Database Develop

Official Sound Quality Thread

Anyone have experience with the S4 Pro audio chip? As far as I know, Qualcomm uses there own DAC, not a Wolfson or Yamaha. Lets hear your thoughts!

This is the one thing that makes or breaks a phone, does any other phone with an S4 processor use the DAC used in the N4?

I hope that the n4 sounds pretty good. It's really necessary for me
Enviado desde mi GT-I9100 usando Tapatalk 2

oddlyshapedstickman said:
This is the one thing that makes or breaks a phone, does any other phone with an S4 processor use the DAC used in the N4?
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thomsch said:
I hope that the n4 sounds pretty good. It's really necessary for me
Enviado desde mi GT-I9100 usando Tapatalk 2
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Couldn't agree more. I have the i9300 right now, and while the audio quality is good, the volume from the headphone jack is weak. Seems like I constantly have the volume at least 3/4 when out in public to hear my music.

Assuming the DAC in the S4 pro is the same as (or better than) the one in the standard S4, this article puts it on par with the wolfson: http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/0...ne-x-isnt-amazing-at-all-even-by-the-numbers/

Alright, this is starting to worry me

The main reason why I am selling my T-Mobile s3 is cause of the audio if n4 dosnt have good one I am sticking with my gs3
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app

this is what ive been looking for. Still buying the phone but if the dac is bad buying the 8gb instead of 16, and buying a new Media player

Lt.Tealc said:
The main reason why I am selling my T-Mobile s3 is cause of the audio if n4 dosnt have good one I am sticking with my gs3
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app
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Wait, you're selling your S3 because of the audio. Am I right in saying the only other device to give better sounding audio is the Galaxy S1?

roughavoc said:
Wait, you're selling your S3 because of the audio. Am I right in saying the only other device to give better sounding audio is the Galaxy S1?
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Or....iPhone. Android users are kind of stuck with "bad"audio from what I've seen/read.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

roughavoc said:
Wait, you're selling your S3 because of the audio. Am I right in saying the only other device to give better sounding audio is the Galaxy S1?
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my brother has the original galaxy great sound every time it rings or plays music it,s fantastic i gave it to him so i can by the S3 and now i F*** envy him......... best Galaxy ever............... if u owned G-nexus how is the audio on it compare to GS1

if the Nexus 4 audio is the same as Optimus G, then here ya go straight from GSMArena.com:
"...the LG Optimus G with some of the cleanest output we have seen. The below average volume levels aside, the Optimus G results came out excellent in the first part of our test. When connected to an active external amplifier, the smartphone produces excellently clean output with no weak points whatsoever."
for more details around the sound test, go here and scroll down to the "Audio output is nicely clean, if somewhat quiet" section.

dynamic range and noise leave something to be desired. i think all this means is that the device doesnt go very loud. they probably capped the volume in favor of low THD

Can't be any worse then the GS3. MY i9300 volume is weak.

K Rich said:
Can't be any worse then the GS3. MY i9300 volume is weak.
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comparison GSMArena did between SGS3 and the Optimus G:
"Both the Samsung Galaxy S III and the LG Optimus G posted some excellent scores in our audio quality test. The Galaxy S III output is generally a bit cleaner, but the difference is a bit hard to detect with a naked ear. The two are also quite evenly matched, when it comes to volume levels too - sadly neither of them is particularly impressive in that aspect. If we had to pick we'd give the Galaxy S III the win here, but no matter which one you choose, you'd be getting pretty good audio output."
http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_optimus_g_vs_samsung_galaxy_s_iii-review-838p8.php

Having used Voodoo Sound from day one of release until now, and as a sound tinkering audiophile, what I would need most is basically the equivalent to voodoo louder, ability to amp it up and down since if that's used well it doubles clarity and soundstage by getting the perfect output which matches your cans.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Nexus 4 I believe is a mindblowing handset.
Only doubt I have is about the audio-quality.
I'm in between the Iphone5, HTC One X+ and the N4.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/02/iphone-vs-rivals-audio-tests/
What do you think, the quality could be somewhere near the good tested devices from engadget?

Whatever the Galaxy S1 line had they need to use that mixed with voodoo sound control simply amazing
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

K Rich said:
Couldn't agree more. I have the i9300 right now, and while the audio quality is good, the volume from the headphone jack is weak. Seems like I constantly have the volume at least 3/4 when out in public to hear my music.
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So it brothers you that you have to have your volume at 75% when in loud locales. ? Most ridiculous post I've possibly ever seen on xda.
hurled from my AOKP'd Evo LTE. Enjoy.

scottspa74 said:
So it brothers you that you have to have your volume at 75% when in loud locales. ? Most ridiculous post I've possibly ever seen on xda.
hurled from my AOKP'd Evo LTE. Enjoy.
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Not loud locales, normal shopping center environments. That's with Klipshe S4 headphones that do a decent job of blocking out sound too. Even the S2 was better at volume from the headphone jack.

Looking for good Headset - Op3

Sound quality is secondary to me, i need a good microphone. also maybe one with 3 buttons if the op3 supports this.

Hastaloego said:
Sound quality is secondary to me, i need a good microphone. also maybe one with 3 buttons if the op3 supports this.
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One plus just dropped a teaser for an announcement on the 25th. Seems to me it's new headphones. Possibly some usb c headphones

I use Xiaomi's Mi Piston 3..
I am an audiophile and i love the combo..!

I think earplugs aren't proper headsets.
I use Sony BT headset, and do work great. But Android BT lacks support for In-Band ringtones so ringtones are awful in every BT headsets.

Joyo-rocker said:
I use Xiaomi's Mi Piston 3..
I am an audiophile and i love the combo..!
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Haha a audiophile with pistons
That's funny
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using XDA Free mobile app

Framedtrash said:
Haha a audiophile with pistons
That's funny
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What's wrong...??
Don't make fun of random people just because they don't have much equipment.

I agree with the dude on top. Xiaomi pistons. You can't go wrong with the 2.1 pistons, piston 3 or the Xiaomi hybrid. At one point or another I've heard them all and the Xiaomi's are good.
For convenience of mic and controls I use the Xiaomi hybrid.
For musical pleasure I use the fiio ex1 or the havi b3 pro 1.

Joyo-rocker said:
What's wrong...??
Don't make fun of random people just because they don't have much equipment.
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Audiophile...
Sure. :S
I tried Piston 3, sounded really cheap. I guess you haven't really heard any good ear/headphones, so you don't really know whats good and what's not.

i use sony mdr ex650 because they are actually good

gro0vr said:
Audiophile...
Sure. :S
I tried Piston 3, sounded really cheap. I guess you haven't really heard any good ear/headphones, so you don't really know whats good and what's not.
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As an owner of a few decent set of cans I'm intrigued as to what a god ear/headphone is to your ears. Enlighten us please.

Audio quality bad after Nougat?

Hello my one plus was working fine with audio till Nougat update. Now because of the built in equalizer the sounds are All over the place. High lows,mids low bass high treble. Tried a different equalizer app and helps a little but then I put a different song and back to tuning the equalizer again. Shi sucks! What can I do? Factory reset as of now is not an option because that's the Only issue I am facing. Might just buy a cheap O Android phone Just for music because this is plain rediculous. My head hurts after hearing such terrible sounds. Definitely won't blow out my speakers due to OnePlus ass. Any suggestions? Or just go ahead buy a new phone and use it as an MP3 player.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Disable the built in equalizer and try using a music player with a equalizer built into the app. You could also try a more powerful system-level equalizer like viper.
I'm not sure how bad you audio quality is, but surely it can't justify carrying around a second phone just for music?

Compared to my other phone which is Zenfone 3 ZE520KL with ZenUI Marshmallow, I can confirm that the OP3 and OP3T produce a less good sound for music listening. It gives me a slight headache when I use it for long music listening session.
I regularly stream music from Spotify with Extreme quality settings using my Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphone for when I work in front of laptop and Audio Technica ATH-CKS550iS IEM when I want to listen to music when I outside office/home.
So, IMHO for sound reproduction, my Zenfone 3 with only half of my OP3T price still wins.
I hope OP could look on this issue in the next update and not just focusing on phone interface smoothness and benchmark apps performance.

Agree, if you listen to music with no or stock EQ, the sound isn't great. ViperFX completely fixes this though.

Thank you for your replies fellas!
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

I haven't noticed anything but I started to use this a long time ago and has a version for the one plus 3. I had to use the hotfix version. https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software/soundmod-ainur-audio-t3450516
Night and day difference, and no "black magic".
---------- Post added at 07:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:14 AM ----------
Edit: I also have a Fiio A1 for giving me more juice to my AKG-550 and Y55. Always swear by fiio price to performance also got the K1 for USB audio I use for my laptop. It's worth getting if you listen to music alot.

motherninja said:
Compared to my other phone which is Zenfone 3 ZE520KL with ZenUI Marshmallow, I can confirm that the OP3 and OP3T produce a less good sound for music listening. It gives me a slight headache when I use it for long music listening session.
I regularly stream music from Spotify with Extreme quality settings using my Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphone for when I work in front of laptop and Audio Technica ATH-CKS550iS IEM when I want to listen to music when I outside office/home.
So, IMHO for sound reproduction, my Zenfone 3 with only half of my OP3T price still wins.
I hope OP could look on this issue in the next update and not just focusing on phone interface smoothness and benchmark apps performance.
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Came here because my ZE520KL sounds like ultra lo-fi after the Nougat update. All my high quality music, at least when not playing the entire sound range at once, sounds like those badly encoded MP3s.

Msmtx said:
Came here because my ZE520KL sounds like ultra lo-fi after the Nougat update. All my high quality music, at least when not playing the entire sound range at once, sounds like those badly encoded MP3s.
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If I were you, I would buy the LG V20 or LG G6 with quad DAC if you're really into the Hi-Res music.
OnePlus phone is sucked big time in audio department, they even don't really care about this
I don't know about the Zen 3 Nougat update anymore since I already sold this phone a few months ago

Latest 7.1.1 seems to get a better sound drivers!

motherninja said:
If I were you, I would buy the LG V20 or LG G6 with quad DAC if you're really into the Hi-Res music.
OnePlus phone is sucked big time in audio department, they even don't really care about this
I don't know about the Zen 3 Nougat update anymore since I already sold this phone a few months ago
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Not really a big matter, but I want at least up-to-par quality. Came from a Nexus 5, after a Zenfone 5, after an iPod 4, and I couldn't tell a difference between them - also couldn't with MM Zenfone 3. But the Nougat update released for Zenfone 3 killed it's audio completely... I'm not an audiophile, but it's a BIG difference, and it's really a buzzkill when you're expecting a song you know in quality, and suddenly it's crap with the only variable being the ROM version...

BaaDNwZ said:
Latest 7.1.1 seems to get a better sound drivers!
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How did you update ? I tried two days ago via APN from Canada it took under an HR with all the track but it failed.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

nano303 said:
How did you update ? I tried two days ago via APN from Canada it took under an HR with all the track but it failed.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
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manually flashed full .zip via twrp

nano303 said:
How did you update ? I tried two days ago via APN from Canada it took under an HR with all the track but it failed.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
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Better try to flash the full zip rather than wait for the OTA to come to your phone.

Pocket now did a review and where impressed by the audio quality apart from some auto equaliser "magic" which now can be turned off in audio settings.
Between my friends s7 and my aunt's G5 this device is capable of running my AKG Y55 (Amazing price, great for those bass head's) and my more flat 550 mk2 struggle but my trusty Fiio A1 pumps that extra needed juice. I use tidal as my music addiction costs a fortune buying CDs and flac albums :silly: and now on desktop they have some MQA albums that sound amazing.
http://www.whathifi.com/tidalmasters/review
Also with some digging i found that One plus takes advantage of Qualcomm's https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/11/18/snapdragon-821-gives-oneplus-3t-power-push
And in apps i see Dirac http://www.dirac.com/mobile-audio/
So my final assessment to me is this phone pushes well above its weight in the sound department but like most mobile devices it is the output power that suffers. Either get a external DAC (Fiio A1 http://headfonics.com/2016/04/the-a1-by-fiio/) if you are into tunes but want to spend minimum £$ and want portability.
A Few posts back there is a great audio mod that isn't witchcraft that i swear by, Nero is my choice but kills the built-in equaliser as it bypasses CPU offloading and pushes it straight to the built-in DAC.
Sorry for all the links i like to be thorough :angel:

Same here, after android 7.0 my Asus zenfone 3 sounds very bad.
I was impressed by its music quality before 7.0 update. I hope there will be a fix.

Speaker quality

Early leaked information mentioned "Xiaomi claims sound has also been improved with 'industry's best linear speaker', equivalent to 0.9cc large speaker box with deeper bass, Smart PA uses dynamic gain to amplify sound by 100%".
Has there been any real life reviews of the speaker quality as of yet?

https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_9-review-1891p3.php
"Loudspeaker
A lot of things have changed since the Mi 8, but the loudspeaker is not one of them. We were disappointed to find out that the Mi 9 doesn't boast stereo speakers. Instead, it has the same bottom-firing loudspeaker as the Mi 8 and it even scored the same Very Good mark at our loudness test."

NisseGurra said:
https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_9-review-1891p3.php
"Loudspeaker
A lot of things have changed since the Mi 8, but the loudspeaker is not one of them. We were disappointed to find out that the Mi 9 doesn't boast stereo speakers. Instead, it has the same bottom-firing loudspeaker as the Mi 8 and it even scored the same Very Good mark at our loudness test."
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Thanks, appreciated!

Xiaomi talk a lot but after Mi6 the speaker is mono and trash

https://www.gizchina.com/2019/02/17/xiaomi-details-the-sound-quality-of-xiaomi-mi-9/

cd993 said:
https://www.gizchina.com/2019/02/17/xiaomi-details-the-sound-quality-of-xiaomi-mi-9/
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Very conflicted on this, on one hand Xiaomi seem to be confident that the Mi 9's speaker has improved & have advertised it like shown on the article yet the GSMArena review claims the speaker is basically identical to the Mi 8, keen to see what other reviewers say

TheInfiniteAndroid said:
Very conflicted on this, on one hand Xiaomi seem to be confident that the Mi 9's speaker has improved & have advertised it like shown on the article yet the GSMArena review claims the speaker is basically identical to the Mi 8, keen to see what other reviewers say
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Click to collapse
Yeah I'm the exact same. I was getting myself psyched for some next level improvements to the speaker with the bass claims etc but indeed really hope this is the case!

Rommco05 said:
I also watched all these articles, and information about improved speaker made me happy but other side article from GMSarena is right opposite. Eagerly waiting for clarifacion from XDA users
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I'm the exact same...

Rommco05 said:
Do you guys plannig buy Mi9?
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Yeah I am.
Currently got the Pixel 2 XL and whilst I'm sure the speakers won't be anywhere near as good as these stereo ones, I'm very curious about "Xiaomi claims sound has also been improved with 'industry's best linear speaker', equivalent to 0.9cc large speaker box with deeper bass, Smart PA uses dynamic gain to amplify sound by 100%"

Rommco05 said:
Do you guys plannig buy Mi9?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hoping they announce a Global transparent edition, if not I'll probably end up with the standard one

Speaker for me is a decent single speaker, coming from OnePlus 6t with there single speaker its better imo.

It's got a decent amount of bass to it!

Bring back the glory of stereo speaker just like Mi6 then?

How is the sound quality and volume with wired headphones?

I am wondering how much of a downgrade(if at all) would this device be compared to my LG V20. The most I was able to find was int the GSMArena review, "the phone has a 24-bit/192kH DAC with Hi-Res audio support", but no actual comment on how it performs.
Has anyone tried to pair this device with a pair the ROG 2 with a good pair of headphones? How did it sound? Was it able to power high impedance headphones? If it is - does it have an arbitrary "low impedance mode" that can make it sound underwhelming with headphones that fall just under that limit?(It's a pretty annoying issue with my V20)

Not much help for your questions, but I don't believe it has a dedicated amplifier for the headphone jack, which may not drive high-end headphones.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

OFTM said:
The most I was able to find was int the GSMArena review, "the phone has a 24-bit/192kH DAC with Hi-Res audio support", but no actual comment on how it performs.
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Click to collapse
Actually, GSMArena did make an interesting comment about the audio output:
"Unfortunately, our review unit came with a disclaimer that the frequency response reading my suffer from a bug with the audio output which is on its was to be fixed via a software update before the phone becomes available."
And AndroidAuthority also expressed similar concerns:
"The inclusion of the headphone port is great, but it’s not the best jack we’ve ever seen in terms of quality. Our testing showed a lesser frequency response than the competition, so keep that in mind if you require tip-top audio."
I'd also be interested to know how much this impacts the actual listening experience.
And I hope this is really just a SW issue, which will be patched later on...

OFTM said:
I am wondering how much of a downgrade(if at all) would this device be compared to my LG V20. The most I was able to find was int the GSMArena review, "the phone has a 24-bit/192kH DAC with Hi-Res audio support", but no actual comment on how it performs.
Has anyone tried to pair this device with a pair the ROG 2 with a good pair of headphones? How did it sound? Was it able to power high impedance headphones? If it is - does it have an arbitrary "low impedance mode" that can make it sound underwhelming with headphones that fall just under that limit?(It's a pretty annoying issue with my V20)
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Click to collapse
i have with a pair of Shure 535's and played with the Audio wizard and sounds great to me.

IMO it's definitely not as good as LGs quad DAC but it's better than the Samsung I had.
Sent from my ASUS_I001DC using Tapatalk

TawkinTrash said:
IMO it's definitely not as good as LGs quad DAC but it's better than the Samsung I had.
Sent from my ASUS_I001DC using Tapatalk
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Which Samsung model did you have?

edorner said:
Which Samsung model did you have?
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I had a Note 9.
The DAC on the Note 9 wasn't bad but IMO the ROG II DAC is lighter, clearer and less distorted.
It definitely is a different sound tho.

I thought the note 9 Snapdragon version sounded equally as good as LG G8's quad HD dac on Shure SE846. ROG sounds slightly grainy or harsher, not sure since I don't have those 2 phones with me anymore to compare. Nothing jumps out at me saying there is something that sounds wrong which is good.

TawkinTrash said:
I had a Note 9.
The DAC on the Note 9 wasn't bad but IMO the ROG II DAC is lighter, clearer and less distorted.
It definitely is a different sound tho.
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I have a Galaxy s9+ unlocked us version and it sounds a lot better than this phone.
This phone's DTS equalizer thing messes with the stereo of the music and most of the tracks sound wonky. The sound goes up and down for some instruments. I tried disabling the Audio Wizard app but still the same result. I'm on the latest WW Rom on my Tencent Edition.

still_living said:
I have a Galaxy s9+ unlocked us version and it sounds a lot better than this phone.
This phone's DTS equalizer thing messes with the stereo of the music and most of the tracks sound wonky. The sound goes up and down for some instruments. I tried disabling the Audio Wizard app but still the same result. I'm on the latest WW Rom on my Tencent Edition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I turned the DTS off after like 10 seconds of listening to it and set the equalizer flat to normal.
Sent from my ASUS_I001DC using Tapatalk

TawkinTrash said:
I turned the DTS off after like 10 seconds of listening to it and set the equalizer flat to normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How???!!!
I even tried disabling the Audio Wizard app

still_living said:
How???!!!
I even tried disabling the Audio Wizard app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the Audio Wizard screen at the top right it let me toggle the DTS button on and off. Right now the button only says Outdoor so maybe it changes with your surroundings.
Sent from my ASUS_I001DC using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 09:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:49 AM ----------
Ok so the Outdoor button changes to DTS when you put headphones in. Then you can toggle it.
Sent from my ASUS_I001DC using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 09:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 AM ----------
Yea you guys are right. It does sound a little weird when you compare it to an LG V20. Maybe I liked it because it was a different sound.
Although after messing with the equalizer settings it sounds good. I customized the rock profile by raising the 1khz and 2 khz settings.
Sent from my ASUS_I001DC using Tapatalk

Is there a way to completely remove AudioWizard? Or can it be permanently disabled?
I really like this phone but I listen to music a lot, with wired or bluetooth headphones. Using wired I can just connect an external USB C DAC and amp. However I have heard that AudioWizard also affects bluetooth connections? That seems very strange as bluetooth headphones have their own DAC and amp...

It's not as good as LG but it is better than Samsung
---------- Post added at 10:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:38 PM ----------
pox67 said:
Is there a way to completely remove AudioWizard? Or can it be permanently disabled?
I really like this phone but I listen to music a lot, with wired or bluetooth headphones. Using wired I can just connect an external USB C DAC and amp. However I have heard that AudioWizard also affects bluetooth connections? That seems very strange as bluetooth headphones have their own DAC and amp...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can just disable dts.... But it will yield much worse results