DAC quality? (headphone audio) - OnePlus 3 Questions & Answers

Guys What is your opinion about the headphone audio quality from op3? I know audio is subjective and it depends upon your listening equipment too but nonetheless share your opinion.
P.S - I know it's not better than HTC 10 but comparison with HTC 10 would be a good reference.

sapnesh said:
Guys What is your opinion about the headphone audio quality from op3? I know audio is subjective and it depends upon your listening equipment too but nonetheless share your opinion.
P.S - I know it's not better than HTC 10 but comparison with HTC 10 would be a good reference.
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I didnt read anything about them mentioning a dac for the Oneplus3. Nevertheless, i still ordered it lol.
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers mobile app

BubooBear said:
I didnt read anything about them mentioning a dac for the Oneplus3. Nevertheless, i still ordered it lol.
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I see you have a HTC 10, please share your opinion once you receive the op3

I'll be getting one too, so I'll report about it. Unfortunately there aren't many, if any USB-C Portable DAC, if you wanted to use one to boost audio quality/performance.

I'm also wondering the same thing and it's basically what's holding me from buying the phone.

duluc said:
I'm also wondering the same thing and it's basically what's holding me from buying the phone.
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It uses NXP Audio Amplifier. I had the review unit and did a teardown with one of my friends. The sound quality is Good via the headphone jack but it feels quite flat. You can fix this by Using V4A Or other EQs. It uses a Dirac HD Sound too.

As said, it uses the standard snapdragon 820 audio circuit and 24bit 192 kHz built in dac. As in the S7, audio is unexceptional (exynos version has wolfson derived Dac and is better but is said to still not be up to outboard Dac/amplifier quality).
Apps like viper and power amp will not help to increase sound quality. They may make things sound different but the limitations are hardware based. If anything, they put more strain on resources. Sure, if the pretty multi coloured lights appeal, use them. Otherwise you're better off with Google standard music player or something like black player.
If audio is of utmost importance go HTC/LG or outboard dac such as dragon fly.

mk_1996 said:
It uses NXP Audio Amplifier. I had the review unit and did a teardown with one of my friends. The sound quality is Good via the headphone jack but it feels quite flat. You can fix this by Using V4A Or other EQs. It uses a Dirac HD Sound too.
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can you tell me how to prove whether Dirac HD Sound is there or not as there is no app also as per their website Indian one it says for speaker optimization only

How's that in comparison to the iphone's ? I'm gonna buy that dope today

Related

music audio processor

what chip is in this phone? i've heard it sounds better than the Yamaha in the GS II. is it Wolfson or anything people say is good like that? i get mine in 10 hours, but i don't want to take it apart. i will be turning off Beats Audio and listening to lossless files with normal sound through expensive headphones, so i'm wondering if i will be happy. if i'm not, i will add another name to my bad list with the Yamaha chip. thanks!
brent8577 said:
what chip is in this phone? i've heard it sounds better than the Yamaha in the GS II. is it Wolfson or anything people say is good like that? i get mine in 10 hours, but i don't want to take it apart. i will be turning off Beats Audio and listening to lossless files with normal sound through expensive headphones, so i'm wondering if i will be happy. if i'm not, i will add another name to my bad list with the Yamaha chip. thanks!
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One google it to find out what chipset your phone has. Second using beats audio is the whole point of listening to music. And without that it still gives you good sound. Do your research first before getting a phone
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
It uses the on board audio on the tegra as I've seen on the files for example is alsa files been given a tegra name but could be something else but just assume it's a nvidia chipset.
Sound is ok not bad maybe slightly better than the Yamaha but not as good as the Wolfson.
Also this phone had aptX for high quality streaming via Bluetooth. I've got my Bluetooth receiver yesterday which also has aptX and will be testing it over the next few days with my iems which are pricey themselves.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
NoobTerminator said:
One google it to find out what chipset your phone has. Second using beats audio is the whole point of listening to music. And without that it still gives you good sound. Do your research first before getting a phone
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
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Beats Audio is not a panacea for sound quality. All it does is essentially bass the boost and volume a bit. As a result, mids and highs suffer from the 'enhancement.' Just because its from the 'Beats' brand doesn't mean it has to boost sound quality. Beats headphones in general aren't exactly spectacular, and are insanely overpriced for what they offer as it is.
Its more of a marketing gimmick which equates to little more than a preset equalizer.
Many audiophiles prefer to disable the 'sound enhancements' these vendors provide, so that they can listen to their music as it should sound originally, or with their own equalizer tweaks.
So no, 'listening to beats audio' isn't the whole point of listening to music.
poofish said:
Beats Audio is not a panacea for sound quality. All it does is essentially bass the boost and volume a bit. As a result, mids and highs suffer from the 'enhancement.' Just because its from the 'Beats' brand doesn't mean it has to boost sound quality. Beats headphones in general aren't exactly spectacular, and are insanely overpriced for what they offer as it is.
Its more of a marketing gimmick which equates to little more than a preset equalizer.
Many audiophiles prefer to disable the 'sound enhancements' these vendors provide, so that they can listen to their music as it should sound originally, or with their own equalizer tweaks.
So no, 'listening to beats audio' isn't the whole point of listening to music.
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Yes you are right in what you say. It is just another equalizer. But still a good one to have and another reason in why this is a good phone to have. So for me at least Beats does make the phone sound better. Hence why i advised to use it. But my apologies sometimes i fall for the marketing gimmick instead of using common sense

DAC part of Tegra 3 Chipset?

Im thinking about buying the new LG optimus 4x. But I cant find a single review, that mentions the audio quality on this phone. But it has the Tegra 3 chipset, so if the DAC is part of this, I could check a one x, to get an idea of the audio quality. Would be great, if someone could help me out
Sent from my R800i using XDA
I'm sure if you asked in a phone shop they might let you plug your headphones in and listen to some of the pre loaded music files.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Hmmm, well then I need a good headset first here in Germany they never have the phones in shops, I am interested in so I have to rely on what the internet says
Sent from my R800i using XDA
the GS3 have a wolfsonn,no one know what have the HOX?
I don't know what's in the HOX but it pretty much sucks balls. You can even hear a *poof* when the music starts and a few seconds after it stops, not to mention the crappy sound itself.
@Gibeon - you must have a faulty phone as I don't get any of that
OP - Really is very reliant on the quality of your audio files I find, poor quality mp3's will sound TERRIBLE, worse than on some other phones. If it's high quality FLAC rips then the sound quality is really very good for a phone, better than the Desire I used to have for example and miles better than the iPod I used to have.
I have Denon in ear for going out and about with and a couple of quite high end (full size over ear) headphones and good quality files sound really good through them. The one thing I would say is that the output volume is not as high as some other phones I have tried, so you do need quite sensitive headphones if you like your music loud.
No idea what the DAC is but for me it's a great portable music player. No such thing as audiophile in any phone but it's definitely one of the better ones i have tried.
SartoriXX said:
@Gibeon - you must have a faulty phone as I don't get any of that
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Really? I've heard several cases of this behavior so I guessed it a widespread problem.
GSMarena has put the real specs to the test, here they are.
I also find the OneX sound much worse than on the desire. Beats only changes it from tinny to plasticky. It is so much worse, actually (both on stock earphones and via car stereo) that I no longer enjoy listening to music from the phone in my car, the sound gets on my nerves.
Instead of shelling out gazillions for having the name of a makebelieve gangster on their stuff, htc could have bought millions of decent audio chips and still give them a catchy name That would be the htc spirit I always liked.
Gibeon said:
Really? I've heard several cases of this behavior so I guessed it a widespread problem.
GSMarena has put the real specs to the test, here they are.
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I've seen the GSM Arena article, and I can only talk from personal experience based on my phone not yours. I do not have the issues you mention at all. Could be a bad batch of components hence why some are better than others. I've seen plenty of people say it's great quality, plenty of people say it's crap, so would seem to point towards that logically.
Gibeon said:
Really? I've heard several cases of this behavior so I guessed it a widespread problem.
GSMarena has put the real specs to the test, here they are.
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This is due to the player you're using. I swear by neutron. The ui might be a bit overwhelming for non audiophiles, but I'm getting some great sound with this app and beats disabled.
After some time with this phone, I'm finding the hox's sound to be quite different, but not necessarily of lesser quality compared to my old sgs1 with voodoo.
My advice would be to just change your music app and if you don't like neutron as I proposed, you could go with power amp or player pro with dsp pack.
On a final note, make sure you get your hands on a decent pair of headphones before commenting on the quality of a Dac. You can't really make any assumptions about these kinds of things if your basing your experience on a free or a $30 pair of ear buds.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
mr_pio said:
I also find the OneX sound much worse than on the desire. Beats only changes it from tinny to plasticky. It is so much worse, actually (both on stock earphones and via car stereo) that I no longer enjoy listening to music from the phone in my car, the sound gets on my nerves.
Instead of shelling out gazillions for having the name of a makebelieve gangster on their stuff, htc could have bought millions of decent audio chips and still give them a catchy name That would be the htc spirit I always liked.
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Well mine has perfect sound , you either have a faulty phone or your expectations were unrealistically high.
Hydrony said:
Im thinking about buying the new LG optimus 4x. But I cant find a single review, that mentions the audio quality on this phone. But it has the Tegra 3 chipset, so if the DAC is part of this, I could check a one x, to get an idea of the audio quality. Would be great, if someone could help me out
Sent from my R800i using XDA
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The sound is not the best in the world but its much much better then Galaxy S with voodoo sound while playing at the highest volume, at highest its just awesome stable with this beatsaudio thingy tested using Sennheiser HD 555, mind you galaxy S3 has a cheaper version of op amp used in S1.
The HTC One X have the very best sound in every angle: microphone/speaker/headphones/ear speaker
The volume and quality through the headset is good, unfortunately the loudspeaker is rather poor and doesn't go very loud. Typical HTC though, their speaker components tend to be rather low quality.
LG tend to have alright speakers (The Optimus 2X went fairly loud), but I can't say whether the 4X's will be any good or not
EDIT: I realise you were specifically asking about the quality rather than the volume. The quality is pretty good, you wont be disappointed by it. The Galaxy S III supposedly has fantastic audio quality though, which is likely to be better than the One X's due to the fact that the One X uses 'Beats' (which sucks) and the SIII has a Wolfson Micro WM1811 which is apparently pretty awesome (http://www.wolfsonmicro.com/products/audio_hubs/WM1811/).
yeah right "ultra-low power" is just rubbish
schiphol said:
This is due to the player you're using.
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It's not. I've tried a number of different music players, different EQ's, different thread priority for the audio. All exhibit the same fundamental problems arising from a poor quality DAC. Heck, even the volume up/down sound causes the pop/crackle issue.
schiphol said:
On a final note, make sure you get your hands on a decent pair of headphones before commenting on the quality of a Dac. You can't really make any assumptions about these kinds of things if your basing your experience on a free or a $30 pair of ear buds.
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I've tried 5 different sets of headphones on my One X, some in ear, some open back, one Bluetooth. The same problems could be heard on all of them in varying degrees.
If your guys phones are rooted, flash the latest dspequalizer on this phone. Helps tremendously with sound quality. I agree with the person talking about flac files. You don't even need to have flac, just try to get high bitrate mp3s. I listen with Beyerdynamic headphones which take more power to drive, but it's enough for me and sounds great.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Nos0x said:
It's not. I've tried a number of different music players, different EQ's, different thread priority for the audio. All exhibit the same fundamental problems arising from a poor quality DAC. Heck, even the volume up/down sound causes the pop/crackle issue.
I've tried 5 different sets of headphones on my One X, some in ear, some open back, one Bluetooth. The same problems could be heard on all of them in varying degrees.
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I totally agree and I don't think my Grado SR60i's or Shure SE215's are to blame. Really, the quality just sucks on the HOX I own.
No biggie for me though, since I have a PMP for music.
Gibeon said:
I totally agree and I don't think my Grado SR60i's or Shure SE215's are to blame. Really, the quality just sucks on the HOX I own.
No biggie for me though, since I have a PMP for music.
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Of course the dac is not the best. The point I was trying to make is that I was able to eliminate most of the hissing and strange pops upon volume changes etc by switching to the neutron player leading me to be believe that these are not necessarily related to the Dac itself.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
With my beats headsets i have excellent audio quality, didnt try the original one...and the sound from the speaker? Well i dont know what you expect, in my eyes it is good enough (i dont listen to music over it) ... and BTW, i use well ripped mp3s because over the beats headset you can hear every single detail in songs ... youtube is also great ...
I dont know, but probably i have a special OneX i dont have any single issue the guys so far had reported ... i am just confused now why i dont get a S-OFF device
As far as I know, the beats audio plugin is only a peace of software, isn't it? It has nothing to do with special hardware, its just an equalizer setting. But I'm confused some sites say, the one x's audio chip is the same, that is build in the one s, but the explanation of the Tegra 3 chipset says, that it is able to handle 7.1 surround sound, which means it includes an audio chip. I think I have to wait for reviews of the optimus 4x to solve this problem
Sent from my R800i using XDA

HTC 10 Audio Thread

Hi all,
Just wanted to put a thread together to talk around the audio capabilities of the HTC 10. From what I can see, the audio is split up into a couple of different areas:
1) Good quality internal hardware (DAC and separate amps for speakers and earphone),
2) Powerful two way speaker setup,
3) Better than normal earphones to take advantage of the hardware, and
4) Good quality software with the Personal Audio Profile System.
5) There is also Airplay support for those with 3rd party airplay speakers.
What hardware are people currently using (earphones, headphones, portable amps, portable usb DAC's)? When the phone is released, it will be good to get peoples impressions and reviews. Also to understand how different hardware affects those experiences (ie. different earphones work better or worse with this phone)??? Also, could this phone be good enough to take you away from dedicated hardware you might have (proper portable music players)?
One thing that I have noted which I haven't seen noted anywhere else is the Personal Audio Profile System being the same as what Aumeo has/is coming out with with their device (click here).
I personally have a couple of pairs of AKG over ear headphones and a pair of Flare R2Pro in-ear phones. Once I get my HTC, I will compare them with the hi-res ear-phones they come with and share my thoughts.
Open questions:
1) What DAC's are being used? What is inbuilt from Qualcomm or specialist 3rd party hardware?
2) What type of 3.5mm connector is being used (AHJ or OMTP), we believe AHJ based on previous HTC phones but could do with confirming)
rav101 said:
Hi all,
Just wanted to put a thread together to talk around the audio capabilities of the HTC 10. From what I can see, the audio is split up into a couple of different areas: 1) Good quality internal hardware (DAC and separate amps for speakers and earphone), 2) Powerful two way speaker setup, 3) better than normal earphones to take advantage of the hardware, and 4) Good quality software with the Personal Audio Profile System. Over these, there is the point that it works with Airplay which has a lot of support in terms of the 3rd party speaker market.
Just curious to see how people feel about the Audio capabilities of the 10 and whether that might be enough to take you away from dedicated hardware if you current use that?
One thing that I have noted which I haven't seen noted anywhere else is the Personal Audio Profile System being the same as what Aumeo has/is coming out with with their device (click here).
I currently have a couple of AKG over ears which I can't drive directly from my LG G4 without having a portable amp in the middle. I also have a pair of Flare R2Pro in ear phones that are quite hard to drive. Can't wait to test these out with the 10 when it comes out!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 10 recognizes that you have plugged (wired) earphones into the jack and offers you two options for customization, a 'quick question' method and a more detailed method that requires listening to tones on left then right in different frequency ranges. You then have the option to 'save' the audio profile for those earphones. If you plug a different set of earphones in, the device recognizes it and offers you to use the existing profile or create a new one (you can store multiple profiles). This does not work with BT earphones, by the way.
The sound is superior to anything I've ever heard on any audio device. It can make cheap earphones sound good (although I recommend at least midrange earphones), and with decent earphones (I use a Shure pair) it's terrific.
hgoldner said:
The 10 recognizes that you have plugged (wired) earphones into the jack and offers you two options for customization, a 'quick question' method and a more detailed method that requires listening to tones on left then right in different frequency ranges. You then have the option to 'save' the audio profile for those earphones. If you plug a different set of earphones in, the device recognizes it and offers you to use the existing profile or create a new one (you can store multiple profiles). This does not work with BT earphones, by the way.
The sound is superior to anything I've ever heard on any audio device. It can make cheap earphones sound good (although I recommend at least midrange earphones), and with decent earphones (I use a Shure pair) it's terrific.
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Click to collapse
That's awesome news that it does this for wired earphones!
Which pair of Shure earphones do you use? And other than these headphones, have you had a chance to try them with any other different sets of earphones?? Have you had a chance to try them with any over ear headphones, ones that might be harder to drive?
Whilst I have your attention. Have you had a play around with different audio formats / qualities? MP3 vs 24bit FLAC to see how much of a difference this makes on this setup?
Regards,
Ravi
rav101 said:
That's awesome news that it does this for wired earphones!
Which pair of Shure earphones do you use? And other than these headphones, have you had a chance to try them with any other different sets of earphones?? Have you had a chance to try them with any over ear headphones, ones that might be harder to drive?
Whilst I have your attention. Have you had a play around with different audio formats / qualities? MP3 vs 24bit FLAC to see how much of a difference this makes on this setup?
Regards,
Ravi
Click to expand...
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I don't drive with earphones on (that's illegal here).
I have used the Personal Audio Profiles on 3 different pairs of earphones; a test set supplied with the test phone, Shure e3c's and an over-the-ear Audio-Technica pair. The Shure's and the test earphones are the best. The test earphones are my current daily (and may well be what comes in the box for some models, but I don't know because they don't tell us).
How do the speakers sound? As good as HTC One M7/8/9? Better?
hgoldner said:
I don't drive with earphones on (that's illegal here).
I have used the Personal Audio Profiles on 3 different pairs of earphones; a test set supplied with the test phone, Shure e3c's and an over-the-ear Audio-Technica pair. The Shure's and the test earphones are the best. The test earphones are my current daily (and may well be what comes in the box for some models, but I don't know because they don't tell us).
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Sorry, to clarify when I say 'harder to drive' I mean over ear headphones that have a higher impedance. In this case, on other less powerful music players (or other phones), the headphones sound quiet even at max volume.
Trying to find out if it will have aptx hd enabled but no info. Also air play to aiport to dac should sound pretty decent
Sent from my LG-H901 using XDA-Developers mobile app
I am excited to see the phones response ranges in a test.
Would be cool to have my vinyl rips playing as good as it can get without a $1000 DAP.
Locklear308 said:
I am excited to see the phones response ranges in a test.
Would be cool to have my vinyl rips playing as good as it can get without a $1000 DAP.
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Now that the embargo has lifted, I presume we will start seeing more in depth reviews and those should hopefully include more detailed audio tests.
I use a fiio e12 to amp my current phone (LG G4). Nothing fancy but pretty sure the HTC 10 will do much better than that setup now. :victory:
madcowintucson said:
Trying to find out if it will have aptx hd enabled but no info. Also air play to aiport to dac should sound pretty decent
Sent from my LG-H901 using XDA-Developers mobile app
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I am curious about this too as i will be buying the new lg bluetooth headset.
The audio is one of the main reason why I want this beast!
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
Me too! I own a pair of mid-to-top range RHA T10 and I am really anticipating how these will sound with the HTC 10. I am a audiophile and the sound quality is really important to me.
My last two phone's have been the HTC M8 and LG G4. I have found that I use my phone less for music now that I'm using the G4 than the M8 and its because I just enjoy it less. Can't wait to hear how these sound with a good pair of earphones.
Audio Jack
Does anyone know what kind of audio jack standard the HTC 10 will use? Is it AHJ or OMTP?
Then i'll know if I can use the inline controls of my RHA T20i's as currently with my HTC m8.
Edit: Btw - I strongly advise using the Neutron app if you want high-end music. Already supports FLAC but last update also added DSD support for the SACD fanatics
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.neutroncode.mp
Hopefully USB Audio works as well! Have they mentioned that at all?
Heretic Infidel said:
Does anyone know what kind of audio jack standard the HTC 10 will use? Is it AHJ or OMTP?
Then i'll know if I can use the inline controls of my RHA T20i's as currently with my HTC m8.
Edit: Btw - I strongly advise using the Neutron app if you want high-end music. Already supports FLAC but last update also added DSD support for the SACD fanatics
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.neutroncode.mp
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Found this.
http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...87-note-headset-standards-omtp-ahj-apple.html
Says HTC uses AHJ...
rav101 said:
Found this.
http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...87-note-headset-standards-omtp-ahj-apple.html
Says HTC uses AHJ...
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Click to collapse
Why on EARTH is there more than one? This would be standardized now days like USB...
Is the audio upconversion/upsampling BS something that can be disabled from settings?
I am happy with the sound quality of the 10 through the speakers as well as through the jack
What type of DAC is in the HTC 10? Because just amping the Qualcomm native DAC won't result in clean awesome audio, just louder. I'm hoping is cirrus/Wolfson or Ess Sabre premium DAC's

Which headphones are recommended for the HTC 10?

I was lucky and got an HTC 10 with high res earbuds but now my other headphones suck except the beyerdynamic DT 770 pro but they are not for everyday use
What do you guys use?
Btw. Are the Apple Earpods working for you? Mine are not recognized by the phone...
there really isn't a specific recommendation.... it's totally dependant on your tastes...
I will buy your hi res headphones from you
Hehe I don't sell them
I have beats Tour and beats power and they sound aweful.
My beloved earpods are not recognized by my phone, sadly.
Maybe they are too old.
I also tested some Philips and they were aweful too.
I need some recommendations
I bought 1more dual driver and im really satisfy
Enviado do meu HTC 10 através de Tapatalk
I'm using ultimate ears triple fi 10 with headphone amplifier. Works great, but i have to put off boom sound software feature to get full range music. The bass boost with boom sound is just rubbish and kills the mids completly. So i dont really use 10's special music features unless the enhanced powered headphone jack. Besides that every 820 device should sound the same as they are using the same DAC.
xperia x root said:
... every 820 device should sound the same as they are using the same DAC.
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HTC claimed they worked with Qualcomm to optimise the output circuitry to work with the DAC so it would be better than other implementations. I don't know how much difference it made...
What type of earphones are you looking for? In ear, on ear, over ear?
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers mobile app
No in ears
Something like https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B0080..._SR100,100_&psc=1&refRID=WSNP2ASJPR562DCAQCKY
Or.
https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B014W...bo+play+h7&dpPl=1&dpID=419IfVJf+sL&ref=plSrch
I've been very satisfied with the RHA Ma750s. If you like cheaper earpods I've tried Samsung's ear pods that are included w/ the gs6 which sound pretty good.
I've also found on bass heavy sets (in my case Bose IE2s, in your case beats tour) it helps to create an audio profile and set the first 2 frequencies to minimum, set mid to 3-4, and set the two high freqs to 9-10. This helps with the lack of treble response on bass heavy earbuds.
I recommend checking out head-fi forums for some advice, but for ear buds, I love my AKG K318s. They are open back ear buds and the have pretty fantastic clarity and openness to them for being ear buds. They are great in the mids to highs, but bass response isn't that great - depends on your music tastes. They are perfect for rock/classical/vocals stuff like that. For bassier stuff, I use a pair of V-Moda BassFreq but I dont believe either of these are made anymore. I use mostly Sennheiser Momentum over-ear and on-ears at work, and Philips SHP9500/Grado SR80 at home.
I use klipsch x12i in ears.
They're pricey but well worth it.
Came from klipsch x10i and x11i.
Once you've had a pair, you're hooked.
They sound amazing...
The HTC 10 is a great audio device but it certainly doesn't sound the same as any other mobile device using the Qualcomm 820 SoC....
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/02/qualcomm-aqstic-sets-new-standard-audiophiles
Audiotechnica ATH-M50 headphones for the win!
I use the headphones at work and there is a SIGNIFICANT sound quality difference from when I plug it into my PC vs my HTC 10. The 10 adds another dimension to the music and makes it sounds more... vibrant?
chetly968 said:
The HTC 10 is a great audio device but it certainly doesn't sound the same as any other mobile device using the Qualcomm 820 SoC....
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/02/qualcomm-aqstic-sets-new-standard-audiophiles
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Not quite my friend...
Taken from:
http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-10-audio-testing-boomsound-evolved
"Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 does a lot of things right, but clear audio isn't one of those things. Something in the digital to analog converter circuit introduces an extreme amount of noise and crosstalk into the analog output, and phones like the U.S. Galaxy S7 and LG G5 sound pretty poor because of this. After doing some testing, I was presented with results that just didn't make sense from the HTC 10 — it was better than it should be, even with extra work and attention to the analog circuit that brings signal from the DAC output to the headphone jack. You can only do so much magic to a bad signal. I asked HTC how they did it, and found out that some assumptions about the HTC 10 audio hardware that the internet (and myself) has are incorrect. The HTC 10 uses a stand-alone DAC as well as headphone amp and isn't using the Snapdragon 820 DAC. This is pretty important, and why the HTC 10 sounds as good as it does.
We use a discrete DAC (not one on the SoC) in addition to the amp and have done a ton of PCB engineering to insure the best possible signal-to-noise ratio. Credit to HTC engineering, not off-the-shelf components.
So much for relying on the internet. That's a mistake I won't make again.
Needless to say, the results of my benchmark testing with the HTC 10 are pretty damn outstanding."
The discrete DAC is the Qualcomm Aqstic and it sounds awesome, the best I've ever heard in a phone.
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/02/qualcomm-aqstic-sets-new-standard-audiophiles
Xiaomi Piston 3's sound AMAZING for the price, which is around $12, but for best SQ you need to be careful to avoid fakes, replace the tips (included tips are rubbish), and burn them in for ~50 hrs.
I currently use the Audio-Technica ATH-CKR10 and it sounds amazing for my type of music (edm, trance, vocal trance) although they are quite expensive at around 200 your best bet is to get them from amazon and make sure its fulfilled by amazon, for some reason the other listings are always 300-600 bucks....
Ordered some Sony bluetooth over the ear headphones on Amazon prime day, work great. They were 50% off
Sent from my 2PS64 using XDA-Developers mobile app
whatthefunk said:
The discrete DAC is the Qualcomm Aqstic and it sounds awesome, the best I've ever heard in a phone.
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/02/qualcomm-aqstic-sets-new-standard-audiophiles
Xiaomi Piston 3's sound AMAZING for the price, which is around $12, but for best SQ you need to be careful to avoid fakes, replace the tips (included tips are rubbish), and burn them in for ~50 hrs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you mind sharing a link of a legit seller for the Xiaomi earbuds? I tried purchasing a set last summer but got burned by eBay seller and received a knock off. One of the earbuds volume was significantly lower (almost nonexistent) than the other earbud. Would like to try out some quality hi-res earbuds, my 2013 Beats Tours are pretty disappointing in both the sound department, as well as them constantly falling out of my ears.
But as far as Headphones go, My Beats Studio 2.0's sound amazing when I Calibrate the sound profile to them. The Dolby effects "Studio" setting really helps separate the sound stage nicely. So nice, it's allowed me to fight off the itch to mess around with V4A and all the other sound mods I have run in the past, and a much nicer richer listening experience as well.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
For bang for the bucks, try VSONIC GR07, despite the lame plastic chassis, it really does sound like a ~200-dollar-headphone. I like it more than my UE triple.fi, even UE900, sound-wise.
So i'm using the "Bose Soundsport" while in gym, on the bike or just walking outside. Although i'm not a big fan of Bose products i can highly recommend these because they are so damn comfortable as they are between real In-Ears and EarPods and sound excellent for their size. (way better than the High Res HTC In-Ears)
At home or while working i take my "Bowers & Wilkins P7", which were brought on a new level when i switched from HTC M7 to HTC 10!
But in the end it depends on what sound you like and the quality you use...for me it was always hard to find good headphones as i hear very different genres like Hiphop, Rock, Punk-Rock, House, Jazz etc.

[DISCUSSION] Headphone Jack performance

I wanted to start a thread discussing the performance of the headphone jack. I'm a bit disappointed considering Sony's audiophile history with their walkmans and LDAC codec.
Yes, I'm nit picking about a $13XX dollar phone but for this price, I was expecting a bit more that just average performance.
For comparison I do have a LG V40 with it's quad dac and it powers my audio technicas perfectly fine with High-Impedance mode.
On the MK ii, I don't get the full sound with out an external dac coming into play.
I'd like to ask other MK ii owners if having just a headphone jack is enough to power your earbuds/iems/headphones.
Going to do a bit more in detail research within a couple of days but I think Sony just wanted to slap a headphone jack just to say it has one.
Ps- I'm no audiophile but having a full sound for the headphones I have is a must.
Thank you! This thread is very interesting.
I have reduced hearing and I badly need a smartphone with high-output. My LG V30 with it's QUAD-DAC has no problem giving me enough volume even on my favourite pair Hifiman HE-4xx.
I was hoping that Sony 1 mk2 was an alternative, but maybe not................ ?
R800x_user said:
I wanted to start a thread discussing the performance of the headphone jack. I'm a bit disappointed considering Sony's audiophile history with their walkmans and LDAC codec.
Yes, I'm nit picking about a $13XX dollar phone but for this price, I was expecting a bit more that just average performance.
For comparison I do have a LG V40 with it's quad dac and it powers my audio technicas perfectly fine with High-Impedance mode.
On the MK ii, I don't get the full sound with out an external dac coming into play.
I'd like to ask other MK ii owners if having just a headphone jack is enough to power your earbuds/iems/headphones.
Going to do a bit more in detail research within a couple of days but I think Sony just wanted to slap a headphone jack just to say it has one.
Ps- I'm no audiophile but having a full sound for the headphones I have is a must.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may want to make the distinction between headphone jacks that can and cannot drive high impedance headphones as a headphone jack that can't can still be good as in clear, little to no distortion with good response and sound reproduction.
In this case its more like LG's has gone out of their way to include a dac that can power high impedance headphones (which is rare in the first place, in addition to the jack being rare) so if high impedance headphones usage is a top priority, then sticking to LG would be recommended.
I have a Meizu Pro usb dac which has a good reputation. The volume of the Meizu is a bit higher, but the audio quality of the Sony is equal. You just have to increase the volume 2 or 3 notches. The Sony uses the Qualcom dac and excellent Cirrus amplifier chips. I use my Beoplay H6 over the ear headphones for listening. The volume being a bit lower is no problem for me, I still can get serious hearing damage if I want to.
The audio is detailed, excellent channel separation, noise is undetectable.
jwalesh96 said:
You may want to make the distinction between headphone jacks that can and cannot drive high impedance headphones as a headphone jack that can't can still be good as in clear, little to no distortion with good response and sound reproduction.
In this case its more like LG's has gone out of their way to include a dac that can power high impedance headphones (which is rare in the first place, in addition to the jack being rare) so if high impedance headphones usage is a top priority, then sticking to LG would be recommended.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sho-Bud said:
I have a Meizu Pro usb dac which has a good reputation. The volume of the Meizu is a bit higher, but the audio quality of the Sony is equal. You just have to increase the volume 2 or 3 notches. The Sony uses the Qualcom dac and excellent Cirrus amplifier chips. I use my Beoplay H4 over the ear headphones for listening. The volume being a bit lower is no problem for me, I still can get serious hearing damage if I want to.
The audio is detailed, excellent channel separation, noise is undetectable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah LG has done the headphone jack justice, but I was expecting a bit more out of the mark 2 for it's price point.
Like hi-res audio. I get it's mainly a photography oriented product. I mean I guess I got used to only using half of the volume steps provided by the LG phones.
I just had high expectations out of Sony in the audio department. Great camera. As for the dac mentioned above, i have a couple so I'm not too worried about getting any more of them. I have a couple of headphone I can try out besides my audio technicas.
The audio capability of the phone is lacking
Bluetooth volume is pretty poor even though it's decent quality
The 3.5mm Jack absolutely doesn't have that much power to drive much more than basic iem 8 to 16 ohm level. Can't push my 150ohm cans at all
Definitely louder than the previous phones. I'm just happy that the jack is back. I did notice a difference with bluetooth vs wired on WH1000XM4. Volume was definitely louder on bluetooth, but can really notice the difference in quality despite LDAC. But that's just me.
R800x_user said:
Yeah LG has done the headphone jack justice, but I was expecting a bit more out of the mark 2 for it's price point.
Like hi-res audio. I get it's mainly a photography oriented product. I mean I guess I got used to only using half of the volume steps provided by the LG phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it does have Hi-Res audio. Volume is a bit lower, but is also the curve of the volume control. With the LG the volume control is linear, with the Sony starts to increase real slow, until over half of the volume.
Sho-Bud said:
But it does have Hi-Res audio. Volume is a bit lower, but is also the curve of the volume control. With the LG the volume control is linear, with the Sony starts to increase real slow, until over half of the volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah volume has to be over half way to start making decent sound. Regular buds are fine though. I have some kz iems and it's fine with those. Just higher impedance isn't for this phone.
My Beoplay H6 headphones have an impedance of 30 Ohms. They work great with the Sony. I can't compare, these are the only wired headphones I have.
The audio quality is perfect with my XBA-N3AP or WH1000XM3
niaboc79 said:
The audio quality is perfect with my XBA-N3AP or WH1000XM3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh snap, how are the XBAs?
Currently, I'm using AKG N700nc2( using them wired )
R800x_user said:
Oh snap, how are the XBAs?
Currently, I'm using AKG N700nc2( using them wired )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XBA are amazing, well balanced and no extra bass like many earphones.
With an upgraded cable it's even better [emoji106]
Envoyé de mon XQ-AT51 en utilisant Tapatalk
niaboc79 said:
The audio quality is perfect with my XBA-N3AP or WH1000XM3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think using its headphone jack to push N3AP do not working perfect, the human voice is low, the sound ‘s analysis goes bad, compare to use usb-3.5 dac line. I use IE60.
highlightshadow said:
The audio capability of the phone is lacking
Bluetooth volume is pretty poor even though it's decent quality
The 3.5mm Jack absolutely doesn't have that much power to drive much more than basic iem 8 to 16 ohm level. Can't push my 150ohm cans at all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Poor volume, I can still get hearing damage by the levels of volume here.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Monster_Dawn said:
I think using its headphone jack to push N3AP do not working perfect, the human voice is low, the sound ‘s analysis goes bad, compare to use usb-3.5 dac line. I use IE60.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried with a dac, I will try to compare with my XA50ES
Envoyé de mon XQ-AT51 en utilisant Tapatalk
For everyone who isn't satisfied with the performance of the headphone jack:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/xnext-walkman-v1-0-xperia-1ii-5-ii-t4192117
Require a rooted device
[email protected] said:
For everyone who isn't satisfied with the performance of the headphone jack:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/xnext-walkman-v1-0-xperia-1ii-5-ii-t4192117
Require a rooted device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies for replying to an old threat, but what became of this? The link is now dead unfortunately. Was it an actual improvement or deleted because it was non-functional? Thanks.
Coleh said:
Apologies for replying to an old threat, but what became of this? The link is now dead unfortunately. Was it an actual improvement or deleted because it was non-functional? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to dm peter. I didn't have a chance to save this.
Sony Xperia 1 II most probably uses a Qualcomm audio codec. Can be their flagship Aqstic WCD9341, a dedicated audio chip. Only a proper tear-down will reveal the details. As I found out this audio chip contains a very good DAC section and can produce nearly 1 Vrms at headphone out when implemented in high performance mode.

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