Headphone Adapter Quality? - OnePlus 6T Questions & Answers

How is the headphone adapter that comes with the 6T? As much as I don't want to purchase the 6T because of the lack of headphone jack, it doesn't really make sense to get the 6 because there's no price reduction.

You should check around, the 6 is going for $439..
Sent from my ONEPLUS 6T using XDA-Developers Legacy app

j0hnee said:
You should check around, the 6 is going for $439..[/URL]
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I don't want to buy from those sites though. There's no warranty according to OnePlus. My 5T has some hardware issues with the GPS, charging port, and modem and it isn't a cheap fix.

Sound is average, If you really care about Audio Quality their is better devices out there.

liam_davenport said:
Sound is average, If you really care about Audio Quality their is better devices out there.
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What about this delay and battery life talk? Does that mean if I'm watching a video, the sound is delayed so it's out of sync?

geokilla said:
What about this delay and battery life talk? Does that mean if I'm watching a video, the sound is delayed so it's out of sync?
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I dont get a delay watching videos. I tried using bluetooth headphones and that was awful, PUBG was unplayable as there was a nearly second delay between action and sound with those, but the wired are fine thru the dongle. WHat I would say is that volume seems to be a little lower than I was expecting, but I've read that some dongles are better than others for that, e.g. the previous version of the pixel included dongle
And battery life is stellar, I'm a heavy user with 2 sims, and Im comfortably getting 2 days use out of a charge. Im really impressed with the phone so far after a week of use

Using UE900 IEMs, i have no issues with the audio quality. Can't really hear much of a difference between this and a Galaxy S7 Edge (wasn't the best audio output ever, so...). Source was Downloaded Spotify Premium content in highest quality.
Oneplus 6t can go louder however.
Before the S7 Edge i had an HTC One M8, with a fairly decent audio output (and low output impedance), i think it was slightly better, but yea. After a while, you simply get used to it, and don't hear anything wrong.
I have no issues. But i'm not someone who sits there in cramps trying to analyze every single Tone in existence just searching for any little Mistake. I put headphones on, and walk whereever i need to go, if i'm going anywhere without Car. Simply enjoy some music while on the go. Nothing more, nothing less. Anything else (in my opinion, when "on the go" at least) would've nothing to do with enjoying music anymore, if you focus your whole brain into analysing the audio quality everytime you listen to something. For comparisons early yea, but after that, it would not make much sense.
If you're the first kind, you might probably be happier with an LG Phone with their Quad DACs. Otherwise, especially if you use some cheaper headphones / IEMs, the only bad thing worth mentioning will be the "adapter-handling".
Audioquality however, is just fine. Not the best you could get. But good enough so there is no noise or whatever.

Related

[Q] sound quality through headphones

I just spent some time at the local T-Mobile store checking this thing out in person. I'm very seriously thinking about picking one up but I have one thing I want to ask you guys that already have one....How is the sound quality when listening to music? If I get this phone, it will be my second android phone but my first htc. I currently have a samsung moment and I detest a lot of things about it. One of the things that bothers me is that I still carry around my outdated ipod because the sound quality of my moment is brutal. I never noticed with the generic ear buds that came with the phone but once I plugged in some quality cans, I realized the phone doesn't have any balls. My music sounds like I'm listening to cheapo headphones even though I have a pair of $100 dollar grados.
I'm a bit of an audiophile so if the thing can't sound high end, its a big drawback to me. I'm so tired of carrying an ipod in one pocket and the phone in another. Been doing that too many years and the idea of getting a smartphone was supposed to cure that need.
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
I have the JH5's.. will listen to music on my G2 for some time and report back. I'm pretty satisfied with the Galaxy S, that has good SQ. My iPad also has great SQ..
One major problem I have with most android phones is that they aren't loud enough. That's the main reason I still carry around my touch. I hope I am able to solve this soon...
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
This question was bugging me, as I have the G2 on my short list of phones I want, so I went back to the T-Mobile store today and asked if I could see their live demo unit and test music playback on it.
They didn't agree, not wanting me to put an sdcard with music on it in the demo phone, but one of the employees had his own G2 with music already on it. He let me plug my headphones in (Head Direct RE2, not the most spectacular, but not cheap $20 earbuds either) and played a few tracks.
It sounded pretty good for an HTC phone.
Now, granted, these MP3s were not very high quality. They were 128kbps encodes, probably not LAME encoded. But I'll say it definitely sounded better than the utterly bass-lacking Nexus One.
It doesn't sound half as decent as the Samsung Vibrant, though.
greengoldmello said:
One major problem I have with most android phones is that they aren't loud enough. That's the main reason I still carry around my touch. I hope I am able to solve this soon...
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
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that desire hd has dolby srs or whatever, should sound good. really hoping t-mobile brings it to the US.
greengoldmello said:
One major problem I have with most android phones is that they aren't loud enough. That's the main reason I still carry around my touch. I hope I am able to solve this soon...
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
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Exactly. I know in terms of specs the iPhones don't compare to Androids, but sound quality as I said is a big deal to me. I would tolerate a slightly slower phone for good sound.
As far as people noting that newer Samsung phones have good sound...that's nice to know but I've already decided I can never buy another Samsung phone for as long as I live. I'll spare you all the self-righteous diatribe but suffice it to say my Moment's lack of sound quality is only one of a number of issues I have with it.
That's why I have a Ipod touch 4G
Unfortunately this is all opinion so our opinion of good may not mesh with yours, however I use Klipsch S4s which have been reviewed by many different people as the best in the price range and better than many that cost twice as much...
I listen to FLAC all day on my G2 with these earphones at work and am happy with the quality.
Using the JH5's, the G2 sounds decent for average listening. Not as good as the iPad or iPhone 4, but good enough. It doesn't make the music sound bad, just the bass performance is not as good and its a bit focused on treble.
Kind of like the speaker for the phone.. sounds good but a little quiet.
Plenty loud IMO :/
I have to admit that my blackberry bold 9700 earphone jack yielded better results as far as pandora is concerned to my auxiliary port of my head unit (even with high quality)
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
I don't know about the G2, but the Vibrant has amazing sound quality through its headphone jack. When tested by gsmarena.com, it beat the iphone on a few sound quality tests and was about the same on all the others. I've never heard better sound quality on a phone and its very customizable and pretty loud.
It's decent. The bundled earphones are pretty good quality, and the controls work flawless, without any lag. Perfect for gym. IMHO if you're using your phone for listening to music anywhere else, you're doing it wrong. At home a hi-fi system is obviously better, in the car... why bother. Unless you have a non-existent (or super ****ty) system in the car, why would you listen to music using your phone?
clivo360 said:
I don't know about the G2, but the Vibrant has amazing sound quality through its headphone jack. When tested by gsmarena.com, it beat the iphone on a few sound quality tests and was about the same on all the others. I've never heard better sound quality on a phone and its very customizable and pretty loud.
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Yup, the Vibrant/Galaxy S uses a discrete Wolfson DSP ; thus its Sound Quality is superb. The iPhone 4 uses a discrete Cirrus Logic DSP, whereas HTC phones/Qualcomm do not have a discrete DSP, its integrated into the SoC.
So to answer his question, He's still going to have to carry around the iPod.
I've been using the included headset and am very happy with the sound quality and volume.
I haven't tested any other earphones yet.
On a related note, the speaker is only adequate. I wouldn't rely on it. Samsung phones seem to be much better in this regard.
Included headset sucks compared to the S4s, but to be realistic you can't expect HTC to waste money including a "good" headset when 95% of the buyers can't tell a difference or don't care. I hope they continue to include cheap headsets so I'm not paying a premium for a phone with a mediocre pair that I won't use anyway.
Are you using the stock music player to listen to FLAC? It doesn't seem to work for me. Neither does the cube player.
Audio quality isn't the best on this phone. I have a pair of Senn's CX500's and the bass gets distorted when listening to the default player. The mid's are okay and sometimes the highs get distorted also. This btw is coming from music with at least 192kbps bitrate on them.
But still love the phone!

lineout audio quality

I really enjoy almost everything about the Focus. I bought it because I was so happy with my Zune HD.
I was underwhelmed when I plugged in my Grado headphones tho. Perhaps the Zune is just very high caliber, but It seems like I am missing some lows and the soundstage seems flat. Does anyone know what sort of Hardware went into this phone? If the hardware is good, is there anything I can do software or backend to make it sound better?
I have a second complaint. When I stick a headphone jack in the mic turns off, it probably is expecting an inline mic with the headphones. My problem is when I then go to pull out my headphones the phone doesn't notice and will continue to not hear. It takes two or three times reinserting and pulling out the headphones to remidy this. Is anyone else haveing this issue.
this is a known issue and will probably be addressed in the first or second update January-February. As of now the only thing you can do is adjust the default volume to be louder...there might be other things you can tweak regarding the root menu of the device. Check out the diagnosic codes thread.
Regarding the hardware i'm pretty sure its good hardware, I think that new apps will inhance the audio experience in our beloved phones.
Welcome to the forum, please do not start two of the same threads since it will clutter the forum.
Okay thanks. I saw the diagnostic thread. It was difficult to see what the values correlate with. How do you delete a thread? The double post was not intentional
The Zune HD uses a Wolfson Microelectronics audio chip, so that's top-tier level of audio quality.
The Focus uses the built-in Snapdragon audio codec, which just isn't as good, and unfortunately, it shows.
Raptor550 said:
I have a second complaint. When I stick a headphone jack in the mic turns off, it probably is expecting an inline mic with the headphones. My problem is when I then go to pull out my headphones the phone doesn't notice and will continue to not hear. It takes two or three times reinserting and pulling out the headphones to remidy this. Is anyone else haveing this issue.
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Same problem here. But is worst, I connect the Focus to my Car Auxiliary jack to use it as a mega speaker, I mean, when someone calls I can hear them, but they can not hear me. The microphone is dead when I plug it in. Someone knows a fix for this?
After doing some comparison with my high-end DAPs, my Focus is being relegated to movie watching only...lol. It has low quality sound. I did have about 8GB of music on it and have deleted it all. There just is no need to use my Focus for music when it sounds the way it does. It isn't horrible...erm...in a sense, that is. Before I compared it I thought it was quite good...lol. Now, however, I just can't stand it.
The Focus is a nice phone and does a lot of good things and those are things it will continue to do.
I'm using Samsung Focus as MP3 player replacement, which is perfectly fine. No different from Samsung Captivate with Wolfson chip, at least to my ears.
I decided to give music on my Focus another go after the NoDo/Firmware update. It seems to have improved the sound quality...unless it's just a placebo effect. I think I can live with the SQ now and am putting my music back on it.
I'm wondering which ear phones those guys use that complain about audio issues.
I think without this additional information the comlaints are rather useless.
Sebo1985 said:
I'm wondering which ear phones those guys use that complain about audio issues.
I think without this additional information the comlaints are rather useless.
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In my case, I use high-end canalphones. Shure SE530, Klipsch Image X10/X5, Sleek Audio SA6, UE Triple fi-10 and so forth.
Yeah, that's really high end. With my Westone Um1 i'm satisfied with the overall audio performance, even when there is some hissing and and whirring with low volume. I'm interested if the sound improves with the firmware update, just have to wait a few more days.
Sebo1985 said:
Yeah, that's really high end. With my Westone Um1 i'm satisfied with the overall audio performance, even when there is some hissing and and whirring with low volume. I'm interested if the sound improves with the firmware update, just have to wait a few more days.
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I believe it does improve with the update. Before the update, the sound was undefined and muddy. After the update, it seems a lot less muddy and more defined.
MartyLK said:
I believe it does improve with the update. Before the update, the sound was undefined and muddy. After the update, it seems a lot less muddy and more defined.
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Interesting, I'll have to do a little testing.
I often use my Focus at work to demo PA gear and typically use a Proco iFace for connection. I've never A/B'd my Focus and Zune30, though.
It is so hard to do AB testing because even a half decibel difference in level balance can be taken as an improvement.
The best way is to do sweeps plugged into a soundcard and graph the differences. even then some distortions can be pleasurable. But at least you can test its reproduction faithfulness comparing the wave to the original song.
It would be really interesting for somebody to run sweeps before and after nodo and see if the are identical or not.
It is possible that its improved. Sadly my zune was stolen so I can no longer compare. I can tell it still lacks some depth and can get get overwhelmed in complex passages those could be powering issues tho. I'm guessing thats what you are describing as muddy Marty.
its a worse than my work machine and i know that was a little worse than my zune which is a little worse than my home marantz. But for anyone reading this, the focus's sound is probably good enough for most people and at least comparable to most phones I think if not a bit better (never heard an I phone tho).
I will say about the HD, it had a much higher then average sound output.

Will a portable amp Improve the headphone quality?

Probably the most stupidest question out there but just wondering..
Since a lot of people are saying that the headphone quality is meh will a portable amp improve the quality?
crap in, crap out
amplifying a crap headphone out (if it is crap to you where you think a seperate amp should be used) will result in a crap result
if the usb has a line out, that might be of some use....does it? I'd be interested to know
An amp with its own DAC, like the Fiio E18 for example, would improve the sound quality. I've not used mine since I got my Exynos S7 though, the sound quality sounds good enough.
dazzer1975 said:
crap in, crap out
amplifying a crap headphone out (if it is crap to you where you think a seperate amp should be used) will result in a crap result
if the usb has a line out, that might be of some use....does it? I'd be interested to know
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Yeah i have no idea, some people have said that getting a portable amp and plugging it to your phone will increase the audio quality :\ but your saying of "crap in, crap out" makes a lot of sense.. haha
jbpf77 said:
An amp with its own DAC, like the Fiio E18 for example, would improve the sound quality. I've not used mine since I got my Exynos S7 though, the sound quality sounds good enough.
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Cheers for that, yeah i'll be getting the exynos as well is it as bad as everyone saying it is ? (sound quality)
dazzer1975 said:
crap in, crap out
amplifying a crap headphone out (if it is crap to you where you think a seperate amp should be used) will result in a crap result
if the usb has a line out, that might be of some use....does it? I'd be interested to know
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portable amps don't utilize the 3.5mm jack. And yes, a portable amp will improve the quality. If you have the snapdragon version, then you'd want a portable dac/amp combo.
andiedee said:
Cheers for that, yeah i'll be getting the exynos as well is it as bad as everyone saying it is ? (sound quality)
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For me, listening at my desk at work in a fairly quiet environment, the sound quality and volume levels are absolutely fine. I used to have to use my E18 with my Note 4 all the time as the sound quality was really bad, especially noticeable as I had an M8 before that, but I've not used the E18 at all since I got the S7.
jbpf77 said:
For me, listening at my desk at work in a fairly quiet environment, the sound quality and volume levels are absolutely fine. I used to have to use my E18 with my Note 4 all the time as the sound quality was really bad, especially noticeable as I had an M8 before that, but I've not used the E18 at all since I got the S7.
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oh okay! sounds good to me
I got the m8 at the moment its 2 years old, gotta replace it with the s7e or the new HTC 10 i don't know if i can be bothered waiting for the HTC 10 though :\
I'm using my senheiser omx 980 and waiting for the oppo ha 2 hopefully it will sound different. I'm satisfied with the audio as it is now nonetheless
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
I have funded this on Kickstarter. Its a DAC that is connected via the USB port.
AQUA DAC
Shipping at the end of this month hopefully. Write up seems good. I will have to wait till it comes to see if it works.
andiedee said:
Cheers for that, yeah i'll be getting the exynos as well is it as bad as everyone saying it is ? (sound quality)
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Which headphones are you Using??
I'm using a Pair of UE 900 (UVP 399€ quad-driver in-ear-monitors), and i have no problems, of deficites. I used an htc one m8 before, and i dont really notice a worse soundquality.
Sure, if you really try hard enough and compare then like you want to dissect it, you might find differences.
But like i said, i have no Problems there. The Output impedance is low enough with almost 2 Ohm, soundquality, and output Power is really enough (i can not listen to 100% Volume, it's just way too loud for me).
Of course, you'll ha ve to decide that yourself, maybe you have much better in-ears / headphones, and have much higher, more audiophile standards.
(but, if you dont dissect your music, but just want to enjoy listening, it's totally fine)

S8/S8+ & HI-RES Audio

Seems no one has yet made note of this Handsets audio capabilities...at least ive seen yet but I was very surprised to see listed 32bit audio :
Alert types Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack Yes
- 32-bit/384kHz audio
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
Ive had galaxies in the past but none listed had hi-res capabilities till now and i was gonna get the V20 but figured i can go without the quad-DAC maybe on this since both use 32bit audio 192khz or above and get a handset that has all the hardware newest on the market instead hehe.
Lookin forward to hearing how it is...couldnt find reference to the specific DAC used.....not even sure how others are able to haha but would like to see how the V20 and S8 compare there.....the G6 also has 32bit audio but at 192khz FYI
where did you see that? My understanding was that even the NA G6 didn't get the quad DAC that was included with the Asian version.
shollywood said:
where did you see that? My understanding was that even the NA G6 didn't get the quad DAC that was included with the Asian version.
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No sir u misread my post =) the G6 and S8 both have only listed 32bit audio. S8 has 32bit/384khz and G6 has 32bit/192khz. Check gsmarena http://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s8-8161.php
http://m.gsmarena.com/lg_g6-8466.php
bayfisher1958 said:
demos are much clearer in sound and quality s8s
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Not quite sure what you mean there..... Are u saying the results given during a demo review won't be the actual given on a retail version? I admit hardware capabilities can be bogged down due to other factors like bloatware etc etc but that and most other issues conflicting can be rectified typically so... If thats what u were getting at above.... Then it's no problem really.
mcbright80 said:
Not quite sure what you mean there..... Are u saying the results given during a demo review won't be the actual given on a retail version? I admit hardware capabilities can be bogged down due to other factors like bloatware etc etc but that and most other issues conflicting can be rectified typically so... If thats what u were getting at above.... Then it's no problem really.
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I believe he was trying to say that he tried the S8, listened to something pre-installed aka a demo and it sounds better than what he has heard before, presumably on the previous model. I would hope/expect that the sound quality has improved, everything else has so why not.
mcbright80 said:
No sir u misread my post =) the G6 and S8 both have only listed 32bit audio. S8 has 32bit/384khz and G6 has 32bit/192khz. Check gsmarena http://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s8-8161.php
http://m.gsmarena.com/lg_g6-8466.php
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Sorry, my point was that those could be specs from Asian version of phone
shollywood said:
Sorry, my point was that those could be specs from Asian version of phone
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AHHHH!!!! Well I was WAAAAY off then in my interpretation lol. I did also call LG themselves to verify those parts of the specs and it is listed on Samsungs site that it's 32bit dsd64/128 and does not have it stated it only is on certain handsets or restrictions on countries. Only states dsd playback can be limited depending on format below.
Yeah I had to make sure it's audio quality was exactly as advertised before I ordered the S8... Not a fan of Samsungs phones so if I was to get it it better be packed with specs I wanted enough to override buying my other choices on top lol.
Anything beyond 24 bit/96 kHz is just marketing spec wars and doesn't matter.
mcbright80 said:
AHHHH!!!! Well I was WAAAAY off then in my interpretation lol. I did also call LG themselves to verify those parts of the specs and it is listed on Samsungs site that it's 32bit dsd64/128 and does not have it stated it only is on certain handsets or restrictions on countries. Only states dsd playback can be limited depending on format below.
Yeah I had to make sure it's audio quality was exactly as advertised before I ordered the S8... Not a fan of Samsungs phones so if I was to get it it better be packed with specs I wanted enough to override buying my other choices on top lol.
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It would be nice if they put out a standard device that had the same specs world wide, rather than us having to decipher which model has what etc. So you're taking the plunge and ordering??
Nitemare3219 said:
Anything beyond 24 bit/96 kHz is just marketing spec wars and doesn't matter.
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I have done the research up and down, sideways and backwards plus any other way around when concerning this argument and personally I can tell quite a few telltale differences in audio quality in formats, bit depth, bit rate etc etc and there IS noticeable differences.
The issue is, and reason, this debate is still ongoing is there are soooooo many factors/variables and/or conditions that come into play concerning any audio quality testing. It will impact what anyone finds in their results if they are even able to tell small, subtle variations in sound quality to the more obvious to start....if you have one person who is average and a layman to the technical information overall on audio then it wont make a diff or you have another who is fluent it changes the results substantially....then taking in account the soundbites format origin, how it was converted exactly from origin if it isn't lossless, what hardware/software was used to do so like using Audacity to convert/record/modify vs Soundforge, what computer/OS they used for conversion/modifications and testing with, were there any external DACs used, and audio cable connections used to route music, Headphone/speakers/bluetooth quality, etc etc its nutty....its super detailed, and change one variable in the overall process could effect things more than expected usually IE: reformatting a FLAC to MP3 then to AAC HE.
OH and i forgot that I found changing songs and stuff also will really give you more differences in results its crazy. I dont mean just change from certain genre types like classical or rock soundbites but from specific songs themselves can make a difference alone. I am still fiddling with options, formats and constantly changing songs of all types back and forth and back again while changing audio modifications one at a time....over and over and over and over.....seriously....so yes it does make a difference, it IS marketing BS in there too of course appreciate that level or need to but whether some audio bite is 24bit or 64bit or whatever is important, does make a difference in sound overall quality in the end but just may not be as important or useful depending on whom the audience or consumer is.
Besides....compared to the overblown bull of forever upgrading how many megapixels and such for phones the marketing on audio quality is barely a BLIP.....rarely do they ever put much info out on audio capabilities for those who would like it unlike camera capabilities. Every stupid review on any handset spends 1/4 of that review talking about how good the camera is on that handset, compares it to others WITH photos showing the degrees of differences in each handset, blah blah blah....just so some more narcissistic tards can have the best camera to take another 1000 selfies, pics of what they are eating or drinking at the moment or some other mundane crap they think is so relevant that everyone else HAS to see all the time....none of them know what any of the specs there are for more than the barest of reason but they give every detail though on review cause that sells.
Do these people need such high specs for their endless selfie takes...NOPE....unless you are a hobbyist into photography on whatever level/area or photography by trade then you won't really benefit from having 20 megapixels or apps that modify photos in such detail and so many really, esp if you don't fully understand those details. Its by far the hugest selling point on of any of the spec wars on phones than any other hardware part easily and all to get people to really need that upgrade for more megapixels cause more is better and they need more SELFIES and more megapixels is what the ads/salesmen say will give you that the best quality so the picture of their duckface pose or pic of what they are eating for lunch is clearer, crisper, and more detailed than the next persons on FB lol..and also warrants making handsets more expensive across the board for everyone even if they dont give a monkey a** about that addition....still gotta pay for it.
Don't let anyone talk about audio capabilities though cause that quickly gets little to no input or someone just pooing all over it cause its not important to them or they think its useless....=P.
shollywood said:
It would be nice if they put out a standard device that had the same specs world wide, rather than us having to decipher which model has what etc. So you're taking the plunge and ordering??
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Yup, already pre-ordered the S8.....so im looking forward to see how it performs. I was hesitant to by the LG as well for many factors as well really but i think this time around i made the best choice option overall in handsets.
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there may be differing audio quality between the SD835 and EXYNOS versions. SD variant has Aqstic most prob and the Exynos a home built LUCKY chip that actually out performed the S7 Snapdragon variant.
Now here's the thing, a DAC's sampling prowess isnt the indicator of quality. Its what amp, noise crossover cancellation and tuning is involved. If a DAC can support a Hi-Res sampling rate its all down to how its tuned and engineered into the phone.
mikey_sk said:
there may be differing audio quality between the SD835 and EXYNOS versions. SD variant has Aqstic most prob and the Exynos a home built LUCKY chip that actually out performed the S7 Snapdragon variant.
Now here's the thing, a DAC's sampling prowess isnt the indicator of quality. Its what amp, noise crossover cancellation and tuning is involved. If a DAC can support a Hi-Res sampling rate its all down to how its tuned and engineered into the phone.
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Yeah that's a whole bunch of variables to be considered that could be a deal breaker but I never can get that information across the board for any device. I never can find info on DACs for different phones like that..... Where did u get your info? I know bits of information about how all that works and to help find out a phones true quality of audio capabilities in the end but nothing complete.
I know that the Exynos version is for whatever reason always outperforming the SD variant but why the US consumers get the loser of the two is beyond me but really effed up.
I can only assume it's due to our regions having some sort of limitation/regulation on handsets capabilities like they do with our Internet.... Many places outside of US have home Internet service 3 or 4 times the speed we get.
Tidal vs spotify and every other music streaming app
Hey guys, after a week of use with the akg ear buds, and Beats solo 3 headphones I was extremely disappointed honestly felt it sounded worse than my s7 active and s5 tbh. Good clarity but terrible eq settings no matter what i tried. Needless to say I was upset for not buying the g6 especially since i own around 10 sets of headphones ranging between 99 and 800 dollars. After reading ever bit of info I could find I just could not figure out what the issue was . Well I have been a paying member of spotify for years and love it, huge fan BUT...... After a lot of research found out that tidal offers hifi audio forget the exact specs but 1600 or 1700 kbps flac. The first note that I played made me literally start laughing. This phone sounds incredible with all my headphones. Its really unbelievably clear for the size of this phone and hardware limitations. As far as,I know it's pretty hard to find dsd audio but for 19.99 you can get tidals hifi, I'm currently using tune free trial. If you haven't I recommend installing it and at least using the free 30 days. Catalogue is not quite as large as others subscriptions but I'm fairly pleased with the audio now. My g6 comes next week unfortunately I haven't put hands on one yet but can't wait to compare the quad dac with the (no one seems to know )s8 dac. I'll post my opinion of it after a few days of use. Again I don't think the issue is the hardware I believe it's just a matter of finding hi resolution audio.
michaelpianella said:
Hey guys, after a week of use with the akg ear buds, and Beats solo 3 headphones I was extremely disappointed honestly felt it sounded worse than my s7 active and s5 tbh. Good clarity but terrible eq settings no matter what i tried. Needless to say I was upset for not buying the g6 especially since i own around 10 sets of headphones ranging between 99 and 800 dollars. After reading ever bit of info I could find I just could not figure out what the issue was . Well I have been a paying member of spotify for years and love it, huge fan BUT...... After a lot of research found out that tidal offers hifi audio forget the exact specs but 1600 or 1700 kbps flac. The first note that I played made me literally start laughing. This phone sounds incredible with all my headphones. Its really unbelievably clear for the size of this phone and hardware limitations. As far as,I know it's pretty hard to find dsd audio but for 19.99 you can get tidals hifi, I'm currently using tune free trial. If you haven't I recommend installing it and at least using the free 30 days. Catalogue is not quite as large as others subscriptions but I'm fairly pleased with the audio now. My g6 comes next week unfortunately I haven't put hands on one yet but can't wait to compare the quad dac with the (no one seems to know )s8 dac. I'll post my opinion of it after a few days of use. Again I don't think the issue is the hardware I believe it's just a matter of finding hi resolution audio.
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Click to collapse
You mean we have to use hires audio like flac to get the most out of it
How about driving heavy headphones ... Can it get loud
Definitely louder
Besides the clear improvement in quality it absolutely gets loud, I was maxing the volume out previously but using hifi I stop at the red on the volume meter. Any louder with my beats would definitely be detrimental to my hearing but I have taken them off and maxed it out. No distortion and ridiculously loud. I should say also that I use my solo3s and all my wireless headphones with the wire plugged in. That along with enabling the uhq setting makes a noticeable difference. If you aren't an audiophile tidal hifi provably isn't worth the extra money. But if you have to have the best audio available that's the best I've found so far.
Great... pls do compare with LG v20 or LG g6 and let us know
michaelpianella said:
Hey guys, after a week of use with the akg ear buds, and Beats solo 3 headphones I was extremely disappointed honestly felt it sounded worse than my s7 active and s5 tbh. Good clarity but terrible eq settings no matter what i tried. Needless to say I was upset for not buying the g6 especially since i own around 10 sets of headphones ranging between 99 and 800 dollars. After reading ever bit of info I could find I just could not figure out what the issue was . Well I have been a paying member of spotify for years and love it, huge fan BUT...... After a lot of research found out that tidal offers hifi audio forget the exact specs but 1600 or 1700 kbps flac. The first note that I played made me literally start laughing. This phone sounds incredible with all my headphones. Its really unbelievably clear for the size of this phone and hardware limitations. As far as,I know it's pretty hard to find dsd audio but for 19.99 you can get tidals hifi, I'm currently using tune free trial. If you haven't I recommend installing it and at least using the free 30 days. Catalogue is not quite as large as others subscriptions but I'm fairly pleased with the audio now. My g6 comes next week unfortunately I haven't put hands on one yet but can't wait to compare the quad dac with the (no one seems to know )s8 dac. I'll post my opinion of it after a few days of use. Again I don't think the issue is the hardware I believe it's just a matter of finding hi resolution audio.
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Click to collapse
im assuming you've imported the Asian G6 variant, as the American version doesnt have the quad DAC right? Or is that just for europe?
Yup, wasn't certain about the U.S. version but I knew for sure the Korean version had it so went with that, kinda wishing I had done the same with my s8 but I was too impatient, that 6gb ram would've been nice to have.

Audio Quality Thoughts

So I just got my HTC U11 today and spent a few hours setting it up. I finally got around to trying out the phone's audio capabilities.
USonic - they sound good for out of the box earphones, but they're definitely not as good as my V-Moda Forza's. I could tell immediately. I doubt I'll use this.
DAC adapter - I'm conflicted. I'm still trying to decide whether or not the adapter sounds as good as my HTC 10. My initial impression is that it's not as good. The 10 has a cleaner, fuller soundstage. I'm really bummed about the BoomSound Dolby and tuning mode not being present on the U11. I've never really listened to the 10 without that mode on, so maybe that's the reason. The U11 doesn't sound bad though.
What do you guys think?
Good enough for 90%
Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk
richteralan said:
Good enough for 90%
Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Pretty much this, most people will love it but I think anyone who had a HTC 10, an Axon 7, S7 Edge (Exynos, volume modded) will notice a bit of a step down. More so the AMP is weak rather than the DAC being bad (although Juan at PocketNow numbers show the DAC to be worse than the HTC 10, Axon 7, S7 Edge, iPhone 7).
I'm contemplating getting a Fiio K1
I just compared the sound quality between my 10 (without BoomSound on) and the U11, and they do sound quite similar.
This leads me to my disappointment -- why did they remove the BoomSound frequency tuning from the U11? It's nice that they have it for the USonic earphones, but why would you need to create multiple audio profiles for those earphones, if there's literally only one pair of earphones that can take advantage of that feature.
I'll have my thoughts later today using a dt770 as my comparison between the 10 and 11. They normally require more power than my HD600. I don't use high impedance/low sensitivity HPs with phones anyway but I figured I'd test.
djbutter said:
I just compared the sound quality between my 10 (without BoomSound on) and the U11, and they do sound quite similar.
This leads me to my disappointment -- why did they remove the BoomSound frequency tuning from the U11? It's nice that they have it for the USonic earphones, but why would you need to create multiple audio profiles for those earphones, if there's literally only one pair of earphones that can take advantage of that feature.
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Click to collapse
Wondering this as well, you can't edit the audio profiles anyway so what is the point in having more than one profile
I've been happy about the audio quality so far. The problem I have is that we only get 1 of the DAC to 3.5mm adapter cables included. Now in order to use my music at home, in car, and at work I now have to carry the cable around with me. It is not ideal to have to carry around an adapter. Getting the included earphones is cool (sound okay) but would rather received a total of 4 adapter cables.
I went to order 4 more and found out that they are in pre-order status. I'll just have to wait until they come in. Once I have an adapter everywhere then I won't be so pissy about it. Really wish they would have kept the 3.5mm, then phone would be considered my best phone ever.
psawjack said:
I've been happy about the audio quality so far. The problem I have is that we only get 1 of the DAC to 3.5mm adapter cables included. Now in order to use my music at home, in car, and at work I now have to carry the cable around with me. It is not ideal to have to carry around an adapter. Getting the included earphones is cool (sound okay) but would rather received a total of 4 adapter cables.
I went to order 4 more and found out that they are in pre-order status. I'll just have to wait until they come in. Once I have an adapter everywhere then I won't be so pissy about it. Really wish they would have kept the 3.5mm, then phone would be considered my best phone ever.
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Click to collapse
There really was no need to remove it, only to use a worse DAC/AMP in the adaptor.
GSM spoke highly of the headphone output. (http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_u_11-review-1620p6.php)
Great audio output
The HTC U11 did splendidly in the first part of our audio test. When hooked to an active external amplifier it delivered very loud and perfectly accurate output.
When headphones come into play the volume remains nicely high and the only reading to take a hit is stereo crosstalk. It's a moderate amount of damage there and will all the other aspects of the performance remaining excellent, it's a great showing overall.
HTC U11 (headphones attached)
Frequency response: +0.05, -0.11 (+0.05, -0.02)
Noise Level: -94.1 (-93.7)
Dynamic Range: -94.1 (93.8)
THD: 0.0017 (0.0018)
IMD + Noise: 0.0067 (0.105)
Stereo crosstalk: -94.5 (-53.7)
HTC 10 (headphones attached)
Frequency response: +0.01, -0.03 (+0.06, -0.09)
Noise Level: -93.2 (-92.8)
Dynamic Range: -93.2 (93.0)
THD: 0.0022 (0.014)
IMD + Noise: 0.071 (0.141)
Stereo crosstalk: -92.8 (-77.9)
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Click to collapse
My own personal experience, I found my DT770 to sound great but was 2 notches of volume below the 10. The 10 at volume 13/15 was the U11 at 15/15. I definitely can hear the crosstalk difference GSM has measured. Heard that before I saw the measurements. Overall, I can definitely live with this. Just hope I don't put myself in situations where I need to charge and listen.
My first impressions are that I'm not particularly impressed by the Usonic earphones - but then I don't usually use the earbuds that come with a phone.
Given the reviews here, I was a bit surprised to find the sound from the U11 adapter sounds better on first hearing than I was getting from the HTC 10, but then I haven't yet done a proper A-B comparison - it could be I was playing it a bit louder, or 'new device' enthusiasm...
As I said it already the 3.5mm adapter lacks Boomsound and this make a big difference with HTC 10, HTC can implement it in the FW of the adapter but we need to let them know we want it.
mosincredible said:
GSM spoke highly of the headphone output. (http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_u_11-review-1620p6.php)
My own personal experience, I found my DT770 to sound great but was 2 notches of volume below the 10. The 10 at volume 13/15 was the U11 at 15/15. I definitely can hear the crosstalk difference GSM has measured. Heard that before I saw the measurements. Overall, I can definitely live with this. Just hope I don't put myself in situations where I need to charge and listen.
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Click to collapse
Agreed. I can see the logic behind HTC's decision, and I actually don't disagree with it. They dropped the headphone jack but added noise cancellation and a decent pair of earphones. This targets that iPhone userbase that only uses the awful in-box white ear buds. It's definitely better value for the money for the average user.
Perhaps they needed to compromise on sound quality, but it still sounds pretty fantastic with the adapter. It may not sound as good as the 10 (honestly though it's pretty close), but I'm not mad about it.
Which Boomsound speaker mode do you guys prefer? Music it theater mode? I feel like music more is crisper while tester is a bit longer but muddier.
MinimalistChris said:
Which Boomsound speaker mode do you guys prefer? Music it theater mode? I feel like music more is crisper while tester is a bit longer but muddier.
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Click to collapse
I use theatre mode all the time but yes it is muddier than music mode which sacrifices volume for better audio quality
About stereo crosstalk can you ''fix'' it with V4A?
Or there are no way to enhance stereo?
MinimalistChris said:
Which Boomsound speaker mode do you guys prefer? Music it theater mode? I feel like music more is crisper while tester is a bit longer but muddier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I usually use theatre mode. If I'm playing through the speakers, volume is more important to me.
On another note, I'm having this horrible issue with BT audio. When playing music in google play music through BT earphones (jaybird x2) or my home speaker (LG soundbar), occasionally there's a really loud, awful screeching noise!
Anyone else have this issue?
Otherwise, BT audio is noticeably improved over the 10!
djbutter said:
On another note, I'm having this horrible issue with BT audio. When playing music in google play music through BT earphones (jaybird x2) or my home speaker (LG soundbar), occasionally there's a really loud, awful screeching noise!
Anyone else have this issue?
Otherwise, BT audio is noticeably improved over the 10!
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Click to collapse
Was listening with aptX in my car for a while today and I had no issues along with noticing no difference. Same volume level when connected to an Audioengine B1 that has a 2 volt output to my Audison bit-Ten. Wish I could do a quicker back and forth test with my 10 but I'd have to sync the Bluetooth over and over.
I have to admit that I'm a little bit worried about the sound quality on the u11. One of the things that I really enjoyed on the m8 m9 and the 10 was the Dolby audio enhancement. I have been using that in combination with power amp music player for years and you'd be surprised what kind of sound quality I get out of my Sennheiser HD 558's. I can hear the bass in music the way it is meant to be heard, almost felt, I don't hear that distorted bass sound that you tend to hear on lower end devices.
This may sound stupid to some people but if the sound quality is not at least the same as what I get on my 10 then I'm going to send the phone back. I just got done trying out a $300 pair of Bluetooth headphones with my 10 and I was not impressed, they were close in some areas but for $300 I want more than close. There is a cheaper pair that I have been thinking about trying with the 11 but I'm not sure that I'm going to want to invest all of this money just to be able to say I own the new flagship, and get half decent sound out of it with headphones, especially when for all intents and purposes I'm perfectly happy with my 10.
Right before the phone ended up shipping out to me I was debating on canceling my order because once the feeling of new shiny device wore off I started the question what about the new phone actually got me excited and to be perfectly honest the answer for me is really nothing. I think edge sense could be cool but the apparent lack of support from case manufacturers has me a bit scared as well. I have never owned an all glass phone before and I don't think you could pay me enough to use this phone without any full-body protection I understand that the camera is much better but honestly I don't see a problem with the one that I have. So this could be the first year that I actually hang on to my phone.
I just paired this phone with the Fiio K1 DAC. Much better audio experience. The HTC 10 apparently was better than the K1 by about 10% so the fact that the K1 sounds so good compared to the adapter is quite telling

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