Cheap earphones that work well - Acer Iconia A500

This post is mostly for people in Greece who have the Iconia and are looking for a headset. When I first got my Iconia, I tried it with a pair of generic earphones I had, but the sound volume was really really low. I tried it with a second and it was the same. So I looked around, trying to find something that worked and was well priced.
So, if you have had the same problem, the one that solved it for me was the simple Turbo-X Mic iME earphones , from Plaisio. They are only 7.90 € and really worth it, the volume and the sound quality are both very good, plus the ear bud is very comfortable. They are also directional, so there is not a lot of noise leak that could annoy others around you. The set also has a microphone and an adaptor for use with a pc.

V-Moda Bass Freq headphones are the best bang for the buck. $12 shipped on ebay and they deliver huge bass, great quality sound and manage to isolate outside noise incredibly well for basic bud headphones. I've owned about a half dozen pairs since i discovered them in 2007. Highly recommended if you're in to the bud style.

Skullcandy headphones are good too they have different tiers low end to high but there $20 low ends actually sound very good.

Sony also makes a very inexpensive earbud that has surprisingly good range and great bass while still sounding "transparent".
MDRE828LP is the model, and they are generally less than 20 dollars US, often less than 10.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-E828LP-Fontopia-Earbuds-Winding/dp/B00008VF63

in my opinion
the word "cheap" and "headphones" are a dangerous combo.
Sure - a pair of cheap headphones that happen to be louder then other cheap headphones might work for you - but for the price of a few cheap pair of headphones you can get something that will make you happy for many years.
Purchased a pair of Aerial7 tank midnight and I am amazed. I love loud industrial metal music, I crave loudness, and with my tanks plugged into my a500 I can not deal with more then half volume.
Sure, if you are playing loss crap quality mp3 rips of music, a discount pair might make you happy. But if you care about audio quality or actually listen to loss less audio formats, the difference between a generic pair of discount headphones and something with some actual quality is a night and day difference. Really, how many pairs of cheap throw away headphones have we all burned through? At least in my experience - I feel that money can be saved by purchasing something that will amaze you for years.
My current headphones: http://www.aerial7.com/product/tank/midnight/

I agree with entropy to a certain extent. I was able to find a pair of authentic Studio Beats for less than half price, and they blew my mind, definitely my main set....however, there is always room for some cheaper second strings.
If I don't want to have the large bulk of over-ear headphones, then I normally pull out my Kanen knockoffs. They have decent bass, good build quality...and fairly unique style (they are actually wooden). I got mine on sale for $3 (yes, three dollars including shipping to Canada), but even regular price they're less than five.
...apparently I can't yet post external links....try to figure out the url though
"triple W dot" focalprice DotCom /EP268X/Kanen_KM92_Wooden_Inear_Headphones.html

question:
Every time I useTuneIn,djradio or winamp i have sound on the headphones and the tab.
There is a manipulation to do to have only on the headphones?
sorry it's ok now

I don't have a tablet yet (considering buying the Iconia A500) but I figured I'd drop in and offer my thoughts on headphones
I personally have a pair of AKG K242HD's along with a pair of SoundMAGIC PL-30's. I use my 242's at home but wanted a pair of relatively cheap high quality earphones for travel and mobile usage. One thing you want to be careful of is that many of the high end headphones are designed for home and studio usage and so most mobile devices do not have enough power to run them at high volume. One of the cheaper sets such as the ones mentioned by entropy.of.avarice would probably be fine, but try to avoid headphones advertised for studio usage without hearing them first.
Personally I would recommend hifiheadphones.co.uk/sennheiser-cx300ii-precision-headphones-pink-cx-300ii-prodid-1136.html or hifiheadphones.co.uk/soundmagic-pl30-inear-sound-isolating-earphones-in-white-prodid-2073.html. Both retail for around £30 and are perfectly fine for someone looking to buy their first pair of decent headphones. One thing you'll want to watch out for is that there were a lot of fake CX300's around, so make sure if you buy them you buy from a reputable retailer.
Finally, if you have the money to spare you can also byu a headphone amplifier such as the iBasso that will allow you to boost the volume and quality of sound coming out of your device
As I said, I don't have a tablet yet so I can't vouch for how they'll sound coming out of one but I'd imagine it'd be just fine
I'd also take the time to look into how to set up a graphic equaliser, as they can make poorer earphones sound much better
This post probably made no sense as I'm writing it at 3AM and barely awake but I'll check over it later, feel free to ask if anyone has any more questions and I'll see if I can help
~Rach

Related

Best bluetooth headphones?

Looking for a great set of bluetooth headphones, that work as a hands free too.
I had a set of Nokia-bh501 's and they were pretty good. But audio quality was a bit crap. Tinny and baseless, but for phone calls they were king.
The Jabra 3030, motoralla s9 and the ericson ds220 were recomended by the threads
http://www.shopbot.com.au/default.asp?kw=Jabra+BT3030&position=search
http://www.shopbot.com.au/default.asp?kw=HBH+DS220&position=search
http://www.shopbot.com.au/default.asp?kw=Headphones+S9&position=search
So far, the jabra 3030's are the only ones with full play, pause, forward back etc... controlls and their quality, and battery life were praised.
Any others I should know of?
Try these:
http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-P..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=054NY98WRYHE8C5ZPNSJ
Funny thing, I had just made a post about them in another thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=401545&page=12
They have full controls, and long battery life too.
I love mine, wouldn't trade the for any others.
SRF
I really like the Motorola S9's. Good sound quality for music but not so good for the phones calls. The mic isn't that clear either. But they are great for sport activities and the like and pretty discreet. However the battery life isn't the best. They have skip forward, skip backward and play/pause controls too.
Have you seen the Itech Clip Radio D? I am also looking for someone that is using it to get some impression.....
Stereo, Radio, Oled display.
bye
fusto
Try Bluerek ST1
I,v just got the Bluetrek ST1
Stereo Bluetooth Head set with also can be used for calls.
There have play/pause forward back and volume buttons and also a call buttion for use with voice commander to voice dial or track sellect via voice, works great so far and have reall good music playback.
There was also on offer at have price with was a bonus, I was worried the the sound quilaty or loudness would be a problem after switching from a wire set of head phones, but theres been no problems and are much better then i was hoping for.
hopes this helps.
al
p.s. got mind from play.com in the uk for £17.99 thats half price highly recommeneded.
Anyone have the Motorla HT820's? I got some for Christmas and I like them a lot but I was wondering if there's any way to improve the audio quality when listening to songs. It's good, but you can still her some high pitched crackling in the music.
The HT820s are among the best around for audio quality. I just set an equalizer in Coreplayer to tune it to my preference. Also check A2DP settings to be sure you use high quality.
The high-pitched noise is pretty common in average quality MP3s, maybe the previous headphones were too crappy for you to notice it but now the HT820s are so good you do hear these defects
Despite not having tried the other two (bias suggestion), i would go for the Motorola s9s. They're worth every penny i put into them.
kareem9nba said:
Despite not having tried the other two (bias suggestion), i would go for the Motorola s9s. They're worth every penny i put into them.
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I would not recommend the Motorola S9 even though I really liked mine. I used it with my phone, Skype and speech recognition, but after one year, the battery was worn off enough to make the sound (in and out) really bad. And since it was older than a year, the warranty was no longer valid so I couldn't get the battery replaced. So the S9 is great but unfortunately after a year is useless.
Hmm, thanks for the heads up . I think i'm going to call them up and ask for an exchange in case my battery does go bad.
It's the same kind of batteries that's used in all those kinds of devices, and they should last longer. If yours went bad after a year it was probably faulty. I would believe this is just an isolated case, nothing to do with all units of that model, and something that could also happen on any other model.
octavia said:
I would not recommend the Motorola S9 even though I really liked mine. I used it with my phone, Skype and speech recognition, but after one year, the battery was worn off enough to make the sound (in and out) really bad. And since it was older than a year, the warranty was no longer valid so I couldn't get the battery replaced. So the S9 is great but unfortunately after a year is useless.
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I wish that my S9s had lasted that long!
I used them (all 3 pairs) down the gym, and they lasted between 1 and 2 weeks each. They do not handle sweat ingress at all well, which is pretty lousy considering the way they're marketed.
Then had a pair of Jabra BT620s. Sound quality wasn't as good, and my only issue was that I looked like a total eejit whilst wearing them.
So picked up a pair of Jabra BT3030s. Pretty good sound quality, but they failed in exactly the same way as the Motos - had them clipped to my tee shirt whilst running. Bit of sweat got into them (they're supposedly waterproof), and bzzzt - they failed.
Nokia BH-501 is good but fragile
Hi,
For twelve months now I have been using the Nokia BH-501 headsets. I am happy with audio quality for both music and calls. Mostly I am happy with the price, as they go for less than $US50 here in Australia for some reason, while any other headphones with the same function have been priced much higher.
The main drawback I have found is that they break. No matter how careful I am, they develop stress fractures just back from the earpiece, after about a month of daily usage.
I am currently onto my third pair... I use plastic tape to keep them together, and they work fine...
Saving up for a more durable set of headphones now, but making do in the meantime.
I'll watch this thread for more suggestions from the experts.
Cheers.
____________________________________________________
Hermes 100
WM6.0, official Hutchinson SEA ROM
4Gb RAM
fcasini said:
Have you seen the Itech Clip Radio D? I am also looking for someone that is using it to get some impression.....
Stereo, Radio, Oled display.
bye
fusto
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this and out of the S9 and the 10 other models and types that I have I use the Itech Clip. Now I did go get some nice KOSS noise canceling ear buds that make everything much better. I have this one http://www.itechdynamic.com/en/products_spec.asp?cid=2&pid=02042
I prefer Sennheiser MM 200, perfect for sound quality.
Im using Motorola S705..
Sound quality over calls is much quieter than music for some reason but overall it sounds OK
just lacks a bit of bass. Decent.
Really Great stereo bluetooth headsets..SONY HBH-DS205
If any of u guys are looking for great Stereo Bluetooth Headsets, "SONY HBH-DS205" are really graet one..very light weight, Great sound quality( no one can beat Sony for that), The best is, u can use any other earphones, in case if u doesnt like the one it comes with...so, thats great. I am using the music player software, "PocketMusic Player Bundle 5", which supports everything, like A2DP, equaliser, remote controls, etc...
I used bluetooth stereo headset from O2 atom..it's really nice, the sound, the style..it can play, forward, backward..the only problem it only available on white..
Hey guys i'm looking at getting a Bluetooth stereo headset for when i go workout and want to listen to music. I was looking in to the Motorola S9 but i have read some reviews stating that they tend to break when you sweat a lot. Also I kind of wanted a headset that had two individual piece and not one piece that with plastic that wraps around your head (For benching purposes). Anyone have some good recommendations?
I am more than happy with Jabra 8010. They are convertible, so I don't have to have wear 2 pieces if I know I'll be making just some calls (even though you can and the call is coming from BOTH pieces unlike that pos Jaybird I've shipped back the same day) There is no fancy blue LED blinking all the time which I HATE. Why it is there on the most BT earphones anyway?
But it has nice and unobtrusive OLED display which shows quite a few informatopn like caller ID, call history or phonebook. You can change also settings like whether you wear the "master" on your right or left. Also it has an EQUALIZER. But unless you WANT it to be on or if call is incoming, it'll show caller ID. Othervise the display's off.
Switching between modes is a snap with pushing one button you get headset, press it again and you have A2DP. Dedicated on-off switch you dont have to press and hold like many others but just slide it back and it's off, slide it fwd and it's on.
I LOVE jogwheel as a volume control. Volume change is immidiate. it's like turning a volume knob on the radio. Convinient and quick.
Battery life is beyond my expectations as it can play over 6 hours of stereo music straight and the sound is IMHO better than Moto820 (I used to have before and which ones lasted me 2 months of sporadic use) and DEFINITELY better than overpriced Jaybirds. Don't get me even started on those. Just let me say that don't remember to be so dissapointed with a purchase.
Call quality is excellent too especially when I wear both pieces. I HAVE VOICE IN MY HEAD!
And I never had any complaints from the other party s well.
My only complaint is about wearing. Don't get me wrong. They are comfortable and very lightweight. Sometimes I even forget I'm wearing it.
But the way those earloops were made, it takes some twisting and adjusting to have them exactly where you want them to be.
They are not gym proof. They holding too loosely on your ears for that.
For everyday use, walking around, in your car i.e. when there is someone else who don't like your kind of music, and so on they are excellent.
AND because they don't make them anymore, you can find them on the net for as low as $28 free shipping.
It it is a long time since I purchased so well-rounded overall no-fancy-nonsense product in general.
Too bad they took them off the market. My guess is they were loosing money.
My .02

Earbuds/headphones on samsung galaxy s2

Hi
Equipment Info
I need some assistance in getting Ear buds/Headphones for my S2.
I realized today I need to set a limit on the $ I spend $200US as this is a phone and not my home stereo system. I believe their is a point where its overkill( Westone UM3x/Earsonics SM3) And the big downside to ear buds is you can't return them(Canada) So I think I'll go with headphones but not to big/bulky something like this size>
T50-P HEADPHONES BY BEYERDYNAMIC.
I'm considering ear buds in the $200 range such as Etymotic Hf5 or ER-4pt. I'm open to your suggestions.Its very important the headphones/earbuds are efficient and don"t require lots of volume for minimal sound. Great sound whether I listen to Pink Floyd or Van Morrison.
Music Info
Music source CD >Wav to PC to >S2.
Prefer Classic Rock/80s
Will install Winamp/ Volume+
Thanks for your time/help
Greg
shure se215 best under $200 especially for rock and pop
You're looking for headphone/earphone, i thought you were looking for headsets Anyway, for headphones reviews and recommendations i propose you go to: http://anythingbutipod.com/archives/headphones/. They kind of having golden ears and objective reviews IMHO and hence, the name of the site will tingle you a lot don't you think?
As for me, i'm using phone adapter (Audio Technica AT 335i - $30 here in my country) combined with Ultimate Ears SuperFi 3 Studio (white version - $115 also here). Well, originally the phone adapter AT335 was designed for iP**** and alike but i can testify it worked fluidly for both my new SGS2 and my old 'demised" Streak5.
Only how you press the button differ. One click for Play/Pause/Stop, long click for next track, double click for voice command. Plus the voice quality when you speak is more than acceptable. Lovely, i rest my case in quest for earphones/adapter.
Edit: deleted the direct link, sorry I haven't noticed mods warning. Thx.
i've got v-moda vibe duo with my SG2 - I payed AUS$79.00 on ebay from a UK store about 5 weeks ago.
It has a great bass response but you will need to jack up the midtones and treble little bit to make it sound balanced. I play music through PowerAMP, which has a decent equaliser with preamp.. Winamp offers similar equaliser so you shouldn't have too much trouble making it sound clean and balanced.
The button on the headphone has two functions. Pressing it will stop and start play, holding it down will fast forward to next track.
The mic on it is pretty decent too.
I hear sennheiser mm30i are very good too - especially the mic. I was going to buy it but couldn't find one in australia so I went with the v-moda. But I think the buttons on sennheiser only works on iphones.
on my sgs2 with poweramp and volume+, my 30usd 60ohm koss portapros sound fantastic.
however my 16ohm 40usd woodees sound lousy with poweramp/volume+ and actually sound better using the stock music player.
for poweramp/volume+ combo i recommend getting headphones/iems that have an impedance of 24ohms or better but not exceeding 100ohms.
although im not familiar with all the models, all of the brands recommended above are very good. your best bet would be to try them out with your sgs2.
good luck

Audio output reviews and opinions

Im interested in your opinions of the audio output through earphones or headphones.
Post some reviews, personal reviews
Here is a review i found that goes in depth about the M8 audio abilities
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_one_m8-review-1062p7.php.
I took some time listening with yamaha eph -100s and the amp is powerful, nice sound stage and very clean. I think it sounds better with boom sound off on some tracks.
Coming from the Lg g2 i am really impressed with the volume and quality of the audio output to earphones
How loud is minimum volume?, I know the max is load but does that mean minimum volume is also high, I like listening to music quietly at night, is the base volume much higher than your other phones?
ryanjsoo said:
How loud is minimum volume?, I know the max is load but does that mean minimum volume is also high, I like listening to music quietly at night, is the base volume much higher than your other phones?
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It is pretty low, from my experience boom sound makes it a lot louder. It might be good to turn it off for night listening.
With my original HTC One M7, one of the speakers was always just a tad louder than the other (same with 1 replacment and an in-shop model I tested).
Has anyone with an M8 encountered this?
I often Played my one (m7) through my docking station via headphone to aux ... it was excellent sound. I tried the M8 today and had to turn down the bass and volume on my Dock. This is not a bad thing though, as the sound quality IMO is better. is has a deeper fuller sound to it. NO complaints from my end. This is just my opinion and hope it helps. The Docking station used is a Kickers iK500 :good:
Xzeven said:
With my original HTC One M7, one of the speakers was always just a tad louder than the other (same with 1 replacment and an in-shop model I tested).
Has anyone with an M8 encountered this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the m7, have the same ****ty problem, stops me from enjoying the amazing speakers.. Hopefully the m8 will be perfectly balanced..
Sent from my One using Tapatalk
car audio aux
running pandora, audio was clear through the car dock, boomsound EQ overwhelmed my systems bass capabilities with M7 settings on the bose head unit, had to adjust down the bass , if i had a dedicated sub and clipped the low levels to the 6x9's up front i dont think it would have even with max vol. after turning down the base level on the head unit it sounded as good or better than M7, or One-x w/beats EQ. no complaints over all just some re adjusting for the new EQ to match the car.
front speakers were loud and deep for their size, very impressed with their low level capabilities. the low volume was low enough for night listening both through head phones and int speakers.
my only question comes down to the head phones it came with, they sound good but feel like cheap plastic crap and are styled to look like fake beats by dre buds. why even include them in the box? i think its safe to say that if you are going to buy a flag ship device and care about head phones at all, you probably have a favorite pair of head phones already. just seamed pointless to cheapen the included equipment with BS ear buds...
r.wardell2 said:
running pandora, audio was clear through the car dock, boomsound EQ overwhelmed my systems bass capabilities with M7 settings on the bose head unit, had to adjust down the bass , if i had a dedicated sub and clipped the low levels to the 6x9's up front i dont think it would have even with max vol. after turning down the base level on the head unit it sounded as good or better than M7, or One-x w/beats EQ. no complaints over all just some re adjusting for the new EQ to match the car.
front speakers were loud and deep for their size, very impressed with their low level capabilities. the low volume was low enough for night listening both through head phones and int speakers.
my only question comes down to the head phones it came with, they sound good but feel like cheap plastic crap and are styled to look like fake beats by dre buds. why even include them in the box? i think its safe to say that if you are going to buy a flag ship device and care about head phones at all, you probably have a favorite pair of head phones already. just seamed pointless to cheapen the included equipment with BS ear buds...
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Click to collapse
Judging by the fact that every review about the stock M7 & M8 buds have been met with nothing but praise seems to disagree with this comment. You'd be surprised how many people use the stock buds, and base their opinion on audio quality having used only the stock sets. It is a good thing in my opinion and I hope HTC continue to include headsets.
Galactus said:
Judging by the fact that every review about the stock M7 & M8 buds have been met with nothing but praise seems to disagree with this comment. You'd be surprised how many people use the stock buds, and base their opinion on audio quality having used only the stock sets. It is a good thing in my
opinion and I hope HTC continue to include headsets.
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Click to collapse
I think most will agree that the m8 has great audio quality, but using the stock buds will no doubt greatly limit your ability to fully take advantage.
My Review
I gave my thoughts on audio experience in this video if your interested
daddydark said:
I think most will agree that the m8 has great audio quality, but using the stock buds will no doubt greatly limit your ability to fully take advantage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I'm trying to say is that it is better that HTC supply their ear buds that are half decent, rather than not including ANY. As long as the ones they supply sound better than the majority of the competition then I don't see why anyone would have a problem with that. Better they make the effort rather than not in my opinion
r.wardell2 said:
running pandora, audio was clear through the car dock, boomsound EQ overwhelmed my systems bass capabilities with M7 settings on the bose head unit, had to adjust down the bass , if i had a dedicated sub and clipped the low levels to the 6x9's up front i dont think it would have even with max vol. after turning down the base level on the head unit it sounded as good or better than M7, or One-x w/beats EQ. no complaints over all just some re adjusting for the new EQ to match the car.
front speakers were loud and deep for their size, very impressed with their low level capabilities. the low volume was low enough for night listening both through head phones and int speakers.
my only question comes down to the head phones it came with, they sound good but feel like cheap plastic crap and are styled to look like fake beats by dre buds. why even include them in the box? i think its safe to say that if you are going to buy a flag ship device and care about head phones at all, you probably have a favorite pair of head phones already. just seamed pointless to cheapen the included equipment with BS ear buds...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might be the only person who complains about getting free things. I'd rather have the "alright" earbuds (I definitely use better ones) as a backup than not have them at all. I was overall satisfied in the few instances where I used my M7 earbuds considering they're just included earbuds that are typically awful from most other OEMs.
jtc276 said:
You might be the only person who complains about getting free things. I'd rather have the "alright" earbuds (I definitely use better ones) as a backup than not have them at all. I was overall satisfied in the few instances where I used my M7 earbuds considering they're just included earbuds that are typically awful from most other OEMs.
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This
jtc276 said:
You might be the only person who complains about getting free things. I'd rather have the "alright" earbuds (I definitely use better ones) as a backup than not have them at all. I was overall satisfied in the few instances where I used my M7 earbuds considering they're just included earbuds that are typically awful from most other OEMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree that its better to have "alright" than none at all but as far as complaining about free... nothing is free, you paid for that **** one way or another. they sounded good in my opinion, detter than most OEM for sure, but they "felt" cheap. if i was a company that rests its worth on making only the highest quality most ascetically pleasing devices and to top that, one of my biggest selling points is my audio, i would have wrapped those drivers in a better quality material, or just left them out entirely and saved my self a few dollars per unit... even the cheapest sounding sealed ear buds you can buy at walmart have higher quality externals. they clearly spent money on the internals for the head phones but went el-cheapo on the feel, just pointless IMO.
did this take away from the device for me? no. but it was the only thing in the box that didn't immediately shout "quality!". presentation means a lot in marketing and how the average consumer feels about the device before they even turn it on. just look at how much companies spend on packaging. HTC probably spent more on the fancy shaped cardboard box than those headphones and the box has nothing to do with the quality of the device. but if that phone their charging $650+ for came out of generic brown box or a bubble pack, you bet your ass that would make people question it before they even turned it on.
if your an xda member you are already more educated in tech then the majority of consumers, and that's why it doesn't matter to you, but if you knew nothing about a device before you walked into the store you might care a little more about presentation.
im not trying to say any one is wrong or argue but thats my opinion, coming from a business and marketing stand point it didn't make sense.
sorry to continue off topic.
r.wardell2 said:
i agree that its better to have "alright" than none at all but as far as complaining about free... nothing is free, you paid for that **** one way or another. they sounded good in my opinion, detter than most OEM for sure, but they "felt" cheap. if i was a company that rests its worth on making only the highest quality most ascetically pleasing devices and to top that, one of my biggest selling points is my audio, i would have wrapped those drivers in a better quality material, or just left them out entirely and saved my self a few dollars per unit... even the cheapest sounding sealed ear buds you can buy at walmart have higher quality externals. they clearly spent money on the internals for the head phones but went el-cheapo on the feel, just pointless IMO.
did this take away from the device for me? no. but it was the only thing in the box that didn't immediately shout "quality!". presentation means a lot in marketing and how the average consumer feels about the device before they even turn it on. just look at how much companies spend on packaging. HTC probably spent more on the fancy shaped cardboard box than those headphones and the box has nothing to do with the quality of the device. but if that phone their charging $650+ for came out of generic brown box or a bubble pack, you bet your ass that would make people question it before they even turned it on.
if your an xda member you are already more educated in tech then the majority of consumers, and that's why it doesn't matter to you, but if you knew nothing about a device before you walked into the store you might care a little more about presentation.
im not trying to say any one is wrong or argue but thats my opinion, coming from a business and marketing stand point it didn't make sense.
sorry to continue off topic.
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I really don't think the average consumer would look at the earbuds and think "Wow. This totally ruins this unboxing experience for me." And, really, who cares what they look like? I own a pair of Sony MDR-V6's that sound better than probably any earbuds out there and let's just say that those things aren't the most aesthetically pleasing accessory in the world. They're made of nice, durable materials, but they're huge, bulky, and have a cord that is almost comically long (they're studio headphones). Did I care about any of that after I listened to music through them? Not at all. And, considering the included HTC earbuds will be the best pair a majority of consumers will ever own (yes, sadly), I'm sure they'll get over them being made of plastic.
jtc276 said:
I really don't think the average consumer would look at the earbuds and think "Wow. This totally ruins this unboxing experience for me." And, really, who cares what they look like? I own a pair of Sony MDR-V6's that sound better than probably any earbuds out there and let's just say that those things aren't the most aesthetically pleasing accessory in the world. They're made of nice, durable materials, but they're huge, bulky, and have a cord that is almost comically long (they're studio headphones). Did I care about any of that after I listened to music through them? Not at all. And, considering the included HTC earbuds will be the best pair a majority of consumers will ever own (yes, sadly), I'm sure they'll get over them being made of plastic.
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your probably right about them being the best the average consumer has ever had, guess i didn't think of it that way. i suppose im just a sucker for aesthetics, and feel. probably why i like HTC's products so much better than Samsung or LG, as capable as they may be.
impressed with the quality of the audio, great device!
Honestly love this phone. I love the front facing speakers. But audio out of BT and the headphone jack leave something to be desired coming from an iPhone5. iOS devices just excel with audio volume and quality. Over Bluetooth the highs don't sound crisp at all and the bass seems over processed or there is too much bass boost or something. Can't put my finger on it but I wish the quality was the same as the iOS devices. Aside from that I love the boom sound when watching movies or videos through the speakers
Sent from my 831C using xda app-developers app
Speakers are great.audio quality through the headphone jack is great especially with beats headphones. Bluetooth I can't speak for since I never use it.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using xda app-developers app

Audio Quality Thoughts

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

Note 10+ ear buds / HORRIBLE, please advise.

For the first time since I got my Note 10+ I had a rather long phone call to make. For convenience I pulled out the AKG original supplied ear buds. I was horrified to realize the quality was so awful and the volume was so low (even with the hand set maxed out) i could not use them. After the phone call I tried a few media audio files and even connected to Youtube to see if it was a cell issue. IT WASN'T !
What I can hear is Teetsy-fly tinniness, NO base, little or no mids and volume? You would need to be in a closet to carry on any conversation while using these ear buds. They are a total loss !
All I can say is these ear buds are the worst i have EVER tried to use and I can say they are TOTALLY NOT USABLE FOR ANY USE.
Wondering if I have a bad pair (defective in some way) or if others are finding what I have ?
Please advise if you can.......
ohana said:
For the first time since I got my Note 10+ I had a rather long phone call to make. For convenience I pulled out the AKG original supplied ear buds. I was horrified to realize the quality was so awful and the volume was so low (even with the hand set maxed out) i could not use them. After the phone call I tried a few media audio files and even connected to Youtube to see if it was a cell issue. IT WASN'T !
What I can hear is Teetsy-fly tinniness, NO base, little or no mids and volume? You would need to be in a closet to carry on any conversation while using these ear buds. They are a total loss !
All I can say is these ear buds are the worst i have EVER tried to use and I can say they are TOTALLY NOT USABLE FOR ANY USE.
Wondering if I have a bad pair (defective in some way) or if others are finding what I have ?
Please advise if you can.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go play with the equalizer and see if it sounds better to you. Also turn on Dolby Atmos.
ReconDonkey said:
Go play with the equalizer and see if it sounds better to you. Also turn on Dolby Atmos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All i can say is that besides what has been suggested above, it looks like it is faulty.
These AKG are imho very good (and i am rather difficult when it comes to sound quality), they are far better at least than the samsung iconX buds that i don't touch anymore.
Probably a problem with yours?? Or maybe you have some 3rd party sound apps ?
I'm very picky when it comes to sound quality, and I think the AKG earbuds sound pretty good (not as good as my Bose earbuds, but still). They get a little crunchy at high volume, but seeing as they get loud as hell, I don't use them maxed out lol.
Definitely sounds like a problem with your set. Probably just faulty, it's bound to happen with mass produced products. Maybe Samsung support can help you out somehow?
Your earbuds must indeed be defective, the ones that came with my note are good, not excellent, but good enough, as for max volume, you could try volume booster in playstore from developer goodev, it really works, system-wide, wired and bluetooth
Or buy the Samsung adapter and use your old ones
I agree with the OP, I was shocked how bad these were coming form AKG. I assumed since there were no comments on them here, that it was just accepted that they were crap. I don't really care as I only use my Icon X's and my Sony M3s but was surprised at the poor quality. I've turned on Dolby A, and adjusted bass up on the equalizer and there is no bass, the highs are soooooo tinny. I would never actually use these to listen to music except as last resort on a plane if my M3's died. Even my Icons are 100X better sounding than the AKG included.
gottahavit said:
I agree with the OP, I was shocked how bad these were coming form AKG. I assumed since there were no comments on them here, that it was just accepted that they were crap. I don't really care as I only use my Icon X's and my Sony M3s but was surprised at the poor quality. I've turned on Dolby A, and adjusted bass up on the equalizer and there is no bass, the highs are soooooo tinny. I would never actually use these to listen to music except as last resort on a plane if my M3's died. Even my Icons are 100X better sounding than the AKG included.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think yours are faulty OR 3rd party sound app messes with it, or a soft update that has not been done or whatever...
I'm a long time musician, i truely pay attention to sound quality and i think they are pretty good (for in-ears small earphones). I have the iconX 2018 and AKG are miles above them for sound quality.
Always thought iconX were crap btw... i like them because i can feel free, no wires, but your statement seems rather strange to me
Most likely you need to use the larger ear tips. No seal = no bass
mafy31 said:
I think yours are faulty OR 3rd party sound app messes with it, or a soft update that has not been done or whatever...
I'm a long time musician, i truely pay attention to sound quality and i think they are pretty good (for in-ears small earphones). I have the iconX 2018 and AKG are miles above them for sound quality.
Always thought iconX were crap btw... i like them because i can feel free, no wires, but your statement seems rather strange to me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Icon X are not great sound, that's my point. The AKGs SUCK. My backup workout BT headphones,(wireless Jelly's) are better than these things.
BTW Icons sound much better with on board mp3 than over BT, which is how I use most of the time as I use my M3s when not in the gym
Ear caps have same seal as my icons, and I ran all the firmware upgrades. Defective? maybe, but that just shows poor QC from AKG.
again, I don't care as I don't use wired headphones EVER, just expected them to sound better.
ohana said:
For the first time since I got my Note 10+ I had a rather long phone call to make. For convenience I pulled out the AKG original supplied ear buds. I was horrified to realize the quality was so awful and the volume was so low (even with the hand set maxed out) i could not use them. After the phone call I tried a few media audio files and even connected to Youtube to see if it was a cell issue. IT WASN'T !
What I can hear is Teetsy-fly tinniness, NO base, little or no mids and volume? You would need to be in a closet to carry on any conversation while using these ear buds. They are a total loss !
All I can say is these ear buds are the worst i have EVER tried to use and I can say they are TOTALLY NOT USABLE FOR ANY USE.
Wondering if I have a bad pair (defective in some way) or if others are finding what I have ?
Please advise if you can.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably have a defective piece. Mine sound great out of the box. I have Galaxy Buds the wireless ones and to be honest, the AKG wired ones sound WAY better than my buds. I have Dolby Atmos on and tweaked the equalizer a bit.
eagleone1 said:
You probably have a defective piece. Mine sound great out of the box. I have Galaxy Buds the wireless ones and to be honest, the AKG wired ones sound WAY better than my buds. I have Dolby Atmos on and tweaked the equalizer a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... I have been very surprised at the great sound these little AKG pull out. It is balanced and much details can be heard, miles better than my gear iconx 2018.
They are also way better as well as any piece of headset that came stock with my previous smartphones inc. samsungs.
Sound on youtube with AKG is very nice too, so is netflix etc. No problem with them, so you probably have faulty ones.
I think they sound decent I honestly prefer the AKGs I got with my S9+ however.
I think these ones soumd better than those my note8 came with, even the quality of materials feels a little better
To be honest, I feel the AKG earphones that come included are actually pretty good. Are they the best? No. Are they the worst? No.
Like others mentioned, probably a defective pair, software/config issue, source of music or even type of music can be causing the issue of poor sound quality. People who want to spend $50 or more for better sound quality, that great...but the included earphones are more than enough for the the general public. Yes, Samsung can include better earphones, but then they would probably increase the price of the Note 10. I would rather Samsung not include any earphones and give me a $10 discount, I'm sure the general public wouldn't agree with me on that.
To advise you...all accessories do have manufacturer warranty. IF they sound as HORRIBLE as you are describing, contact Samsung and they will replace with a new pair. Or you can spend money buying a better pair.

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