First of all, thanks to Cyanogen and contributors for his G1 and N1 ROM's.
Recently, I've been using FLAC for music playback ripped from my CD's for tracks that I want lossless (especially for classical music). Most of the time, I'm using my Motorola S805 (Bluetooth) for the cans that I got on Black Friday back in 2009 from Newegg for a low price of $20 USD, shipped. -- Best money I spent for Black Friday Granted they're normally overpriced but they perform fairly well for the price I paid.
So after using FLAC and the S805 on my ASUS notebook which has built-in Bluetooth, I moved some of the FLAC files onto my Nexus One and paired my S805 to the N1 and started some FLAC playback...
The difference in quality blew me away. It's so much clearer playing back FLAC files on the N1 to my S805's than it ever was using VLC under Windows 7. I'm at a loss on why the difference. -- Yes, I've attempted to adjust the "volume" on both the Windows Mixer and the S805 internal volume controls as the same on the N1. There's virtually *no hiss" when playing back FLAC files on the N1 than on my ASUS notebook. I have a very noticeable "elevated" noise floor on the ASUS among "compression artifacts" which I don't think I should have.
Does anyone know what might be the cause?
Thanks!
Cheers,
Kermee
Happened to come across this so I'll reply even though it's quite old.
The audio output on the Nexus one is average. I believe you can find the frequency graph of the Nexus One at the gsmarena.com review of it. So while it's not stellar, it's not bad. More than likely you're hearing a difference because your notebook's output is low quality.
Notebooks generally have poor audio quality and tend to generate a lot of noise. You'll especially notice it when your computer is under load or when you plug it into a powersource. It's like electronic interference, afterall everything on the laptop is packed together pretty tightly. The other reason is just poor hardware. Sound gets neglected frequently on notebooks. The best solution is to pickup an exteranl soundcard (I know soundblaster makes a few usb ones) or even better get yourself a usb DAC (digital analog converter) and a headphone amplifier. ibasso.com has several versatile ones.
Goto head-fi.org for some audiophile info.
pongalong said:
Happened to come across this so I'll reply even though it's quite old.
The audio output on the Nexus one is average. I believe you can find the frequency graph of the Nexus One at the gsmarena.com review of it. So while it's not stellar, it's not bad. More than likely you're hearing a difference because your notebook's output is low quality.
Notebooks generally have poor audio quality and tend to generate a lot of noise. You'll especially notice it when your computer is under load or when you plug it into a powersource. It's like electronic interference, afterall everything on the laptop is packed together pretty tightly. The other reason is just poor hardware. Sound gets neglected frequently on notebooks. The best solution is to pickup an exteranl soundcard (I know soundblaster makes a few usb ones) or even better get yourself a usb DAC (digital analog converter) and a headphone amplifier. ibasso.com has several versatile ones.
Goto head-fi.org for some audiophile info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This doesn't explain why Bluetooth headphones, completely disconnected from the computer, sounds bad
I'd say the most likely reason is some difference of A2DP implementation between the two. Maybe the standard Bluetooth stack on a computer lacks polish on this part.
Well the N1 isnt a good audio player at all since the frequencies are cut off. Also flac really wouldnt make a difference until you buy a high end set of headphones (UM3x, Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 etc.) and a source to match it (nice DAC, amp). Instead of wasting all the space on flac you should just go for vbr or the like since bluetooth will not be able to fully take advantage of it. Head-fi is a great place to start, but be careful since your wallet will hate you if you really do start getting into buying nicer headphones.
If you're just using your nexus one and an A2DP headset, there isn't a difference in audio quality between a file ripped at V0 bitrate and flac. You're only going to really hear the details a FLAC file has with a high end audio setup or good headphones with an amp, and your nexus+the motorola headset do not fall into those categories It isn't a criticism of your setup, they literally cannot reproduce the details.
As far as your question, it might have to do with the bluetooth stack as well as the hardware/interference in your laptop, but that's just a guess as I'm not too knowledgeable on the workings of bluetooth audio.
The N1 is barely a year old, and since it's designed primarily as a phone, it should have a fairly new Bluetooth radio and stack, probably much newer than whatever you have bundled in your Asus laptop. In fact both the desktop dock and the car dock use Bluetooth to stream the audio to the auxiliary audio port, which may seem a bit roundabout to audiophiles, but thanks to the new hardware there's very little noticeable loss to the average consumer, and it makes it easier to connect and disconnect from the dock.
That said, being such a new technology, Bluetooth has only recently improved to the point of being a decent quality source for streaming audio. I have an old USB Bluetooth adapter in my desktop that I bought right about the time when A2DP was first available, and its audio quality is pretty bad, too. And like any standard for streaming data, Bluetooth's perceived streaming quality is highly dependent on the hardware on both ends, meaning that the maximum quality you'll get is that which is achievable of the older of the two devices.
Any audiophile will tell you that if you want true quality, you should just ditch wireless technologies altogether, which I too have done. But for your purposes, and in the interest of saving money, you can bring your laptop up to par with your N1 by simply installing a new Bluetooth stack, or, if that doesn't work, buying a new USB Bluetooth adapter, preferably one that is advertised to work well for music.
Wow. I completely forgot about this thread. LOL.
I figured it out in the end what was happening. -- The negotiated 'bitpool' setting between my Windows 7 BT stack and the A2DP headphones was somehow negotiating at the "min" which was somewhere around the low 30's. Using some BT diagnostic tools on my MBP (different machine than the ASUS Windows 7 machine), I found the "max" bitpool rate which the A2DP headphones supported was 53.
I found out that the N1 was connecting to my A2DP headphones at the "max" bitpool rate which my headphones supported. The sound quality between a bitpool rate of "53" vs "30" is huge. Hence why playback on the N1 sounded so much better.
I never did find out how to force the 'bitpool' rates in Windows 7 and gave up. I did under Snow Leopard 10.6 on my MBP.
Cheers,
Kermee
The default Microsoft Bluetooth stack in Windows 7 does not include the ability to change the bitpool settings, nor does the standard Broadcom WIDCOMM stack.
Most people opt to use the BlueSoleil Bluetooth stack for more advanced functions, and I can confirm that BlueSoleil does have the ability to adjust bitpool settings. Unfortunately the product costs about $25, and you will need to check to make sure that BlueSoleil is compatible with your laptop's integrated Bluetooth.
Ok, I just have to put this out there, unless you have a very good sound card, a good amplifier, and good headphones, there is no reason to use FLAC audio files unless you just feel like wasting HD space.
Bluetooth audio has really bad bitrate and won't even come close to flac.
wolfcry0 said:
Ok, I just have to put this out there, unless you have a very good sound card, a good amplifier, and good headphones, there is no reason to use FLAC audio files unless you just feel like wasting HD space.
Bluetooth audio has really bad bitrate and won't even come close to flac.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree bluetooth audio quality leaves a lot to be desired. It is so nice to be able to drag flacs over to the phone and listen, though. Definitely one of my favorite features of Android and that 32gb card investment made it happen!
Related
I run Pocket Music Player on my Mda compact, but the sound quality is much more mono-like then when i play the same track on my PC in winamp.
Is this due to the sound engine my mda compact uses?
I want to experience the same stereo sound on my mda as on my pc.
(i compared both interfaces (mda and pc) with the same track and with the same headphones)
Does anybody has an idea to make my sound more stereo, or install a new soundengine?
thnxz!
There was a small file i downloaded off this forum that allowed you to customize the bass and treble levels and in my honest opinion it did wonders for the sound quality the file name was DSP_EN (do a search and u would be able to get it)
also one word of advise the headphones that come with the compact/jam are complete crap for hearing music
Yes indeed that produces much more very low bass in the sounds makes it much warmer! thnxz
But still... the sound that my mda produces is much less stereo then my pc does, (with the same mp3 and headphones)
Can i adjust this?
Out of curiosity, how do you manage to use the same headphones on your Magician and your PC? You have one of those proper 2.5mm to 3.5mm converters? (The ones with THREE rings on the 2.5mm plug and an inline microphone, that is)
Well anyway, the sound quality out of your Magician is unlikely to match the sound quality of your computer, as... well note how much bigger the computer is . The loathesome 2.5mm plug used by, irritatingly, phones is already inferior to 3.5mm plugs due to their lack of size alone, as less size = less area of contact = less sound data flowing from your Magician to your ears. This means that you won't ever get a sound that is as full as one from your computer or a good mp3 player from your Magician. And also, considering that its a lot of everything packed into such a small device, the audio components aren't really a priority, so they're probably average quality at best.
Having said that, Magicians (apparently) have above-average sound quality for a mobile phone\Pocket PC that isnt dedicated to audio. You might want to try MortPlayer (google it) as it has a nice equaliser along with some sound processing effects that may help in reducing the 'mononess' of your sound.
I use indeed the 2,5 to 3,5 mm adapter.
I was wondering maybe that is the problem.
The 2,5 mm jack that comes originally with the phone has 3 rings. my adapter has only 2. So maybe the sound gets mono because the adapter plug only touches 1 ring instead of two (for stereo sound.)
i will try to fit my new earphones on the originally ones (cutting and welming)
we'll see
thnxz anyway
toomuchdogfur said:
Out of curiosity, how do you manage to use the same headphones on your Magician and your PC? You have one of those proper 2.5mm to 3.5mm converters? (The ones with THREE rings on the 2.5mm plug and an inline microphone, that is)
Well anyway, the sound quality out of your Magician is unlikely to match the sound quality of your computer, as... well note how much bigger the computer is . The loathesome 2.5mm plug used by, irritatingly, phones is already inferior to 3.5mm plugs due to their lack of size alone, as less size = less area of contact = less sound data flowing from your Magician to your ears. This means that you won't ever get a sound that is as full as one from your computer or a good mp3 player from your Magician. And also, considering that its a lot of everything packed into such a small device, the audio components aren't really a priority, so they're probably average quality at best.
Having said that, Magicians (apparently) have above-average sound quality for a mobile phone\Pocket PC that isnt dedicated to audio. You might want to try MortPlayer (google it) as it has a nice equaliser along with some sound processing effects that may help in reducing the 'mononess' of your sound.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats the worst logic i have ever come across.......there is nothing called "sound data"
what flows through earphone wires is just some varying voltage.there is no difference of sound quality just because it is 2.5 mm.
in ur computer sound card integrated circuits ..the jump wires and contacts are microns thin.....this means u hardly hear anything because all ur "sound data" is lost in thin connecting wires. wires and contacts are not like water pipes....less diameter means less flow!
buy a converter meant for magician and use 3.5mm without any loss of quality.
use a2dp headset .... great bass and tribles....
try nokia hs-47
Well, I try nokia stereo set HS-47 to listening music with TCPMP player sound wonderful n answering button work well.
When receiving calls its clear sound that we listen, like we'll tallking near to the person. maybe getting more sensitive since its not made for magician but its an advantage for me to used it.
Guys,
I've bought a 2GB MiniSD just to realize the audio quality of my Qtek is not very good - 192Kbps WMA sounds like a 32Kbps on my laptop. I am currently using the HTC headset that comes with the phone. So the options are:
- Headset is bad
- 'Sound hardware' is bad
So, can anyone share his experience of listening to music on Wizard. Would buying a better headset (like KOSS or Sennheiser) with a jack adapter help? Or is it the phone sound hardware that sucks? What about A2DP?
Thanks,
Ross
I've just bought a set of HP AD2P headphones off ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....name=STRK:MEWN:IT&viewitem=&item=140054575540
And they are excellent! Very impressed and excellent price (£23 inc delivery). Smaller and lighter weight than other bluetooth headphones I've seen. Came with AC adapter for the built-in lithion-iron battery. Apparently runs for about 8hrs.
I've also got a set of AKG K26 wired headphones (however you'll need a 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter)
http://www.headphone.com/products/headphones/earpad/akg-k-26-p.php
The AKG K26 is renowned for fantastic bass so I was very surprised to find the HP ones were very comparable.
rkhomenko said:
Guys,
I've bought a 2GB MiniSD just to realize the audio quality of my Qtek is not very good - 192Kbps WMA sounds like a 32Kbps on my laptop. I am currently using the HTC headset that comes with the phone. So the options are:
- Headset is bad
- 'Sound hardware' is bad
So, can anyone share his experience of listening to music on Wizard. Would buying a better headset (like KOSS or Sennheiser) with a jack adapter help? Or is it the phone sound hardware that sucks? What about A2DP?
Thanks,
Ross
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the A2DP implementation in AKU2 that sucks. Once a decent AKU3 (conversion) is released with built-in REAL AKU3 (not that of AKU2), the problems will go away.
Please make sure you check out the General forum here; I've posted several articles in there on these matters. Certainly worth a thorough read.
I have recently bought a plantronics 590A stereo bluetooth headset and have been very happy with the sound. My only advice is do research on your headset before you make a purchase because although the quality is very good on the 590A, it has a blinking blue light that continuously goes on, which makes the headset look quite wierd. Anyway, in terms of quality, it has been surprisingly pretty good.
Even with the wired manufacturer headset I got with my 8125 the quality wasn't amazing, but was better that you described.
I also have bought an adapter and used my own headphones, and again, not great, but not that bad.
Something may be wrong with your hardware, or search the forum for various registry tweaks to improve sound quality. If you can, I would definetly see if you can get another phone (through warranty), because the sound should not be that horrible.
now if this only had a microphone too....
rkhomenko said:
Guys,
I've bought a 2GB MiniSD just to realize the audio quality of my Qtek is not very good - 192Kbps WMA sounds like a 32Kbps on my laptop. I am currently using the HTC headset that comes with the phone. So the options are:
- Headset is bad
- 'Sound hardware' is bad
So, can anyone share his experience of listening to music on Wizard. Would buying a better headset (like KOSS or Sennheiser) with a jack adapter help? Or is it the phone sound hardware that sucks? What about A2DP?
Thanks,
Ross
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it actually has something to do with the fact that the sound hardware sucks... I feel that any amount of bass or treble over the norm (even as little as +2dB) causes the thing to distort badly...
My old HP h2210 had an excellent sound chip in it, and also, i'm used to the X-Fi in my PC, and some sennheiser HD595s, so of course, it will sound poo...
TauTau said:
now if this only had a microphone too....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 590A does have a mike - if you meant that.
zakhir_n said:
I have recently bought a plantronics 590A stereo bluetooth headset and have been very happy with the sound. My only advice is do research on your headset before you make a purchase because although the quality is very good on the 590A, it has a blinking blue light that continuously goes on, which makes the headset look quite wierd. Anyway, in terms of quality, it has been surprisingly pretty good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try listening to any music that has *human singing* in it and compare it to the quality through wires (when you do the same by connecting the 590A to the Wizard with the wire that comes with the 590A)
Unfortunately, the 590A, being probably the best stereo headsphone, is *very* sensitive to this kind of distortion.
Update
I've bought an AD-18 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter from Nokia to try my Wizard with different wired headphones around my office.
First observation - the sound is much better with 'normal' heaphones (Seinheiser). I would switch to better conventional headphones immediately, however, the volume is really low and I don's seem to figure out how to get it up. Does it have to do anything with resistance? Was it the case for anyone else? May be it is the Nokia adapter causing trouble?
Ross
Actually, the audio hardware in the Wizard just sucks big time. I have a pretty high end audio system in my car. It also has a line input on the front for connecting an mp3 player or whatever (even though it already plays mp3 files). Anyways, I can connect my Wizard to that line in using a cable and the sound is really poor quality. Dynamic range is not very good and the high end is seriously cut off. I have to boost the crap out of it in TCPMP but still can't get it to sound right. I can play the same MP3 off a CD and the quality is much better, CD quality (I typically use high quality vbr encoding). I can take a cheapo $15 MP3 player we got for the kids and it has much better sound quality using the same cable and input so I know it's not there. I've also tried multiple 2.5mm->3.5mm adapters with no change. Different ROMs also don't seem to make a difference in it. I can only conclude, then, that it has to be the audio hardware.
I would like to find a device that uses the A2DP profile to sync with my phone and has a phono (headphone) or RCA output plug or jack so that I could hook it into my car stereo. Any one know of such a beast?
This is bad news. I have been digging around trying to find an adapter that would allow me to use the phone as my mp3 player, whilst allowing me to plug in an external powered mic, so I can can cradle the phone in a mount and get decent talk volume to my caller. In fact, I just order a 4gb card to get more of my library on the go.
I'll have to give my daughters iPod a try and see if there is any difference. As much as I hate iTunes, maybe I'll have to spring for a new iPhone. I would upgrade to the 8525, if not for the micro SD, which is yet another rant for me. It irks me to no end that every device I have seems to use a different card format. I think HTC is not doing right by the customer to go to the micro SD format. As it stands, I could not use my SX66 cards in my Wizard. I have a hard time believing the micro to mini would drastically change the form factor.
If you mean the voice portion is totally muddled... you either have a defective headset or a defective jack. I suspect that there's a short from the sound to ground...
Avatar28 said:
I would like to find a device that uses the A2DP profile to sync with my phone and has a phono (headphone) or RCA output plug or jack so that I could hook it into my car stereo. Any one know of such a beast?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bit of an old post, but if anyone's interested, Connects2 does an adapter that is just as you describe. It is a BTAV01 Bluetooth interface for A2DP. Connects to any aftermarket radio with RCA connectors
is it possible to create an ipod emulator or a program that would interface with the car stereo and use the phone decoder and then send pcm wav format to the car stereo?
at the moment none (with exception of ipod) mp3 players use their own sound processing. and theres no flac support for car stereo. the car audio corporations are beeing big ******* and dont want to release the support for FLAC saying that the market is not big enough.( well because theres no support for it)
portable players and home audio already caught up to speed.
at the moment theres 2 options for car stereo
1 ipod that converts all audio to PCM(while applying apple sound processing and EQ) yes it is processed to sound "better".
ipod requires all your audio files to be in their format which is gay.
2 simple USB/mp3 player connection both act as a mass storage and the unit reads compressed data and uses onboard processing for supported formats(aac,mp3,wav,wma...) but still no flac.
to be more specific, pioneer's excuse was that flac needs more processing power which requires either programmable chip or more powerful ROM and it will probably cost them a dollar per unit to produce... yet they are spending time and money designing animated dolphins and other BS for their background...
fuzzysig said:
is it possible to create an ipod emulator or a program that would interface with the car stereo and use the phone decoder and then send pcm wav format to the car stereo?
at the moment none (with exception of ipod) mp3 players use their own sound processing. and theres no flac support for car stereo. the car audio corporations are beeing big ******* and dont want to release the support for FLAC saying that the market is not big enough.( well because theres no support for it)
portable players and home audio already caught up to speed.
at the moment theres 2 options for car stereo
1 ipod that converts all audio to PCM(while applying apple sound processing and EQ) yes it is processed to sound "better".
ipod requires all your audio files to be in their format which is gay.
2 simple USB/mp3 player connection both act as a mass storage and the unit reads compressed data and uses onboard processing for supported formats(aac,mp3,wav,wma...) but still no flac.
to be more specific, pioneer's excuse was that flac needs more processing power which requires either programmable chip or more powerful ROM and it will probably cost them a dollar per unit to produce... yet they are spending time and money designing animated dolphins and other BS for their background...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the recommended solution is to convert your flac files to mp3 in order to play them on your car stereos
i know a step by step guide on how to convert flac to mp3 on mac or windows at How to Convert FLAC to MP3 on Mac or Windows
hope it helps more or less
epic thread dig
FWIW: My Audiophile Adventures on Android
What's more important? : quantity or quality?
FLACs eat up sdcard space. that's just a fact. so why not stream it?
For those lucky enough to have UNLIMITED DATA PLANS
Oh, how sweet it is.
- Windows users, I HIGHLY recommend JRiver Media Center as your media server. Why? First, you can't go wrong with it as a base for HTPC anyway.. but because through it's companion app Gizmo (free in Play store), it is capable of using the same audiophile grade codecs to encode / decode your lossless files through URL streaming (HTML5 I believe) and preserve a respectable amount of quality. other solutions could include Plex, Plugplayer, etc.
Of course this works almost flawlessly on a decent WiFi connection, but my main purpose was 4G streaming on the road. I'd say as long as I have a solid 3G/low 4G, buffering for tracks is under 20 seconds. Full 4G is almost seamless (YMMV, I am streaming from a FiOS connection but I see no reason why broadband cable wouldn't suffice). The CONS: connectivity, passing between 3/4G, buffering large amounts of data seemlessly... it's not perfect yet but it definately beats paying for Spotify :good:
For the Less Fortunate! And Data Scrooges!
or you just don't wanna wait.
- Assuming an sd-card + internal doesn't satisfy, you will need to assess your device's USB host capacity. the ultimate goal in this case is to use USB storage to accommodate large collections. You will need a USB OTG cable (they are largely universal but check the reviews). Furthermore, most devices have a different condition for enabling OTG support.
For example: SGS3 is simply plug-n-play for thumb drives up to keyboards. I have a Droid Bionic which comes with several expensive docks, but can be OTG capable with an externally powered USB hub + OTG cable.
ICS brings necessary usb storage drivers, all that's left is tuning up your operating system to produce the best possible output.
(i'll probably add as an addendum to this post in the near future if there's interest)
---
Signal Path Overview (mostly FYI)
---
if that all seems reasonable to you (music is of course a subjective experience!)- unless you have a high-end after market stereo, chances are your audio output at this point will sound terrific with a simple aux cable. People mistakenly believe their iPods/mobile devices have inferior DACs and that full digital pass through produces the highest quality. What these devices are lacking isn't conversion quality, it's amplification. Any audio buff, or avid listener for that matter, knows that source degradation occurs when software amplification / coloration is introduced PRIOR to gain stage(actually, at any point in the chain if you're an elitist ). it is for this reason that adjusting EQ on your car stereo will typically sound better than doing so on your phone. our aim is to output from the phone's aux jack the *cleanest source material possible*, even if the signal seems "quiet".
not surprisingly a well preserved MP3 at 320kbps can sound indistinguishable if not BETTER than a FLAC at ~800kbps played through Poweramp with bass knob turned up and various stock EQ settings on top of Beats Audio, 3D sound stage, DSP, etc etc. keep in mind that many of those audio effects are designed for earbud use. they attempt to compensate for weak headphone playback by augmenting the strongest frequencies (like bass and high-end treble) and adding virtual "space" to the sound with reverb. this is why beats earphones, when coupled with beats audio software, sound A LOT A HELL louder and "crisper" than average headphones.. the headphones and the software component are doing similar things, just on a hw vs. sw level. (not my cup of tea, but it's a brilliant use of simple acoustics to wow consumers, eh?)
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Mobile Audio Considerations
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car head-units and discreet amplifiers, on the other hand, don't need as much help... depending on hardware of course. i'll use my own arrangement (though somewhat unique due to Motorola hardware) as an example of how this could play out:
- Lossless source audio is outputted by capable app (in my case, Neutron Player)
- Droid Bionic sits in Motorola Vehicle dock which features a proprietary Y-cable that carries analog audio over USB + charges
- Because of the analog signal going out through USB, the phone bypasses software DSP / volume controls (the assumption being that you are connecting to a stereo with a stronger amp!). this is for all intents and purposes the cleanest signal that Android can output without more components in the chain. the intent is more than just clear, the design of the dock+cable disables the OS from adding DSP or software amplification. this is true of a handful of manufacterer docks.
- 3.5 mm aux cable connects the terminating end of the Y-cable to head-unit Aux in
- Head-unit outputs stereo RCA to a discreet amplifier in trunk
- Amplifier drives component speaker system
Don't be afraid to turn the knob to say 30 when your CDs play at 20 (just make sure to turn it BACK down! ), but on most stock radios you don't want to crank past 70% of max volume. i like my music loud but more importantly *clear*... but i guess if you've gotten this far in a FLAC thread you're already convinced!
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Links / Resources
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CableJive-dockBoss-Smart-Adapter-iPhone
- this is a really nifty hw hack that basically allows any portable music device to hijack iPod docks/connections. it does *not* add digital audio playback, it is simply injecting an analog signal into a pre-existing dock or stereo system.
For Motorola Users: The Y-cable for Droid 3 and up devices (?) is hilariously difficult to obtain if you have already purchased a vehicle mount from Verizon or any non Moto OEM package. For whatever reason, they loathe selling the cable as a seperate item and will likely charge you ~$20 (though best grudging investment of my life). Details:
Bionic Car Mount Y-Cable Discussion (External)
And for the truly adventurous:
[DIY] "Car Dock" Cable - USB audio out + charging - UPDATED! (11-9-11)
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Potential Future Topics
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Basic Android Optimizations for Audio Quality
Network / Connectivity Tweaks for Streaming
(True!) Digital Audio Output : External USB Components Overview
Desktop / Mobile Software Recommendations / Reviews
FAQ?
this started as a harmless reply to OP but, we can't help ourselves sometimes, heh. if there's interest feel free to suggest something, I'm no expert but im sure i'll have 2 cents at the least! i'd love to see a serious A/V resource eventually come together for Android as devices are rapidly evolving and opening new possibilities.
---------- Post added at 10:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 AM ----------
polobunny said:
epic thread dig
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it was meant to be my friend.:good:
JVC released few NAV units with flac support finally
so no need for this anymore.
and thanks again for letting me know that i can convert flac to MP3 lol for the 10000000000000th time
Hi guys
i read xda so much, but i don't write as well
i have a big issue with my galaxy s 2
i use a bt car stereo, with a2dp and avrcp support
i used to stream all my music collection from my iphone4
now i got my sgs2 and i love it... but
the audio stream looks "limited"
it seems a bandwidth issue, or i don't know a quality issue
with iphone4 i streamed at full quality, now the sgs2 sounds a lot worst
other than that, i have to disable wifi because if on, the music is choppy and skips a lot
with wifi off, the stream goes well, but it sound bad...
sorry for my not so perfect english... i hope there is a way to improve sound quality because i "live" with a2dp on in my car...
That's strange. My a2dp stream actually sound better from sgs2 than it does from my ipod touch 2nd gen, iphone or my computer (bluez).
Receiver is a belkin stereo a2dp receiver.
Are you sure that it's not in handsfree mode? Long press the a2dp device in bluetooth settings and there should be an option to select it to be a media device, make sure it's checked.
thanks for the reply gvoima, no it's in media device mode
i think the problem is the bitpool
i've got the same problem of this guy: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=708685
there is an mp3 sample of the problem in the first page
gvoima said:
That's strange. My a2dp stream actually sound better from sgs2 than it does from my ipod touch 2nd gen, iphone or my computer (bluez).
Receiver is a belkin stereo a2dp receiver.
Are you sure that it's not in handsfree mode? Long press the a2dp device in bluetooth settings and there should be an option to select it to be a media device, make sure it's checked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a belkin stereo receiver as well, but it sounds bad and choppy, just like the topic starter described. Though still compressed (this is a known issue for A2DP due to bandwidth limitations) songs sounds much better from my Nokia E52 work phone.
rikc said:
I got a belkin stereo receiver as well, but it sounds bad and choppy, just like the topic starter described. Though still compressed (this is a known issue for A2DP due to bandwidth limitations) songs sounds much better from my Nokia E52 work phone.
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Click to collapse
The "but my (insert phone) worked better" isn't really valid. For as many people who make that statement there are an equal number who are shocked that the SGS2 works where other phones haven't. This is kind of like the Wi-Fi issue. When two pieces of equipment don't interact well you can't just blame one of them.
In my car and on my Yamaha YSP-4000 the SGS2's Bluetooth works better than any phone I've used. That includes the HD2, G2, and G2X. The sound is much more defined and headset controls (random and repeat) show available for the first time. The SGS2 also feeds track info to the car which none of the others did.
Bluetooth connections and sound quality are always a big YMMV.
My Sony MW600 sound great, I use to have a Motorola Defy , and it use to have an "Enhanced Stereo" option in the blue-tooth menu, the Samsung S2 does not have this option.
@BarryH,
Oh I know, I not blaming the SGS2. I only think the SGS2 out sound to it's output module which is somehow less suitable for the kind of compression, maybe set by the Belkin module. Actually I'm currious if there would be ways to change the way the SGS2 sends sound signals via A2DP
rikc said:
@BarryH,
Oh I know, I not blaming the SGS2. I only think the SGS2 out sound to it's output module which is somehow less suitable for the kind of compression, maybe set by the Belkin module. Actually I'm currious if there would be ways to change the way the SGS2 sends sound signals via A2DP
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Click to collapse
LG's implementation of Bluetooth drove G2X owners crazy. Check out this thread from the G2X forum...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1117769
Maybe it will help. The only other solution for the G2X was installing an AOSP ROM.
Well, I tried it (Bluetooth Fix Repair), but off-course that tool is for a problem the SGS2 does not have.
From the tinkering I've done now I know.
- Having MusicFX installed does not make a difference
- Video players running ffmpeg codec do also not make much difference in sound quality
- The -type- of file does make a difference, i.e. low bitrate files play better
This makes me think, is there a music program which can resample/recode music before playing. I'd rather have software do that than A2DP do it badly, or is mono output (other than all the tools enabling playback on mono headsets which is for pre-A2DP headsets and thus something else) possible?
Edit /system/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf
Uncomment "Master" option and set it to "True".
Uncomment "MaxConnections" and set it to 3.
Most Android devices have this file configured poorly by default, those 2 settings should help though.
I'd suggest also enabling HFP and AutoConnect.
Great! That definitly reduced creaking/noises and even the occasional stuttering music!
Since you seem to know your stuff, would there be a way to send a mono signal to (only) the A2DP stack and would this decrease the 'tin can' effect? I'd rather have better upper tones than stereo.
knightnz said:
Edit /system/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf
Uncomment "Master" option and set it to "True".
Uncomment "MaxConnections" and set it to 3.
Most Android devices have this file configured poorly by default, those 2 settings should help though.
I'd suggest also enabling HFP and AutoConnect.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestions...going to try this and see if the sound quality improves in my car stereo.
Till now the best A2dp sound quality was on my Nexus S, but that was with the help of custom rom development and vodoo sound. Worst was the g2x.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Ok guys, I think I might have... accidentily... run into a phenonemon.
I tested my phone on a Creative D100 wireless speaker it it went great, no tin can sound, no hickups.
This proved to me that there had to be something wrong. Now when I was posting here earlier I was listening a lot to music and at a certain moment I thought... wait I'm not hearing a tin-can sound anymore. However, later on while testing I heard it again so I thought I imagined it.
Powering off the phone and powering on again I was able to create this again. No tin can sound... however a lot of hickups (as if a lot of data had to be sent and it didn't quite fit). I made a call to my work phone (sound on the handset) to test and then the tin can sound was there again, no hick ups anymore though. Strangely enough a haven't been able to replicate the 'no tin can sound but hickup situation' though by powering off and on again. Tried after playing on the Belkin on the D100 again and no problems at all, great sound and no hickups whatsoever.
It appears to be a bigger issue with android connected to the bitpool setting the bluetooth receiver desires...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=14944891#post14944891
Let's hope the upcoming Cynogen can fix this issue.
I too felt that the A2DP sound quality on the Nokia BH103 is crap as compared to my Nokia 5800 (sounded even better than stock wired headset). It also uses a lot more battery, I find mediaserver using a lot of battery.
How do we escalate this to Samsung?
knightnz said:
Edit /system/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf
Uncomment "Master" option and set it to "True".
Uncomment "MaxConnections" and set it to 3.
Most Android devices have this file configured poorly by default, those 2 settings should help though.
I'd suggest also enabling HFP and AutoConnect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, i'm on darky rom and i don't find this file, could someone help me out ?
Thanks
The OnePlus 5 has those 3 options but I do not know the difference between them or which is best to use. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
+1
Both the phone and Bluetooth device have to support AptX for it to work, so often your issue resolved by that.
AptX will provide better sound than SBC. SBC is the default codec used by the A2DP Bluetooth profile.
So, in short, if your headphones/speakers have AptX, use that. If they don't, SBC.
What happens if you choose aptX if your device doesn't support it?
yubimusubi said:
What happens if you choose aptX if your device doesn't support it?
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It will probably just switch to SBC so the connection will work, as that's the baseline standard in Bluetooth. I couldn't say with absolute certainty, as my OP5 hasn't arrived yet.
AptX is a proprietary thing - someone other than the Bluetooth consortium developed it and licenses it. That's why not everything has it - you have to pay to use it in the products you make. They created AptX because the default Bluetooth audio profile pretty much sucks when you start to examine how it butchers bit depth and sample rates just to cram audio data across a low power wireless signal.
On the flip side of that coin - yeah, AptX is better (and I'd use it if both devices supported it) but the audio quality differences are probably not going to readily apparent when listening to $20 to $50 Bluetooth devices. It's been my experience that it takes a somewhat trained ear and better-than-good equipment to be able to easily spot the difference. So, if you're an audiophile, you probably already know to stay away from Bluetooth for the best quality sound. If you're not an audiophile, try to use the best Bluetooth profile you can, but don't sweat it too much.
The A2DP profile is negociated at pairing and the best supported by both devices is picked (SBC < AptX < AptX HD). Problem is that the codec is just one link in the whole daisy chain. Other equally important aspects:
- music source quality (don't expect 128 kbps CBR mp3 to sound good)
- DAC and amplifier (each and every sound system that converts bits to sound has these!)
- speakers (from those in IEM's to those in BT boom boxes - they are all speakers)
So just that you're using AptX doesn't imply you are listening to high quality sound and probably implementing AptX and putting its logo on the product is the cheapest and least development intensive way to raise the price of a product.
Just my two (euro) cents...
Hi,
The question here is how the phone behaves when a higher quality codec has been selected (eg aptX) and a standard bluetooth headset (SBC - only )has been connected?
So far it seems to work (but then the question is why there is a selection available)
Best Regards
Joerg
My wild guess is that tis setting acts like a low-pass filter threshold. The phone will negotiate the highest available option without going above setting.
If the setting is AptX, the phone and speaker support AptX HD, the connection will be made at AptX quality. If the speaker only supports SBC, the connection will be made with SBC.
Honestly I don't see the point in such a setting. 99% of the people would want the best quality available anyway.
Is there a power consumption difference?
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
daniel_loft said:
My wild guess is that tis setting acts like a low-pass filter threshold. The phone will negotiate the highest available option without going above setting.
If the setting is AptX, the phone and speaker support AptX HD, the connection will be made at AptX quality. If the speaker only supports SBC, the connection will be made with SBC.
Honestly I don't see the point in such a setting. 99% of the people would want the best quality available anyway.
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Click to collapse
It makes sense to have the setting *if* for some reason you want to force SBC or the non-HD aptX. I have it set to aptX HD right now and it seems to work with my car (I'm about 95% sure it doesn't support aptX).
The real question is, if it fails back appropriately, why on Earth would OnePlus set the *default* to SBC?
@aa_chow: There surely is a consumption difference. SBC was designed decades ago with low computational complexity in mind (among others). On the current smartphone hardware (which is probably on par with a medium desktop from 5-6 years ago) the difference would be so small that measurements are impossible (you might see a difference on the battery life of the speakers, but I wouldn't loose my time there) .
@yubimusubi: I cannot even find the reason why that setting is even there! It only limits the best usable codec, which makes no sense to me. Maybe you can find more answers on the oneplus forums.
lag
with the sb, i experience music lag from when i have played in 1 minute and it continues, is it low power consumption or something on sbc? I'm gonna try the apex option when i get home to check if its better.
I'm suffering micro breaks on HD audio (320 bitrate MP3) from aptX HD, aptX or SBC.
Is there a way to correct it?
All my files are stored at 320 and I doesn't have time to convert to a bitrate of 128
Edit: No issues with iPhone 7+ and Huawei P10 using the same BT headset and MP3 files
bartito said:
I'm suffering micro breaks on HD audio (320 bitrate MP3) from aptX HD, aptX or SBC.
Is there a way to correct it?
All my files are stored at 320 and I doesn't have time to convert to a bitrate of 128
Edit: No issues with iPhone 7+ and Huawei P10 using the same BT headset and MP3 files
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Click to collapse
I have an issue on my International LG G6 where it sounds like the 24 bit lossless tracks are essentially dropping frames to borrow a gaming term. Then it will correct itself. It happened on my VW and the problem persists in my wife's new Subaru.
The LG G6 sports Aptx HD. Any ideas?
i prefer aptX but then again ive been using it quite a while now
APTX-HD do not work on One Plus 5. The music hacks constant.