Database Users

Stock music player versus poweramp for sound signature

Man....I can't tell... with the stock music player versus power amp, is there a difference between sound quality? This comparison is with eq and tone controls off in poweramp.
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dman777 said:
Man....I can't tell... with the stock music player versus power amp, is there a difference between sound quality? This comparison is with eq and tone controls off in poweramp.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
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Click to collapse
there might be.. Try them out and see.
Edit: oops.. I guess if you can't tell it doesn't matter
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

if you want differences in sound quality, try a kernel with Voodoo Sound. I recommend Netarchy's 1.2.5a/1.2.8 BFS or CFS. when you flash this kernel, get Voodoo Control from the market

I love the sound quality I get out of powersmp. But then again I haven't tried messing with the voodoo sound stuff.
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zephiK said:
if you want differences in sound quality, try a kernel with Voodoo Sound. I recommend Netarchy's 1.2.5a/1.2.8 BFS or CFS. when you flash this kernel, get Voodoo Control from the market
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^this. Voodoo sound will blow you away.
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ya'll didn't see my signature? can there be a voodoo patched kernel with color only? no.
i wasn't asking for a better sounding qaulity media player. i was asking if there is an actual diff. between sound quality/personality with stock media player versus poweramp(with it's tone and eq settings off).

Voodoo and poweramp is AWESOME. Non voodoo i like lithium player best

dman777 said:
ya'll didn't see my signature? can there be a voodoo patched kernel with color only? no.
i wasn't asking for a better sounding qaulity media player. i was asking if there is an actual diff. between sound quality/personality with stock media player versus poweramp(with it's tone and eq settings off).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I wasn't being out of relevance but helping you by telling you to get Voodoo Sound.
Voodoo sound + Poweramp will make cause a eargasm.
So get it. If you don't like the kernel.. you can disable it or revert back to your previous kernel.

How did this topic become "Is Voodoo sound good"? I already have voodoo sound! I have had voodoo sound! THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VOODOO SOUND. I just want to know if there is a diff. in sound personality between the 2 media players: Poweramp and Stock Media player

Poweramp is much better. It actually has an EQ plus a ton of other settings.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

This still ignores the OP's very good question - we know Power Amp has better eq and interface than the stock player, but does it actually sound better than stock with eq switched off? I tried to compare the two using my Etymotic Research ER4 earphones which are very revealing - for me the stock player sounded a bit muddier than Power Amp with slightly less detail coming through , but saying that it was a smoother sound easier on the ears which may benefit earphones with less bass. Winamp seems somewhere in between but I need to do more comparisons with different music. However good Power amp's eq may be, it is always better to have this switched off if your earphones and source material are up to it.
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Is there really a difference? Aren't they both (all music players for that matter) using hardware deciding and/or Android sound stream api? They should sound the same as if I wrote my own player in a dozen lines, right?
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I think the difference is in how the players are configured for flat response - the stock player, not having any built in eq seems warmer than power amp - this gives it good alround compabilty with a variety of earphones. Power amp on the other hand is less coloured to my ears resulting in a flatter spectrum - I think this is actually more accurate, but less forgiving of poor sources and earphones. Personally I get a better sound from power amp. Voodoo makes both sound fantastic though - easily as good if not better than my X series Sony Walkman.
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I find Power Amp to have a fuller sound (without tone or eq) than stock. It also seems to highlight treble sounds a little better. (I'm no audiophile) Just my opinion that's probably wrong
Sent from either my N1, Nexus S or telepathically using two tin cans and some string (I still can't decide I really love string)

phillevy said:
This still ignores the OP's very good question - we know Power Amp has better eq and interface than the stock player, but does it actually sound better than stock with eq switched off? I tried to compare the two using my Etymotic Research ER4 earphones which are very revealing - for me the stock player sounded a bit muddier than Power Amp with slightly less detail coming through , but saying that it was a smoother sound easier on the ears which may benefit earphones with less bass. Winamp seems somewhere in between but I need to do more comparisons with different music. However good Power amp's eq may be, it is always better to have this switched off if your earphones and source material are up to it.
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Yes, thank you.
Here are my findings so far...this is with using only the eq in cm7 rc2. Not using any tone adjustments in the players:
1) Stock- Has the best sound stage and mids. Meaning stereo seperation is really good. However, bass is not as tight as the others and highs not as sharp as the others. The sound signature did have a more full sound(all instruments were fully present without some being muted). This player had the best natural non colored sound also. Missing Que option...big burden for me.
2) PowerAmp- Had the punchiest tightest bass and the sharpest and cleanest highs. Mids were so so. Sound stage(stereo seperation) was the worse of the three. lestioning to regage some detail on instruments were muted since the mids were recessed and sound stage was minimal. The sound signature was the most colored...unnatural(this was with the eq and tone settings off). This had the best GUI interface.
3) Winamp- inbetween the stock player and Poweramp. Although the stock player still had a significantly better sound stage. Interface was ugly. But had good functionality like Poweramp(like que option).
If the stock player had a que option I would just stick with that. Wish it did
I used Super hi pro inner cannal buds to test. I will test again with Shure headphones which will be a better test.

I'd be interested if supercurio had a take on this?
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Really? I'd love a developer's explanation if there is an actual difference in audio stream playback. I just can't imagine any of the devs reinventing the wheel for decoding mp3.
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I feel like PowerAMP has some issues with flat non-EQ playback. Def sounds way off compared to any other players, and devices as well. I can play the same file off PowerAMP, Winamp, stock player, and an MP3-CD, and the latter 3 will sound relatively the same. PowerAMP, on the other hand, sounds quiet, completely lacking mid and bass, and too heavy on the highs

To restate the op's observation that they can't tell the difference, I would still love to hear some objective comparison. With eq off, shouldn't poweramp sound exactly the same?
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I have a very faint memory of hearing something about PowerAmp uses its own decoder? If that's the case, then I can imagine it would sound different. I personally use Rockbox, it uses its own highly efficient and quality decoder. Though, I've not really compared the sound quality to the stock player, can't really say which sounds better.

Bad news !!! Yamaha codec

Supercurio has confirmed that GNote has Yamaha audio codec , same as in galaxy note
Audio:
Codec: Yamaha C1YMU823 / MC-1N2 (Same as Samsung Galaxy S II)
FM radio receiver: Si4709 (Same as Samsung Galaxy S/Galaxy S II)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OSYgjDzPVaxzUIEOrc1RrPL2sWLJ5PziyEVt6Q7KeUs/edit?pli=1
This also appeared in engadget

I guess I came late to the party. Please explain what's wrong with it?
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calin75 said:
I guess I came late to the party. Please explain what's wrong with it?
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Yes, I'd like to know also. If it's just a music sound thing, it isn't a problem for me, I don't use it for music, but I know many do.

calin75 said:
I guess I came late to the party. Please explain what's wrong with it?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
+1 [[[[[10chars]]]]]

This is actually a long story but in short
The Galaxy S II uses Yamaha audio hardware. The Galaxy S II's predecessor, the original Galaxy S, used Wolfson's WM8994 DAC.
Galaxy SI has wolfson codec , which was open source.
Supercurio a well known developer and audio expert here in XDA was able to create good sound output using his voodoo app.
In galaxy SII samsung replaced wolfson with yamaha and this was closed source.
The sound quality for audiophiles using galaxy sII was terrible. ( not to my ears as I am a certified non-audiophile )
Being closed source no further development was possible.
IN the words of supercurio "
DAC Distortion
With today’s Android audio implementation, all kind of media are sent to the DAC as a 44100 / 16bit / Stereo stream. Despite the usage of a fixed rate, Yamaha’s codec is not able to provide a very clean output.
Galaxy S II DAC output quality is limited by several kind of distortions. So far, no firmware was able to fix those despite early Korean updates describing “audio clarity improvements”.
When playing music, those artifacts are perceived as “lack of clarity”, “reduction of stereo separation”, “loss of detail” and “lifeless sound” (opposite of lively)."
The good news is that with new firmware releases many people have said that the sound quality of Galaxy SII is much better. So i guess its going to be better in GNote.
However we wont get Voodoo sounds improvements.
You can see the links below for more detail
http://project-voodoo.org/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1053978
https://market.android.com/details?id=org.projectvoodoo.controlappdonate&feature=search_result

Isn't there a chance that the kernel/software might be slightly different and will fix the issue?
Besides I've got my hand on for few minutes and I didn't pickup anything being wrong with the sound quality. However I didn't have a chance to plug in my headphones so I might be wrong.

Fast answer
yamaha dac is pure crap if you listen music in headphones over 10€
GS2 + note = yamaha dac, so if you want to listen music with a little quality you need a dedicated mp3, the phone will not be suitable for that.

kersh said:
Fast answer
yamaha dac is pure crap if you listen music in headphones over 10€
GS2 + note = yamaha dac, so if you want to listen music with a little quality you need a dedicated mp3, the phone will not be suitable for that.
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I see no problem with the sound thru headphones.
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Honestly, supercurio must have super ears, cause i've been using my sgs2 as my primary mp3 for 6 months already and I have no complaints. But dude, thanks for ruin it for me. I won't see my sgs2 the same again. =(
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calin75 said:
Honestly, supercurio must have super ears, cause i've been using my sgs2 as my primary mp3 for 6 months already and I have no complaints. But dude, thanks for ruin it for me. I won't see my sgs2 the same again. =(
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Lol, there are no facts, only interpretations. BTW Yamaha produces great electric pianos. Don't see how this is relevant but lol, maybe it helps to restore your hardware

For me the included white head set is worse than the SGS2 one (less bass) but when comparing with the SGS2 headset the sound of the Note seems better as the SGS2.
Especially the noise when scrolling lists and so on is gone for me. In combination with Poweramp as player I'm quite satisfied with the sound.

Niuseek said:
Isn't there a chance that the kernel/software might be slightly different and will fix the issue?
Besides I've got my hand on for few minutes and I didn't pickup anything being wrong with the sound quality. However I didn't have a chance to plug in my headphones so I might be wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to fix if the sound is OK. Improvement/fix comes to something that is not good enough.

They're not that bad despite the dramatic title that this thread has
You do however need to pair it up with a good earbud/iem to get a lot out of it.
Currently i'm using phonak iems with the GS2 and it's been awesome experience so far

Unfortunately with a good pair of full sized cans, the difference is very noticeable.
Guess I will be skipping this phone. Pity... I was looking for an XL phone. Looks like its Galaxy Nexus or something from 2012 for me.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

sauron0101 said:
Unfortunately with a good pair of full sized cans, the difference is very noticeable.
Guess I will be skipping this phone. Pity... I was looking for an XL phone. Looks like its Galaxy Nexus or something from 2012 for me.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
um good pair of full size will make a difference in just about any mobile device. Even a voodoo'd SGS1 won't be able to drive a quality set of cans like akg701/702 or hd800

Sound on video record is better than sgs2. A big point.

A bit unrelated but I'd like to see integrated stereo speakers on such phones.
I remember some Nokia that had a quite great set of speakers turning them into a decent mini jukebox.
Use this size more Samsung!

For those non satisfied with the Yamaha DAC, why not investing in a high end Bluetooth headphone ?
Here you would not pass through the DAC of the Note but through the DAC of the headphone supposedly better...
I think that the note is capable of streaming audio with the Bluetooth connection.

DJKick_fr said:
For those non satisfied with the Yamaha DAC, why not investing in a high end Bluetooth headphone ?
Here you would not pass through the DAC of the Note but through the DAC of the headphone supposedly better...
I think that the note is capable of streaming audio with the Bluetooth connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because there are not high end bt headphones with quality comparable as good iems.

Yes there are some, for example from Sennheiser but they are not cheap.
Anyway, one that says that there are noticeable differences without a good quality headphone is really making a subjective statement, since the non linearity and signal to noise ratio on an average headset even intra ears is usually horrible.
Even the best audiophile headphones have a THD that is only 0.02% at 1 kHz (about 74 dB). This is by far worse than even the crappiest DACs (some have less than 90 dB but the best ones have >100 dB THD).
Knowing this, in the combination DAC+Heaadphone, it is really the headphone that makes the difference in sound. The DAC non idealities are orders of magnitude below the headphone non idealities.

Quality audio

Hello to all!
does any body has done a deep review about the sound quality in s4?
is it good with earphones?
s3 was not so good and i use the mod beats.
in s4 is there an upgrade ?
bass are good?
really thanks!

marci4na said:
Hello to all!
does any body has done a deep review about the sound quality in s4?
is it good with earphones?
s3 was not so good and i use the mod beats.
in s4 is there an upgrade ?
bass are good?
really thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The volume is higher than both S3 and N2, but my personal opinion is that there still is missing some "Ompfff Ompfff Ompfff" comparing to other phones in my collection.

dondavis007 said:
The volume is higher than both S3 and N2, but my personal opinion is that there still is missing some "Ompfff Ompfff Ompfff" comparing to other phones in my collection.
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with poweramp?
have you set equ properlY?

I have been trying out different songs on the S4 I9505X on both bass boost and custom mode and normal mode with different songs vs my HTC one with beats on/off using ur beats earphones.
I tell you what the HTC is louder with beats on/off vs the S4 in bass boost/custom but the S4 has way more bass and is better to listen to imo.
With the S4 is normal mode the s4 is about three notches off being as loud as the htc one, so I dont know where on earth GSM arena get average volume levels from as the S4 is a beast for music I was so shocked at not only the loudness but the clarity as I have to listen to my htc one now with power amp to get proper bass but on the s4 i dont. It is far better than the S3/Note 2 aswell the note 2/s3 with power amp sucks imo its too distorted.
*The things I prefer on my htc one are
the screen but the difference isnt like it was with the one x vs the s3, as the screen on the s4 is nice.
*I prefer the fact i can send ten page messages where as on the s4 its only three page messages, also I prefer HTCs keyboard and spelling.saving words better
*I think video and defo video audio is better on the One
*Speakers on the one are better
*weather widget/clock
*the one is generally quicker as well
But there is alot of great things about the S4 and I cant wait to get one.

r89HTC said:
I have been trying out different songs on the S4 I9505X on both bass boost and custom mode and normal mode with different songs vs my HTC one with beats on/off using ur beats earphones.
I tell you what the HTC is louder with beats on/off vs the S4 in bass boost/custom but the S4 has way more bass and is better to listen to imo.
With the S4 is normal mode the s4 is about three notches off being as loud as the htc one, so I dont know where on earth GSM arena get average volume levels from as the S4 is a beast for music I was so shocked at not only the loudness but the clarity as I have to listen to my htc one now with power amp to get proper bass but on the s4 i dont. It is far better than the S3/Note 2 aswell the note 2/s3 with power amp sucks imo its too distorted.
*The things I prefer on my htc one are
the screen but the difference isnt like it was with the one x vs the s3, as the screen on the s4 is nice.
*I prefer the fact i can send ten page messages where as on the s4 its only three page messages, also I prefer HTCs keyboard and spelling.saving words better
*I think video and defo video audio is better on the One
*Speakers on the one are better
*weather widget/clock
*the one is generally quicker as well
But there is alot of great things about the S4 and I cant wait to get one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks dude! so it's ok!
i am wondering why someone says that it has got orrible quality without basses...

marci4na said:
thanks dude! so it's ok!
i am wondering why someone says that it has got orrible quality without basses...
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Click to collapse
I have tried 6 different I9505Xs in the last 3 days in different shops the audio is the same, clear, loud and great bass. great phone the only things I would change is the keyboard, the text message limit of 3 pages, camera/video FOV and the audio mics and most importantly price lol.

Is there any background static at all? I will be connecting this to my car though and AUX jack and if there is any background noise it is amplified and thus very noticeable when no songs are playing.

geofox784 said:
Is there any background static at all? I will be connecting this to my car though and AUX jack and if there is any background noise it is amplified and thus very noticeable when no songs are playing.
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Click to collapse
I havent noticed any background static on the S4, I notice it in some songs on my HTC though

geofox784 said:
Is there any background static at all? I will be connecting this to my car though and AUX jack and if there is any background noise it is amplified and thus very noticeable when no songs are playing.
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Click to collapse
I get some noise but my s3 did too. Think it's more to do with my wire/stereo. Thinking of buying a ground loop isolater to see if that helps. Its only noticeable in quiet parts though.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

skibadee said:
I get some noise but my s3 did too. Think it's more to do with my wire/stereo. Thinking of buying a ground loop isolater to see if that helps. Its only noticeable in quiet parts though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it sound electrical? Like if the you do something on the phone (scroll a page, load something, etc.) does the sound change? If yes, then its the phones fault and it will be much more noticeable.
Here is an example where someone else had a problem with a computer: http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-au...und-noises-my-headset-plugged-sound-card.html

geofox784 said:
Does it sound electrical? Like if the you do something on the phone (scroll a page, load something, etc.) does the sound change? If yes, then its the phones fault and it will be much more noticeable.
Here is an example where someone else had a problem with a computer: http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-au...und-noises-my-headset-plugged-sound-card.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's like an electrical/static whine. It happens all the time, even with the phones screen off just playing tunes.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

r89HTC said:
I havent noticed any background static on the S4, I notice it in some songs on my HTC though
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Click to collapse
I noticed a lot of noise on the HTC One, but it went away when I turned off Beats. Is this the same behavior you are seeing?

Voltage Spike said:
I noticed a lot of noise on the HTC One, but it went away when I turned off Beats. Is this the same behavior you are seeing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will do a test today, as i normally listen to music via power amp. I know i get distortion in some songs on power amp with beats on havent tried it with beats off. Tbh I do miss having a standard music player with customizations like on the S4.
I am very impressed with the S4s overall audio its better than the HTC for clarity, bass and its not far off the loudness either, for me to get the same sort of bass the s4 has I have to use power amp, I can only imagine how power amp sounds on the s4.
I mean I was so tempted to swap my HTC One for a S4 but there is still things i prefer on the htc, like messaging (especially as I often send very long messages (s4 limits you to 3 pages) and send messages to mutliple contacts (s4 limits you to 10 contacts), video/video audio, speakers, can watch videos when in a phone call using stock video player but the S4 does have a hell of a lot of easier to use features, like notification toggles and the gesture stuff and the fact u can use any gloves on the screen.

Audio quality is pretty okay, but take note of this if you use low impedance earphones:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2258831

Voltage Spike said:
I noticed a lot of noise on the HTC One, but it went away when I turned off Beats. Is this the same behavior you are seeing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having been listening to loads of songs on my One, I have tried the phone with stock music player with beats on/off the sound is defo clearer with beats off on most songs other songs its about the same and then others beats audio on is better.
On power amp songs are defo clearer with beats audio off.
I also tried a few of the same songs on the S4 and didnt have the same problems in normal mode of bass boost or custom.
Btw I have found something interesting about the I9505X , the white models (and I have tried about 5 now in loads of different shops) have lower volume than the black version and I have done black/white side by side comparisons and the white version definately has lower volume wtf is up with that. Not that is concerns me as I am going for the black anyway but I find that strange.

r89HTC said:
Having been listening to loads of songs on my One, I have tried the phone with stock music player with beats on/off the sound is defo clearer with beats off on most songs other songs its about the same and then others beats audio on is better.
On power amp songs are defo clearer with beats audio off.
I also tried a few of the same songs on the S4 and didnt have the same problems in normal mode of bass boost or custom.
Btw I have found something interesting about the I9505X , the white models (and I have tried about 5 now in loads of different shops) have lower volume than the black version and I have done black/white side by side comparisons and the white version definately has lower volume wtf is up with that. Not that is concerns me as I am going for the black anyway but I find that strange.
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Click to collapse
so btw s4 and htc whats do you prefer?
i use poweramp with sennheizer cx300 and full bass and treble equ.
with s3 i had beats mod...do you thik i will hear differences with my s4?
thanks

marci4na said:
so btw s4 and htc whats do you prefer?
i use poweramp with sennheizer cx300 and full bass and treble equ.
with s3 i had beats mod...do you thik i will hear differences with my s4?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Defo prefer the S4,
The sound quality on the s4 is far better than that on the s3. Music is the third most used thing on a phone for me after calls and texts, then its watching videos, then taking pics and videos.
out of those things the S4 wins on calls, music, watching videos, taking pics (in most situations) aldo video quality imo is as good as the HTC but HTC has better sound and I could really do with the longer battery life and memory card slot now seeing as I am rapidly eating into the 25gb that came with the phone

r89HTC said:
Defo prefer the S4,
The sound quality on the s4 is far better than that on the s3. Music is the third most used thing on a phone for me after calls and texts, then its watching videos, then taking pics and videos.
out of those things the S4 wins on calls, music, watching videos, taking pics (in most situations) aldo video quality imo is as good as the HTC but HTC has better sound and I could really do with the longer battery life and memory card slot now seeing as I am rapidly eating into the 25gb that came with the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello! have you heard about this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2258831
do you know anything?
i am terrified...my s4 is not yet arrived....

marci4na said:
hello! have you heard about this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2258831
do you know anything?
i am terrified...my s4 is not yet arrived....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I had seen that before I got my s4 and was not worried atall and now i have my s4 i am not worried now as I have no issues with my s4

marci4na said:
hello! have you heard about this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2258831
do you know anything?
i am terrified...my s4 is not yet arrived....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CX300 supposedly has issues with the S4. But it may have been solved with later batches. Do report back whether it sounds fine at higher volumes!

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't agree with your post more
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

should I stop buying galaxy phones because of poor music quality?

I donot know if it is something wrong with the galaxy lineup or maybe android but I am having poor music quality on my phones I had a galaxy s3 and now a galaxy note 3 .Tried nearly every player poweramp,winamp,player pro and even rooted the s3 to try viper4android but the music always sucks either too flat or too noisy .should I try a sony device or the music on android isnot rich and crips (os problem).
I tried the new Adapt sound in note 3 with the default player and nothing new.
I use the bundled samsung headsets (tell me if I should replace them).
Thanks in advance ☺.

Are u talking about the sound with or without headphones?
Anyway I think the sound is one of the best u can find on any cell phone, there are just a few better (htc m8 4 example). If u are talking headphones I would personally advice anyone to switch away from in ear headphones (sound always bad to me) and take some real headphones instead. Hope that helps in any way

With headphones .

mak_417 said:
I donot know if it is something wrong with the galaxy lineup or maybe android but I am having poor music quality on my phones I had a galaxy s3 and now a galaxy note 3 .Tried nearly every player poweramp,winamp,player pro and even rooted the s3 to try viper4android but the music always sucks either too flat or too noisy .should I try a sony device or the music on android isnot rich and crips (os problem).
I tried the new Adapt sound in note 3 with the default player and nothing new.
I use the bundled samsung headsets (tell me if I should replace them).
Thanks in advance ☺.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bundled headphones are rather poor/flat for music - I still use those sometimes as a headset since the controls and mic work (while other models of headsets do not) but for music I use separate headphones.

I use the earpiece from my HTC one and it sounds nice.
Only caveat is the music player of touchwiz is slow and dumb.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

No, you should stop using crappy headphones.
I'm using AKG K323XS A Black with N7player and my own equalizer settings. Perfect sound on my Note 3.

mak_417 said:
I donot know if it is something wrong with the galaxy lineup or maybe android but I am having poor music quality on my phones I had a galaxy s3 and now a galaxy note 3 .Tried nearly every player poweramp,winamp,player pro and even rooted the s3 to try viper4android but the music always sucks either too flat or too noisy .should I try a sony device or the music on android isnot rich and crips (os problem).
I tried the new Adapt sound in note 3 with the default player and nothing new.
I use the bundled samsung headsets (tell me if I should replace them).
Thanks in advance ☺.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC one M8 is the best for audio

switch earphones
mak_417 said:
With headphones .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try over ear headphones or at least switch if you like earphones. I haven't had any issues with the sound using sl 150 headphones.

good music quality achived but with issues
I tried apollo + dsp manager yesterday with the bundled headphones and the sound quality was greatly improved but the installation of the dsp manager messed up the default music player and the system as they become not responding when I get notifications during apollo playback . Maybe I will try a cm based rom any recommendation for good ones .
Thanks.

Head on over to hi fi org. Music, get a separate player like a Fiio x3 or x5. My rig is an x3 with vmoda m100 headphones, powered by a portaphile 627 amp. Day and night totally. I hate carrying both around but sound on phones are anemic at best.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Free mobile app

Samsung stock IEM suck.
Can't believe flagship phone like this got iem like this. Coming from LG phone, the quality of bundled iem like day and night. Even quadbeat 1(optimus g and g pro bundle iem) blown away this ****ty iem.
Now i'm using Qb2 (g2 iem) with poweramp
Sound is much2 better
Sent from my SM-N900 using xda app-developers app

Yeah, the included headset is a piece of crap.
I had the same thought at first, thought something was wrong with the phone. After listening to some music with my HD598, I can safely say that the phone has very good audio quality.

FrostWave said:
Yeah, the included headset is a piece of crap.
I had the same thought at first, thought something was wrong with the phone. After listening to some music with my HD598, I can safely say that the phone has very good audio quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You also may opt for a ROM with Viper Audio, but seriously you need better headphones first.

As others have said I would agree
1) Standard in ear headphones are not very good quality with any phone.
2) Android doesn't seem to be oriented towards prioritising high quality audio.
Having said that there are a number of steps that are likely to improve audio quality depending on how important and how much money you're willing to spend.
My advice would be first get a decent over the ear quality headphone.
Then get your music in lossless format e.g flac files not low bit rate mp3.
My personal favourite music player is Neutronmp.
Then if you still want more and are willing to spend more then the advice to head over to headfi given earlier is going to lead to an excellent source of advice.
Likely advice, again referred to earlier would involve investing in a separate dac / headphone amp.
Many available at different prices, I use Fiio E17 via usb otg cable and usb audio player Pro
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Free mobile app

Buy HTC M8 if music is all you care and be happy.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

jerverg said:
Buy HTC M8 if music is all you care and be happy.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many more reasons to buy the m8 than just music.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Premium HD app

To OP :
buy and try this app before throwing your Note3.
Hahaha....
Best app for Android!
"Usb audio player Pro" (uapp).
I am a 2-year fan of Neutron Mp app, and comment much to the devs when they improving that app.
Suddenly, I saw uapp when searching smt not music related. I tried demo in 30 minutes then I know I must paid uapp!
Memo : You need to have a good hp to confirm (not to use crappy inear)
(. )( .)