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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
Hi I've used a AKG 450 headset for a long time. The sound of it was very good if I used sony's w600 Bluetooth. If I connected it to the phone the sound wasnt to much to brag about. But now I've bought a sennheiser HD25-II-2 and a Fiio E11 but the sound through the Sony just sucks. But when I connect it directly too the phone, it sound, well, bloody f***ing good! So the situation has turned 360°. So what's wrong here? It got a great DA-converter but the phone's amp cant handle any resistance?
Amplifier, not a DA converter ;-)
I'm satisfied with sound, nothing spectacular but ok. It depends on what kind of headphones you have, higher impendance means higher load on headphone amp. Some like that, some not...
But, review on GSM arena said something about almost exceptional sound when connected to external amp so check it out
Sent from my LG-P990 using Tapatalk
No, DA -converter. It must be really good compared to its amp. The akg is a perfect 32 ohms resistance, but still it sounded very bad indeed. But with the Fiio E11 amp it sounds so good that it just (almost) doesnt make sense
I seem to remember that the highend senheisers, needs power to play well. I always go for low resistance headphones, since i only drive them with my phone amp. Sound was good with my old Sennheiser cx300 and realy good with my Sunrise Xcape Impressive edition.
That was why I bought the amp. But I had no idea that this sound was waiting to be release from the x2! All the reviews points at the stereo crossover.
I wasn't aware about theese portable amps, i might be interested if i would gain anything with my easy driven inears. I haven't taken any concern about the crossover, i don't notice it. But I guess it would still be pressent with the amp.
I've just gone through the review from gms arena and the crossover is only with headset. That confirms what I experience with an amp. Believe me, it sounds really good!
Ok normaly the Xcapes don't need an amp. But that's with ipods and sansa clip's etc. Do you think the amp in the optimus 2 x is a lot less powerfull than mp3 players normaly is. Then i should consider getting an amp maybe the Fiio e5 ?
I havent heard the E5. Its dirt cheap and I bet it sounds like it. The E11 was about 36$ from mp4 nation when I ordred it ....
Edit: from mp4 nation: )
Ok just noticed the e6. An upgrade of e5. The sound quality is said to be good. But not on par wit e11
Just one way to find out.
i find it just a meh. the bass is flat.
The bass of E11 is very tight and punchy. Guess its the way to go then.
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.
Haven't posted in the N6 forums yet cause I'm a couple weeks from getting one.
My question is in regards to the audio output as compared to a N5. The DAC on the n5 kinda sucks and never drives my headphones enough, causing me to need the use of a small headphone amp. I use Audio Technica ATH-M50's. I've heard the DAC and the overall output on the n6 are better.....can anyone confirm this? I'm hoping that it enough that I can drop the external amp cause it's a big pain for me.
Thanks
Does anybody know what the audio is like on the n9. N8 was impressive. Anybody found details on the n9?
Thanks
Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
I am waiting to hear that too, I ordered mine. I had a V20 before and it was brilliant.
Probably Cirrus Logic CS47L93 as with Exynos S9. GSMArena's measurements are very promising but I take them with a grain of salt. I'm still wondering about output voltage though, as PhoneArena hasn't done the measurement for the Note 9, although it was measured at 0.75V for the S9. That should be decent enough for most consumer-level headphones but still lower than past iPhones or HTCs that had headphone jacks, or LG V-series.
FYL21 said:
Probably Cirrus Logic CS47L93 as with Exynos S9. GSMArena's measurements are very promising but I take them with a grain of salt. I'm still wondering about output voltage though, as PhoneArena hasn't done the measurement for the Note 9, although it was measured at 0.75V for the S9. That should be decent enough for most consumer-level headphones but still lower than past iPhones or HTCs that had headphone jacks, or LG V-series.
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I am not sure about wired big headphones, but the volume from the headphone jack is pretty good on the bundles AKG's. The HTC 10 etc are something else, but I wasn't impressed with the ourput from iphones or the V series DAC's. Not enough volume.
htc10>Note9
so going from my htc10 to note 9 is a step down?
kindly do let us know.
thanks.
In my opinion, I don't think it's a step down in real audio quality to the ear on the snapdragon. The HTC doesn't perform as good as an external DAC, IMO and I don't notice a big difference on the devices. I had the same questions, being a lifelong HTC guy. But if you've got more sensitive ears than me or different audio profiles you may hear a difference.
I use the ear-studio ES-100 portable DAC and Bluetooth DAC and if you go that route, I highly recommend it.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
well other than audio i need a decent camera and good battery life.
htc is failing in the last department.(Battery)...
Pubbaa said:
so going from my htc10 to note 9 is a step down?
kindly do let us know.
thanks.
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I think audio detail/clarity is pretty similar to the HTC10. The output is much weaker though. I have low impedance earphones so it's not much of a struggle. Higher impedance headphones may not achieve the same volume levels. I know GSM Arena rated the audio very highly if I remember. Not as good as the LG, but close.
well, that is my main concern, maybe it is my imagination but having the headphones pumping out music at half the maximum of the htc10 made me feel good...(i Know i'm weird)
i migrated from s6e+ to the htc10, day and night difference in audio quality between the two.
if the note9 can do better (at least better than the 10) i'd bag it. Oh Well maybe next year sammy
Like the S9, the DAC on the exynos version is probably a custom Cirrus Logic CS47L93 design and very highly regarded in the audiophile world (unlike the AqSTIC DAC in the snapdragon version).
Its almost identical pretty much to the fantastic CS43131: https://www.cirrus.com/products/cs43131/
However the DAC is only half the story. True amplification and impedance plays a big part when driving high powered earphones. But it is the audio tuning that is key. The reason why high end audio separates like Nad, Arcam and Cambridge Audio etc beat the still great quality of a SONOS is down to stellar audio engineering, crossover interference minimisation and high quality internals etc.
Samsung have actually done a decent job here. There is a difference in quality between their snapdragon and exynos (though they also tuned the Aqstic to the best if its capabilities to be fair, but the soundstage on the exynos is more apparent).
HTC 10 used Aqstic as well, but they use a Class D amp alongside it. Previously they only depended on using the integrated DACs for their SoC, usually with a Class D amp at ~1V. The Mediatek devices had a Wolfson DAC and the results were pretty comparable between them. That said, some reviewers did note that HTC's headphone output has clipping distortion at maximum volume (although it is said to be blaringly loud). I had the HTC Butterfly s before that and despite GSMArena giving it an outstanding audio, and it had this issue along with hissing. Its volume isn't particularly high either, and according to PhoneArena its output was only 0.35V, which is odd for an HTC. Also, its headphone jack wasn't very durable and got damaged when the cable got strained.
I'm still curious to see measurements from the Snapdragon Note 9 and the output voltage of the Note 9. S9/S9+ is 0.75V. I think the volume is excellent for IEMs, but for over-ear headphones it is still little low. Audio-Technica MSR7 is quite loud, but the Takstar Pro 82 and 1More MK802 still require a fair bit of volume to match it - all are 32 ohms. I also used the Sony Xperia Z5 which also had only 0.35V headphone output, but it was louder than the HTC at max volume without any bass clipping distortion. MSR7 was quite loud at maximum volume but the other two were borderline in terms of volume. The overall sound was brighter with a slight roll-off in the bass. Quite a few users complained about the DAC but I thought it wasn't too bad. I think the Note 9's is less brittle-sounding and more subtle with the treble, but still detailed. The headphone jack was also more durable than the HTC's although I've had an occasion where it temporarily failed on me and I needed to use SoundAbout to force detection (there were many complaints of such happening to Xperia phones). I'm wondering if Samsung Galaxy headphone jacks are more durable?
FYL21 said:
HTC 10 used Aqstic as well, but they use a Class D amp alongside it. Previously they only depended on using the integrated DACs for their SoC, usually with a Class D amp at ~1V. The Mediatek devices had a Wolfson DAC and the results were pretty comparable between them. That said, some reviewers did note that HTC's headphone output has clipping distortion at maximum volume (although it is said to be blaringly loud). I had the HTC Butterfly s before that and despite GSMArena giving it an outstanding audio, and it had this issue along with hissing. Its volume isn't particularly high either, and according to PhoneArena its output was only 0.35V, which is odd for an HTC. Also, its headphone jack wasn't very durable and got damaged when the cable got strained.
I'm still curious to see measurements from the Snapdragon Note 9 and the output voltage of the Note 9. S9/S9+ is 0.75V. I think the volume is excellent for IEMs, but for over-ear headphones it is still little low. Audio-Technica MSR7 is quite loud, but the Takstar Pro 82 and 1More MK802 still require a fair bit of volume to match it - all are 32 ohms. I also used the Sony Xperia Z5 which also had only 0.35V headphone output, but it was louder than the HTC at max volume without any bass clipping distortion. MSR7 was quite loud at maximum volume but the other two were borderline in terms of volume. The overall sound was brighter with a slight roll-off in the bass. Quite a few users complained about the DAC but I thought it wasn't too bad. I think the Note 9's is less brittle-sounding and more subtle with the treble, but still detailed. The headphone jack was also more durable than the HTC's although I've had an occasion where it temporarily failed on me and I needed to use SoundAbout to force detection (there were many complaints of such happening to Xperia phones). I'm wondering if Samsung Galaxy headphone jacks are more durable?
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some good points of note here- see what i did there lol! . Also we must not forget how a more powerful headphone amp may have a hit on the battery as its essentially providing more power to the more hungry headphones available in the wilderness. The Note 9 is marketed more or less with the business user in mind. Battery priority (and we can debate til the cows come home about battery!) seems to be favouring other areas and its wired audiophile capabilities are not a main selling point...
Jonathan-H said:
I am not sure about wired big headphones, but the volume from the headphone jack is pretty good on the bundles AKG's. The HTC 10 etc are something else, but I wasn't impressed with the ourput from iphones or the V series DAC's. Not enough volume.
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Then you should know about how to "trick" the LG phones with Quad DACs built-in into switching to their louder modes. The modes are: Normal device (lowest volume), Aux/External Device Detected (next louder), and High Impedance Mode (aka "HIM", the loudest).
How do you do this? There's a couple ways. If you want it just a LITTLE louder (Aux mode), connect the male side of a male 3.5mm to female 3.5mm adapter into the LG phone, and then connect the headphone jack into the female side of the adapter. Boom! Instant Aux mode!
Not loud enough?? lol Then buy a high impedance adapter off eBay like this one (MUST be the 75 ohm, or higher, but 75 ohm is better). This will put the phone into HIM and drive headphones up to 600 ohms. Just do the same process mentioned above for Aux.
RockStar2005 said:
Then you should know about how to "trick" the LG phones with Quad DACs built-in into switching to their louder modes. The modes are: Normal device (lowest volume), Aux/External Device Detected (next louder), and High Impedance Mode (aka "HIM", the loudest).
How do you do this? There's a couple ways. If you want it just a LITTLE louder (Aux mode), connect the male side of a male 3.5mm to female 3.5mm adapter into the LG phone, and then connect the headphone jack into the female side of the adapter. Boom! Instant Aux mode!
Not loud enough?? lol Then buy a high impedance adapter off eBay like this one (MUST be the 75 ohm, or higher, but 75 ohm is better). This will put the phone into HIM and drive headphones up to 600 ohms. Just do the same process mentioned above for Aux.
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Adds more hardware into the signal path thus creating potential for static and getting a less clean background. I'd rather have less volume with clean signal than distortion or clipping.
@rbiter said:
Adds more hardware into the signal path thus creating potential for static and getting a less clean background. I'd rather have less volume with clean signal than distortion or clipping.
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Potential, maybe. But I was doing the Aux method for several months on my LG V30, and I never heard ANY kind of static or distortion at all. The pros by far outweigh the cons here. Having that extra amp power strongly benefits the sound coming through your headphones.
RockStar2005 said:
Potential, maybe. But I was doing the Aux method for several months on my LG V30, and I never heard ANY kind of static or distortion at all. The pros by far outweigh the cons here. Having that extra amp power strongly benefits the sound coming through your headphones.
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Having a low noise floor and ample headroom far outweigh potentials like static or loss of hearing because I want cannons, not speakers on my ears. Plus, I have a portable amp, JDS Labs CD5 which can make my Beyerdynamics COP or 770pro 250 ohms rattle my chest if I want to lose my hearing. ?
@rbiter said:
Having a low noise floor and ample headroom far outweigh potentials like static or loss of hearing because I want cannons, not speakers on my ears. Plus, I have a portable amp, JDS Labs CD5 which can make my Beyerdynamics COP or 770pro 250 ohms rattle my chest if I want to lose my hearing.
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lol
That's always another option too, but the convenience that comes with only having one device should be considered too. And the V30's Quad DAC is pretty amazing. It was able to match up with my old $300 Oppo HA-2 amp/DAC device as well.
I got the DT 1770 Pro a few months ago and LOVE it too! Beyerdynamic makes some fantastic headphones!!
RockStar2005 said:
lol
That's always another option too, but the convenience that comes with only having one device should be considered too. And the V30's Quad DAC is pretty amazing. It was able to match up with my old $300 Oppo HA-2 amp/DAC device as well.
I got the DT 1770 Pro a few months ago and LOVE it too! Beyerdynamic makes some fantastic headphones!!
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My V20 is my DAP now. Plenty of volume with built in amp. The CD5 is pretty compact. Able to rubber band it with a phone easily but I've hardly used it since the V20. Yeah. I need to get some Beyerdynamics 600ohm or open headphones. I like both of mine but want something a little more airy or different.
@rbiter said:
My V20 is my DAP now. Plenty of volume with built in amp. The CD5 is pretty compact. Able to rubber band it with a phone easily but I've hardly used it since the V20. Yeah. I need to get some Beyerdynamics 600ohm or open headphones. I like both of mine but want something a little more airy or different.
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Yeah the volume I get from HIM is just right for me too ftw.
Yes the Quad DAC has made things a bit easier. I don't know if my next phone will be LG but if it's not I will very likely just get this bad boy........the Radsone ES100, which several ppl on Head-Fi and Amazon customer reviewers have stated sounds better than their former wired setup (with amp/DAC). I think the secret is that it has a DUAL DAC setup, and LDAC ftw. We'll see. Or else the wired Sabaj Da3, which several ppl have claimed outdoes the AudioQuest DragonFly Red. Though with the latter (Da3) I would have to carry my charger with me if I go long distance or into the city which I frequently do. lol
I've never tried any of their 600 ohm ones. I went through MANY headphones over the last 4 years to get to where I'm at now. I'm in NO hurry to upgrade anytime soon, though if I did, it would most likely be the MrSpeakers AEON Flow closed, or else Esther-C. I travel by train into the city a lot as I'd mentioned, so open-back doesn't work for me. lol
Do any of those amps have the Asahi Kasei 4458 or 4490? I would love to hear the 4490s in a phone tuned proper. I have a microprocessor with the 4458 and it is damn good. And the 4490 is better.
I wonder is Samsung peeks over Motorola's shoulder. Battery mods would actually be pretty cool for note series. An extra few mm ergonomic battery mods would serve as a good base for sketching and drawing on a tablet especially. The note9 would rock the boat with Dex and a decent 1080p projector. Stackable mod with speakers. Or Asahi Kasei 4490/4458 DAC headphone amp.
With battery mods that can easily swap batteries to recycle, make them stackable and polish Dex even more along with other endeavors. Hear me Samsung? Good hardware and software long term ideas. It will be done.
Sorry I am reading the Paris Agreement. ???