Database Users

Great Audio Playback on Xperia Play

I am really impressed by the audio quality of the Xperia play. I originally bought it last year purely for running emulators but have recently started using it for audio and video playback. I have been surprised by the great quality of the audio playback. When i started listening to my MP3's with the stock audio player/headphones i had a double take. Everything sounded really crisp, the clarity/bass was really good and the stereo seperation was really noticible. I was playing the same tracks that i listened to over and over again on other devices but it was as if i was wearing a £300 pair of headphones as the detail suddenly stood out.
I have bought and swappped various phones in the past and currently have an Iphone 5 as well. None of my previous handsets including the Iphone 4,Galaxy S3 as well as the current Iphone 5 can touch this phone for audio playback using the stock headphones. The stereo seperation in particular is so much better than the Iphone. When i looked at reviews for the Xperia Play GSMarena mentioned that there was lots of crosstalk with the Play however i don't agree, i can actually notice the stereo better on this handsetmore than any MP3 player i've ever had.
Does anyone else agree, I know its subjective. This is the only Sony phone i've purchased and was wondering if all the Xperia devices have a similiar sound chip.

Wow that's really good to hear !
Your right it does have superior sound quality. The speakers are proper loud and crisp when played without earphones,

I agree, it's the best audio I've gotten from any media player I've currently tried. For as long as my Play functions, it will always live as my music player. With Xloud, even the speakers are brilliant, which is a rare plus

Actually, the Galaxy S and SIII use Wolfson DAC like the iPhone, and when coupled with Voodoo compatible kernel it is very good sounding. See included attachment.
However, I have to say the Xperia does have excellent sound quality and decent camera as expected from Sony. I do like the smooth sound signature.
Either a Play or Samsung Vibrant would make a good 'music player phone' without spending too much. In the end the earphone you're using is the still most important factor. I can't justify using stock eabuds no mattee how good the source is. From this list of earbuds, I have the Blox TM7 and the Sennheiser MX580: http://www.inearmatters.net/p/earbuds-roundup.html. The MX580 is very good sounding, I think its recently discontinued though. Though earbuds do have very high diminishing qualities compared to larger headphones.
Sent from my Nexus S

i too agree i have beats and xloud installed on my play and compared to my friends ipod, iphone4s and my others S3 they can not touch my phone especially with the speakers i just drown out there phones... and my brothers droid x sound through the head phones sound degreated withe the same exact song with same bitrate.....overal this phone is a media beast

Was looking for xperia pro forum and came across this thread.
My xperia pro would be coming in a day or two. Will it have the same audio quality as that of xperia play?

I also agree, the quality is very good, and even without Xloud the volume is pretty loud.

Does using xLOUD damage the speakers ?

sufy1000 said:
Does using xLOUD damage the speakers ?
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It shouldn't unless you always have your Vol. At max
Sent from my GBTweaked V7.1 R800x using Tapatalk 2

sufy1000 said:
Does using xLOUD damage the speakers ?
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'Twould be quite silly to implement harmful software into stock firmware, wouldn't it? xLOUD should be harmless

I hadn't really thought about it but I suppose the quality is good for a smartphone.

Well, the sound in my XP is not pure
I think it is ROM related

I love the audio too, but I wish they would have an srs or Bongiovi sound plugin that you could download from the store.
Sent from my R800x using Tapatalk 2

Agree, compare to my old gaming phone, n-gage, that has good audio playback too.
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app

Yes !
Though for my enjoyment, all of my previous phones have had great audio quality. (nokia 6151, nokia N81 8GB and now Xplay)
The sound quality with builtin speakers was horrible at first (I listen heavy stuff, sounds were messed up and muffed and it hurted my ear) but woth 2.3.4 XLOUD its "seems like" xperia play "manipulates" songs better
My only complaint is that using anything else than stock earphones with stock eqvalisator setup sounds mediocre at best and you cant tweak them by yourself... Only preset values.

me like audio xperia 2
personally i think it has the best sound with the stock earphones and also with bluetooth headset the sound is incredible.
ive had many mp3 players before creative ,zune player, samsung galaxy player(wich isnt bad either)
and together with the poweramp mediaplayer for me this is the best music player sofar imo.
glad to know there are others who feel the same way i do:good:

Output volume sucks

So I've recently been using my tablet to play music onto my nice dj style headphones. But output volume and quality is absolutely horrendous. I have to be at full volume to get and reasonably level sound, and then when I'm at that level, everything is very distorted. On my one X which has some beats eq thing, sound is wonderful and much louder. Maybe this is just a problem with stock Android, but I need to find some way to get much higher quality and more importantly louder music. I've tried a few mods available here but they don't seem to do much.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

What mods have you tried. I use awesome beats on my galaxy nexus. If not that trickster mod app has a setting to make the volume high. (Correct me if I'm wrong) I have my galaxy nexus stock and rooted.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

I have tried awesome beats and it doesn't seem to do much. I also tried AC!D mod and for some reason, whenever I started to play audio, my tablet would freeze up

mikel.canovas said:
So I've recently been using my tablet to play music onto my nice dj style headphones. But output volume and quality is absolutely horrendous. I have to be at full volume to get and reasonably level sound, and then when I'm at that level, everything is very distorted. On my one X which has some beats eq thing, sound is wonderful and much louder. Maybe this is just a problem with stock Android, but I need to find some way to get much higher quality and more importantly louder music. I've tried a few mods available here but they don't seem to do much.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
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I haven't used much except for DSP, but the audio is just difficult to have it loud. I've found external speakers BT or through audio jack is the only way to go.

Be careful what you try because I've read about people blowing their speaker trying to increase volume. That being said volume+ from the play store worked when it wasn't fighting the other sound mods I had installed. Pimp my ROM app. has some flashable zips that helped. Bottom line its one of the sacrifices that kept the price of the N7 low. Better the speaker to be mediocre rather than the screen. I bought some ear buds and if I want to play it loud for the neighbors I jack in to a stereo. Also a set of desktop computer speakers (sub and two bookshelf) work great with tablets
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

I use my N7 speaker to listen to music and get quite surprised and how loud it gets and don't notice any distortion. So I'm not experiencing what you are. Maybe I'm just easily pleased and aren't as passionate about audio quality as others

Sorry to say this but, it will never sound good. Not even with sound mods. The sound chip inside the N7 is just really, really bad. I've tried it with a pair of $900 Shure headphones and nothing can save this thing.

Musical quality using headphones

Here's a question. Currently I am on an iPhone 5, and it looks like I'll be making the switch to the S4. But before I do, I need to be reassured of one thing.
I use my iPhone 5 as my main and only music player. I have a pair of $150 Monster Turbines, and I take my musical quality very seriously relative to the iPhone 5. My question is, does the S4 have ATLEAST the same or better SQ in all ranges?
Is this app dependent? ROM dependent? I'm new to Android, but not technically unsavvy by ANY means..
Just need to know..

I had the same worries as you did. I came from the iPhone 4, running an ATH-m50 setup up with a fiio e5 amp and switched over to the HTC one x+and have transitioned very smoothly. I recommend finding a player per your taste though.
Take a look at power amp and neuron player! I hope this helps.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda app-developers app

Well there is a feature called 'adapt sound' you go through a hearing test. After the test is done it auto EQ's the EQ's in the music player. I have monster inspirations (noise cancelling) and beyerdynamic T1. With adapt sound on in both cans there's better upper range clarity when differentiating between instruments. I like having the feature on. Makes the music more enjoyable of sorts.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

There seems to be a lot of mixed opinions. It's not that the Qualcomm audio chipset is bad, it's actually quite good, but it up samples audio from 24bit/44khz to 48khz if I'm correct, which kind of degrades the quality a little. I doubt a $150 pair of headphones is gonna be affected by this though. Now if you were rocking some real hardcore audio equipment like $500+ custom monitors, then this might be noticeable.

Apple products still are on top when it comes to audio player quality. I doubt it'll be noticeable with your headphones
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

Don't even think a second about sound quality. It's awesome with S4. I use shure se530 head phones. You want to tweak the sound you may use Power Amp. That is what i use. I tried Iphone (3/4/4S/5) several times and sound is better with Power Amp in Galaxy S3/S4(Snapdragon also). Without Power Amp you may not like the sound that much.

varunkumars said:
Don't even think a second about sound quality. It's awesome with S4. I use shure se530 head phones. You want to tweak the sound you may use Power Amp. That is what i use. I tried Iphone (3/4/4S/5) several times and sound is better with Power Amp in Galaxy S3/S4(Snapdragon also). Without Power Amp you may not like the sound that much.
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Actually I recommend trying Gone Mad Music Player, so much better then Power Amp in my opinion

As many have said. Power amp is worth the purchase.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

iphone 5 is a good music player of course.
in android some app can improve the SQ for us. such as poweramp and more.

If you can score an international version, it was supposed to get the much higher quality Wolfson audio chips:
http://www.sammobile.com/2013/04/18...-for-galaxy-range-of-smartphones-and-tablets/
I think the t-mobile version might also have the same hardware as the international version...?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

I'm using Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Pro Earphones with Westone cables. I find the S4 sound quality pleasing, but lacking in bass.

Screams from
d1esel daddy said:
I'm using Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Pro Earphones with Westone cables. I find the S4 sound quality pleasing, but lacking in bass.
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This is a major problem for me, as 90% of my music is hip hop.
My monster turbines were designed to accentuate bass
I have a 15' sub in my car, that I LOVE to flex, and if it gonna be as bassy and clean as it is like my iPhone (on hip hop EQ) then we've got problems...

EpicMango said:
This is a major problem for me, as 90% of my music is hip hop.
My monster turbines were designed to accentuate bass
I have a 15' sub in my car, that I LOVE to flex, and if it gonna be as bassy and clean as it is like my iPhone (on hip hop EQ) then we've got problems...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S4 isnt lacking in bass at all. It has more bass than my HTC Vivid did...and that was a "Beats"-advertised phone. The S4 has terrific sound quality for a phone. And if you want a nice EQ, get Poweramp. It is well worth the purchase. And if you enjoy bass, don't worry - you can crank the bass up insanely high with Poweramp.
I was very worried about audio quality before getting the S4. And I am absolutely satisfied.
Oh and before you go looking at the HTC One, there have been reports of bluetooth audio streaming distorting the high frequency sounds. The S4 doesnt have this problem.
Sent from my Galaxy S4.

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bobgodd said:
If you can score an international version, it was supposed to get the much higher quality Wolfson audio chips:
http://www.sammobile.com/2013/04/18...-for-galaxy-range-of-smartphones-and-tablets/
I think the t-mobile version might also have the same hardware as the international version...?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tmobile has exact same hardware as att...has been discussed in one of the official bootloader unlock threads
slapdaddy said:
The S4 isnt lacking in bass at all. It has more bass than my HTC Vivid did...and that was a "Beats"-advertised phone. The S4 has terrific sound quality for a phone. And if you want a nice EQ, get Poweramp. It is well worth the purchase. And if you enjoy bass, don't worry - you can crank the bass up insanely high with Poweramp.
I was very worried about audio quality before getting the S4. And I am absolutely satisfied.
Oh and before you go looking at the HTC One, there have been reports of bluetooth audio streaming distorting the high frequency sounds. The S4 doesnt have this problem.
Sent from my Galaxy S4.
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I would definitely not say the s4 has terrific sound quality....you can't base it off the fact your vivid had beats as that's just a software eq...you've obviously never had a phone with a Wolfson dac....those phones have the best sound quality of every phone-,and with voodoo sound you can tweak it at the hardware level
When it comes to portable music....my infuse is my main player...it blows the s4 and HTC vivid sound quality out of the water
Now the s4 sound quality is acceptable and not bad in any way...just wouldn't say its terrific...this is coming from an audiophile with studio monitors and studio monitor headphones
BTW, I had a vivid too...think I remember your name
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

d1esel daddy said:
I'm using Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Pro Earphones with Westone cables. I find the S4 sound quality pleasing, but lacking in bass.
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Click to collapse
I am running the same setup (stock cables) and previously used a FiiO E6 amp when I had these with my Galaxy S 2... With the S4, I don't need the portable amp and like others stated, PowerAMP is my recommended player - well worth the purchase. I jumped onto PowerAMP right as soon as I found out that it does both FLAC and Gapless, and the interface is beautiful and easily links to the lockscreen (not rooted).
As far as audio quality, I love the V shape audio that PowerAMP(Techno preset) produces onto my IEM's and I also have an iPad Mini (I think Wolfsons audio chip) and yet still prefer the audio from the S4...
Audio becomes very subjective at this point, but I have NOT been disappointed with my S4 and audio quality - especially comparing it to my old Galaxy S II...

mg2195 said:
Tmobile has exact same hardware as att...has been discussed in one of the official bootloader unlock threads
I would definitely not say the s4 has terrific sound quality....you can't base it off the fact your vivid had beats as that's just a software eq...you've obviously never had a phone with a Wolfson dac....those phones have the best sound quality of every phone-,and with voodoo sound you can tweak it at the hardware level
When it comes to portable music....my infuse is my main player...it blows the s4 and HTC vivid sound quality out of the water
Now the s4 sound quality is acceptable and not bad in any way...just wouldn't say its terrific...this is coming from an audiophile with studio monitors and studio monitor headphones
BTW, I had a vivid too...think I remember your name
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Nope never had a Wolfson unfortunately. And I said terrific...for a phone lol. I have never had a phone with sound quality this good. And it will only get better with newer Sammy phones because of their deal with Wolfson. As for the Vivid, I remember reading your name a few times over there and yeah Beats is a software adjustment on the Vivid, but the sound quality was better on the Vivid than it was on my Inspire...and now better on my S4 than on my Vivid.
And yes I am an audiophile as well...I have studio cans and when it comes to absolute pure music quality, I use my desktop comouter as the setup is fantastic for a quality listening experience. But for a modern phone on the market. ..well I dont know of any quadcore phones that have a Wolfson chip...not yet anyway that is. I'm very sure this will change soon though...and its about time manufacturers started to pay more attention to the audio quality in their phones. There are those of us who need it...to basically survive lmao.
Bottom line for me is that there may be better phones out there for music quality, but they lack the horsepower of the S4. And there is a lot more that I do with this phone than just listen to music. The sound quality may not be Wolfson good, but it's definitely good enough and gets the job done very well as far as I'm concerned.
Oh and if someone is very concerned about music quality, there are external DACs that can be attached to the phone's micro USB port which are phenomenal. Though they are as big as the phone is, they work well lol.
Sent from my Galaxy S4.

slapdaddy said:
Nope never had a Wolfson unfortunately. And I said terrific...for a phone lol. I have never had a phone with sound quality this good. And it will only get better with newer Sammy phones because of their deal with Wolfson. As for the Vivid, I remember reading your name a few times over there and yeah Beats is a software adjustment on the Vivid, but the sound quality was better on the Vivid than it was on my Inspire...and now better on my S4 than on my Vivid.
And yes I am an audiophile as well...I have studio cans and when it comes to absolute pure music quality, I use my desktop comouter as the setup is fantastic for a quality listening experience. But for a modern phone on the market. ..well I dont know of any quadcore phones that have a Wolfson chip...not yet anyway that is. I'm very sure this will change soon though...and its about time manufacturers started to pay more attention to the audio quality in their phones. There are those of us who need it...to basically survive lmao.
Bottom line for me is that there may be better phones out there for music quality, but they lack the horsepower of the S4. And there is a lot more that I do with this phone than just listen to music. The sound quality may not be Wolfson good, but it's definitely good enough and gets the job done very well as far as I'm concerned.
Oh and if someone is very concerned about music quality, there are external DACs that can be attached to the phone's micro USB port which are phenomenal. Though they are as big as the phone is, they work well lol.
Sent from my Galaxy S4.
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Couldn't agree with your post more
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

"Virtual Surround" feature on nexus 7?

Does anybody notice difference on sound on other tablet? or this is just another ad gimmick?

just feel louder than previous nexus 7

AFAIK the option is only available in Play Movies.

Even normal stuff, the sound is pretty cool. I really like it. Nice and loud and sounds good.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

The speakers themselves are quite good, and by far better than last year's Nexus 7.
I can't say much about the virtual surround since I immediately flashed a rooted ROM after I got it and it (probably) removed that feature. I've been between a few ROMs since and the best I've seen is the DSP Manager.

I've noticed improve loudness and clarity at louder volumes on the new Nexus 7 as well. Compared to other tablets I've heard I would say the quality is very good.
As for the surround feature, I can say the only video/audio where I have noticed a separation between speakers was the nexus 7 video they uploaded to demonstrate the surround feature.

It is hard to tell the "surround" part and sometimes I hear it when using the speakers, but I definitely can hear the stereo stuff (left channel vs right channel). I did notice some sort of surround sound with headphones on while watching breaking bad the other day
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

The feature is only in the Play Movies app, if you open it up it should ask if you want to hear a demo
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Audio quality over BT?

Hello!
I am reading more and more bad reports about the audio quality and loudness over BT, if you tried it (car specially) is it really bad and not loud enough?
The only thing I like in my One is the sound quality even on BT of my car (though it has aptx)

as far as i know, the g2 has aptx. ive used it for my bluetooth (through aux) and its the same loudness as my htc one. cant say there is a difference.

I can say coming from from an iPhone 5 to the G2 there is a little bit of audio quality difference. I wasn't sure if it was just me paying attention closer since its my first full time android phone.
The highs tones are very high and the rest of the sound is kind of neutral compared to the iPhone 5. In sound its like listening to a 128kbps song versus a 256kbps. If you listen closely enough you can hear a tiny bit of distortion/noise but I think if the equalizer was able to be adjusted that would not be noticeable.

Seems the same as my GNex. No complaints or concerns.

ayman86 said:
as far as i know, the g2 has aptx. ive used it for my bluetooth (through aux) and its the same loudness as my htc one. cant say there is a difference.
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Are you using the HTC Stereoclip?

cggorman said:
Seems the same as my GNex. No complaints or concerns.
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same for me coming from a gnex. sounds the same to me. if anything the bass seems stronger than gnex. i'm using jaybirds bluebuds x earphones though, not plugged in through aux in car.

I will try mine on the way home from work today. My Lg spectrum 2 Bluetooth audio sucked compared to my DNA, so hopefully there not the same

One of my favorite attributes of the g2 is that on my Jay bird bluetooth headphones, the sound quality blows away my ip5
Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk 4

vegetaleb said:
Are you using the HTC Stereoclip?
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samsung hs3000

So.. the sound is better than my DNA. Couldnt believe it. This phone is amazing

Do you have a car app in the LG UI?
This is one thing I love in my HTC One,it's very practical for driving (Music,Navigation,Weather...)