Database Users

How is the music quality (through earphones) on Lg G2?

I loved the sound quality of Galaxy S3 , due to wolfson DAC in it.
How does LG G2's music quality stand out against it?
I usually listen to Electro.
I'm only talking about the earphones.

I have a sennheiser Momentum and the sound is very clear in the lg g2, i always listening to Hardstyle ?
Sent from my LG-D802 using xda app-developers app

Sound is great for me. Klipsch x10.
LG G2

Sound quality is really nice. I was experimenting with the same earphones, and s4, HTC droid DNA and Note 2. Quality is the best in G2.
Sent from my VS980 4G using xda app-developers app

Melodycd said:
Sound quality is really nice. I was experimenting with the same earphones, and s4, HTC droid DNA and Note 2. Quality is the best in G2.
Sent from my VS980 4G using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Listening through Shure 535s it sounds better than my note II with Wolfson

Wow! nice.
I just ordered a 32 GB model and getting super hyped.
i hope you guys aren't praising it out of fanboyism

Wow! nice.
I just ordered a 32 GB model and getting super hyped.
i hope you guys aren't praising it out of fanboyism

eggman89 said:
Wow! nice.
I just ordered a 32 GB model and getting super hyped.
i hope you guys aren't praising it out of fanboyism
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TBH: I kinda hated LG before this phone. I'm no lg fanboy but I now think they make great phones.

I've not been a huge fan of LG but so far I am quite pleased with this phone.
I've listened to audio with both my SRH440's and my CX 475's. Both sound quite good. I'm impressed it's got the guts to power the SRH's.

eggman89 said:
Wow! nice.
I just ordered a 32 GB model and getting super hyped.
i hope you guys aren't praising it out of fanboyism
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well is not that thick . i dont think is good for electronic music since is very treble oriented ... theres a mod you can do to increase volume because the sound doesn't go loud to power certain headphones
i tested the LG G2 and the S4 and the S4 sounded better , rich sound with more bass .
The LG G2 is thin sounding:good: but with really good clarity

kalki1 said:
well is not that thick . i dont think is good for electronic music since is very treble oriented ... theres a mod you can do to increase volume because the sound doesn't go loud to power certain headphones
i tested the LG G2 and the S4 and the S4 sounded better , rich sound with more bass .
The LG G2 is thin sounding:good: but with really good clarity
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll take the clarity, because the other stuff can be fixed with an EQ. This is the first phone I've had that completely eliminates alternator whine with the phone charging and just goes to show the lengths LG went to to isolate the DAC. That plus Viper4Android equals a superior listening experience in my eyes (or ears).

eggman89 said:
Wow! nice.
I just ordered a 32 GB model and getting super hyped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had it for 2 weeks and I'm still super hyped First LG phone here and I really didn't expect much. But I like it more every day.

I like the sound with my headphone.
Also I like the headset the phone came with. And I like the sound over speakers. I must be honest, I don't like the phonespeakers even if I have installed the volume mod.
Sent from my LG-D802 using xda app-developers app

I'm using the UM Merlin customs with the LG G2.
As an audiophile, I regularly compare players to see which has the best compatibility with my customs and I'm stoked to have found the G2. By far, it has the least background noise/feedback due to EM interference in a phone. Using in-ear monitors, you can hear the processor and other internal components and generally there was a bit of noise coming from my S3. With the G2, such noise is virtually eliminated. The G2 uses the wolfson 5110 DAC which really decreases the noise and increases the soundstage, balance, and clarity tremendously. I would say the audio quality on this device is comparable, if not, greater than the Cowon music players I have used in the past.
Truth be told, the only reason I chose this phone was because of the audio quality. Hearing is believing.

hamisgood said:
I'm using the UM Merlin customs with the LG G2.<snip>
The G2 uses the wolfson 5110 DAC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice IEMs. I've been trying to settle on a custom for a while now. Still wearing universals (SE535 at the moment). I'll probably pull the trigger in 2014. Thinking 1964s or UMs.
What's your source for Wolfson info? When I was researching, I only found reference to the Wolfson in early rumors. The later, more confirmable info I gathered pointed to a Qualcom DAC. I haven't yet seen a proper teardown with BOM.

Excellent, but...
The sound is excellent with a good set of earphones, but the bundled "improved" Quadbeats 2 are pure crap, never seen anything worse (atleast my Quadsbeats 2)

I've been wondering this too. The only headphones I have are a pair of iPhone earbuds that my wife isn't using anymore. The sound isn't bad, but the volume seems much lower on it than my S3. I was wondering if the quality of sound is dependent upon the type of headphones you're using.

MarvinSpr said:
I must be honest, I don't like the phonespeakers even if I have installed the volume mod.
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Click to collapse
Same here

Vertigo06 said:
I've been wondering this too. The only headphones I have are a pair of iPhone earbuds that my wife isn't using anymore. The sound isn't bad, but the volume seems much lower on it than my S3. I was wondering if the quality of sound is dependent upon the type of headphones you're using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So many variables here that it's cumbersome to discuss on a forum. To say that sound quality depends on headphone type is at once wholly true and woefully inadequate.

cggorman said:
Nice IEMs. I've been trying to settle on a custom for a while now. Still wearing universals (SE535 at the moment). I'll probably pull the trigger in 2014. Thinking 1964s or UMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JH has just opened preorders for the 12 driver Roxanne which I might be looking at (in the near future) once I test run it.
cggorman said:
What's your source for Wolfson info? When I was researching, I only found reference to the Wolfson in early rumors. The later, more confirmable info I gathered pointed to a Qualcom DAC. I haven't yet seen a proper teardown with BOM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have yet to see a stripdown as of yet, but various sources point the DAC to be the wm5110. Until there is a full strip, I doubt it would be possible to verify but it is quite likely as there is definitely a significant reduction of noise.
"Fully-differential internal analogue architecture, minimal analogue signal paths and on-chip RF noise filters ensure a very high degree of noise immunity." - Wolfson PB 5110 Datasheet
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Click to collapse
Sources: http://www.enjoythemusic.com/news/0813/
http://www.head-fi.org/t/681818/lg-g2-android-phone-first-24-bit-192khz-phone-dac
http://www.alpha-audio.nl/wordpress/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Wolfson-wm5110.pdf

1 watt speaker amazing!

Totally took this phone with me to the shower and started jamming to some music, right before this I was using it with my headphones. Apparently this phone sounds better with the speaker than with the headphones. Super loud and crisp speaker lets me actually hear the music when Im showering. Good job LG..

witeboy07 said:
Totally took this phone with me to the shower and started jamming to some music, right before this I was using it with my headphones. Apparently this phone sounds better with the speaker than with the headphones. Super loud and crisp speaker lets me actually hear the music when Im showering. Good job LG..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sure you didn't have an HTC One M8 in the shower with you? :cyclops:
All kidding aside, yes the LG G3's rear facing 1 watt speaker really took me by surprise. I kinda gave up on LG's external speaker output after owning a Nexus 5 and LG G2, both with miserable sounding speakers. The G3 has by far the best sounding single mono speaker I've heard on a phone, blows away my Wife's 5S and my friends S5. :good: Of course it doesn't stand a chance against my HTC M8, but for a single firing unit, it really rocks, very loud and clear.

+1
I hv been using navigation without connecting my G3 to the car audio and the sound is loud enough.
Sent from my LG-D855 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Some headphones sound very good with this phone also. ...
I have some apple ear buds that are great with this phone. .... Really nice sound and only like 20 bucks
Sent from my SM-N900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

yup . it really is amazing.
now to find out what that review article meant with "boosting" it to 1.5 watts.

Epix4G said:
Some headphones sound very good with this phone also. ...
I have some apple ear buds that are great with this phone. .... Really nice sound and only like 20 bucks
Sent from my SM-N900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You gotta step up from Apple earbuds. Lots of good sounding ones on the market for cheap. Try Soundmagic!
I really am digging listening with the G3. I don't know what DAC it has. Anybody??

witeboy07 said:
Totally took this phone with me to the shower and started jamming to some music, right before this I was using it with my headphones. Apparently this phone sounds better with the speaker than with the headphones. Super loud and crisp speaker lets me actually hear the music when Im showering. Good job LG..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was this post intended for the m8 forum?
Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

I'm also loving the speakers on the LG G3 compare to my LG G2 and to my sister's galaxy s4.
Sent from my LG-D850 using XDA Free mobile app

fonsoyo said:
I'm also loving the speakers on the LG G3 compare to my LG G2 and to my sister's galaxy s4.
Sent from my LG-D850 using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
Speakers blow my N5 away. I love it.

witeboy07 said:
Totally took this phone with me to the shower and started jamming to some music, right before this I was using it with my headphones. Apparently this phone sounds better with the speaker than with the headphones. Super loud and crisp speaker lets me actually hear the music when Im showering. Good job LG..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my G3 a week ago, and placed it side by side with my Note 2, and turned on the radio on loudspeakers on both phones. Surprised by the difference in sound quality and loudness, I played the same music files and videos on both phone at the same time. The loudspeaker sound on G3 is a joke, compared to what I get from Note 2. I am sorry, but it's true.

MyPhoneMyRules said:
I bought my G3 a week ago, and placed it side by side with my Note 2, and turned on the radio on loudspeakers on both phones. Surprised by the difference in sound quality and loudness, I played the same music files and videos on both phone at the same time. The loudspeaker sound on G3 is a joke, compared to what I get from Note 2. I am sorry, but it's true.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u should have said.."the speaker on my g3 is a joke compared to my note 2" that way u dont speak for everyone

Speaker sounds way better than the nexus 5 I came from. The klipsch x10 sounds really good with it too.
G3

MyPhoneMyRules said:
I bought my G3 a week ago, and placed it side by side with my Note 2, and turned on the radio on loudspeakers on both phones. Surprised by the difference in sound quality and loudness, I played the same music files and videos on both phone at the same time. The loudspeaker sound on G3 is a joke, compared to what I get from Note 2. I am sorry, but it's true.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, upon further review I placed my G3 side by side with my Focal Easya Speakers, and turned the radio on loudspeakers on both. The G3 loudspeaker is a joke compared to what I get from my Easya's.

hello00 said:
u should have said.."the speaker on my g3 is a joke compared to my note 2" that way u dont speak for everyone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The difference in loudness does not leave any space for opinion. Unfortunately the loudspeaker on Note 2 produces a lot, and I mean a lot louder sound than G3. If the outcome would be slightly different, I would go ahead and say "my G3" and "my Note 2". But tbh, the difference is like night and day. So my argument is universally valid for G3 and Note 2.
---------- Post added at 06:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:34 AM ----------
Semantics said:
Actually, upon further review I placed my G3 side by side with my Focal Easya Speakers, and turned the radio on loudspeakers on both. The G3 loudspeaker is a joke compared to what I get from my Easya's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope I did not compare apples with oranges. As far as I can see, Note 2 has one speaker on the back, just like G3. So I thought it is reasonable to expect a similar speaker loudness/quality, at the very least, considering the fact that G3 is a never device.

MyPhoneMyRules said:
The difference in loudness does not leave any space for opinion. Unfortunately the loudspeaker on Note 2 produces a lot, and I mean a lot louder sound than G3. If the outcome would be slightly different, I would go ahead and say "my G3" and "my Note 2". But tbh, the difference is like night and day. So my argument is universally valid for G3 and Note 2.
---------- Post added at 06:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:34 AM ----------
I hope I did not compare apples with oranges. As far as I can see, Note 2 has one speaker on the back, just like G3. So I thought it is reasonable to expect a similar speaker loudness/quality, at the very least, considering the fact that G3 is a never device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if your note 2 is in a custom rom with a sound mod because I'm pretty sure it is so it can't be truly compared unless your running fully stock on both phone using the same music and video files then you results could be taken serious. I think that's the only way to truly test the loudness of both speakers in my opinion

TechGuy334 said:
I wonder if your note 2 is in a custom rom with a sound mod because I'm pretty sure it is so it can't be truly compared unless your running fully stock on both phone using the same music and video files then you results could be taken serious. I think that's the only way to truly test the loudness of both speakers in my opinion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, my Note 2 speaker was meh until I modified audio settings.

since the note 2 was obviously modded, then we go the modded vs modded hehe
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/development/guide-headphone-speaker-volume-booster-t2819821
just a volume mod, not like those bass enhancing etc etc mods i've used in the past for S3 which are surely available also for note 2.
since i only have STOCK s3 to compare and playing same music on both phones in MAX volume via loudspeaker, i already know the G3 is way louder and better than S3.
so, i went looking for comparisons for s3 and note 2's speaker.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_vs_galaxy_note_ii-review-830p7.php
"Loudspeaker
The Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II both scored Good marks in our loudspeaker test. The two speakers aren't tuned the same way though, the S III is louder when it comes to voice, while the Note II does better with ringtones. Their loudness is identical when it comes to music."
hence, stock note 2's loudspeaker is a JOKE(myphonemyrule's word not mine) compared to G3's.
we use loudspeaker most of the time for voice and music.
Voice, dB Pink noise/ Music, dB Ringing phone, dB Overal score
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 75.1 66.5 75.0 Good
Samsung Note II N7100 70.0 66.6 80.5 Good

radeonxt said:
since the note 2 was obviously modded, then we go the modded vs modded hehe
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/development/guide-headphone-speaker-volume-booster-t2819821
just a volume mod, not like those bass enhancing etc etc mods i've used in the past for S3 which are surely available also for note 2.
since i only have STOCK s3 to compare and playing same music on both phones in MAX volume via loudspeaker, i already know the G3 is way louder and better than S3.
so, i went looking for comparisons for s3 and note 2's speaker.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_vs_galaxy_note_ii-review-830p7.php
"Loudspeaker
The Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II both scored Good marks in our loudspeaker test. The two speakers aren't tuned the same way though, the S III is louder when it comes to voice, while the Note II does better with ringtones. Their loudness is identical when it comes to music."
hence, stock note 2's loudspeaker is a JOKE(myphonemyrule's word not mine) compared to G3's.
we use loudspeaker most of the time for voice and music.
Voice, dB Pink noise/ Music, dB Ringing phone, dB Overal score
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 75.1 66.5 75.0 Good
Samsung Note II N7100 70.0 66.6 80.5 Good
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Click to collapse
I am not sure guys, I must've been doing something differently than the reviewer. Both my G3 and Note 2 are on stock ROM. Actually Note 2 is my company phone, so it is not even rooted. I have rooted G3, but I have tested the sound while it was still not rooted. And as you can imagine, I am not happy about it, because I payed for G3, unlike Note 2. I am happy with anything about the phone, but the loudspeaker. The volume is set to max on both phones, and on Note 2 the Audio Output is set to Surround. And that's about it. I have measured the sound output using a soundmeter, and Note 2 gave me 83-87db while G3 remained at 72-77db while playing the same music file on both phones. The same goes for the FM Radio. The difference is around 10db on the output.
By the way, thank you for the mod link for G3. I will give it a try right away.

I'm pretty happy with the speaker on the g3 as well.
Sent from my SM-T320 using XDA Free mobile app

Op, please change the thread title to G3 vs Note 2 speaker comparison.
Oh, just in case anyone is wondering. My dog is definitely bigger than your dog and he's pure stock. Nope, not even rooted.
---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 PM ----------
I'm happy overall with the loudness and clarity of the speaker on my G3. Just need something loud and clear enough to hear YouTube vids and such. I have a bluetooth speaker if I need more clarity and volume.
I think its absolutely hilarious when people come in here bashing another phones external speaker. I also have an M8. You know what? It's just 2 little freakin' cellphone speakers. People act like their carrying around an expensive home theater system. LMAO! They all really sound like poop. [emoji33] About all you can ask for is they're loud enough to hear and don't distort. The G3 fits the bill. [emoji6]

S7 Edge sound quality

Hi There,
First time posting here =]
I wanna make a move and ditch that boring iPhone and get the Galaxy S7 Edge.
I was wondering how is the sound output through the 3.5mm port compared to that of the iPhone.
When i plug my iPhone into a headset or my car's aux port, i get a loud and clear output, but when i used my brother's Nexus 5 or 5X, eventhough the output was as clear as the iPhone's, it wasn't as loud.
I was wondering where the S7 falls in this equation.
Cheers!

Wanting to know this also. Having a custom dsp inside hopefully the sound is decent somewhat

Am waiting to know the details as well before I shell out the dough. Everything else about the S7 sounds amazing, so, hoping they have really upgraded the audio dac from S6 era, and meet LG G5s B&O Dac half way if not more.

It uses Sound Alive and it's decent. V4A coupled with Dolby Atmos will obviously be better though.
I can only compare it to the M9 and S5, M9 being my last phone. S5 being my last Samsung phone. I can say that the speaker quality is good and it's surprisingly loud. I don't need to cup my hand over it.

ahrion said:
It uses Sound Alive and it's decent. V4A coupled with Dolby Atmos will obviously be better though.
I can only compare it to the M9 and S5, M9 being my last phone. S5 being my last Samsung phone. I can say that the speaker quality is good and it's surprisingly loud. I don't need to cup my hand over it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it work system wide ?? Can you verify if its active when using SoundCloud please ??

I plugged in my $30 Xiaomi pistons into my S7 edge, iPhone 6s, S6 edge, Nexus 5x, and Nexus 6. I'm no audiofile and I don't know jack feces about audio quality but I thought I'd have a listen. Anyways here's the differences that I could(n't) tell between them:
The S7, S6, and 6s sounded the same to me. Pretty good.
The Nexus 5x sounds a tiny bit different to me but I'm not sure in what way. Still good though.
The Nexus 6 sounded the worst to me, but it's by no means bad in my opinion. Again, I can't put my tongue on what it is that sounds different or why it sounds different.
Bottom line, S7 edge sounds find through headphones if you're just the average music listener.

idksomuch said:
I plugged in my $30 Xiaomi pistons into my S7 edge, iPhone 6s, S6 edge, Nexus 5x, and Nexus 6. I'm no audiofile and I don't know jack feces about audio quality but I thought I'd have a listen. Anyways here's the differences that I could(n't) tell between them:
The S7, S6, and 6s sounded the same to me. Pretty good.
The Nexus 5x sounds a tiny bit different to me but I'm not sure in what way. Still good though.
The Nexus 6 sounded the worst to me, but it's by no means bad in my opinion. Again, I can't put my tongue on what it is that sounds different or why it sounds different.
Bottom line, S7 edge sounds find through headphones if you're just the average music listener.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How was the volume compared to the iphone (with earphones)?
Btw is it SD or Exynos?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DroidBiteApple said:
How was the volume compared to the iphone (with earphones)?
Btw is it SD or Exynos?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Snapdragon version on T-Mobile. So I don't know if by volume you meant how loud the phone gets or something else. Anyways I listened to how loud the phones got on max volume and I damn well blew out my eardrums so thanks a lot you poopy face
In all seriousness though, the iPhone 6s sounded just barely louder than the S7 and the S6 edge is a quieter. I didn't try with the Nexus though. Brb I think my ears are bleeding.

idksomuch said:
I have the Snapdragon version on T-Mobile. So I don't know if by volume you meant how loud the phone gets or something else. Anyways I listened to how loud the phones got on max volume and I damn well blew out my eardrums so thanks a lot you poopy face
In all seriousness though, the iPhone 6s sounded just barely louder than the S7 and the S6 edge is a quieter. I didn't try with the Nexus though. Brb I think my ears are bleeding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha! Sorry about that!
And yeah i meant how loud it can get
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The effects are system wide.

DroidBiteApple said:
How was the volume compared to the iphone (with earphones)?
Btw is it SD or Exynos?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Compare to iPhone 6s Plus the sound quality from phone jack are about same but Galaxy s7 has better eq setting. iPhone 6s Plus volume is 20 percent larger tho. I mean thro head phone not loud speaker
---------- Post added at 06:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:06 PM ----------
DroidBiteApple said:
How was the volume compared to the iphone (with earphones)?
Btw is it SD or Exynos?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I mean the sd version .

It's 20% less loud then the iPhone through the headphone jack? It doesn't have a loud digital amp then, that is a bummer. I was hoping it could drive a decent pair of over-ear headphones like my ipod can.

IPhones generally are loud out of the box. Most android don't get near as loud. Quality wise, idk about the snapdragon variant but I know Samsung with the exynos pairs a Wolfson dac...the dac in the s6 could handle loudesound but Samsung just didn't make it that loud for Quality purposes
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

MDaveUK said:
It's 20% less loud then the iPhone through the headphone jack? It doesn't have a loud digital amp then, that is a bummer. I was hoping it could drive a decent pair of over-ear headphones like my ipod can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using a Sony xda-a3 and it can get very loud on Galaxy s7. Not sure about over ear tho

bear in mind that the SD 820 version of the s7/s7 edge will have the integrated QualcommsDAC and I think the exynos version of the phone will use the much better WOLFSON DAC. I have heard both variants through headphones and the exynos version sounds louder and more richer.

The S7 Edge is louder than my last phone the S5. I would say that Samsung improved the speaker in the S7 Edge.
I would have loved to see a dual speaker on the S7 Edge. The other speaker could have went where the headphone jack is and the headphone jack could be up top in between the Sim card drawer and microphone.
I'm not a fan (ascetic wise) of front facing speakers on a phone. Yeah I know the sound would be better but the phone loses it elegance.

DroidBiteApple said:
Hi There,
First time posting here =]
I wanna make a move and ditch that boring iPhone and get the Galaxy S7 Edge.
I was wondering how is the sound output through the 3.5mm port compared to that of the iPhone.
When i plug my iPhone into a headset or my car's aux port, i get a loud and clear output, but when i used my brother's Nexus 5 or 5X, eventhough the output was as clear as the iPhone's, it wasn't as loud.
I was wondering where the S7 falls in this equation.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from the Harmon Kardon M8 and I'm seriously considering trying to find another phone because the audio is so "meh" on the S7. It's about half as loud as the M8, the sound is not nearly as clear. I listen to classical music and have never had a problem until this phone. I plugged it into the audio jack in my car today and had to turn both the car and phone volume all the way up in order to even hear any minorly quiet parts of the opera I was listening to (Fidelio isn't exactly quiet).
The tracks are muddy most of the time and certain vocal timbres are randomly accentuated, overpowering the rest of the track.
I understand that Samsung isn't in the market to satisfy audiophiles with their audio quality, but it's a far cry from acceptable in my mind.
I will say that pop music provides a much better experience as it's recorded at higher volumes, but it's still extremely lacking.
Just to clarify, I tried every audio mode and even tried modifying the decibel levels manually with very little noticeable variation. On the flip side, I tired out the LG V10 a couple of weeks ago and it's brilliant. I haven't heard better audio in a phone. Too bad it's design and battery life is under par.

roycedavies said:
I came from the Harmon Kardon M8 and I'm seriously considering trying to find another phone because the audio is so "meh" on the S7. It's about half as loud as the M8, the sound is not nearly as clear. I listen to classical music and have never had a problem until this phone. I plugged it into the audio jack in my car today and had to turn both the car and phone volume all the way up in order to even hear any minorly quiet parts of the opera I was listening to (Fidelio isn't exactly quiet).
The tracks are muddy most of the time and certain vocal timbres are randomly accentuated, overpowering the rest of the track.
I understand that Samsung isn't in the market to satisfy audiophiles with their audio quality, but it's a far cry from acceptable in my mind.
I will say that pop music provides a much better experience as it's recorded at higher volumes, but it's still extremely lacking.
Just to clarify, I tried every audio mode and even tried modifying the decibel levels manually with very little noticeable variation. On the flip side, I tired out the LG V10 a couple of weeks ago and it's brilliant. I haven't heard better audio in a phone. Too bad it's design and battery life is under par.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry to hear that.
I don't understand why in 2016 we can't get a "complete" all rounded device..
It just feels like we have to settle for an almost perfect device, even though we pay a hefty price for it...
By the way are you using the SD version or the Exynos version?
I heard that the Exynos version has a supposedly better DAC... Maybe an owner can comment?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would not compare anything with a nexus 5 (not sure about 5x). The Nexus 5 and 6 were good at performance, but they really skimped out on everything else like camera, battery life (n5), sound, and probably some other things but can't think off the top of my head. Point being, these early nexus phones should be more considered like entry/beta phones for google to help develop their UI and iron out their OS.
Think about it... what's the best way to get real life user data to help develop something quick enough to catch up to their competitors? Build cheap phones with a good enough processor/memory to run their OS.
Don't get me wrong, they are great performance phones, but hardware specs... they skimped... I'm not even sure if they had a stock built in equalizer for the nexus series, but that wasn't really what they were aiming to achieve unlike the HTC series with their boom,beats,dolby,harmon, etc sounds they partnered up with.
Just my 2 cents.

DroidBiteApple said:
I'm sorry to hear that.
I don't understand why in 2016 we can't get a "complete" all rounded device..
It just feels like we have to settle for an almost perfect device, even though we pay a hefty price for it...
By the way are you using the SD version or the Exynos version?
I heard that the Exynos version has a supposedly better DAC... Maybe an owner can comment?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I agree with you about the almost perfect phone situation. I must say that compared to the phones already on the market, the S7 is pretty amazing. Maybe I am just spoiled from using my M8.
To answer your question, I was unaware there were different versions so I do not know which one I am using. All I know is that it's black and from At&t. It's a 32gb model all stock. Haven't even unlocked the bootloader yet.

Is it worth buying this phone only for the audio?? And a few more questions

Hi. My note 4 is making me insane with all the lag and etc and it's near dying! And the camera is broken(not physically)
First. Please don't answer this question if you've never used an iPhone/nexus
Does it lag(if you had v10 or g5)? People told me no about Samsung s7 and note 7 but they do lag! They told me no about note 4 too but it's laggier than a 10 year old computer with a failing hdd. The keyboard is insane
Second: does the DAC ACTUALLY make a difference? Specially for a half-avarage person. I'm not an audiophile but I do care about Audio quality. But for example on mynote 4 I can't tell the difference between flac and mp3 (@320kbps).
But I do hear a difference Between 120kbps and flac with my Sennheiser cx 1.00 on some songs. I currently don't have any good headphones but I'm going to buy audio Technica 500x or m40x
Also as I listen to music on low volume I don't need an AMP or anything. Heck I can tell the name of the song that's playing on the tv o on the background of a movie while I'm in my room listening to music with headphones xD
And there's no background noise on my note 4. Or my PC! I don't understand why people complain about noise on internal DACs
I heard on somewhere that the v10 it barely makes a difference in Audio other than high volume
Third: how is LG at delivering software updates? Is LG fast? Samsung is awful at update! Specially when they have 1000 versions of the same phone
My other choices are iPhone 7+ or Pixel xl (I'll buy iPhone as a last resort as I don't likr apple and IOS although it's smooth)
Thanks Awesome XDA community I Love this site!

kamranhaghighi said:
Hi. My note 4 is making me insane with all the lag and etc and it's near dying! And the camera is broken(not physically)
First. Please don't answer this question if you've never used an iPhone/nexus
Does it lag(if you had v10 or g5)? People told me no about Samsung s7 and note 7 but they do lag! They told me no about note 4 too but it's laggier than a 10 year old computer with a failing hdd. The keyboard is insane
Second: does the DAC ACTUALLY make a difference? Specially for a half-avarage person. I'm not an audiophile but I do care about Audio quality. But for example on mynote 4 I can't tell the difference between flac and mp3 (@320kbps).
But I do hear a difference Between 120kbps and flac with my Sennheiser cx 1.00 on some songs. I currently don't have any good headphones but I'm going to buy audio Technica 500x or m40x
Also as I listen to music on low volume I don't need an AMP or anything. Heck I can tell the name of the song that's playing on the tv o on the background of a movie while I'm in my room listening to music with headphones xD
And there's no background noise on my note 4. Or my PC! I don't understand why people complain about noise on internal DACs
I heard on somewhere that the v10 it barely makes a difference in Audio other than high volume
Third: how is LG at delivering software updates? Is LG fast? Samsung is awful at update! Specially when they have 1000 versions of the same phone
My other choices are iPhone 7+ or Pixel xl (I'll buy iPhone as a last resort as I don't likr apple and IOS although it's smooth)
Thanks Awesome XDA community I Love this site!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree about the Note 4 lag, as I have a Developer Edition of the phone. Even though I can wipe it and install a custom ROM, within a month it is acting slow and lagy. Im always having to click Close all open app.
When I tried out the Note 7 a few times in the store, I wasn't really impressed with it, and not big on the curved screen.
So I am also hold hope that the V20 will be a good upgrade (despite it will probably never get root access).
I'm interested in it for the camera, audio quality, notification display, and Android 7. As a previous owner of a Note 2 & 3, I have yet to see Samsung release updates in a timely manner.
The only thing I wish the V20 had was an AMOLED display, as I've really gotten use to those over the years.

FAUguy said:
I agree about the Note 4 lag, as I have a Developer Edition of the phone. Even though I can wipe it and install a custom ROM, within a month it is acting slow and lagy. Im always having to click Close all open app.
When I tried out the Note 7 a few times in the store, I wasn't really impressed with it, and not big on the curved screen.
So I am also hold hope that the V20 will be a good upgrade (despite it will probably never get root access).
I'm interested in it for the camera, audio quality, notification display, and Android 7. As a previous owner of a Note 2 & 3, I have yet to see Samsung release updates in a timely manner.
The only thing I wish the V20 had was an AMOLED display, as I've really gotten use to those over the years.
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Well according to YouTube it's fast and awesome!
But why wouldn't it get root? I personally find less and less reason to root as android gets better. I didn't even bother rooting my note 4 after an OTA.
Oh and I'm actually glad they didn't use amoled. All the AMOLEDs I've seen even at maximum brightness kins of leave a tail or lag at darks. It's like when I swipe in rhe gallery or scroll or watch movies etc. The blacks kind of leave a purpleish tint behind. It's a million times less than my s4 but still pretty anoyying (I sold my s4 and bought a Nexus 4 afterwards. Best decision I ever made)
Btw I also hope that they come with the earbuds in my country if not I would be very heartbroken and I would have to buy a headphone my self ( an 80$ headphone costs 185~$ in my country. No idea why headphones are so expensive)

i am currently using note 5 and i am ready to change my phone very very tired of deleting or transferring stuff because of the storage .The new V20 will be good specially with the audio but same thing as mentioned up i don't have good headphone i might go for Sony's MDR-100ABN but at the moment i don't care about the audio capabilities. The only thing is i like my phone to be rooted but i am worried about is the locked bootloader and the dead development section so i guess Pixel XL will be a safer option for me but again storage will be an issue for me.

Well. To me, the best smartphone Samsung has ever came up with is the Samsung Galaxy s5, the others are CR*P ... I still using my S5 but i think it is time to move on and LG v20 seems like a perfect candidate. I also have a LG G3 and it is even faster than my Galaxy s5. So, why wouldnt i love the V20 (that if it doesnt come with any issues of course lol). I do like AMOLED screen but i hate burn-in image, and i have developed burn in image on all my samsungs (s2, s3, s4 s5, note 2, note 3, and note 4) , yet with the G2, G3, G4, G5 and V10 I have never had burn in image. so i can sacrifice the pure black and the extreme contrast as long as i dont get burn in image. LOL AMOLED screens are way more expensive than IPS screens.
Anyway, i do believe that the V20 could be a great option. But i will buy it after 2 month of release, since this time i only have one chance to buy the phone. I willl wait to see if there will be root, roms and other developments, and no less important, if it comes with any major issues .

joseguillen1994 said:
Well. To me, the best smartphone Samsung has ever came up with is the Samsung Galaxy s5, the others are CR*P ... I still using my S5 but i think it is time to move on and LG v20 seems like a perfect candidate. I also have a LG G3 and it is even faster than my Galaxy s5. So, why wouldnt i love the V20 (that if it doesnt come with any issues of course lol). I do like AMOLED screen but i hate burn-in image, and i have developed burn in image on all my samsungs (s2, s3, s4 s5, note 2, note 3, and note 4) , yet with the G2, G3, G4, G5 and V10 I have never had burn in image. so i can sacrifice the pure black and the extreme contrast as long as i dont get burn in image. LOL AMOLED screens are way more expensive than IPS screens.
Anyway, i do believe that the V20 could be a great option. But i will buy it after 2 month of release, since this time i only have one chance to buy the phone. I willl wait to see if there will be root, roms and other developments, and no less important, if it comes with any major issues .
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I wad just taking another look at Motorola and moto z force sounds amazing!
Shatterproof display? Hot swappable battery? Maybe later a dac/amp mod!
Too sad that the mod acts as a power bank(afaik 80% wasted as heat and it just wears the unreplaceable internal battery further)
And I won't be able to buy a phone after a year. I assume it will take a year or a year and a half(I can handle 1.5years? Maybe) for it to lose so much capacity that I'll have to hug the wall! My note 4 has 2h SoT after 1.5 years but it's easily replaceable
I don't think there's a reason behind unreplaceable battery other than making us pay more. I mean come on lg does it good! So did note 4 and htc sensation(I know it's old. But it has an amazingly soft button for it to release and it's aluminum)
And how much space does a button waste?
Waterproofing however... S5 is waterproof and has a removable battery(Am I right?) But still...

I currently am using my S5 Active, have been for awhile. I actually bought it off eBay for $200 in brand new condition. This guy is definitely waterproof and has taken more than a dozen drops that i would consider iPhone screen shattering drops - still no scratches on my screen. Battery has been killing me recently though, can't last more than half a day (granted, I am texting and using fb messenger a lot). But other issues such as lag and random freezes have been occurring much more often now. But the nice thing is I have it rooted.
So I could care less about having a locked bootloader, but having a root for the V20 would be amazing. Still- I will be buying the v20 whether it is going to have a locked/unlocked bootloader and even if it won't have a root method. I think this phone is definitely more than a worthy upgrade especially from an S5.

does the DAC only work with the stock music player? what happens when using other music players or soundcloud, youtube,....?

On V10 the dac worked on all audio programs after MM update
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

ok thanks. i asked because on the Axon 7 it wasn´t so, right?

Not sure with the Axon.
There's an high impedance mode too but it depends on your headphones, I remember for the V10 I bought a little cable that automatically enabled high impedance on any headphones. The volume was amazing
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

NO! You will regret buying a LG phone! No root, no bootloader unlock and no custom ROM..You will be glad if it doesn't bootloop 6 months later..

had a g2 that was rooted and had tons of development and never boot looped... but thanks!
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7 using Tapatalk

well the Note 4 is one of the laggiest phones I have ever had. My current S7 Edge is not what I would call laggy at all. However it is not as fast as the Nexus 6 that I had.
for LG, i had the G2, G3, and V10. I liked the G2 but did not have it long. The G3 is still in use every day, but my son has it, so not my daily driver, but when I pick it up, it does not seem laggy. The V10 was not laggy, but it drank battery juice. I had to swap a battery around 5pm every day. That got annoying.
I was also considering the Moto Z Force, since it will be super quick. But then the V20 will be bigger and have some cool features, still a toss up for me

CadillacMike said:
well the Note 4 is one of the laggiest phones I have ever had. My current S7 Edge is not what I would call laggy at all. However it is not as fast as the Nexus 6 that I had.
for LG, i had the G2, G3, and V10. I liked the G2 but did not have it long. The G3 is still in use every day, but my son has it, so not my daily driver, but when I pick it up, it does not seem laggy. The V10 was not laggy, but it drank battery juice. I had to swap a battery around 5pm every day. That got annoying.
I was also considering the Moto Z Force, since it will be super quick. But then the V20 will be bigger and have some cool features, still a toss up for me
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I agree. S7E is "fast", but no way it feels as fluid as the Nexus, even just a Nexus 6. The LG phones has always been snappy for me, possibly due to the lighter skin on top.
For me, V20 has checked out almost all boxes for me. I could wish for a Samsung-like fast camera, but I can't live without the ultra wide angle now. The vibrator isn't as solid as the flagship counterpart (note, S7, iPhone 7). I would like front facing speakers, but it's not a standard feature. As with all phones, there are small things I can pick on, but for 95% of the phone, I couldn't be happier.
Back to the original question - Yes, I think it's worth it if you use it for music all the time. I can definitely hear a difference from the Quad DAC vs a normal phone or even a phone that has a wolfson DAC. I am only using some alright in ear monitor - Shure SE215 and Monster Turbine Pro.

I remember the audio on my V10 being fantastic, so I would assume the V20 will be even better

2 things that drove me nuts about the V10 and keeps me from considering the V20 is the battery life and the reception that the V10 got. I'm waiting for you all to get them in your hands and start reporting on these 2 things..

Battery is alright so far, things are still settling. Audio is fantastic!

Hi, I'm a musician and I hope I can clarify several things for you:
kamranhaghighi said:
Second: does the DAC ACTUALLY make a difference? Specially for a half-avarage person. I'm not an audiophile but I do care about Audio quality. But for example on mynote 4 I can't tell the difference between flac and mp3 (@320kbps). But I do hear a difference Between 120kbps and flac with my Sennheiser cx 1.00 on some songs. I currently don't have any good headphones but I'm going to buy audio Technica 500x or m40x
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A good DAC will definitely improve the sound quality, no matter the source is mp3 or lossless. However you must understand that for mp3 files a good DAC is totally overkill, which means the improvement would be limited, much less than the improvement of a lossless source. On the other hand, only several technologies like Sony's DSEE HX can improve/repair the quality of lossy files to a certain level and then output as Hi-Res audio.
Using higher quality equipment most of the time makes you aware more of the audio source quality differences, so that's why there is no turning back on equipment
Also as I listen to music on low volume I don't need an AMP or anything. Heck I can tell the name of the song that's playing on the tv o on the background of a movie while I'm in my room listening to music with headphones xD
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Yes an AMP amplifies the volume, but this is not it's only job. Every AMP has it's own acoustic characteristics and that's why there are AMPs of different price tags. An AMP also affects the tone color, spectrum balance, noise ...etc no matter you're listening at high or low volume. However if you actually always listen to music and all the outer sounds at the same time then perhaps it really doesn't matter to you.
And there's no background noise on my note 4. Or my PC! I don't understand why people complain about noise on internal DACs
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If you are speaking about the V20's advertisement of 130dB signal noise ratio (SNR), then actually the "noise" here means unwanted sound only during the signal process, which normal consumers won't care about.
If you are speaking about the noises that people sometimes can hear in the headphone or speaker, they actually have so many possible causes that takes examinations to resolve them, can't simply blame internal DAC.
V20's audio features is attractive enough for me to buy, not only the playback capability but also the HD recording feature. As for casual listeners it will definitely provide better listening experience, but it's full potential can only be discovered using high quality source files and good headphones. Oh, and perhaps a nice listening environment or a noise isolating/canceling headphone

^nice write up and welcome aboard!

[Video] Any way to stop mic clipping in loud environments? - Such as a live band?

I play in a band....When I record us playing live, or other bands, it doesn't distort, but there is a horrible clipping noise that sounds like a "quack" or "quirk" noise when the audio threshold is breached. It was like this on MM and I was hoping Nougat would be better, but there is no change.
On my last 5 phones, this NEVER happened (Nexus 6p, Moto X Pure, Galaxy S7 Edge, S6, and HTC One M9). Actually, I haven't really had this problem since 2013. My other band members iPhones are perfectly clear as well.... But my recordings are virtually useless due to this horrible noise every few seconds. Regular, everyday stuff is fine - it's just loud band settings.
Anyone know of anything that might help? I'm on the stock ROM, but rooted if I need to change anything?
Here is an example - a 25 second clip of my band on YouTube:

It sounds like the mic is being over driven and clipping/distorting. How close is the phone to the bass?

gpz1100 said:
It sounds like the mic is being over driven and clipping/distorting. How close is the phone to the bass?
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The bass is completely on the opposite side of the stage, about 25 feet away in this video. We didn't use subs at this gig, and my phone was about 5 feet behind the main speakers sitting on a towel on a concrete floor.
To me, it doesn't appear to be the bass.. It's when the drummer is hitting the snare, which is opposite of when the bass is usually hitting. The snare is usually the loudest thing on the stage.
I've tried recording at every show since I've had my phone around August or September (23 - 25 shows)....I've had it at all different points behind the speakers, in front of the speakers, on the bass side, behind everything, in peoples hands..... ect... It just doesn't like loud music.
I was wondering if there was a way to up the sensitivity of the mic, or DB where it is rated?
I've been recording my band/s for the past 7 or 8 years (ever since the iPhone 4s days). Had some that distorted bad, but usually I could tell it was the bass. But ever since I had my first HTC M7, about 2013, I haven't had any issues until now with the A7.

Did you find any solution? I go to live shows a lot, and sometimes I like to record one or two songs, I used to have Motorola g4 plus and the audio was OK, but I just bought the g5 plus and the audio is totally garbage! :crying:

royAment said:
Did you find any solution? I go to live shows a lot, and sometimes I like to record one or two songs, I used to have Motorola g4 plus and the audio was OK, but I just bought the g5 plus and the audio is totally garbage! :crying:
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No, but I haven't tried for a few weeks - since updating to 7.1.1, but it was this way on 7.0, so I don't foresee it any better.
My friends with iPhones (6-7) and Galaxy S6/S7's all sound fine.... Mine doesn't when recording something at high volume.

tele_jas said:
No, but I haven't tried for a few weeks - since updating to 7.1.1, but it was this way on 7.0, so I don't foresee it any better.
My friends with iPhones (6-7) and Galaxy S6/S7's all sound fine.... Mine doesn't when recording something at high volume.
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I almost thought about trading for a LG v20 (I found on Craigslist) or upgrading to the S8 when it's out, but I really like this phone. I'm going to try a different camera or something?

tele_jas said:
I play in a band....When I record us playing live, or other bands, it doesn't distort, but there is a horrible clipping noise that sounds like a "quack" or "quirk" noise when the audio threshold is breached. It was like this on MM and I was hoping Nougat would be better, but there is no change.
On my last 5 phones, this NEVER happened (Nexus 6p, Moto X Pure, Galaxy S7 Edge, S6, and HTC One M9). Actually, I haven't really had this problem since 2013. My other band members iPhones are perfectly clear as well.... But my recordings are virtually useless due to this horrible noise every few seconds. Regular, everyday stuff is fine - it's just loud band settings.
Anyone know of anything that might help? I'm on the stock ROM, but rooted if I need to change anything?
Here is an example - a 25 second clip of my band on YouTube:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can say I don't have this problem, I have been into some loud environments and even recorded a Big Band and the sound was fine; probably I will go tonight to a club or something and can test as well, but as for the tests I have done before regarding this topic, I haven't found any issue. My device is A2017G.

Galaxo60 said:
I can say I don't have this problem, I have been into some loud environments and even recorded a Big Band and the sound was fine; probably I will go tonight to a club or something and can test as well, but as for the tests I have done before regarding this topic, I haven't found any issue. My device is A2017G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm, this is the 2nd Axon 7 I've had - and both had the same issue. Maybe it's just louder behind the speakers?
I may try setting it out in front, 10 or 20 feet back and see how that turns out? It still irritates me a little, because my other phones didn't do this when I'd record the same way and place. Even going back 4 or 5 years ago to my HTC M7.

tele_jas said:
Hmmmm, this is the 2nd Axon 7 I've had - and both had the same issue. Maybe it's just louder behind the speakers?
I may try setting it out in front, 10 or 20 feet back and see how that turns out? It still irritates me a little, because my other phones didn't do this when I'd record the same way and place. Even going back 4 or 5 years ago to my HTC M7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as I promised, I recorded a video yesterday night in a loud environment; I was no more than 1-2 from one of the speakers, and I think the quality is pretty decent:
https://goo.gl/photos/XXkdG1Z1M4ja1mAd8
P.D.: The video seems a little blurry, but I didn't even focus anything, I just grabbed the phone out and start to record to test the audio and I didn't care about image quality.

I've recorded live bands and the sound has been fine, far better than on any previous phone, but I haven't tried with version 7.
https://youtu.be/b4GvXSBA-7Q

BritSwedeGuy said:
I've recorded live bands and the sound has been fine, far better than on any previous phone, but I haven't tried with version 7.
https://youtu.be/b4GvXSBA-7Q
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that using the stock camera/video?
I tried a couple different cameras from the playstore, one was no different than stock, one was horribly worse.

tele_jas said:
Is that using the stock camera/video?
I tried a couple different cameras from the playstore, one was no different than stock, one was horribly worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock A2017G

tele_jas said:
Is that using the stock camera/video?
I tried a couple different cameras from the playstore, one was no different than stock, one was horribly worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BritSwedeGuy said:
Stock A2017G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same

Well, I recorded more video of my band this weekend. I believe the issue comes form the side of the stage I'm on required the microphone to point "towards" the stage, instead of away.....So it's extra sensitive. I recorded half a song with it one way, flipped it over and finished out the song. The half with the mic pointed away only clipped one time. The half with it pointed towards us, clipped about ever time my drummer hit the snare.
Still not as clear as my drummers wife and her S7, but livable now.
I also read you can put scotch tape over the mic and it'll help too?

[UPDATE]
Mid- last week, I made the switch from stock, to LOs.... Just tested the recording, and the problems I was experiencing in stock, with clipping, don't exist in LOs... Not sure why, but they're all gone!
I recorded several songs tonight, at a louder volume, with no clipping at all.
Just throwing this out there.