Database Users

Any audiophiles? Nexus 7 DAC quality

Has anyone gotten to test the sound quality through headphones on these tablets?
I already pre-ordered and just wanted to know.

Apparently, it's quite bad. People are saying mp3 players have better sound quality, but I wouldn't know.

Pretty much every reference Tegra 3 device has abysmal headphone-out sound quality. I wish I had known this before preordering. I will certainly be returning it.
Looks like there is no way to cancel preorders, and there is a 15% restocking fee. Should not have bought into the hype

bradsh1 said:
Pretty much every reference Tegra 3 device has abysmal headphone-out sound quality. I wish I had known this before preordering. I will certainly be returning it.
Looks like there is no way to cancel preorders, and there is a 15% restocking fee. Should not have bought into the hype
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You can refuse delivery.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Do they refund you then?

bradsh1 said:
Do they refund you then?
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You are supposed to get a refund though I'm not sure if you get a refund on the shipping fees.

We need voodoo sound and beats ahdio
Sent on my Llama on my way to the Googleplex Center so I can get 64 Gig N7 Tab

CooLoserTech said:
We need voodoo sound and beats ahdio
Sent on my Llama on my way to the Googleplex Center so I can get 64 Gig N7 Tab
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from what i've been reading, voodoo and beats won't do a thing. All they do is add software, and beats is a joke, it's just an equalizer, volume+ can do the same thing from the market on any device.
the DAC is hardware, and if it sucks, it sucks.
i'm NOT an audiofile so i'm just hoping that it's good enough with my headphones and comparable to my tegra2 asus transformer which was fine for me.

According to the Jelly Bean developer notes:
developer.android.com/about/versions/jelly-bean.html
USB Audio
USB audio output support allows hardware vendors to build hardware such as audio docks that interface with Android devices. This functionality is also exposed with the Android Open Accessory Development Kit (ADK) to give all developers the chance to create their own hardware.
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So I assume that audiophiles should be able to find quality USB solutions for audio output. While it would be nice to have a quality DAC built in, this lets them cut costs for production and still appease those who want quality sound.

doesnt support standardized usb dacs, requires proprietary android dock. also, its onerous to have to carry around a usb fix to a hardware problem

I'm surprised that no one has come up with a line out cable similar to the ones for iPods albeit using the micro-sd connectors. Hopefully this will spur some development of one so that people can use external pocket amps for some decent quality audio.

if you look at the teardown, it will be very low noise at least. They routed the pathways at the edge of the board to cut down cross talk.

When I get my Nexus 7 I'll see if I can add support for USB DACs in my kernel, no promises though.

ben1066 said:
When I get my Nexus 7 I'll see if I can add support for USB DACs in my kernel, no promises though.
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Only using a pair of Etymotic HF5's and they work pretty well un-amped on the razr so far but it would be nice as I'm looking to get a pair of ATH-m50's in the near future hopefully.

this review seems to say that audio is equivalent to the ipad: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/06/nexus-7-review/
not sure which ipad she's referring to though, i've only had experience with audio on the new ipad which is superb despite being a monospeaker, which is similar to the audio on the transformer prime

If the DAC is bad then we will have horrible sounds regardless.

dragonfire353 said:
this review seems to say that audio is equivalent to the ipad: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/06/nexus-7-review/
not sure which ipad she's referring to though, i've only had experience with audio on the new ipad which is superb despite being a monospeaker, which is similar to the audio on the transformer prime
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The majority of reviewers are absolute morons, offering little more than subjective opinions and "this is good, this is good". Very few and far between are reviewers like GSMArena and anandtech which actually measure things. GSMArena specifically, as they do objective tests with cameras, including synthetic tests with testing posters and determining actual resolution and color reproduction in a controlled environment. And obviously audio factors into this.
Majority of reviewers will say things like "DERR, DA SOUNDS IS GOOD" or "IT MAKES NOISES?? GOOD OK". This reviewer you linked is referring to the speakers and talking about audio quality. Well, that's ridiculous. Who cares about the tiny little garbage speakers on the actual device? They are going to sound terrible no matter what. That's physics. Did you measure SPL, frequency response, harmonic distortion, power output, noise levels, ANYTHING? No? You made literally no objective measurements whatsoever? You listened with your stupid ears and gave a thumbs up? Abysmal reviewing.
Very few reviewers actually bother with scientific rigor or objective measurements anymore because they don't even understand these concepts themselves. They practically just copy and paste the press releases, stamp a thumbs up or thumbs down on it, and call it a day.
Imagine if you saw a video card review and they didn't do any benchmarks, they just said "the card is pretty. I plugged it in, and it seemed to play call of duty pretty good on high settings".

If you want good audio quality the Galaxy Tab 2 and its wolfsen 1811 is far superior. That said, a tablet seems better suited for usb out and dock listening anyway. Most people probably have phones with good enough audio quality for them.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Lol she probably found her favorite song on YouTube and played the hd version in order to test the audio quality. if it's recorded in a crappy lossy format, it will sound bad regardless of what you use as the output.
I always laugh when I see people using beats by dre hoping it will make their 256kbps mp3's sound magically good.

bradsh1 said:
The majority of reviewers are absolute morons, offering little more than subjective opinions and "this is good, this is good". Very few and far between are reviewers like GSMArena and anandtech which actually measure things. GSMArena specifically, as they do objective tests with cameras, including synthetic tests with testing posters and determining actual resolution and color reproduction in a controlled environment. And obviously audio factors into this.
Majority of reviewers will say things like "DERR, DA SOUNDS IS GOOD" or "IT MAKES NOISES?? GOOD OK". This reviewer you linked is referring to the speakers and talking about audio quality. Well, that's ridiculous. Who cares about the tiny little garbage speakers on the actual device? They are going to sound terrible no matter what. That's physics. Did you measure SPL, frequency response, harmonic distortion, power output, noise levels, ANYTHING? No? You made literally no objective measurements whatsoever? You listened with your stupid ears and gave a thumbs up? Abysmal reviewing.
Very few reviewers actually bother with scientific rigor or objective measurements anymore because they don't even understand these concepts themselves. They practically just copy and paste the press releases, stamp a thumbs up or thumbs down on it, and call it a day.
Imagine if you saw a video card review and they didn't do any benchmarks, they just said "the card is pretty. I plugged it in, and it seemed to play call of duty pretty good on high settings".
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lol

GT-I9500 vs GT-I9505 for audio quality

Hello guys.
I live in Edmonton, AB, Canada and I honestly am not too worried about LTE.
I simply want the S4 with the better audio quality. I'm a head-fi'er!
Was wondering if anyone has compared the 9500 and the 9505 for audio quality? I'd get the phone purely based on that...

unregistered_ said:
Hello guys.
I live in Edmonton, AB, Canada and I honestly am not too worried about LTE.
I simply want the S4 with the better audio quality. I'm a head-fi'er!
Was wondering if anyone has compared the 9500 and the 9505 for audio quality? I'd get the phone purely based on that...
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the i9500 has the superior Wolfson DAC.
If it's just audio quality you're after get the i9500

ie ear
Obagleyfreer said:
the i9500 has the superior Wolfson DAC.
If it's just audio quality you're after get the i9500
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me too interest to audio in ear ....so:do we have mod for improve the i9500 sound ,i was told it has poor audio ....?
htc one:is better any way for in ear sound ?
tks gio.

The best mod is currently PureX Audio which isn't yet available for the 9500, but will be for the 9505 because its Qualcomm.
The HTC has the Qualcomm DAC and is actually pretty impressive. In ear quality is very similar to Wolfson, with the Wolfson having an ever so slight lead. But with the PureX mod, the HTC wins hands down.

Actually, according the gsmarena SQ tests both i9500 and i9505 are currently the best sounding smartphones ever: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_i9500_vs_i9505-review-930p5.php . I9505 is even slightly better than i9500.

It's very similar. Snapdragon is little better.

I have both versions and I find the I9500 a bit better.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda premium

Can you explain why? What's the difference?
Because on gsmarena they say different thing and that ear can't really "hear" difference.

I don't think you can go wrong with either. Considering the measurements, db and the issues both phones have with low impedance headphones I would get the i9505 for the lte. The performance is virtually identical in all aspects of the phone, minus the i9500 getting left behind in lte speedtests. Lol. Also, you may have an opportunity to flash pure aosp if your bootloader is unlocked on the i9505. I9500 loses there too.
Sent from my GT-N7100

*Emix* said:
Can you explain why? What's the difference?
Because on gsmarena they say different thing and that ear can't really "hear" difference.
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I have checked it if anyone is interested in it and can read my poor English. Sorry for that in advance.
Headphone was an AKG K-70. It is an old type entry level hi-fi headphone and not the best but quite enough to check the sound quality of smartphones. I can tell that it is much better than the delivered one in factory pack. Also I did not use any tone manipulation. Everything was flat.
Basically I was listening such music which contains acoustic instruments and lead vocals. The difference is recognizable. First of all I can tell that none of these phones has high-end sound quality but i9500 has better sound definitely. Listening music is enjoyable on it. You can forget that you are hearing a machine and can enjoy the music itself. The stereo sound picture is also wide and correct.
This is what I cannot tell about i9505. The balance of low and high frequency is very similar to i9500 but it has much narrow stereo room and lead singers have a lisp suddenly. Problem is getting worse as number of instrument is increased in the music. So basically let it enough.
I have not checked them with full artificial music. The real sound quality doesn’t matter in that case only the tone balance which is quite similar on both phones but I won't be able to live with sound of i9505 surly because of the hissing voice.
I hope it helps.

obladi63 said:
I have not checked them with full artificial music. The real sound quality doesn’t matter in that case only the tone balance which is quite similar on both phones but I won't be able to live with sound of i9505 surly because of the hissing voice.
I hope it helps.
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Did you try PureX mod?

renosj said:
Did you try PureX mod?
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No, I didn't. I don't find expression PureX in any menu point. Please help what you mean by this.
I used built in Music Player and turned off every stupid function which can modify the sound picture anyway. These are not capable to fix the problems. On the contrary these hide the problem. Like strawberry with sugar. It is sweet but...

obladi63 said:
No, I didn't. I don't find expression PureX in any menu point. Please help what you mean by this.
I used built in Music Player and turned off every stupid function which can modify the sound picture anyway. These are not capable to fix the problems. On the contrary these hide the problem. Like strawberry with sugar. It is sweet but...
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With this mod should 9505 beat 9500 in audio quality.What about hissing in 9505, how often and strong is it when listen music? Did you try last stock firmware (Germany)? Because this firmware removes cracking sounds when use headphone with low independence on higher volume. And why do you have both versions (9505 and 9500), which one would you prefer (apart from sound quality)?
http://skynet-machine.appspot.com/forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2211163

renosj said:
With this mod should 9505 beat 9500 in audio quality.What about hissing in 9505, how often and strong is it when listen music? Did you try last stock firmware (Germany)? Because this firmware removes cracking sounds when use headphone with low independence on higher volume. And why do you have both versions (9505 and 9500), which one would you prefer (apart from sound quality)?
http://skynet-machine.appspot.com/forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2211163
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Well I checked the link. It is interesting but sorry I was not able to read through all 33 pages. Is there anybody who has experience with it on Samsung. Perhaps you? Can it be applied on the same way? I don't know when I will be able to try it but I will. On the other hand reading through the feature list I have doubt that it can help much. I think so that mostly analog part is responsible for the difference. Prepressing of the digital signal means placebo effect rather than significant improvement at this quality level. The difference was much more than we can expect from the pureX features. Nevertheless it should be checked.
So. Not hissing was the only issue but it was the most disturbing for me at least. It happens always if "sss" comes in the song. Sing, think, etc. It sounds like singer would have speech defective. Of course this problem affects other part of the music but it is most disturbing in the vocal.
The impedance of mentioned AKG is 100 Ohm which should be more than enough for high impedance headphone output as well.
Version i9500: XXUBMEA
Version i9505: XXUBMDM
I don't prefer any of these too. Both are very same. I am not involved in games but I use internet, photo, video, navigation and music mostly. So I need good sound and LTE too. I would change my 9500 to 9505 if sound would be comparable. Since my friend bought a 9505 few days ago I could compare them.
Otherwise I am very satisfied with 9500. Reading the news earlier I expected better sound quality but finally I am OK with it. This is the only place where I am still listening CD quality.

obladi63 said:
Well I checked the link. It is interesting but sorry I was not able to read through all 33 pages. Is there anybody who has experience with it on Samsung. Perhaps you? Can it be applied on the same way? I don't know when I will be able to try it but I will. On the other hand reading through the feature list I have doubt that it can help much. I think so that mostly analog part is responsible for the difference. Prepressing of the digital signal means placebo effect rather than significant improvement at this quality level. The difference was much more than we can expect from the pureX features. Nevertheless it should be checked.
So. Not hissing was the only issue but it was the most disturbing for me at least. It happens always if "sss" comes in the song. Sing, think, etc. It sounds like singer would have speech defective. Of course this problem affects other part of the music but it is most disturbing in the vocal.
The impedance of mentioned AKG is 100 Ohm which should be more than enough for high impedance headphone output as well.
Version i9500: XXUBMEA
Version i9505: XXUBMDM
I don't prefer any of these too. Both are very same. I am not involved in games but I use internet, photo, video, navigation and music mostly. So I need good sound and LTE too. I would change my 9500 to 9505 if sound would be comparable. Since my friend bought a 9505 few days ago I could compare them.
Otherwise I am very satisfied with 9500. Reading the news earlier I expected better sound quality but finally I am OK with it. This is the only place where I am still listening CD quality.
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Thank you very much, I have to decide which version I buy, its hell for me. There is a link where comparing 9505vs9500 audio quality, its interesting that they highlight 9505 over 9500 a little bit. http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_i9500_vs_i9505-review-930p5.php
I dont need LTE, i preferer better audio/camera. Iam afraid of overheating 9500, a lot of people complain for that. When browsing/watching movies, its ok? I know, I can not offer you anything else than thanks, but could you please compare 9505 vs 9500 camera quality(just photos)? Make few shots with sky a post them here in full-res, so I can compare it. In the previous version of FW was better 9500 because of more small details in picture and less noise in the sky. If possible, recommend to your friend update to newer FW, because it solves a lot of bugs (audio and camera as well). new FW for 9505 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2312329

renosj said:
Thank you very much, I have to decide which version I buy, its hell for me. There is a link where comparing 9505vs9500 audio quality, its interesting that they highlight 9505 over 9500 a little bit. http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_i9500_vs_i9505-review-930p5.php
I dont need LTE, i preferer better audio/camera. Iam afraid of overheating 9500, a lot of people complain for that. When browsing/watching movies, its ok? I know, I can not offer you anything else than thanks, but could you please compare 9505 vs 9500 camera quality(just photos)? Make few shots with sky a post them here in full-res, so I can compare it. In the previous version of FW was better 9500 because of more small details in picture and less noise in the sky. If possible, recommend to your friend update to newer FW, because it solves a lot of bugs (audio and camera as well). new FW for 9505 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2312329
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I understand you. I was and am still in same boat. Not easy to choose.
I read the link but these data is so few. The only significant difference is the stereo crosstalk on that page. Believe me it can be even 40 or 30 and stereo picture still can be much better than the others. This info is good for nothing. However since it is less with 18 dB it means that analog electric circuit is really different in the two equipments and what I heard is really because of it basically.
Also you can read about the camera on that side. I agree with the tester that differences is due to software rather than hardware. Samsung (not only) does too many artificial post-process on their pictures which makes the comparison pointless more or less. I'll try to shot some pictures later but I don't know when we will be on the same version otherwise it really does not make sense. If phones could make raw picture ... may be. And don't forget that software updates come from time to time. If photo is so important to you, you should choose Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom. Perhaps.
http://www.sammobile.com/2013/06/13/samsung-galaxy-s4-zoom-official-lifestyle-demo-video/
but you know well that really good picture can be shot only by using a good and big enough lens.

After all I decided to buy 9500. 1) It is Samsung. 2) May be better photo/video as I read it. 3) Better sound quality which is proved now. And this third point is important to me. What is the strange for me is that after discussion had started on the net about the two DAC I did not read a single line from Samsung in which they really prove that both are same good.
LTE? Well it is sounds good but what is the real benefit in it? May be the second hand i9505s will be more expensive with 10% two years later. But how much will this 10% be?
Overheating. I haven't had such bad experience. A bit lukewarm sometimes but SII was really warm comparing to this. But I have to tell you that I don't use games and did make only short videos max 10 min. And my FW was updated immediately after buying so I didn't have experience with problematic version. Also keep in mind that not only Samsung "overheats".
Further there is another thing. What do you intend to do? Do you want to experiment with different unofficial FWs or use and enjoy your equipment? I am already over this period and shortly I can tell that all these unofficial versions always can do one or two things better while other three or four are worse or missing. And updates are never ending. My life was to wait for when the next fix comes and then what was good earlier is wrong in recent update sometimes. No, I have had enough. I have learnt that the best and most stable version is always the factory. This is my opinion of course. It does not mean that I don't try other launchers or such but no more other FW.
So if sound quality is important to you and you listen a lot of music with acoustic instruments I wouldn't dare to recommend i9505 at all. I am sure that you and everybody will be disappointed. Although this problem is so unpleasant that may be I have to check an other piece whether it is just an individual problem or general. There is 1% chance for individual.

Music is important to me and I still chose the I9505. I have IEM's so it brings the best from the audio chip. The sound is brilliant. With power amp I brought out as much as I could. Brilliant bass and mids. I can't see how the 500 would be better as the sound is so rich and perfect
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

imlgl said:
Music is important to me and I still chose the I9505. I have IEM's so it brings the best from the audio chip. The sound is brilliant. With power amp I brought out as much as I could. Brilliant bass and mids. I can't see how the 500 would be better as the sound is so rich and perfect
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
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Power amp always modifies the content even in flat mode too so it is tipicaly not good for test anything. Of course if you are satisfied with your 505 is cool. Enjoy it! The difference is not or not so recognizable on pure electronic music or if you modify the sound balance anyway. Aslo I have to tell that I haven''t compared the phones with factory headphone. I didn't expect that any difference can be recognizable with that. It is too low quality for this purpose.

It seem that Samsung brought a lot of frustration among their top clients, those of us who are buying their newest flagship every year or two.
They should have made a single version of S4, but with all the differences between i9505 and i9500, now only if you own them both you can declare to be somehow pleased.
Regarding the audio, I'm on i9505 and the music is not bad at all. If the others on i9500 have a different experience, perhaps better than mine, while they have their headphones while traveling with the subway, that does not bother me in any way, since I enjoy my music on my device just as well.
Then again, it is a phone. For performance, in any area, one should buy a dedicated device. It is just the way it is and will be.
Just to outline once again, I simply love my i9505 and I enjoy the music I stored on the 64 GB Samsung uhs-I card.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

No Bluetooth Apt-X HD support for GS7E

Just found out no Apt-X HD for S7E.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-aptx-hd
I was thinking of getting the LG tone platinum and Apt-x HD is one of its selling points. Apparently the new LG phones will have it.
You would think since Qualcomm owns the technology we would have it in our phones or at least the Qualcomm versions.
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

TBH, I would not worry or make it a buying point of a phone. The codec sounds good (although unnecessary for wireless listening and most probably inflated) but with the compression required over BT there is always going to be a trade off.
If you want good fidelity listening then a phone and Bluetooth cans is not the way to go anyway.
Oh and on top of that, after a quick search I could only find a single pair of headphones that allegedly support it which were on Amazon and no reviews about them etc...

chippyuk said:
TBH, I would not worry or make it a buying point of a phone. The codec sounds good (although unnecessary for wireless listening and most probably inflated) but with the compression required over BT there is always going to be a trade off.
If you want good fidelity listening then a phone and Bluetooth cans is not the way to go anyway.
Oh and on top of that, after a quick search I could only find a single pair of headphones that allegedly support it which were on Amazon and no reviews about them etc...
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As an audio engineer, and music composer who works with various forms of audio codecs, the difference between 16 and 24 bit in .wav files is almost unnoticeable, and that's with proper studio equipment. That's not to undermine that with apt x the extra headroom might provide a higher quality stream, but for streaming to your colored car audio system, regular old aptX is 100% fine.

I was hoping for more headroom in the dynamic range with Apt-x HD and now with the lackluster wired headphone performance on the SGE7. It's just a bit of a letdown
I ordered the SanDisk 200 gig. The goal was to finally replace my Ipod Classic 160.
Thanks for your input.
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

I have Bluetooth UHQ on the S7 activated and paired with Samsung Level One Pro that support the Bluetooth UHQ. It does sound better but needs more resources.

Shame, no 2016's technologies, no Quick Charge 3.0, no Apt-X HD, no USB Type-C... and you know what ? S8 will have all of this but the S8 will not have the 2017's technologies so , no very mega Quick Charge 4.0, no Apt-X Ultra HD, no USB Type-D . Ok I trolled the last phrase, but maybe my troll will be realistic.

minoch said:
Just found out no Apt-X HD for S7E.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-aptx-hd
I was thinking of getting the LG tone platinum and Apt-x HD is one of its selling points. Apparently the new LG phones will have it.
You would think since Qualcomm owns the technology we would have it in our phones or at least the Qualcomm versions.
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
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I had the LG Tone which are identical minus the "HD". Nothing special TBH. I hope the new version is better!

Does the Exynos supports apt-x?
Update : yes, it does But does it support aptx HD?

It doesn't support Aptx-HD, then again, I don't think there is any current headset that do.

calm your tits
For get apt-x HD, the only important part is APT-X itself.
This is already CD quality with no lags (almost), HD is 8 bit more yes, but you most likly not even notice the difference between 16 and 24 bit.
well if youre an audio professional you might be able to tell the difference, true but this is a science on its own.
but for this you need capable equipment and the audiosource too.
both you probably aint gonna have mobile neither do you really need it.
the HD addition is in first line a marketing thing, and given that there only a handful , and i mean literally a handful, useable mobile apt-x headphones and headsets out there it wont matter at all. hell the best around ear set unter 500$ is sennheiser which means it looks very grim for high soundquality mobile devices anyway.
important is only that apt-x finally get distributed and lets hope headset and phone manufacturer finally put it in by default. then again most wont profit much due to their poor builds anyway - looking at bose here
btw those heaedset that already support HD - forget it. they may technically able to transfer the data but their audio hardware including drivers wont cut it to really use it

minoch said:
Just found out no Apt-X HD for S7E.
I was thinking of getting the LG tone platinum and Apt-x HD is one of its selling points. Apparently the new LG phones will have it.
You would think since Qualcomm owns the technology we would have it in our phones or at least the Qualcomm versions.
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Honestly mate, APTX HD is a complete waste of time on a phone, and probably on anything. The ONLY thing 24 bits are going to do is give you a lower noise floor. Let me say that again, so that it sinks in. The ONLY thing 24 bits is going to give you is a lower noise floor. That's it, period.
But since 16 bits already gives you a 96dB s/n ratio, that means that at any sensible listening levels, the noise is *way* below ambient background noise (unless you are listening at high volume in a perfectly silent room).
Then there's the small matter of the phone's electronics which perhaps produce more than -96dB of noise anyway, not that you can hear -96dB noise in any real world listening environment.
24 bit is a waste of time for consumer audio. For studio work and multiple overdubs, then yes perhaps. Other than that, it's all snake oil.

Im going from an s5, that has the aptx codec (not aptx hd from what i read), to a exynos s7, that doesn't have aptx. My question is, will the difference in sound quality be noticeable? My bt headphones aren't nothing special and are cheap (mpow swift) but they do support aptx and i have been happy with the sound quality using my s5, so i was wondering if i will notice any difference.

griffin_1 said:
Im going from an s5, that has the aptx codec (not aptx hd from what i read), to a exynos s7, that doesn't have aptx. My question is, will the difference in sound quality be noticeable? My bt headphones aren't nothing special and are cheap (mpow swift) but they do support aptx and i have been happy with the sound quality using my s5, so i was wondering if i will notice any difference.
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There's plenty of reasonably high-end and well regarded headphones that don't support aptx, and yet some cheapies that do. Conclusion: if it's not a critical for the high-end headphones, then you shouldn't miss it with your "nothing special" headphones.

S7 Edge (US version, Snapdragon) on Android 7 (Nougat) had always aptX support, besides the native Samsung UHQ HD audio. Actually every phone with Snapdragon that I have tested (Motorola) had aptX since Qualcomm bought off CSR plc in 2015. Tested personally with Developer Mode, Bluetooth HCI Snoop log and decoded with Wireshark on PC.
And now, with Android 8 (Oreo) gained LDAC support too (Sony), thanks to Google. See the attached pic.
PS: The difference between codecs can be appreciated only when playing FLAC files.

Headphone Adapter Quality?

How is the headphone adapter that comes with the 6T? As much as I don't want to purchase the 6T because of the lack of headphone jack, it doesn't really make sense to get the 6 because there's no price reduction.

You should check around, the 6 is going for $439..
Sent from my ONEPLUS 6T using XDA-Developers Legacy app

j0hnee said:
You should check around, the 6 is going for $439..[/URL]
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I don't want to buy from those sites though. There's no warranty according to OnePlus. My 5T has some hardware issues with the GPS, charging port, and modem and it isn't a cheap fix.

Sound is average, If you really care about Audio Quality their is better devices out there.

liam_davenport said:
Sound is average, If you really care about Audio Quality their is better devices out there.
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What about this delay and battery life talk? Does that mean if I'm watching a video, the sound is delayed so it's out of sync?

geokilla said:
What about this delay and battery life talk? Does that mean if I'm watching a video, the sound is delayed so it's out of sync?
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I dont get a delay watching videos. I tried using bluetooth headphones and that was awful, PUBG was unplayable as there was a nearly second delay between action and sound with those, but the wired are fine thru the dongle. WHat I would say is that volume seems to be a little lower than I was expecting, but I've read that some dongles are better than others for that, e.g. the previous version of the pixel included dongle
And battery life is stellar, I'm a heavy user with 2 sims, and Im comfortably getting 2 days use out of a charge. Im really impressed with the phone so far after a week of use

Using UE900 IEMs, i have no issues with the audio quality. Can't really hear much of a difference between this and a Galaxy S7 Edge (wasn't the best audio output ever, so...). Source was Downloaded Spotify Premium content in highest quality.
Oneplus 6t can go louder however.
Before the S7 Edge i had an HTC One M8, with a fairly decent audio output (and low output impedance), i think it was slightly better, but yea. After a while, you simply get used to it, and don't hear anything wrong.
I have no issues. But i'm not someone who sits there in cramps trying to analyze every single Tone in existence just searching for any little Mistake. I put headphones on, and walk whereever i need to go, if i'm going anywhere without Car. Simply enjoy some music while on the go. Nothing more, nothing less. Anything else (in my opinion, when "on the go" at least) would've nothing to do with enjoying music anymore, if you focus your whole brain into analysing the audio quality everytime you listen to something. For comparisons early yea, but after that, it would not make much sense.
If you're the first kind, you might probably be happier with an LG Phone with their Quad DACs. Otherwise, especially if you use some cheaper headphones / IEMs, the only bad thing worth mentioning will be the "adapter-handling".
Audioquality however, is just fine. Not the best you could get. But good enough so there is no noise or whatever.

Stupid mistake I made choosing Bluetooth Dac/Amp

I was looking for a relatively cheap Bluetooth DAC that could do the job for me. One of my friends were using a AK XB10, which I tried a few years ago when he first got it. The DAC performs great when paired with most of the phone I was using. But I forgot Aptx HD are a Qualcomm IP and it didn't work with my G950N with Exyons SoC (but strangely Aptx works)
I only found out the problem after I use the DAC for 15 minutes. the sound quality is really disappointing. And I started to google a bit and learn the Exynos don't have Aptx HD, and all the way the xb10 is using Aptx. The difference was so huge that my 24bit flac sounds worse than 192kbps MP3. And sadly the AK xb10 didn't support LDAC.
So now I have to buy another Bluetooth DAC now.

Type2501 said:
I was looking for a relatively cheap Bluetooth DAC that could do the job for me. One of my friends were using a AK XB10, which I tried a few years ago when he first got it. The DAC performs great when paired with most of the phone I was using. But I forgot Aptx HD are a Qualcomm IP and it didn't work with my G950N with Exyons SoC (but strangely Aptx works)
I only found out the problem after I use the DAC for 15 minutes. the sound quality is really disappointing. And I started to google a bit and learn the Exynos don't have Aptx HD, and all the way the xb10 is using Aptx. The difference was so huge that my 24bit flac sounds worse than 192kbps MP3. And sadly the AK xb10 didn't support LDAC.
So now I have to buy another Bluetooth DAC now.
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Check out the FiiO BTR3, it supports LDAC which should work regardless of processor since it's in base android and also theoretically higher quality than aptx.

TheTofu said:
Check out the FiiO BTR3, it supports LDAC which should work regardless of processor since it's in base android and also theoretically higher quality than aptx.
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I bought the earstudio ES-100 from Amazon, now waiting for it to arrive. It is slightly more expensive than the BTR3 and xb10 , but reviews suggested it should sounds better.
Speaking of LDAC, I read a article online about LDAC vs aptx HD, turn out that most of the time LDAC is default at 660kbps, not the advertised 990kbps. And the sound quality when using 660kbps is not necessarily better than atxp HD.

Type2501 said:
I bought the earstudio ES-100 from Amazon, now waiting for it to arrive. It is slightly more expensive than the BTR3 and xb10 , but reviews suggested it should sounds better.
Speaking of LDAC, I read a article online about LDAC vs aptx HD, turn out that most of the time LDAC is default at 660kbps, not the advertised 990kbps. And the sound quality when using 660kbps is not necessarily better than atxp HD.
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While true, you can also go into developer options and pick a specific bitrate to use, and considering it's going to be in a car with maybe 2-4ft of range i don't see 990kbps having issues.
The article makes it sound like it's a great big hassle for regular users, but I posit that regular users won't notice any difference in quality if they're just playing "high quality" Spotify, and if you do care enough to play files at high res you should be familiar enough with tinkering to tap a few buttons.
Now the better argument is whether the earstudio actually sounds better than the FiiO, and basing off of reviews that compare the two directly that answer seems to be that it's not better but a little different, though it does have some nifty features that the FiiO lacks.
Then again with it being in a car it likely won't matter since they're more useful for headphones.
What I wish someone would do is make something like either of those devices but without a battery so that it doesn't stay connected when the car is off.

TheTofu said:
While true, you can also go into developer options and pick a specific bitrate to use, and considering it's going to be in a car with maybe 2-4ft of range i don't see 990kbps having issues.
The article makes it sound like it's a great big hassle for regular users, but I posit that regular users won't notice any difference in quality if they're just playing "high quality" Spotify, and if you do care enough to play files at high res you should be familiar enough with tinkering to tap a few buttons.
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I first found out the problem with XB10 after I dig into the developer menu and found no aptx HD. I think that article is for those who don't really knows what Bluetooth audio should perform in the real world. And also a informative read for me, since I only had a rough idea of Bluetooth audio standard before.
Now the better argument is whether the earstudio actually sounds better than the FiiO, and basing off of reviews that compare the two directly that answer seems to be that it's not better but a little different, though it does have some nifty features that the FiiO lacks.
Then again with it being in a car it likely won't matter since they're more useful for headphones.
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Think in a bit more on that, it might be just down to which amp works better with which iem. Since I had no where to test the earstuio, I can only cross my finger and hope it works well with my Westone w4r.
BTW, I wish my car is quiet enough so I can care about bluetooth audio quality. The tyre noise is just bad that it doesn't matter anymore. And only two door speaker doesn't help ether.
What I wish someone would do is make something like either of those devices but without a battery so that it doesn't stay connected when the car is off.
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I think some sony head unit already support LDAC and didn't cost much more than your FiiO, if car audio is all you want. And you don't have to amplify the signal twice (or is there a line out on the FiiO? Idk)

Type2501 said:
I first found out the problem with XB10 after I dig into the developer menu and found no aptx HD. I think that article is for those who don't really knows what Bluetooth audio should perform in the real world. And also a informative read for me, since I only had a rough idea of Bluetooth audio standard before.
Think in a bit more on that, it might be just down to which amp works better with which iem. Since I had no where to test the earstuio, I can only cross my finger and hope it works well with my Westone w4r.
BTW, I wish my car is quiet enough so I can care about bluetooth audio quality. The tyre noise is just bad that it doesn't matter anymore. And only two door speaker doesn't help ether.
I think some sony head unit already support LDAC and didn't cost much more than your FiiO, if car audio is all you want. And you don't have to amplify the signal twice (or is there a line out on the FiiO? Idk)
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Fair enough about road noise, I'm hoping to fix some wind noise at some point. Tires are already as good as can be pretty much, without being wasteful, you always want the best you can get though, it's arguably the most critical part of your car in emergency situations (having enough grip to break and stop, emergency lane change, or accelerate and gtfo)
Issue with the head unit is that most modern cars are notoriously hard to put head units in. My car is a 2012 and I need like 2-3 different adapters that add an additional 80-120 to the cost, plus the time to install, all to get a piece of my dash to stick out like a sore thumb since it's not a factory look.
And even then, the head unit itself would cost at least 100, whereas a simple USB powered dongle with just line-out and minimal processing I think could easily be made and sold for maybe 50 to max out bluetooth quality, and it would be easy to take with me to another car rather than having to break down the dash just to get the head unit out.
Personally I'm eagerly hoping and awaiting for SBC HD (aka SBC Dual Channel Audio) to be merged into AOSP and released as part of either Android Q or whatever comes next, as this would increase the max bitrate to 512kbps for all bluetooth devices made since 2007 whereas devices made after 2015 would have effectively any birate they want while using the SBC Codec. Free audio quality upgrade for pretty much all devices, especially those not supporting AptX or better.
For more info see: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software-hacking/improve-bluetooth-audio-quality-t3832615
I will likely attempt patching the library myself if rooting ever becomes available for the S9+