I have seen that my Galaxy S has a maximum output for my Sennheiser CX-300 II a lot lower than my Cowon S9, is there a way to turn the volume up without distortions?
m3talm0rph said:
I have seen that my Galaxy S has a maximum output for my Sennheiser CX-300 II a lot lower than my Cowon S9, is there a way to turn the volume up without distortions?
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Not that I know of. However, you can use the audio quality fix provided here to improve the quality of music.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=735918&page=1
I was using some hi-fi earphones on this phone and was getting enough power from the phone. I have DSPManager equalizer installed and I nearly had to have the volume bar full just to get decent volume. Kind of sucks, but I can't complain too much for how good the price was. Will any developers be working on this chipset?
i think chinese phone could be great and could be compare with this incredible phone
UnlockedNand said:
I was using some hi-fi earphones on this phone and was getting enough power from the phone. I have DSPManager equalizer installed and I nearly had to have the volume bar full just to get decent volume. Kind of sucks, but I can't complain too much for how good the price was. Will any developers be working on this chipset?
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Which hi-fi earphones you are using?
With your case, I suggest you buy a headphone amp like Fiio E5 to deal with your high impedence headphones.
richteralan said:
Which hi-fi earphones you are using?
With your case, I suggest you buy a headphone amp like Fiio E5 to deal with your high impedence headphones.
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How good are the Fiio E5's? I have been looking for something to give my 8323's a little something extra and does it work with an inline mic?
decepticon said:
How good are the Fiio E5's? I have been looking for something to give my 8323's a little something extra and does it work with an inline mic?
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It's just a headphone amp. I haven't tried with an mic so I don't know. Don't expect too much from its price point.
But for 99% people E5 will work great. I'm using E5 with my laptop and Grado headphone.
richteralan said:
It's just a headphone amp. I haven't tried with an mic so I don't know. Don't expect too much from its price point.
But for 99% people E5 will work great. I'm using E5 with my laptop and Grado headphone.
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Not expecting too much, just a little extra "oomph" in power to where I don't have to have the volume up to 100% and it still sound low.
decepticon said:
Not expecting too much, just a little extra "oomph" in power to where I don't have to have the volume up to 100% and it still sound low.
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E5 can definitely do that.
I just tried connecting my Grado to N4 without the amp. And the volume is perfect for me.
Also tried connect the phone to E5 and does amplify a bit, not a lot though.
There's also an E6 for a few bucks more. The power output spec:
E5:
Output Power: 100mW (32ohms Load) 18mW (300ohms Load)
E6:
Output Power: 150mW (16Ohm), 16mW (300Ohm)
Fiio has a whole line of portable headphone amps. Check them out on Amazon.com
Thanks, I kinda like the look of the E6 more, it's less "iPod shuffle"
The E6 is a good little amp but it will only drive headphones/earphones volume-wise. If you want something that will actually make them sound better, you'll have to step it up to an E7 or an E11. I have an E17 and it's great. The bonus with the E7 and E17 is that you can plug it into your computer via USB and use it as a DAC as well as an amp without installing any drivers.
An amp will not make the source sound better. It takes the existing signal and amplifies it. If it is a poorly designed amplifier, it may even add distortion and make the signal worse. You may hear an improvement if the amplifier on the SOC can not adequately power your headphones (likely due to either high impedance or low sensitivity, or both) and you drive it into distortion. So, if this is the case then you may hear an improvement. Given some of the lack luster results from the GSMArena testing, it may be more than just the amplifier though.
Some phones with USB OTG can use mobile USB DACs, which would likely improve SQ considering the state of sound quality on mobile SOCs. They also tend to have decent quality amplifiers as well. I'm not sure we can do this with the Nexus 4 yet, but it is possible on the GS3 and I'd suspect it's only a matter of time before we get it here as well.
If you are having volume issues its almost certainly because your headphones are low impedance. Lower than the inbuilt amplifier can supply. You can easily verify by plugging in another set of crappy earphones.
As was suggested, amp is your solution or you can use one of the phones that have a more powerful amplifier. I guess some of the HTC ones may have that though I have never used them.
mesasone said:
An amp will not make the source sound better. It takes the existing signal and amplifies it. If it is a poorly designed amplifier, it may even add distortion and make the signal worse. You may hear an improvement if the amplifier on the SOC can not adequately power your headphones (likely due to either high impedance or low sensitivity, or both) and you drive it into distortion. So, if this is the case then you may hear an improvement. Given some of the lack luster results from the GSMArena testing, it may be more than just the amplifier though.
Some phones with USB OTG can use mobile USB DACs, which would likely improve SQ considering the state of sound quality on mobile SOCs. They also tend to have decent quality amplifiers as well. I'm not sure we can do this with the Nexus 4 yet, but it is possible on the GS3 and I'd suspect it's only a matter of time before we get it here as well.
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Most USB DACs under $100 are cheaply made anyway. So there's no point to further drain your phone battery with a very minimal improvement over sound quality.
If you are really into it, use local FLAC and a small headphone amp. The best balance between mobility and audio.
sexualrug said:
You can easily verify by plugging in another set of crappy earphones.
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The DAC in the nexus 4 drives high end IEMs easily, using hi end hifi equipment on phones and expecting it to work as Intended is bad logic
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
I found the DAC in the US SGS3 to be quite adequate for a mobile chipset, and seeing as the Nexus 4 uses the same one, I see no reason to think any differently. However, I do think the SGS3 has a more powerful amp in it. If your headphones are anywhere from 50 to 300ohm impedance, you will need an amp to get adequate volume (and sound quality) out of them. Obviously a good amp cannot make up for a poor source, but if your headphones are suffering from low power, an amp will help.
My Beyerdynamic Custom One Pros are 16ohm and I still have to turn my Nexus 4 up to ~75% volume to get them at a good listening volume. They sound great though. Obviously they sound better out of my Schiit Lyr, but my HD650s benefit more from the amount of power that bad boy puts out. I actually have to run my COPs through my E17 because the Lyr is so powerful (with a high output impedance) that it causes a low hissing on the COPs no matter the volume.
UnlockedNand said:
I was using some hi-fi earphones on this phone and was getting enough power from the phone. I have DSPManager equalizer installed and I nearly had to have the volume bar full just to get decent volume. Kind of sucks, but I can't complain too much for how good the price was. Will any developers be working on this chipset?
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What hi-fi earphones are you using?
See the supercurio link on 11-23 in this thread.
BaronInkjet said:
See the supercurio link on 11-23 in this thread.
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I am never a fan of RighMark Audio Analyzer from when it's written...long time ago.
But people like to compare numbers and RMAA shows some pseudo relationship between numbers and apparent audio quality.
I miss the days when you actually need to LISTEN TO THE ACTUAL DEVICE instead of staring at some numbers.
noobdeagle said:
The DAC in the nexus 4 drives high end IEMs easily, using hi end hifi equipment on phones and expecting it to work as Intended is bad logic
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
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I don't really want to get into a discussion on what kind of differences can be heard with what kind of headphones when connected to a phone.
High-end is a very general term and doesn't really mean anything to me. If the built-in amp cannot supply enough current to the low impedance headphones, voltage (and volume) will drop. Since the OP was complaining about volume, using an external amplifier is his solution, or otherwise getting a phone that has a better built in amp. He can easily verify if the volume drop is caused by impedance by plugging in a high impedance headset and seeing if the volume reaches his desired level.
richteralan said:
I am never a fan of RighMark Audio Analyzer from when it's written...long time ago.
But people like to compare numbers and RMAA shows some pseudo relationship between numbers and apparent audio quality.
I miss the days when you actually need to LISTEN TO THE ACTUAL DEVICE instead of staring at some numbers.
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The frequency response chart pretty much exactly described my first impression when I listened to mine.
Another thing curious is that the stats are quite different from those of the other Qualcom SoC phones (some better, some worse -- including compared to new LG with identical hardware.) I would have thought it to be near identical; most of the previous ones are in a very tight range. Perhaps the difference is due to different parties testing (Supercurio/Anandtech vs. GSMarena)?
BaronInkjet said:
The frequency response chart pretty much exactly described my first impression when I listened to mine.
Another thing curious is that the stats are quite different from those of the other Qualcom SoC phones (some better, some worse -- including compared to new LG with identical hardware.) I would have thought it to be near identical; most of the previous ones are in a very tight range. Perhaps the difference is due to different parties testing (Supercurio/Anandtech vs. GSMarena)?
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im not sure how they test but the N4 gives some odd results, it changes alot based on the volume you set it to i believe they mention it in the anandtech review from memory, but it seems to click into different 'modes' at different volumes its kinda weird and probably software related.
wait and see what kernel devs cook up maybe.
Hi,
I'd like to buy a new pair of headfone and I read that superlux hd661 and hd668b are good. But they have a impedance respectively of 68ohm and 56ohm and I understood that it's higher than normal, so does anyone know if our mini can handle it or not?
I think it should be no problem if they have higher impedance, lower impedance than minimum will probably be really bad for phone but as they have higher...
Masrepus said:
I think it should be no problem if they have higher impedance, lower impedance than minimum will probably be really bad for phone but as they have higher...
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Thank you for your reply.
Well, the thing worried me was this sentence I read on wiki.
In recent years, impedance of newer headphones has generally decreased to accommodate lower voltages available on battery powered CMOS-based portable electronics. This results in headphones that can be more efficiently driven by battery powered electronics.
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I don't know if it's the same with mobiles or not.
Well, i think it COULD happen that the battery drains faster: because if the impedance is high, you need more power to get an electric current that is high enough for the headphones to work. But as they must have been tested in order to be sold, there shouldnt be any problem
Hy i bought x-mini max 2 speakers and pluged in my s3 lte, my sound is to low. Please someone help how can i boost my sound?
My s3 lte is NOT ROOTED and it has stock rom.
The x-mini max 2 only has loudspeaker output: 2.5w
You where never going to get a Marshall amp sound for £25.00
You pays your money and takes your choice.
Raistlin1158 said:
The x-mini max 2 only has loudspeaker output: 2.5w
You where never going to get a Marshall amp sound for £25.00
You pays your money and takes your choice.
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But as i have just discovered you may get Marshall amp sound or Vox or Tweed for free .
By using Impulse Response Samples.
see
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191223
Through a decent pair of headphones .
I'm on the fence here. I need to invest in some new audio equipment. Currently I have a set of Anker Soundcore Life NC neckband Bluetooth earbuds that need replaced. I definitely want a new neckband style earbuds for work and on the go but I been thinking of investing in a set of over the ear cans to keep at home for better sound quality when listening to music. That would be the only use for the over the ear so I'm not sure noise canceling is a concern there as much as with my otg neckband. Is it worth just spending more simply to get a better set of neckband earbuds? The issue here is that they would need to have a lot of battery life to get me through a 10 hour work day and still have a few hours of playback left to kick back and listen to some music after work or on the weekends. My budget would be $150 max total to split between the possible combo or the singke higher quality neckband buds. Thoughts?