Database Users

Compare Xperia sound quality to something like an iPod?

Can anybody compare the music sound quality of the Xperia to an MP3-player like the iPod? How would you rate the sound quality?
I've listened to an Xperia in a store and the constant hissing was pretty noticable, worse than the iPod Touch I used to have. I couldn't really rate the sound quality itself, because the store wouldn't let me put in my SD card with my own music on it. The music that was on the Xperia (jazz music) sounded a little flat to me.

If you ditch the headphones that come with the xperia and get a decent say £30 pair of buds it sounds much better than the ipod

i have a x1 and an ipod touch
cant hear difference
only truely objective way to compare is
hook both up to a spectrum analyser and
play the same music and compare

i have xperia and ipod touch when i'm connect it to the speaker i think ipod has a little bit better sound quality
don't know for 100%
but i use now my xperia as mp3 and it works great sound is good but it hasn't have equlizer builtin thats the only thing i miss

commodoor said:
i have xperia and ipod touch when i'm connect it to the speaker i think ipod has a little bit better sound quality
don't know for 100%
but i use now my xperia as mp3 and it works great sound is good but it hasn't have equlizer builtin thats the only thing i miss[/QUOTE
I have noticed that my sony mp3 with digital equalizer built-in has the edge over my sony x1. Ipod generally doesnt not have this particular feature so you cant possibly tell much difference from the x1.
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I didn't test with any equipment, but I've worked in the music industry for over a decade listening to music for a living and also own both devices.
Compared to an ipod touch using the same pair of Shure se530s at equivalent volumes and testing at both halfway and at full, I'd personally give a slight edge to the ipod. You should listen to both side by side for yourself though. There really isn't a huge difference apart from the max volume (the ipod can go louder than an untweaked stock xperia. I haven't tried the registry sound fix on the xperia yet, to make it louder). I also haven't tried the stock headphones either to be honest.
The bass seems a bit richer (using headphones, not speakers) on the xperia, but the overall sound is crisper on the ipod with sharper mids and highs. Again this is just my opinion and the difference is slight, they both have great sound. Just see if you like the other features. The sound is above par and I'd be surprised if anyone passed up an xperia because of it's sound quality.
I didn't notice any extra "hissing" sound with the xperia compared to the ipod. Might have come from the track they were using or poor headphones? These were the exact same mp3s (tried a wide range) that I was listening to on both devices.

jhoffa said:
I didn't notice any extra "hissing" sound with the xperia compared to the ipod. Might have come from the track they were using or poor headphones? These were the exact same mp3s (tried a wide range) that I was listening to on both devices.
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I noticed the hissing as soon as I plugged in my headphone in the Xperia, before any music was playing. It's not the biggest problem for me as both my iPod Touch and iPod Classic (sold both) had hissing as well. Maybe my headphone is too sensitive (although it's a cheap Creative EP 630).
But judging from everybody's comments the Xperia should shound pretty good. It's one of the reasons I want to buy a new phone: music playback and quality. I'm trying to decide between an iPhone and an Xperia (used). I know the iPhone is a great music player, but the Xperia has extra features the iPhone can only dream of at this point, so I'm leaning towards the Xperia, even if sound quality may be worse.
Oh, by the way, you can get the Touch HD equalizer if you install Touch Flow 3D on your Xperia. Does that make a positive difference in sound quality?

I have an ipod nano and x1. Ipod has a slightly better sound quality. I use a Bose in ear headphone which is 10 times better than the stock in ear headphone that comes with the x1.

If you got the audio booster prog from htc+advanced config prog, the sound can be tweaked nicely.
I've put the 3D sound level to 'High', the equalizer to 'ROCK' and I use the UE superfi 5 pro earphones. Now I got to say that this sounds really good. Much better compared to an ipod touch

ipod never reach sony level in music ^^

I haven't done any serious listening yet on my x1 however did notice the hissing when plugging in my Ultimate Ears 5's. It annoyed me and convinced I had a problem I sent the handset back to 02 for a new one. On the new one - I get the same hissing so I feel it is a feature of the x1 sadly. I get the same on my Creative Labs X-Fi however less pronounced. Probably won't notice the hiss though when I am on the bus with background noise but do notice it at home.

Indeed, the Xperia Hisses, ALOT.
However, I am spoiled since I am used to a Creative Zen Vision (non-M, VGA version) which is Dead silent with even the most sensitive headphones.
My Creative Aurvana in-ear (my favorite sub-$100 in-ears) on the Xperia is a big no-no since their sensitivity is 115dB/mW. The hissing is very bad. On my portable headphone, a Phillips SBC HN110 the hissing is totally non-existant with its low 102dB/mW sensitivity, and the sound quality is truely a joy.
By the way, the stock Sony in-ears aren't half bad, but they too are too sensitive for the Xperia IMO.

Wow, according to GSMArena's tests the Xperia sound quality is quite good:
Only since recently are Windows Mobile devices considered seroius music handsets. Before that their business orientation has served them as a pretty good excuse for the poor audio quality.
However, the latest HTC devices were a clear sign that this is about to change. Therefore we were quite eager to understand if the XPERIA is the next step forward on this way.
As it turned out the handset has the best frequency response we have ever seen on a mobile handset. In addition it also achieved superb noise level, dynamic range and stereo crosstalk readings. In fact its results on those are even better than the dedicated Apple iPod music player - how is that for a change?
Unfortunately a price had to be paid and that is the rather high total harmonic distortion and intermodulation distortion levels. Nonetheless it seems that there is not too much left before the WinMo devices start to directly compete music-oriented ones.

I have both Itouch and X1:
X1 sound much better cause of the software I installed. The ficking Wifi on itouch just die on me and it's 14 months old so out of warranty. Spend $400 for the ficking thing...Don't buy apple.. Piece of sh*%$#@...apple. The other 8GB itouch I bought for my nephew also broke after 16 months...

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

Hey Folks!!
I´ve read a lot about the very poor audio quality with the streak...what do you "initiated" guys can tell me about this (aside from the fact that they have positioned the audiojack on the SIDE of the device )? How would you rate the possibility to use this device as my no.1 mp3 player?
Will the update that everybody is waiting for compensate this issue?

Hi brooon
Well i don't know why you think the Streak has poor audio quality as that most certainly isn't my experience of using it to play my Music on and whilst i was on 1.6 i was more than happy using the Music player that was built into the Streak as i liked the Music Widget that came with it. Since moving to 2.1 and 2.2 Custom Roms i am using Lithium Player as like the Widget options it gives and i have no need for an EQ as have never used one on any device i use.
What is far more important IMO is how well you encode your Music as using low bit rates are never going to give you great results however good the hardware may be its restricted by to little information to work with when decoding it. All my Music is kept in iTunes although bought on Cd's and then transferred to it @256kbps AAC. The second most important factor is then your in ear phones as the supplied ones with any equipment are adequate at best IMO so dependant on your budget and the sound you like to hear upgrading your in ear or head phones is the other thing that will effect the quality of what you are listening to.
I listen to at least 2 hrs a day of Music either with my Shure EC2g's in ear phones plugged directly into my Streak or using my Nokia BH-500 and streaming the Stereo via Bluetooth to the same in ear phones and the sound is nothing short of stunning IMO. It produces a rich and full sound with good separation and sound stage with no need to use an EQ as IMO you shouldn't need to boost any frequencies as thats what a producer does when recording the Music for you to listen to in the recording studio.
So in answer to your question do nothing as I'm already running 2.2 and despite now using Lithium Player for the Widget options i have no issues with the sound quality my Streak delivers whilst listening to music or watching Videos.
Marc

brooon said:
I´ve read a lot about the very poor audio quality with the streak...[...]
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Where have you read it?
Streak has the best audio quality of all the devices I owned during last years. I was amazed when I first plugged the earphones and played some tunes.

Theres a lot of fud around.....
I'd agree with smoku it's the best (although the speaker isn't great maybe that's what he read)
I'm now using power amp for all my music needs, the eq in there really brings out the best of the sound quality on the streak... It even plays m4a and wma and can boost the sound level out of the rear speaker

This is a valid thread, thanks for starting it.
For my part I am interested in portable audiophile gear, Sennheiser IE8 with custom moulds, iBasso D10, iRiver H140, that sort of thing.
My music is encoded in FLAC and I haven’t yet tried the Streak as a music player. Possibly in part so as not to be disappointed and also I am waiting on final 2.2 or maybe even 2.3 so as to bring the platform to maturity and with it good quality media apps. The original 1.6 just seemed to be rough around the edges and with poor app support.
So the responses from Dogmann, smoku and fards are very encouraging and I shall give it go sooner rather than later.

i use the hf2,s from emotec and you need a diff player to play flac but the sound quality is ok just the standared head set that come with its pants

I think 2.2 has increased the sound quality for the speaker but still not good as HTC tilt2. The sound from earphone jack is good on both 1.6 and 2.2 for me.

im using a pair of klipsch images and the sound on my streak sounds horrible. I hear alot of popping and noise. You can even hear when the internal amp comes on when its about to start playing sound, and you can hear it turn off when sounds go off its rather noticable. I recently installed poweramp and the inbuilt eq does make the sound alot better. Maybe all our streaks aren't created equal id love to hear one that sounds good.

hi @all!!
Thanks for the comments and experiences, your impressions are really helping a lot here guys
shigga said:
I hear alot of popping and noise. You can even hear when the internal amp comes on when its about to start playing sound, and you can hear it turn off when sounds go off its rather noticable.
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That´s what i´ve read several times in reports that i´ve found during my googletrip ...it seems like you´re not the only one suffering under these (audio)circumstances. I must say, Im very surprised about the positive impressions here (although I´m happy to read such things )?!?
Don´t you guys hear those "poppings" and noises, too? What could be the reason for such a variety of impressions? Any idea?

This thread comes straight from the android knockers over at ilounge! i've owned both, there's no difference! i read the same stuff before i got android.
The only thing about the stereo system on the streak is the incredibly stupid placement of the headphone jack on the side of the device, meaning it sticks out sideways when in your pocket, the 'designers' even thought that you would carry the streak around in your pocket in landscape mode

tbh I'm not an audiophile, I've been a musician for way too long
never heard popping or buzz... except intentional as part of whatever I'm listening to..

My Streak does sound real good, even when listening to classical music. And I am using it straight out of the box.

Crap statement. It's not spectacular, but for a mobile phone device it's very satisfactory. I use it as a player both in my car and when I'm on the train and it sounds phenomenal.

Obviously it is not spectacular, lol. How could the sound on such a small device ever be spectacular? I was comparing it to other mobile devices (my wife's iPhone 3G, my old HTCs) and I am pleasantly surprised.

I switched to bluetooth headphones and they deliver much better sound quality, than the original streak's earplugs.

HansTWN said:
Obviously it is not spectacular, lol. How could the sound on such a small device ever be spectacular? I was comparing it to other mobile devices (my wife's iPhone 3G, my old HTCs) and I am pleasantly surprised.
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Didn't mean to directly attack your statement . I'm actually agreeing with you, I think the sound quality is good on the Streak, and I'm calling the "reviewers" who said that the sound is bad on the Streak crap.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Its weird there is such differing opinions on it.
I've owned two and returned both for bad audio. I even had an email from the executive support team saying they're aware of an audio issue!
I just wondered whether maybe, as mine were both from the very first Carphone Warehouse batch in Brighton that I got a bum lot!?

Just tried the demo display at my local best buy and brought my earbuds and it sounded equally as bad as mine. My captivate, aria and nexus sound so much better.

shigga said:
im using a pair of klipsch images and the sound on my streak sounds horrible. I hear alot of popping and noise. You can even hear when the internal amp comes on when its about to start playing sound, and you can hear it turn off when sounds go off its rather noticable. I recently installed poweramp and the inbuilt eq does make the sound alot better. Maybe all our streaks aren't created equal id love to hear one that sounds good.
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This is my only gripe with the audio quality. If you listen at low volumes, you can hear fuzz/hiss sounds. I also can hear the amp/DAC/whatever it is turning on and off when I start/stop my music. Course, you can crank up the music to drown out the noise, but I like to be able to hear what's going on around me when i listen to music (so the yard gnomes et al can't sneak up on me.)
If you're in a reasonably quiet room, try playing some music with headphones and the volume turned all the way down to 0 (yes, zero). I can hear audio noise over the sound of my apartment heater blowing air around.
side note: I've confirmed this with the earbuds that came with the streak, as well as a set that came with my old iphone. i'm guessing if you have less sensitive headphones, this will be less of a problem cause you'll be pushing the audio out at higher volume levels.

After the encouraging observations here I decided to finally check out the sound quality for myself. My reference portable rig is a pair of Sennheiser IE8’s with custom ear moulds, iBasso D10 Headphone amplifier with an optical digital interconnect to an iRiver H140.
The music I like tends to be recorded as low-fi, e.g. The National, Bon Iver, Cymbals Eat Guitars. Last night I loaded up a selection of Calexico on both the Streak and iRiver. While these are clean recordings they are certainly not Hi-Fi reference standard, you know, the sort of stuff that is used to demonstrate high end audiophile equipment.
Basically my subjective comparison is just me listening to the sort of music that appeals. The cognoscenti over at Head-Fi may well have finer tuned ears and a more analytical framework and disagree of course.
I approached this with some trepidation bracing myself for a degree of disappointment in the Streak as a music player. No way did I expect what I found.
To summarise, given the choice of listening to the iRiver/iBasso rig or the Streak I would probably select the former. However I would be hard pressed to actually explain why. Perhaps because it has the ability to go louder - though the Streak is quite loud enough.
TBH after a couple of hours listening to the same tracks back and forth on both devices, I couldn’t discern any difference. Dell has really come through on this device in so many ways.
Kudos also to PowerAmp which is a joy to use and a bargain at $5.
For reference, the last time I performed this exercise was to compare with my old iPhone 3GS and there was no doubt then that the iRiver/iBasso was superior. I can’t say the same with the Streak, the best I can manage is ‘neck and neck’.
I am sorry for those who are having audio problems but this shouldn’t be so and your device could be faulty.

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:

Audiophiles out there!

Hello all audiophile Z5 owners!
How is the headphone output on this phone?
Is the quality good and loud?
Where can I find more specifications of the headphone jack and internal amp?

TordFuglstad said:
Hello all audiophile Z5 owners!
How is the headphone output on this phone?
Is the quality good and loud?
Where can I find more specifications of the headphone jack and internal amp?
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I wouldn't say I was a proper audio file but the audio on the z5 is good its really clear and louder than previous Z phones but once again sony have missed the loudness trick.
After reading GSM arenas review of the C5 ultra and the M5 saying without headphones the volume levels were 'excellently high' and with headphones they fell to below average on the C5 and fell on the M5 too but it was so high on the M5 to start off with that that it still remained a good volume. So this means that the M5 is louder than the Z5 range, I had high hopes for the Z line then they tested the Z5C and it just got a average.

According to GSM Arena.
Audio quality has its ups and downs
The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact did a very good job in the first part of our audio quality test, where it's connected to an active external amplifier. The scores it got were great top to bottom but it only matched them with an average volume level so we can't quite call it perfect.
Plugging in a pair of headphones harm the stereo crosstalk but it remained decent, but it also introduced a bit of frequency response deviation and brought the volume down a notch. Not too bad of a showing, but certainly not one worth bragging about.

I can't consider myself an audiophile but I will say the Z5 audio is an.improvement over the Z5 in both clarity and volume. It doesn't approach ZTE Axon level of quality and HTC M9 volume but it is adequate for the casual listener. I have dsee hx switched on which disables all other audio settings.

how is the volume in z5 compare to z3

entra6 said:
how is the volume in z5 compare to z3
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louder than Z3 but imo could be louder yet still

RCJ89 said:
louder than Z3 but imo could be louder yet still
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Exactly, well stated.

Coming from the Z1 it's a massive improvement on just about every level: Cleaner, wider and louder. It's very good, I'd say - I've certainly enjoyed listening to music on it very much!
"Loud enough"? How loud do you need it to be? Any louder than it is and I'm sure you'd hurt your hearing: it's plenty loud.

Timaustin2000 said:
Coming from the Z1 it's a massive improvement on just about every level: Cleaner, wider and louder. It's very good, I'd say - I've certainly enjoyed listening to music on it very much!
"Loud enough"? How loud do you need it to be? Any louder than it is and I'm sure you'd hurt your hearing: it's plenty loud.
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Tbh there are many phones alot louder than the Z5 and the whole sony range and people are not complaining. There are phones from HTC, Iphone, Note 4/5/Edge Plus and especially Xiaomi and Meizu that are alot louder.

RCJ89 said:
Tbh there are many phones alot louder than the Z5 and the whole sony range and people are not complaining. There are phones from HTC, Iphone, Note 4/5/Edge Plus and especially Xiaomi and Meizu that are alot louder.
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Of that I have no doubt but do people put those phones to max volume? Do they need to? The ability and necessity are two separate things.
The Z5 is plenty loud for just about any headphone need, so far as I can make out. I'd certainly never put it to max.

Allright, so I purchased the graphite black Z5 yesterday. I have done some quick listening to the audio out of the jack through my ATH IM50 in ear monitors and haven't broken in the hardware yet. But I can definitely hear a difference from the Z3. All over the sound is very clear, it seems like a good separation and I can definitely get some really smooth low tones and crisp higher tones as well. I haven't been fooling around with the EQ yet. But feel like I don't need to.
About the loudness, I feel it is louder than the Z3 and very much loud enough to run a pair of good IEM's like the IM50's. I am listening now and have the volume two down from maximum. Probably won't be as loud with some big headphones. But any a person with a little self respect will have a headphone amp for that purpose. :good:

Timaustin2000 said:
Of that I have no doubt but do people put those phones to max volume? Do they need to? The ability and necessity are two separate things.
The Z5 is plenty loud for just about any headphone need, so far as I can make out. I'd certainly never put it to max.
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Fair enough for me its the bigger expensive headphones that make the difference with less expensive headphones like in ear or on ear it is never loud enough, in a busy street i still can hear noise around me.
I know some people who do have them on max volume definitely. I always had my note 4 on max volume and my HTC M7 and my 6S but only with lesser expensive headphones on headphones £200 and over no need to but even when are not at max they are still louder than Z5 at Max volume. Each to their own at the end of the day but sometimes its not always practical for me to carry around my larger headphones so I use in ear ones than I can just put in my pocket.

Hi,
I'm also trying to squeeze perfect sound from android. I use this portable DAC
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/audioquest-dragonfly-v12-usb-dac/
via USB OTG cable. For playback I use "USB audio player pro". It can stream very high resolution audio files. At the moment I'm listening music on Audio technica ATH M50x headphones.
Sound with external DAC is a way better than directly from audio jack

RCJ89 said:
Tbh there are many phones alot louder than the Z5 and the whole sony range and people are not complaining. There are phones from HTC, Iphone, Note 4/5/Edge Plus and especially Xiaomi and Meizu that are alot louder.
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That's unfortunate. One of the reasons I sent back my iPhone 6s, and opted to get a Z5 Compact is because I didn't think the sound of the 6s was much of a step up from my iPhone 4s. I was hoping the Z5 would be louder and fuller, especially for in-ear headphones at the gym. Might just be the headphones I've been using though. Maybe an upgrade in that department would resolve any potential issues I might have with the Z5.

I use sennheiser mm50 ip in ear phones with poweramp set to rock preset and to me the sound is nice crisp quality at loud enough volume levels
Sent from my Xperia z5 by Tapatalk

@TordFuglstad & @Timaustin2000 I've been enjoying your camera works (on 'that' thread) very much. Maybe you guys could post on the 'regular' photo thread at times
Don't get me wrong, guys. Before dropping > $100 on a pair of cans, maybe an 'audiophile' should get a cheap $50 DAC first. But it's not very convenient - we all know. That's why I'm looking at LDAC for the first time (wireless SQ is usually terrible compared to wired). LDAC could still be over-hyped, I'm willing to give it shot for the first time. But I can't find too many LDAC headphones to choose from. Any suggestions?

I read that there is no custom DAC in the Z5 (vs. Z3), but they added LDAC support. Unfortunately, I can't find almost any headphones that support it. I was really hoping they would have added it to the SBH bluetooth line by now.

How does the audio quality compare to HTC Butterfly s (which I have now) or I9505 Galaxy S4? What about HTC M9 or iPhone 6?
I take GSMArena's results with a grain of salt. I bought the Butterfly s partly based on their review saying the volume was loud and that there was no distortion. Unfortunately, while the audio quality is great at medium-high volumes the bass distorts above 12/15, and there is hissing with IEMs.
My questions are 1) do these hiss? and 2) do they distort with bass? (test track would be Daft Punk - Touch)

I'm a hardcore SONY audiophile, and while the Z5 is fantastic, the Walkman ZX2 is still by FAR my favorite mobile music player when coupled with the XBA-Z5 in-earphones ( made in Japan ) and/or Z7 headphones ( made in Japan) by Sony,
followed in close 2nd place by the newer less pricey ZX100 Walkman, which is a step up from the A series.

Lol even the A series is stomping on the Z5. No point to compare it to the zx2/1/100
Sent from my E6653

Audio quality with headphones vs Iphone Z3C/Iphone 6s

Since I´m fairly interested in buying the X Compact, could anyone or did anyone compare soundquality (with headphones) of those phones?
I´m listening to music with my phone a lot, so this is one of the most important criterias. I would really appreciate some input about the quality with headphones plugged in and also connected with Bluetooth.
I know this is a really subjective matter, but maybe someone can figure out some differences there and try to describe it.
Also plz note that this is about actually testing, listening and using the phones WITHOUT an external AMP.
You can comment comparsions with similar phones ofc, too. thx!
Edit: damit can someone plz edit the title and delete the "Iphone" in fron of Z3C thx..

I havent tried this phone yet...but overall sound quality in Xperia phones is always better due to the sound enhancement options available in stock sony music app(walkman)

Kianush said:
I havent tried this phone yet...but overall sound quality in Xperia phones is always better due to the sound enhancement options available in stock sony music app(walkman)
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Well thats what you might think.., but Sony also produces way better cameras than those they put into their own damn phones.
So just because of some marketing "enhancement" options it does not mean the quality actually is better. I already read product descpretions myself, im really about actually testing. If anyone can find some serious test and not just some well placed product advertising you can also link it. I could not find more than 2 and they didn´t really describe how they tested it.
*Edit: Also already found tests of older Sony Xperia smartphones and those clearly proof that the quality is worse than in the Iphone and many others in the same pricing range.

Also considering that CD quality music (only got arround 2 FLAC albums yet xP) is beeing played. Sony obviously supports Highres-Audio, which the 6s does not.

majus22 said:
Well thats what you might think.., but Sony also produces way better cameras than those they put into their own damn phones.
So just because of some marketing "enhancement" options it does not mean the quality actually is better. I already read product descpretions myself, im really about actually testing. If anyone can find some serious test and not just some well placed product advertising you can also link it. I could not find more than 2 and they didn´t really describe how they tested it.
*Edit: Also already found tests of older Sony Xperia smartphones and those clearly proof that the quality is worse than in the Iphone and many others in the same pricing range.
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Click to collapse
look I said I havent used x compact but I actually have used other phones as SP z2 z5C and I can assure you that that enhancement option is not just for marketing
I even port sony sound enhancements and walkman to my other phones like HTC e8 and galaxy s6 to use it when listening to my hard rock albums!

Looks ok to me
majus22 said:
Since I´m fairly interested in buying the X Compact, could anyone or did anyone compare soundquality (with headphones) of those phones?
I´m listening to music with my phone a lot, so this is one of the most important criterias. I would really appreciate some input about the quality with headphones plugged in and also connected with Bluetooth.
I know this is a really subjective matter, but maybe someone can figure out some differences there and try to describe it.
Also plz note that this is about actually testing, listening and using the phones WITHOUT an external AMP.
You can comment comparsions with similar phones ofc, too. thx!
Edit: damit can someone plz edit the title and delete the "Iphone" in fron of Z3C thx..
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Hi,
I have actually tested the X compact with the headphones. To me, the experience is pretty much the same as Z5 (which I currently own). The sound quality seems to be very nice. I do not use any sound extensions cause to my ear they distort the sound drastically. I only play FLACs and WAVs through PlayerPro app. There is one concern with the sound though - loudness. With the sensitive in-ear headphones all is ok, but I own several headphones and, for example Sony MDR-10RC are not as sensitive and in some circumstances I would prefer more power. Also some German Maestro headphones which are not as sensitive would benefit from more power. It is a minor concern, though, most of other people would be absolutely satisfied.
Now regarding the iPhone. I do have an iPhone 6 (not s) and 7. Both play comparatively well with the headphones. I wouldn't distinguish any quality advantages of either the iPhone or the X compact. However, the file management with the iPhone is complicated. And it does not support external DAC's as Sony does with an OTG cable.
Regarding the external speakers - iPhone wins hands down. Even the iPhone 6, which is mono, provides a much fuller sound with noticeably better low end (deeper bass (if you can call it bass).
I am also not sure how Sony plays the "hi-res" files. The Music app did not play my FLACs so what is that "hi-res" then? I might lack some research in this area.

my xc plays flac files fine with the music app so does my z5c and even my old arc/anzu (2011) plays flac files using the same updated music app from sony.
it also plays ogg, acc, raw wav files, and whatever except wma, although I found references to enable experimental support in the media profiling files, I dont remember exactly which but I can find it again if anyone with root would like to try and uncomment it.
High-Resolution Audio refers to a collection of digital processes and formats that allow the encoding and playback of music using higher sampling rates than the standards used in CDs.
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There is no single standard for High-Resolution Audio, but the most commonly used specifications are 24 bit/96 kHz (3.2x more data transmitted than CD) and 24 bit/192 kHz (6.5x more data transmitted than CD).
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in short sony and others will start selling highres 'rips' of the mastertapes which is recorded in much higher quality than cd.
imho sony has always been in front with audio in particular portable versions, heck they invented walkman, minidisc, the cd (along with phillips) and now possibly the next 'standard'. we will see heh. I dunno if iPhone can playback 24bit/192KHz? apple does have .aiff which is capable of hi-res, and supported by sony too.
https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/hi-res-audio

Kianush said:
look I said I havent used x compact but I actually have used other phones as SP z2 z5C and I can assure you that that enhancement option is not just for marketing
I even port sony sound enhancements and walkman to my other phones like HTC e8 and galaxy s6 to use it when listening to my hard rock albums!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Allright thx for the information!
povilkami said:
Hi,
With the sensitive in-ear headphones all is ok, but I own several headphones and, for example Sony MDR-10RC are not as sensitive and in some circumstances I would prefer more power. Also some German Maestro headphones which are not as sensitive would benefit from more power. It is a minor concern, though, most of other people would be absolutely satisfied.
Now regarding the iPhone. I do have an iPhone 6 (not s) and 7. Both play comparatively well with the headphones. I wouldn't distinguish any quality advantages of either the iPhone or the X compact. However, the file management with the iPhone is complicated. And it does not support external DAC's as Sony does with an OTG cable.
Regarding the external speakers - iPhone wins hands down. Even the iPhone 6, which is mono, provides a much fuller sound with noticeably better low end (deeper bass (if you can call it bass).
I am also not sure how Sony plays the "hi-res" files. The Music app did not play my FLACs so what is that "hi-res" then? I might lack some research in this area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So Sony has problems with the higher electrical impedance of real headphones or just loudness? What do you mean by more sensitive.
About the Filemanagement: I just figured out that I can Import all my Windows Media player playlists to Itunes so thats not too much of a problem.
But you can´t play FLACS on IPhones do you?
Since I have 98% of my music in CD quality yet, I don´t think it will make a big difference.

The Xperia might have better Bluetooth quality though.. anybody tried that?

majus22 said:
Allright thx for the information!
So Sony has problems with the higher electrical impedance of real headphones or just loudness? What do you mean by more sensitive.
About the Filemanagement: I just figured out that I can Import all my Windows Media player playlists to Itunes so thats not too much of a problem.
But you can´t play FLACS on IPhones do you?
Since I have 98% of my music in CD quality yet, I don´t think it will make a big difference.
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It is just the loudness. All my headphones are low impedance so I am not sure if the Senheiser HD-600 would be appreciated. I could test those if there is interest and I would need to buy a 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter.
Regarding the BlueTooth I have noticed that it played much better in a car than the iPhone6 (haven't tried the 7). Full bodied sound vs very lean. Specifically it was noticed with VW navigation system. With a Plantronics handsfree car device there was no notable difference. With Pioneer N-50 network player Sony has a noticebly more open and transparent sound.
Not sure about FLACs on iPhone because I gave up after a couple of atempts And I am not entirely sure what you mean by CD quality? As far as I understand its the format that matters, doesn't it? Else you just use the Cloud services (Spotify, Mixcloud), which tend to be far away from CD quality. Or is that iTunes?

povilkami said:
It is just the loudness. All my headphones are low impedance so I am not sure if the Senheiser HD-600 would be appreciated. I could test those if there is interest and I would need to buy a 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter.
Regarding the BlueTooth I have noticed that it played much better in a car than the iPhone6 (haven't tried the 7). Full bodied sound vs very lean. Specifically it was noticed with VW navigation system. With a Plantronics handsfree car device there was no notable difference. With Pioneer N-50 network player Sony has a noticebly more open and transparent sound.
Not sure about FLACs on iPhone because I gave up after a couple of atempts And I am not entirely sure what you mean by CD quality? As far as I understand its the format that matters, doesn't it? Else you just use the Cloud services (Spotify, Mixcloud), which tend to be far away from CD quality. Or is that iTunes?
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Thx for the Bluetooth testing
Sadly you can not play FLACs with Itunes, you have to convert it to some other format, that´s supposed to be equal.
Cd quality is Wav/Wave for me, so that is way better than Itunes downloads, I didn´t and I won´t ever download anything form poor quality itunes store.
But as it stands right now, I´ll get a friends Iphone anyways, since it is cheaper and I really can´t get along with the easy scretched plastic of a 400$ phone, which still bothers me way to much. With an aluminium case I wouldn´t even think about getting another phone..

Anecdotally, XC is much better than iPhone (my experience). Also, using MDR-NC31 headphones from Amazon makes this phone fantastic. I get reasonable noise cancelling without a high price or the need to charge the headphones themselves.

JenItols said:
Anecdotally, XC is much better than iPhone (my experience). Also, using MDR-NC31 headphones from Amazon makes this phone fantastic. I get reasonable noise cancelling without a high price or the need to charge the headphones themselves.
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Click to collapse
Does the MDR-NC31EM headset noise canceling function work correctly in the X Compact? Do you listen well?
Because I have seen on the Sony website, which is compatible with Z3 Compact models, but does not mention the X Compact model.
I want to buy an in-ear headset that works and plays well with this smartphone.
Thanks!