tweaks sounds more balanced/ neutral ymmv.
The Sabres bass is also more muddy than the sd855. The mids and top are more isolated / airy in the sabre dac but the difference il can be made very close.
Happy listening and the enjoy the sound. Love the s10e and sd855.

S10 series with Exynos has dedicated AKM DAC and dedicated headphone amp. You would call it high end DAC. Same as on Note 9, S9, Note 8, S8.
S10 series with Snapdragon uses the Snapdragons SOC build in DAC and headphone amp.
The lack of sound quality or the sound compared to USB-C audio adapters which is differ has nothing to do with audio quality in general with the audio component of the phone. The frequency curve is flat (neutral). And the sound is high resoluted. I used my Beyerdynamic T90 and Sennheiser HD 700 to get an idea of it. The sound components that Samsung uses are very good, only the LG G or V series uses such components but with a better implementation. But S10 series suffers in some interferences. This is why the lab measurements are not as good as they could be like on Samsung S9. But you will not hear impairments with cheap or casual headphones combined with lossy sound sources like spotify or mp4, mp3, ogg.
If your sound sucks the you could use better headphones, an EQ or a dedicated headphone amp. Samsung uses lots of software and oversampling with higher bitrate and frequencies. So you will not get full neutral or bit by bit sound out of the headphone jack.
I use the Exynos version with AKM chips. And for my taste the audio quality for a smartphone is outstanding.

Where did you read that exynos uses akm dac?
If you read the anandtech article on sd855 v exynos in s10 it states:
The Snapdragon Galaxy S10 continues to showcase excellent results with what was in line with Qualcomm’s Aqstic line of DACs over the last few years: a very clean output with very little noise.
Exynos Galaxy S10+
Switching over to the Exynos Galaxy S10 however we’re seeing some pretty shocking results. The phone uses a Cirrus Logic CS47L93 audio codec chip which has actually been used in Exynos variants since the Galaxy S8. Unfortunately in recent years this was surpassed by Qualcomm’s audio chips, and in particular the Galaxy S10 suffers from a pretty bad implementation. Here we’re clearly seeing noise components that are not part of the reference 1KHz signal, with a particularly odd 250Hz component. The measurements were done in sequence with just re-plugging the input from the Snapdragon to the Exynos under the same conditions. Audio output level was calibrated at near -10dbV / 312.5mV RMS on both devices.
In practical terms, there is audible difference between the two as the Exynos unit sounds warmer (in a bad way) and more muffled. The Snapdragon achieves higher clarity and the sound stage appears wider. This was my subjective evaluation using the same Samsung’s included AKG headphones on both units, both having the same software audio settings.
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Click to collapse
---------- Post added at 03:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:37 PM ----------
Also, I'll add my best sounding settings using sd855 using Qualcomm.
Select adapt sound under 30 and the following:
Some may prefer auto under Dolby atmos, experiment what you prefer.
Happy listening.

xlr8me said:
Where did you read that exynos uses akm dac?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry it's a Cirrus Logic CS47L93 IC (DAC, ADC, ... combination chip), not from AKM. Still of a very good speficiation. I have mistaken it with another hi-fi device which I am currently examining.
I did a 30 minute A/B comparison with S10e Exynos headphone out and a JDS Labs O2+ODAC (DAC+headphone amp) with Sennheiser HD 700 headphones.
Both devices sound exactly the same. No wonders here. They should!
But the S10e Exynos lacks a little bit of resolution which might be interpreted by some people as lack of transparency. Which also tends to mud the bass region a bit. Kick drums disappears into the background a little. Kick drums have not the clear and tight punch as they should. Plus the highs somewhere above 8000 Hz tend to hiss sometimes, not often, which are barely hearable, only with my HD 700. This might be the interferences which i spoke of, might be other components and radio waves that have influence to the components.
I can not confirm that the S10e Exynos sounds different or warmer than other devices, asclaimed by anandtech. If so, we would have a technical design fault.
The S10e with CS47L93 and its implementation does'nt spit out a high end sound which can only be subjectivly heard with good til high end phones. If you use budget phones up to 200€ or dollar you should not or barely hear any differences in an A/B comparison. I beef on a very very very high level where most people can not or will not hear any differences.
So the overall quality of the headphone jack is good but not high end. I would not use it as a main player for music. Only with an external DAC over USB-C. But on the road or in bed i have a good music player squashed in a smartphone. You can play, phone, chat, gawk vids and hear music with it. This is awesome isn't it.
P.S. settings i used for A/B comparison:
S10e audio settings:
- Dolby Atmos = off
- Dolby Atmos on games = off
- Equalizer = normal (which maybe means 'off')
- UHQ Upscaler = Bit-Upscaling
- Adapt Sound = standard (which means 'off')
If this standard settings sound thin, then use other or better headpones. This is neutral sound and flat sound as it should be to evaluate headphone sound. Only headphones can give you what you want. Not the DAC or other technics. Playing around with an equalizer can give you a bit but might not satisfy you.
Audio Player = Samsung build in Music Player
Audio Tracks = Kobra and the Lotus - Prevail II album. An rock/metal album with very good and modern production
Audio Files = 44.1 kHz, 16 bit, lossless FLAC
Playing around with the EQ and Adapt Sound gives good and enjoying result with other headphones for me. The rest does not. I advice to set up your own 'adapt sound' profile. Do it in the the most quiet place. It is a hearing test and boost the frequencies (it's an EQ) you can barely hear anymore. If you need more bass use the EQ additionally and boost 63 Herz up to a max of 3 ticks, 125 Herz up to a max of 2 ticks, and optionaly 250 Herz up to only one tick. The other frequencies should be flat. Now you should have a broad stage with extreme highs and a bit of more bass and lower mids for drum punch. If it's not good use another or better headphone. The Samsung sound settings is not anybodies taste but they are there.
UHQ Upscaler is also an EQ which tends to muddy the overall sound.
Dolby Atmos destroys the whole sound stage and tends to sound compressed. I only found it usable for anything but music. E.g. to boost speech clarity in podcasts.

Bluetooth audio worst than s8+ especially on the bass dynamic, the difference is quite obvious .... Overalls disappointed on the audio quality
And the original AKG earphone too, it's sound very flat and plain compared to S8+ AKG earphone

I observed, having access to many different units, that sound quality among same model has quality deviation.
I ve tested 6-7 s10, s10 plus and sound quality in the whole spectrum, earpiece,headset, Bluetooth, had slight differences from unit to unit.
Some have slight distortion, others are crystal clear, others have more depth etc.
The same applies to other headset companies like apple Huawei etc.
I don't know why this happens but usually it's matter of luck to obtain a perfect sounding device.
Sorry for my mediocre English
Στάλθηκε από το SM-G973F μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk

Agree. I plugged my S10e into some Yamaha HS8 monitor speakers and it sounded surprisingly bad compared to a proper soundcard. Tinny, missing low end... I was disappointed.

Hello everyone,
I've read pretty everything in this post and I did some research.
I found this huge database about this DAC chip, it has every little detail you'd ever need, Read more here.
Hope it helped anyone...

Hello Friends,
Happy New Year 2022
I have the Galaxy S10 PLUS, the Exynos version.
I am listening to Apple Music with the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones using the Codec LDAC
I am thinking of offering myself one of those Digital Audio Players such as the KANN ALPHA from Astell&Kern.
Will I make a mistake? Since my understanding is that the Galaxy S10 is good enough to listen to High Resolution music?
Thanks for the assistance,