Audio quality of the Nexus One - Nexus One General

Hi guys,
I am a iPhone convert (have used the 2G, 3G and the 3GS currently.)
Could you guys please give objective and subjective comments about the 'line out' of the Nexus One? I hope it doesn't blow as that will be sad.
Regards,
Karan Misra

No one listens to music on their Nexus One!?

it is a mono speaker not a stereo speaker.
if you listen you should use the earbuds.

cuitao said:
it is a mono speake no a stereo speaker. so quality is not good,
if you listen you should use the earbuds.
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I am talking about the 'line out' of the phone, i.e. using good to high end ear phones (like Shure, Sennheiser CX500, etc) through the 3.5 mm jack.

I'm waiting for mine to get in today so I can sink my Etymotic hf5 canalphones into it.

student.driver said:
I'm waiting for mine to get in today so I can sink my Etymotic hf5 canalphones into it.
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Click to collapse
Eagerly waiting for your feedback.

I hope it is not bad like the HD2 though HD2 scores a 10 out of 100 with 100 given to the 3GS. Speaking from personal experience (corroborating by http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_hd2-review-418p8.php... scroll down to the audio quality comparision)

KiD0M4N said:
Hi guys,
I am a iPhone convert (have used the 2G, 3G and the 3GS currently.)
Could you guys please give objective and subjective comments about the 'line out' of the Nexus One? I hope it doesn't blow as that will be sad.
Regards,
Karan Misra
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not too bad for music, I don't know what you would expect from it but as I listen to music only on the train, it's pretty good for me. one thing: the overall volume is a bit low...
Also the stock earphones suck pretty bad. they are barely good for phone calls and no bass at all.

wow fail sorry this post was BS just technical difficulties. but FYI the included headphones, tho not sounding or feeling spectacular, have a remote that has a mic and play/pause/end call and forward/backward. so that's neat .

Regular headphones that use a 3.5mm headphone connector (common to various media players, etc) will work just fine with Nexus One.

cboy007 said:
OMG BIG ISSUE. headphone dont work. like this is like the iphone or whatever. you need special headphone i think? my zune headphones wont work. the ones that come with it have the like remote thing like the iphone and so my normal headhpones wont work. i mean these headphones arent horrible quality but still my comfy zune squishy ones! ah! can anyone confirm this? btw the ones that come have THREE black bands along the connector instead of the regular 2...
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Something's wrong at your end bro... a issue like that won't go past Q/A you know.
swetland said:
Regular headphones that use a 3.5mm headphone connector (common to various media players, etc) will work just fine with Nexus One.
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Have you tried the playback? Hows the clarity, bass, and noise level?

WOW FAIL WHAT THE HECK NOW IT WORKS. htat was weird. it was defienitely in all the way before too. maybe it was because i put them in before i opened up music app...idk that was weird. anyways now my zune ones work and sound beautiful and bass-y. . i'm not an audiophile but i think these sound just as good as with my zune. woo

cboy007 said:
WOW FAIL WHAT THE HECK NOW IT WORKS. htat was weird. it was defienitely in all the way before too. maybe it was because i put them in before i opened up music app...idk that was weird. anyways now my zune ones work and sound beautiful and bass-y. . i'm not an audiophile but i think these sound just as good as with my zune. woo
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Thats a good indicator. Any comparisons to the 3GS/HD2?
Surely geeks also listen to music

cboy007 said:
wow fail sorry this post was BS just technical difficulties. but FYI the included headphones, tho not sounding or feeling spectacular, have a remote that has a mic and play/pause/end call and forward/backward. so that's neat .
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Tried a pair of Shure SE530s, Sony V700s and my Zune buds...all work just fine.

kido...since it seems on par with my zune as far as i can tell i'm assuming it's just as good as the 3gs...but again i'm not at all an audiophile.

I hooked my N1 up to a pair beyerdynamic DT880s and ran through a few musical styles with MP3s ripped using lame with vbr -q 0.
The jack provided enough power to power the DT880s reasonably well without an amp but I probably would not try high impedance headphones. Anything "in ear" will be fine and by the time you get to the point you would need an amp it would be a waste to use them on a phone. Sound range is fine, perhaps a bit neutral, it is not weighted heavily towards bass which some cheaper mp3 players do.
Treble is clean but perhaps a bit thin. As you get into the high end of mid range it is a little muddy (the guitar felt fuzzy in Imperfectly as an example). Over all the sound is better than the G1, the only other phone I have handy to compare real time.
Rest of the mid range down to bass is good. The bass is not overpowering but solid. Against a neutral rig I would say that the Nexus probably accentuates the lower range but not a lot. If you really want a driving beat (the physical feel) in techno then you probably would need some form of equalizer but other than that it is fine, though not powerful.
Songs used:
Reactivate by DJ Akira
Jet Pilot by System of a Down
Metabolic by Slipknot
Imperfectly by Ani DiFranco
Glory O' by Blood or Whiskey (note: lower bitrate MP3. Really did not like the blend but on ear buds it would probably be fine)
Dulaman by Clannad
Machine Screw by Type O Negative ( )
Black Box Recording by Firewater
I did not have any classical with me but if need be I can add some (or other musical style that you are interested in).
As an addendum I would note that the included earbuds are utterly craptastic. If you want to listen to music for any reason other than to drown out the background I would suggest getting better.
EDIT: for the heck of it I put in a amp and it helped the bass a bit, the rest seemed about the same. The difference was not remarkable but noticeable.

Thanks for the detailed reply my friend.
Waiting for comparoes to the iPhone line up.

So mine is finally shipped....
I will let you all know... since no one evidently listens to music here

I would rate it as just okay compared to my 3GS, not bad but not great either....

I had similar results to JP up there, i used the HD555's that i have and got a fair sound out of it... again bass wasnt overpowering but produced enough to get my head bobbin (deadmau5 was my primary artist of choice)...
i would like to see a quality equalizer app/widget/phone integration in the future since i prolly wont need to carry my ipod around anymore now that i have a phone with a proper jack

Related

HTC Leo Music audio quality vs Iphone/Touch

Anyone done a back to back test of music audio quality compared to a iphone/touch and what are your opinions.
I have a Ipod touch and I think that it sounds more musical and has greater detail than the HTC.
Both are setup with flat equlizers.
chilau said:
Anyone done a back to back test of music audio quality compared to a iphone/touch and what are your opinions.
I have a Ipod touch and I think that it sounds more musical and has greater detail than the HTC.
Both are setup with flat equlizers.
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Click to collapse
The HD2 definately cannot match the ippod/iphone for audio quality. I have the ipod touch/iphone too ; on a rating of 10 : i rate the HD2 - 5 while iphone/ipod 9
i like the sound of my HD2, it seems richer than my fat ipod nano. I don't know how to explain it... but i hate the fact that i have this static sound as it transition to the next song... If not for the static, i don't mind listening in on the HD2 or my nano... (of course listening to music kills about 12% of battery per hour)
The sound will depend on the application used. I used pocket player, providing a full scope of equalizer, phase, sort and base boost. Sounds great even through BT.
LOL
I have the set of big wooden speakers .... so what?
Friends , you should compare the earphones quality.
The HD2 sounds good enough. Put Shure5 after the regular earphones and you'll hear the difference. BTW the iphone and HD/HD2 can use same headset.
I stream music over BT to my Sony head unit in my car, having fiddled with registry settings I cannot tell the difference between phone and CD which I guess is as good a quality as the stereo can handle!
Sound quality is nice with audio booster on
+5
+2
-1
-3
-1
+1
+3
+4
+5
+5
= win
I moved from iPhone to HD2. I think the HD2 delivers a richer meatier sound compared to it's Apple cousin. I'm using V-Moda headphones.
tsttse said:
... (of course listening to music kills about 12% of battery per hour)
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Yeah, how weird is that. How is it possible that the audio player is eating so much battery power?
I think the sound quality is brilliant! using sony inear headphones, and phono out though my AV reciever, very meat sound, no static noises for me unless its plugged in to the power at the same time, if I touch the metal case the static noise goes away though.
But how often do you listen to music with it plugged in, if its plugged in your usually near a cd player, computer or something.
lancemate said:
I stream music over BT to my Sony head unit in my car, having fiddled with registry settings I cannot tell the difference between phone and CD which I guess is as good a quality as the stereo can handle!
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Can you please post a link to these tweaks?
ComPas-V said:
I have the set of big wooden speakers .... so what?
Friends , you should compare the earphones quality.
The HD2 sounds good enough. Put Shure5 after the regular earphones and you'll hear the difference. BTW the iphone and HD/HD2 can use same headset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what's Shure5?
pietrucci said:
So what's Shure5?
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I guess he means the shure 500 series in-ear headphones. Have one myself, and I must say that in combination with the HD2 (and SRS Wow) I enjoy music much more than on my ipod. Only the battery-life sucks.
(Quietly hoping...)
I plug mine in in the car and it deliveres better sound there than the iPhone did.
With headphones, I can't hear any difference.
srw985 said:
Can you please post a link to these tweaks?
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Click to collapse
+1 (I wanna know too!)
tsttse said:
(of course listening to music kills about 12% of battery per hour)
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Click to collapse
Seriously?! Jesus, that's awful! An iPhone 3GS is supposed to give you 30 hours of music playback on a single charge. (I dare say it's a bit less than that in practice, but that's still 3 or 4 times what you're getting).
Gajet said:
I moved from iPhone to HD2. I think the HD2 delivers a richer meatier sound compared to it's Apple cousin. I'm using V-Moda headphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2nd those headphones, I've got the gun mental colour v-moda vibes.
so... u guys talk about BT.
how can i hear music thru bluetooth headset?
usualy i could always just pick up and talk with the person.
not realy listening to music on HTC HD. is it now different on HD2?
or do i need to use special application??
one of my former occupations was [Consultant in Audio for theaters and churches] and i can safely say that the HD2 with right audio player (NOT the HTC one) and an EQ (i prefer EQ & SRS WOW) performs the better than Ipod or Iphone,
I compared it with other MP3 players and phones with spectrogram hooked up to friends computer, then i looked at noise level dB/m and signal/noice and i must say it didn't come in the top 5, but then the iphone didn't either. BUT it does sure sound better than the diagram showed, the iphone/ipod sounds better with large theater stereo speakers hooked up with it then the HD2, but the HD2 sounds better with headphones, at least the headphones we had with us, headphones used was sennheiser something he had with him.
PS. don't ask, cause i did not ask him to print it out or save it or anything, the test was just for fun, and we tested the devices we had with us in pocket at the time.
I prefer core player or nitrogen and with SRS WOW when listening through earphones.
hope this will shine a light. and no i won't reply to any questions regarding this subject, everybode has it's own liking in audio, or as we say
BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
iPhone

media player with equalizer?

need one. standard media player is flat as all get out. recommendations?
flat? really. i jam mine in my truck and its bassy as hell lol. have to turn down my sub somtimes to make it sound right.
Will this player handle .wav music files? or is there one that will?
extra bass doesn't mean extra good. perhaps your speaker setup is appropriate for the onboard equalizer. mine isn't. i want adjustability
timothydonohue said:
need one. standard media player is flat as all get out. recommendations?
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Click to collapse
I dont think there is anything decent out there as I wouldnt mind an equalizer though I would describe the output from the device as punchy and really quite dynamic. What sort of headphones or system are you plugging into it? The headphones it comes with are somewhat weak....
The Jones said:
I dont think there is anything decent out there as I wouldnt mind an equalizer though I would describe the output from the device as punchy and really quite dynamic. What sort of headphones or system are you plugging into it? The headphones it comes with are somewhat weak....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i haven't tried my closed circumaural (sennheiser 280 pro), but my sennheiser in ear buds usually sound decent enough, and are a lot less cumbersome. however, everything on this sounds completely flat. my zen has an equalizer that allows me to set everything up perfectly. much more dynamic, and appropriate for me. i have partial hearing loss :/
No EQ . Not possible with androids sdk from what i understand.
There is one application that tries this but it is horrible.
Definitely ones of my biggest peeves of android.
galaxys said:
Will this player handle .wav music files? or is there one that will?
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Click to collapse
i can confirm that the music app on board the nexus one handles wav files.
until (and if) andless handles flac files, I'm going to listen to wav files. sure, they take up quite a bit of space, but man do they sound sweet.
for what it's worth, i like the sq. that said, i use custom iems and can max out the volume with no discomfort. that definitely means that the n1 isn't the loudest dap ever.
aleitry said:
i can confirm that the music app on board the nexus one handles wav files.
until (and if) andless handles flac files, I'm going to listen to wav files. sure, they take up quite a bit of space, but man do they sound sweet.
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Very Cool...that makes me a very happy camper!
There is an equalizer program on the market.
It's something like Platinumeq with audio player.
It works very well and has about 15 sliders to adjust as well as 30 or so presets.
However it is £18!! but worth a download and try to see if the sound can be improved, I find it pretty damn good actually.
Amdathlonuk said:
There is an equalizer program on the market.
It's something like Platinumeq with audio player.
It works very well and has about 15 sliders to adjust as well as 30 or so presets.
However it is £18!! but worth a download and try to see if the sound can be improved, I find it pretty damn good actually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean this?
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.jp-cyberfort-audioplayerwithgeqplatinum-ztCm.aspx
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/multimedia/audio-player-witheq-platinum_bdli.html
Rashkae said:
You mean this?
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.jp-cyberfort-audioplayerwithgeqplatinum-ztCm.aspx
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/multimedia/audio-player-witheq-platinum_bdli.html
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Click to collapse
Those are the only ones Im aware of and they most certainly did some ass backwards hack. The sound is absolutely terrible , random skipping in songs , a resource hog even on the N1 after a day or two.
Unless you are just using stock or cheap-o earbuds the sound will get distorted badly.
Anything remotely close to quality headphones and youre going to hear alot of distortion. Wouldnt recommend at all.
dont need EQs. stock headphone are junk (sound flat). use better headphones and it will be like night and day difference in sound quality. i have like $30 dollar headphones which is cheap and they already make huge difference.
That's the one.
I found it worked rather well on my Hero?
Maybe I'm lucky or easily pleased..
kolyan said:
dont need EQs. stock headphone are junk (sound flat). use better headphones and it will be like night and day difference in sound quality. i have like $30 dollar headphones which is cheap and they already make huge difference.
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Quite the contrary.
The better the headphones the more the need for an EQ.
Every headphone (and speakers for that matter) have there own characteristics. The more expansive the sound range becomes the more EQ can come into play. On top of that every user has there own preferences and there own sources of music.
Thats like saying every TV should have the same stock video presets regardless of the source.
For low end and budget headphones theres not much range to work width making EQ barely noticeable.
Amdathlonuk said:
Maybe I'm lucky or easily pleased..
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lol Perhaps.
Meltus here and the guys from coreplayer among others have been adamant that Google hasnt given access to the sources needed for a proper EQ.
What sucks is that Coreplayer also got shunned by Apple for the same reason. Those guys do great work yet are limited to WinMo.
I tried my set of high quality headphones with my N1, and the N1's sound is simply terrible no matter what music player is used. No dynamic range, incredibly flat sounding, no bass what so ever. This is in desperate need of an EQ no matter what. At least bluetooth stereo is better.
told ya, lol
I agree the nexus one isn't fantastic with my Ultimate Ear triple FI's, but hey it's a phone. The iphone is horrid too. When i am home I just use my Sansa Fuze to get some solid sound. If i use the nexus one(which I do), I just remember it's a phone and tolerate the worse sound. I honestly tend to use my cheaper headphones to compensate as well.
If you care about sound this much, I am sure you already have a high quality mp3 player. If you not, 75 bux will get you a 8gb fuze+16gb micro sd card, and this should suffice with limited pocket space taken!
Tried to listen to some music for the first time now, just to check out the horrid flat sound with no bass.
Launched Spotify, put on my Boss Quietcomfort 2's (granted, not the most neutral headphones around...) and selected a song with some bass etc.
Plenty of bass for my ears, even with Spotify which doesn't exactly have the highest bitrate around (160kbps mp3 or ogg, can't remember). Decent sound which couldn't be called flat even if you threw a rock at it.
Might be pre-EQ'ed a bit for all I know, but it doesn't sound bad at all.
Couldn't check out the built in media player since I deleted all the mp3's that were pre-installed on the SD-card
Even the G1 sounds better over headphones than the N1. Kinda sad.

audioquality - really that bad? will 2.2 bring some improvements?

Hey Folks!!
I´ve read a lot about the very poor audio quality with the streak...what do you "initiated" guys can tell me about this (aside from the fact that they have positioned the audiojack on the SIDE of the device )? How would you rate the possibility to use this device as my no.1 mp3 player?
Will the update that everybody is waiting for compensate this issue?
Hi brooon
Well i don't know why you think the Streak has poor audio quality as that most certainly isn't my experience of using it to play my Music on and whilst i was on 1.6 i was more than happy using the Music player that was built into the Streak as i liked the Music Widget that came with it. Since moving to 2.1 and 2.2 Custom Roms i am using Lithium Player as like the Widget options it gives and i have no need for an EQ as have never used one on any device i use.
What is far more important IMO is how well you encode your Music as using low bit rates are never going to give you great results however good the hardware may be its restricted by to little information to work with when decoding it. All my Music is kept in iTunes although bought on Cd's and then transferred to it @256kbps AAC. The second most important factor is then your in ear phones as the supplied ones with any equipment are adequate at best IMO so dependant on your budget and the sound you like to hear upgrading your in ear or head phones is the other thing that will effect the quality of what you are listening to.
I listen to at least 2 hrs a day of Music either with my Shure EC2g's in ear phones plugged directly into my Streak or using my Nokia BH-500 and streaming the Stereo via Bluetooth to the same in ear phones and the sound is nothing short of stunning IMO. It produces a rich and full sound with good separation and sound stage with no need to use an EQ as IMO you shouldn't need to boost any frequencies as thats what a producer does when recording the Music for you to listen to in the recording studio.
So in answer to your question do nothing as I'm already running 2.2 and despite now using Lithium Player for the Widget options i have no issues with the sound quality my Streak delivers whilst listening to music or watching Videos.
Marc
brooon said:
I´ve read a lot about the very poor audio quality with the streak...[...]
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Click to collapse
Where have you read it?
Streak has the best audio quality of all the devices I owned during last years. I was amazed when I first plugged the earphones and played some tunes.
Theres a lot of fud around.....
I'd agree with smoku it's the best (although the speaker isn't great maybe that's what he read)
I'm now using power amp for all my music needs, the eq in there really brings out the best of the sound quality on the streak... It even plays m4a and wma and can boost the sound level out of the rear speaker
This is a valid thread, thanks for starting it.
For my part I am interested in portable audiophile gear, Sennheiser IE8 with custom moulds, iBasso D10, iRiver H140, that sort of thing.
My music is encoded in FLAC and I haven’t yet tried the Streak as a music player. Possibly in part so as not to be disappointed and also I am waiting on final 2.2 or maybe even 2.3 so as to bring the platform to maturity and with it good quality media apps. The original 1.6 just seemed to be rough around the edges and with poor app support.
So the responses from Dogmann, smoku and fards are very encouraging and I shall give it go sooner rather than later.
i use the hf2,s from emotec and you need a diff player to play flac but the sound quality is ok just the standared head set that come with its pants
I think 2.2 has increased the sound quality for the speaker but still not good as HTC tilt2. The sound from earphone jack is good on both 1.6 and 2.2 for me.
im using a pair of klipsch images and the sound on my streak sounds horrible. I hear alot of popping and noise. You can even hear when the internal amp comes on when its about to start playing sound, and you can hear it turn off when sounds go off its rather noticable. I recently installed poweramp and the inbuilt eq does make the sound alot better. Maybe all our streaks aren't created equal id love to hear one that sounds good.
hi @all!!
Thanks for the comments and experiences, your impressions are really helping a lot here guys
shigga said:
I hear alot of popping and noise. You can even hear when the internal amp comes on when its about to start playing sound, and you can hear it turn off when sounds go off its rather noticable.
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That´s what i´ve read several times in reports that i´ve found during my googletrip ...it seems like you´re not the only one suffering under these (audio)circumstances. I must say, Im very surprised about the positive impressions here (although I´m happy to read such things )?!?
Don´t you guys hear those "poppings" and noises, too? What could be the reason for such a variety of impressions? Any idea?
This thread comes straight from the android knockers over at ilounge! i've owned both, there's no difference! i read the same stuff before i got android.
The only thing about the stereo system on the streak is the incredibly stupid placement of the headphone jack on the side of the device, meaning it sticks out sideways when in your pocket, the 'designers' even thought that you would carry the streak around in your pocket in landscape mode
tbh I'm not an audiophile, I've been a musician for way too long
never heard popping or buzz... except intentional as part of whatever I'm listening to..
My Streak does sound real good, even when listening to classical music. And I am using it straight out of the box.
Crap statement. It's not spectacular, but for a mobile phone device it's very satisfactory. I use it as a player both in my car and when I'm on the train and it sounds phenomenal.
Obviously it is not spectacular, lol. How could the sound on such a small device ever be spectacular? I was comparing it to other mobile devices (my wife's iPhone 3G, my old HTCs) and I am pleasantly surprised.
I switched to bluetooth headphones and they deliver much better sound quality, than the original streak's earplugs.
HansTWN said:
Obviously it is not spectacular, lol. How could the sound on such a small device ever be spectacular? I was comparing it to other mobile devices (my wife's iPhone 3G, my old HTCs) and I am pleasantly surprised.
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Didn't mean to directly attack your statement . I'm actually agreeing with you, I think the sound quality is good on the Streak, and I'm calling the "reviewers" who said that the sound is bad on the Streak crap.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Its weird there is such differing opinions on it.
I've owned two and returned both for bad audio. I even had an email from the executive support team saying they're aware of an audio issue!
I just wondered whether maybe, as mine were both from the very first Carphone Warehouse batch in Brighton that I got a bum lot!?
Just tried the demo display at my local best buy and brought my earbuds and it sounded equally as bad as mine. My captivate, aria and nexus sound so much better.
shigga said:
im using a pair of klipsch images and the sound on my streak sounds horrible. I hear alot of popping and noise. You can even hear when the internal amp comes on when its about to start playing sound, and you can hear it turn off when sounds go off its rather noticable. I recently installed poweramp and the inbuilt eq does make the sound alot better. Maybe all our streaks aren't created equal id love to hear one that sounds good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my only gripe with the audio quality. If you listen at low volumes, you can hear fuzz/hiss sounds. I also can hear the amp/DAC/whatever it is turning on and off when I start/stop my music. Course, you can crank up the music to drown out the noise, but I like to be able to hear what's going on around me when i listen to music (so the yard gnomes et al can't sneak up on me.)
If you're in a reasonably quiet room, try playing some music with headphones and the volume turned all the way down to 0 (yes, zero). I can hear audio noise over the sound of my apartment heater blowing air around.
side note: I've confirmed this with the earbuds that came with the streak, as well as a set that came with my old iphone. i'm guessing if you have less sensitive headphones, this will be less of a problem cause you'll be pushing the audio out at higher volume levels.
After the encouraging observations here I decided to finally check out the sound quality for myself. My reference portable rig is a pair of Sennheiser IE8’s with custom ear moulds, iBasso D10 Headphone amplifier with an optical digital interconnect to an iRiver H140.
The music I like tends to be recorded as low-fi, e.g. The National, Bon Iver, Cymbals Eat Guitars. Last night I loaded up a selection of Calexico on both the Streak and iRiver. While these are clean recordings they are certainly not Hi-Fi reference standard, you know, the sort of stuff that is used to demonstrate high end audiophile equipment.
Basically my subjective comparison is just me listening to the sort of music that appeals. The cognoscenti over at Head-Fi may well have finer tuned ears and a more analytical framework and disagree of course.
I approached this with some trepidation bracing myself for a degree of disappointment in the Streak as a music player. No way did I expect what I found.
To summarise, given the choice of listening to the iRiver/iBasso rig or the Streak I would probably select the former. However I would be hard pressed to actually explain why. Perhaps because it has the ability to go louder - though the Streak is quite loud enough.
TBH after a couple of hours listening to the same tracks back and forth on both devices, I couldn’t discern any difference. Dell has really come through on this device in so many ways.
Kudos also to PowerAmp which is a joy to use and a bargain at $5.
For reference, the last time I performed this exercise was to compare with my old iPhone 3GS and there was no doubt then that the iRiver/iBasso was superior. I can’t say the same with the Streak, the best I can manage is ‘neck and neck’.
I am sorry for those who are having audio problems but this shouldn’t be so and your device could be faulty.

Any audiophiles around, using their Streak as a music source ?

I was hoping to use this device as my music source but now that I've got it, I am highly disappointed. I expected it to be at least equal to my netbook's sound card but somehow it didn't perform.
Currently I am using Head Direct RE-0 with the Streak. Well these are high impedance IEMs and this may be the reason why I am not getting a good output so I am planning to try some other IEMs and thats precisely why I created this thread.
Can you guys recommend me something, if you've tried or already using them.
Did anyone try the Monster Turbines with the Streak ? Dell itself is selling these so I am hoping someone might have bought them. Can I get some impressions ?
I know I may be asking too much but and expecting too much from this device, but "One Device For All" was my thought behind buying this device.
BTW I've tried some other audio tools in the market (read poweramp) but the SQ of default player is way better so sticking to that and thus my only option left is another pair of IEMs. Suggest me some
Think you hop over to headfi for your quest which you might have a better chance of finding answers. I personally still using imod > amp > custom instead of a phone to achieve "audiophile" quality.
I have already posted my observations here on a similar thread a few months ago, so please bear with me if I don't repeat myself.
My interest in responding is that you have the very same IEMs as me. I also have IE8s with custom moulds which formed the basis my original post so I thought to try again with the RE0s in the light of your comments.
My experience with the RE0s is good, though my preference lies with the IE8s. I use PowerAMP with equaliser set to Off and my files are FLAC.
Having spent much time on HeadFi I know that these things can be subjective, so to each his own, but I am very pleased with the Streak as an audio player.
FWIW my reference is iBassoD10 and iRiverH140 with optical digital interconnect.
^^^
I am glad to hear that and thanks a lot for your observations.
Somehow to me the sound signature of PowerAmp did sound thin and with the already "not so warm" RE-0, the overall experience wasn't that great.
Another thing is that I am not in a position to spend a lot on the IEMs so IE8 won't be possible for me.
Can you suggest me something under 100USD or max 150USD, that you think can work great with the Streak ?
look around amazon. i got my ie8s for about 200 bucks US
I also use an audio technica portable headphone amp (one of those pocket ones) improves the sound quality a lot more
Somehow to me the sound signature of PowerAmp did sound thin and with the already "not so warm" RE-0, the overall experience wasn't that great.
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I would agree exactly with that. It is as if the Streak produces the wrong characteristics for the RE0.
I was very impressed when I used the Streak with the IE8s but less so with the RE0.
It is a sidetrack, on the other hand the Sansa Clip works well with the RE0. This sort of synergy is great when it works out in our favour and frustrating when it doesn't.
If you like I could try the Streak/RE0 combination with a Fiio E5 amplifier.
rebski said:
It is a sidetrack, on the other hand the Sansa Clip works well with the RE0. This sort of synergy is great when it works out in our favour and frustrating when it doesn't.
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I would prefer to use this device as my main source since I hate carrying multiple things all the time. Thats why looking for just an IEM upgrade to fix everything
rebski said:
If you like I could try the Streak/RE0 combination with a Fiio E5 amplifier.
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Yes please, if thats not much of a trouble. Would be highly appreciated.
This is a rather quick impression with the E5.
With the Bass Boost On the mid/lower range is much more filled out and emphasised and overall is preferable. However the treble correspondingly suffers which is not preferable. With the Bass Boost Off I would prefer the unamp’d Streak.
Contrary to the opinions over at HeadFi I am not a fan of amp’d headphone out signal. The only way it makes sense is to have a dedicated Line Out, preferably digital. Otherwise what is being amplified is the signal from an inferior source amplifier.
Maybe someone will make a PDMI Line Out Dock, now that would be something.
If you can get the E5 cheap enough it might be worth trying, I paid £7.50 for mine so can’t complain and worth it just to have the option available. But £17 seems a bit steep. Though you can get them on eBay for about £12. It is easy to get into a law of diminishing returns with these things.
Personally I would just accept the nature of the Streak/RE0 combination and enjoy the open spaciousness and clarity and see the lack of bass as a tradeoff. Not all music needs a strong bass.
Hi,
Personally I find that whatever I use as earphones, I have a hard time accepting the noise level on the streak. When playing music at a medium volume, the noise is really very very present.
I suppose there is no work around is there? Doesn't this bother you for serious listening?
Hi
You surprise me there. What do you mean by noise level? I don't understand.
My Streak is pefectly quiet apart from the the music that is playing.
^^^
I get that noise as well. Its there as long as the music application is working and goes away when the app is closed. Sure is irritating.
I've found another way to get my music working.
Found this app foobar2000remote control or something. If this works on my streak, I can just put away my audio rig away, snap on the earphones and lie down on my bed, leaving myself to the music. All the foobar controls will then be accessible from my streak.
But again, this app is not working YET for me. I was able to test it out on http, on my netbook. Just that the streak is still being able to communicate with my netbook's foobar.
Soon !!!!
rebski said:
Hi
You surprise me there. What do you mean by noise level? I don't understand.
My Streak is pefectly quiet apart from the the music that is playing.
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Click to collapse
O dear! You're a luck mann! I have a noise in the background whenever playing. When I put the music in pause, the noise disappears after a second (automatic mute control I think), but as soon as I play again, the nois is there, very present! It is a constant level of noise, independent of the volume I set the music to. When I set volume to max, the music is so loud (too loud!) that I don't hear the noise anymore. But when setting it to say 70 perecnt, the noise is too presnt. Its ok-ish... but it definetly is not good (no hifi installation or decent MP3 player produces that much noise).
Any idea where this might come from? How come you have no noise???
Thanks
I also have the noise problem. I am using a UM3X and the quality is good enough except the background noice is very annoying. Is there anyway to cancel the background noice?
gadaga said:
O dear! You're a luck mann! I have a noise in the background whenever playing. When I put the music in pause, the noise disappears after a second (automatic mute control I think), but as soon as I play again, the nois is there, very present! It is a constant level of noise, independent of the volume I set the music to. When I set volume to max, the music is so loud (too loud!) that I don't hear the noise anymore. But when setting it to say 70 perecnt, the noise is too presnt. Its ok-ish... but it definetly is not good (no hifi installation or decent MP3 player produces that much noise).
Any idea where this might come from? How come you have no noise???
Thanks
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Click to collapse
I really am sorry that so many have this as an issue. I only began using my Streak as a music player with DJ_Steve's 2.2 early builds. What version Android are you on?
Could it be Os related I wonder. I am on DJ_Steve's latest 1.7 build.
gadaga said:
O dear! You're a luck mann! I have a noise in the background whenever playing. When I put the music in pause, the noise disappears after a second (automatic mute control I think), but as soon as I play again, the nois is there, very present! It is a constant level of noise, independent of the volume I set the music to. When I set volume to max, the music is so loud (too loud!) that I don't hear the noise anymore. But when setting it to say 70 perecnt, the noise is too presnt. Its ok-ish... but it definetly is not good (no hifi installation or decent MP3 player produces that much noise).
Any idea where this might come from? How come you have no noise???
Thanks
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Click to collapse
I too get this background noise, as well as a subtle "click" sound when the audio output is turned off/on. I've been contemplating Bluetooth headphones as a work around...
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
This really sucks.. Why are we having this hiss noise? I'm on build 347, stock from dell. It's only been couple days since I got mine.
I saw in DJStreak's mod, there's volume boost mod, but my earphone volume levels are perfectly fine. So I don't think I need any boost feature. It's just the background hiss noise. It stays on the same level of noise whether I up the volume or play music in low volume.
Everything is fine on my streak,no hiss electricity sound.Still,I think my philip mp3 can do a better job than the streak.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
No hiss for me either. I'm on 351. Didn't try with 347 when I got the Streak last week.
There are several things going on here, I think.
1. The majority of Dell's hardware is identical to the Nexus One, Incredible, etc. Those generation phones probably used the same hardware. That hardware is not particularly impressive when it comes to providing clear headphone audio. Its is possible that some phones are better than others, but unlikely. It is probably due to Reason #2.
Here is the RightMark test for the Nexus: http://www.swedroid.se/rightmark/Google Nexus One/googlenexusone.htm
Here is an iPhone 4 + couple of other phones: http://www.swedroid.se/rightmark/optimus2x/rightmark.htm
The iPhone has a lower noise floor and overall cleaner headphone amp (harmonic distortion esp).
2. The circuit buzz we hear mostly shows up with high end/high sensitivity headphone and in-ear monitors. I think it is a lot less noticeable with basic earbuds.
Also, everyone has a different level of hearing.
To conclude, no - this phone is not a good source for FLACs with good headphones. It is good enough for Pandora streaming and MP3s. If you are serious about portable sound quality, I would look for a dedicated DAP of some kind. It hurts me to say, but to this day many phones haven't matched the Apple headphone amp/DAC chips. I would love to finally own a phone where I can consolidate all my geeky needs.

Poor Sound Myth on SGSII

I've noticed 1 or 2 posts relating to poor sound on the SGSII particularly when it comes to music, well for me the sound was absolutely fine actually it was excellent, i just used the Samsung earphones all the time, unfortunately the other day i lost them so before i get another good pair im just using cheap ones i had lying around the house and the sound is nowhere near as good as it was in fact it's pretty awful when your walking down the street you can hear the traffic more than you can the music, with the Samsung earphones it was mostly the music you could hear the sound was far far better,therefore ive come to the conclusion that there's nothing wrong with the sound on the SGSII, good pair of earphones = sound is great - cheap pair of earphones = sound is bad.
jonny68 said:
good pair of earphones = sound is great - cheap pair of earphones = sound is bad.
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Did you pay a lot of money for your Samsung earphones? Mine were pretty cheap...came free with the phone
TheSopranos16 said:
Did you pay a lot of money for your Samsung earphones? Mine were pretty cheap...came free with the phone
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No exactly the same ones i use Power Amp and Equalizer and since the 2.3.5 upgrade the sound has improved substantially.
I'm not one for spending a lot on earphones as im prone to losing them id say max id spend would be about €20 but for that you will get pretty decent earphones.
I agree, the supplied Samsung earbuds are superb, since i changed from the medium bud size to the small size they stay in my ears better, they cut most of the worldside sounds out and allow for pure music listening, the use of equalizer is also superb, although can create a little background noise when songs go quiet if not setup correctly, compared to the lousy iphone earphones and some others you get supplied with phones, these are very good, I am more than happy with the sound from my SGS2, bluetooth sound is superb also.
I actually think those Samsung earphones were that good ill buy them again, was there a specific model number i need to search for/any recommendations as to where i can purchase these?
Ok i'm getting pissed now. You guys seriously have to pull your head out of your ass. Obviously you have never listened to music on a Cowon or some other *decent* music player if you come here and state such bull****. The SGS2 has a mid-to-low audio quality (for a phone, which means very low for a dedicated media player), period. Sure it sounds a little bit better when i plug my Shure SE425 into it, but i shouldn't need a pair of 300€ earbuds to make a 600€ device sound decent at most. The output is totally FLAT, heading slightly towards the low tone, so that it sounds muffled and dirty, plus the stereo crosstalk is quite insane. This is a fact, i'm not pulling this out of my ass, read the Anandtech review about this device (focus on audio) if you don't believe me, they say pretty much what i said here.
Quit calling bs what you can't understand because you don't have a clue. Noobs.
/endrant
vnvman said:
Ok i'm getting pissed now. You guys seriously have to pull your head out of your ass. Obviously you have never listened to music on a Cowon or some other *decent* music player if you come here and state such bull****. The SGS2 has a mid-to-low audio quality (for a phone, which means very low for a dedicated media player), period. Sure it sounds a little bit better when i plug my Shure SE425 into it, but i shouldn't need a pair of 300€ earbuds to make a 600€ device sound decent at most. The output is totally FLAT, heading slightly towards the low tone, so that it sounds muffled and dirty, plus the stereo crosstalk is quite insane. This is a fact, i'm not pulling this out of my ass, read the Anandtech review about this device (focus on audio) if you don't believe me, they say pretty much what i said here.
Quit calling bs what you can't understand because you don't have a clue. Noobs.
/endrant
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This post is harsh, but I have to agree with it completely. The samsung earphones are awesome? Wow. Now that's the joke of the year.
I apologize for the harshness, i also had quite a bad day lol...but seriously, there's too much fanboyism going on about this phone. I love my phone, but i have no problem admitting its flaws. This forum is for developers, people here should at least try to cope with reality
Fanboyism you nutter no mate im telling it as it is actually and it's true, because i might not have listened to music on a "cowon" means jack **** i know good sound when i hear it and the facts are with the Samsung earphones using Power Amp and Equalizer the sound is actually excellent and that's all there is to it, and i highly doubt the Sammy earphones cost mega bucks either.
m2smoe said:
This post is harsh, but I have to agree with it completely. The samsung earphones are awesome? Wow. Now that's the joke of the year.
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Your post is joke of the year, simple facts are the sound is awesome with the Sammy earphones coupled with Power Amp and Equalizer with everything correctly set, maybe your going deaf or something
You're joking me? The Samsung earphones are abysmal. I use a $50 pair of Sony in-ears and they sounds about a million times better. Invest in a good pair of earphones and then you'll see what we mean.
I also had a pair of Sennheiser CX300(which i also lost) for another MP3 player i have and used them on the SGSII and while they were good i still thought the Sammy headphones were better overall.
Also i credit the 2.3.5 upgrade with a substantial improvement in sound.
MistaBishi said:
You're joking me? The Samsung earphones are abysmal. I use a $50 pair of Sony in-ears and they sounds about a million times better. Invest in a good pair of earphones and then you'll see what we mean.
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I'm not joking you at all there is absolutely nothing wrong with them whatsoever, they are excellent, fu*k me you people must be right snobs when it comes to "absolute perfect sound"
go buy yourself a paid of Bose speakers while your at it eh
I have to agree with vnvman, i hear the same music with GS2 and with my PC using the same earbuds, i can't say they are superb but they isn't bad also, at least for me.
The phone, on the other hand, is impossible to find an equalizer that makes the music clear, it's not about loudness, bass or treble, is about the sound being "weird" compared to other devices.
As i said the Sennheiser earphones i had which were not particularly cheap STILL didn't sound as good as the Sammy ones and Sennheiser are renowned for quality earphones so anyone saying to me "invest in a good pair of earphones" i already did.
Heh, each to their own.
Replacement buds would be hard to source, I don't reckon they sell them separate from the GSII. Unless someone on the forum here had a pair they didn't want, I reckon you're out of luck.
jonny68 said:
Your post is joke of the year, simple facts are the sound is awesome with the Sammy earphones coupled with Power Amp and Equalizer with everything correctly set, maybe your going deaf or something
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Read the 10000 posts about them on XDA and find out why you're the one who's going deaf.
im not sure if you read this
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4686/samsung-galaxy-s-2-international-review-the-best-redefined
but on the hardware level the sound chip is bad
but with my experience i used an Audio Technica ATH-A700 Headphones with my phone and it was amazing (played making of a cyborg (high bitrate))
then used the headphones on my yamaha 671 reciever amp playing it through a high end media player
and i really cant tell the difference
m2smoe said:
Read the 10000 posts about them on XDA and find out why you're the one who's going deaf.
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read 10000 posts i think your losing your marbles mate
jonny68 said:
Fanboyism you nutter no mate im telling it as it is actually and it's true, because i might not have listened to music on a "cowon" means jack **** i know good sound when i hear it and the facts are with the Samsung earphones using Power Amp and Equalizer the sound is actually excellent and that's all there is to it, and i highly doubt the Sammy earphones cost mega bucks either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Idk what you're listening to but Samsung earbuds are a piece of crap. Lol you think you can get a good sound out of bad hardware with an equalizer and some earbus worth 8€..gotta be kidding me...

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