Database Users

[Q] How is the audio quality with headphones?

Hi,
can anybody say anything about the audio quality with decent headphones? I have pretty good Shure headphones, which don't work very well with my current phone, which is one of the reasons I consider buying the U8800. I'd change my mind if I knew the quality was bad.
So, how are the quality overall and how loud does it get (I usually don't listen very loudly).
Thanks!

I can't make comaparisons with other smartphones and in the month I have had the IDEOS X5 I find the sound quality pretty good through the headphones.
I've used different headphones that I have lying around. All were better than the headphones that came with the phone.
At home I use an old Koss full padded headphones that I normally use on the PC or when watching TV late at night. (It has a very long cable). I find the qality pretty good, warm bass without it being too punchy.
I also bought a set of cheap (AUD$3.50) stereo headphones from e-bay. The sound was crisp, perhaps a little too much treble but you can balance it out depending on the music app you use.
I recently bought a Sony Bluetooth stereo MW600 headset which work nicely with the IDEOS X5 using the stock music player. Sound is clear and well balanced.
Neither of these are very loud but I've had it turn it down a little depending on the outside noise level.
Having said all that there is a huge difference to sound quality depending on the type of bit rate used on the MP3's. The higher the bit rate the better the sound quality and volume...but I think that goes without saying but music listeners possibly don't allow for the quality of the re-encoding.
AND...the quality of audio is about 100 x better than through the speakers

The sound quality is bad. The bass is good but it also "spreads" out and muffles other sounds so it all sounds hazy. My PC/cowon I7 does not suffer from this.
The headphones I use daily are IE7's. Shure SE420 also sounded hazy with U8800. Tested with FLAC and MP3's with similar results on both.

Thanks for your answers.
Varatesh: Considering what high quality earphones you use, I guess your expectations might be somewhat higher than mine.
Sadly I don't know own anybody withe an U8800 so I can't test the audio quality and it's rarely tested in reviews, so no "objective" info there.

pragmatick said:
Hi,
can anybody say anything about the audio quality with decent headphones? I have pretty good Shure headphones, which don't work very well with my current phone, which is one of the reasons I consider buying the U8800. I'd change my mind if I knew the quality was bad.
So, how are the quality overall and how loud does it get (I usually don't listen very loudly).
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't now if I help w/ my case:
I only use the U8800 heaphones/mic and I must not change because the pinout is different (begining by the point):
Sound.L/Sound.R/Mic/Ground.
The others like Samsung, LG, etc. the pinout is:
Sound.L/Sound.R/Ground/Mic.
If we chage it the sound is bad because it return by Mic, not by ground. And the Mic also work bad.

That's interesting, ValenteL. So that means it would be possible to solder an adapter? It's just a matter of switching two channels.

pragmatick said:
That's interesting, ValenteL. So that means it would be possible to solder an adapter? It's just a matter of switching two channels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Helo
It's possible. For music only, no problem, I use one w/ 3 contacts.
W/ Mic I encountered only one same the U8800, is the ZTE Blade one.
Cumps.

Using ideos x5 + poweramp (it uses ffmpeg's codecs = better quality than the stock android codecs) + sony mw600 = eargasm.
Deep bass, rich high's and great fidelity, even on low bit rate HEAAC files. Although one thing to note, i had problems and dropouts using by bluetooth handset over a2dp with the stock froyo roms. That problem vanished as soon as i moved to the 2.3.5 roms floating around here (My personal favorite is MIUI and i'm waiting for an official cm7 nightly )
I'm not an audiophile or something - i wouldn't use my smartphone for music if i was one - but for the price tag and the hardware we get, music quality is superb, especially compared to the crappy sound output my previous htc wildfire had.

pragmatick said:
Hi,
can anybody say anything about the audio quality with decent headphones? I have pretty good Shure headphones, which don't work very well with my current phone, which is one of the reasons I consider buying the U8800. I'd change my mind if I knew the quality was bad.
So, how are the quality overall and how loud does it get (I usually don't listen very loudly).
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sound is normal but you always can hear empty noise..the current noise.. there is no silence when there is no audio (yes it shuts down audio after 5secs of no audio) but it always have noise if you listen at more then 25% of volume then you will not hear it but if you listen at night you can clearly hear it.

Tommixoft said:
Sound is normal but you always can hear empty noise..the current noise.. there is no silence when there is no audio (yes it shuts down audio after 5secs of no audio) but it always have noise if you listen at more then 25% of volume then you will not hear it but if you listen at night you can clearly hear it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with this. It's very apparent when listening to audiobooks, not a big problem with music though.

I can confirm the "current" noise too....

[Q&R] My first Week of the S4

Hey guys and ladies, I have been on a HTC One X since it was release and got this S4 last week. I have only one regret so far about this phone that is not really discused much. I ride my sportbike all the time and I notice the headphone sound on this Device is crazy cheap and low budget or something. I've tried about 4 different ROMs using Noozxoides sound mod, Faux Sound Mod etc. This is the only thing I regret about the phone everything is awesome but this. If anyone knows of a way to improve this and make this phone better let me know. But as it stands the HTC is by far better in the headphone sound area.. I can barely hear the music now (About 1/2 as loud as a stock HTC One X) -shurgs- /Rant :highfive:

thcue said:
Hey guys and ladies, I have been on a HTC One X since it was release and got this S4 last week. I have only one regret so far about this phone that is not really discused much. I ride my sportbike all the time and I notice the headphone sound on this Device is crazy cheap and low budget or something. I've tried about 4 different ROMs using Noozxoides sound mod, Faux Sound Mod etc. This is the only thing I regret about the phone everything is awesome but this. If anyone knows of a way to improve this and make this phone better let me know. But as it stands the HTC is by far better in the headphone sound area.. I can barely hear the music now (About 1/2 as loud as a stock HTC One X) -shurgs- /Rant :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't compare to an HTC One X, but compared to my iPhone I don't notice much of a difference. Almost 50% volume on my S4 is enough to be almost too much with the earbuds.
As far as quality of sound I'd say it's almost comparable to my iPhone, using Spotify 320kbps ogg as my source for both.

blyndfyre said:
I can't compare to an HTC One X, but compared to my iPhone I don't notice much of a difference. Almost 50% volume on my S4 is enough to be almost too much with the earbuds.
As far as quality of sound I'd say it's almost comparable to my iPhone, using Spotify 320kbps ogg as my source for both.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the Quality is there. It's the Volume that's kickin my ass. Hitting 70mph+ etc and the wind hitting me hard I can't hear crap. I think I need a Volume boost etc. I tried Volume + but no go. Going to try a few more tweaks I'm sure some will pop up soon.

there is a volume level hack where you replace some files; i did it and it works great; MUCH louder (loud enough to decently drive the 50mm drivers in my HDJ-2000's); try that. SIII and SIV have the lowest volume for headphones ive ever experienced; in all three of our vehicles getting aux volume loud enough for the head unit was difficult; it could hardly be heard even at full volume.
my Z has a 800w system in it; via AUX in it was incredibly low volume, low quality (buzzing/hissing from amp gain), and just plain bad. in the other two cars, we had reverted to burning CD's to listen to music; thats how low the volume was. i could use bluetooth in the Z, which was very loud and no distortion/issues, but until i stumbled across the volume hack/mod, i had just about given up on aux-in for her car and our truck.
appropriate thread below. Now with AUX the volume is MUCH louder (still a few db under my old Atrix 4G) but useable, and loud enough that at 3/4 to full, it hurts my ears with the HDJ-2000's. also, maybe consider a helmet that will allow for on-ear headphones (or better yet, over ear cans); the sound isolation alone will help boost perceived volume 15-20% easily.
i dont ride often, but last time i did, i used some cheap panasonic HTX-7 over the ear units over the ear units that i had sealed from wind noise (glued everything tight with some rubber cement and memory foam padding material), the GS4, and this hack, and i could hear it just fine over the wind and the gixxer. biggest problem was wind trying to rip the cans off my head (no helmet, driving it from storage unit to my garage). i have a buddy that has a helmet he modded to fit some nice sennheiser HD-25-II's in, but he rides an extremely quiet bike and also uses a portable headphone amp, which is also a possible solution for $40-$50. our gixxer is rather loud (previous owner did extensive exhaust work and its just annoying), and if i wasnt selling it, i would get something to shut it the hell up.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=41807048

ZTE Axon 7 Audio Quality

Can anyone who has the Axon 7, let us know how the audio quality is with headphones. I'm stuck between this and the OnePlus 3, but I have a pair of Sennheiser Momentums and if the Axon 7 can blow people away with a good pair of headphones I might have to go for it!

connorhiller said:
Can anyone who has the Axon 7, let us know how the audio quality is with headphones. I'm stuck between this and the OnePlus 3, but I have a pair of Sennheiser Momentums and if the Axon 7 can blow people away with a good pair of headphones I might have to go for it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm very interested in this my self. The audio of the Axon 7 is said to be very good but I have yet to see any comparisons of just how it stacks up to other devices.
The OP3 has very good audio out put also from what I have read. It's said to be on par or perhaps a bit better than the iPhone and just behind the HTC 10.
I would assume the Axon 7 would be superior to the OP3 and not sure how it compares to the HTC 10. Though PC Magazine's review mentioned the HTC 10 was louder with it 1V output from the headphone jack. I'm a little disappointed by this. If true, it doesn't meant the Axon doesn't sound better. It just won't drive hard to drive headphone as well. Not a problem for most people and IEM, but I have a few hard to drive on ears that could make use of the extra power.
It should offer excellent audio from both the dual front facing speakers, that get very loud, and the headphone jack. That plus the high res display that is Daydrean ready makes it my choice over the OP3.
here is a little write up I found:
https://community.zteusa.com/thread/2110

I am anxiously awaiting my Axon 7, but I can comment on the OP3's jack since you brought it up.
My OP3 blows away my Nexus 6. My completely stock OP3 has a stronger output than my N6, which had Viper4Android installed.
No reason why the Axon shouldn't be at least as strong as the OP3.

I hope those dual chips can output some serious power...

I'm happy to hear the OP3 has good audio output! I would probably buy it right now, but it seems Oneplus is having stocking issues... "Ships within 14 days" is what it says on their website, UGH!!

Don't really like his comparison videos, but for audio, this is one is pretty good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz92h5JJxfg
Of course, that's only over the speakers and not wired. Wired it should beat pretty much anyone, based on the chipset being used.

Okay, I think it was actually my fault that there was an audio problem. I have been using an app called Automatic Call Recording for a few months on a couple of other android phones. I had installed it on my Axon 7 while I was setting it up. I uninstalled it and now my audio seems to be better. Everything is quite loud and actually sounds great. I can't use the earbuds at max volume without hurting my ears. Just don't use that app and you should be fine lol.
"I received my Axon 7 today and I can honestly say I am very disappointed in the audio quality. I was expecting the dual speakers and included earbuds to output at least good audio, and somehow I can barely hear anything from either the dual speakers or the earbuds even at full volume. I am extremely disappointed. When I watch a Youtube video using the dual speakers I turn the volume up to max and still the audio is very quiet. I made a few phone calls and could barely hear the other person on the dual speakers, earbuds, or normal earpiece. Idk if there is something wrong with my Axon 7 specifically, or if maybe there will be a software update soon to fix this, but this is completely unacceptable."

r3xx3r said:
Okay, I think it was actually my fault that there was an audio problem. I have been using an app called Automatic Call Recording for a few months on a couple of other android phones. I had installed it on my Axon 7 while I was setting it up. I uninstalled it and now my audio seems to be better. Everything is quite loud and actually sounds great. I can't use the earbuds at max volume without hurting my ears. Just don't use that app and you should be fine lol.
"I received my Axon 7 today and I can honestly say I am very disappointed in the audio quality. I was expecting the dual speakers and included earbuds to output at least good audio, and somehow I can barely hear anything from either the dual speakers or the earbuds even at full volume. I am extremely disappointed. When I watch a Youtube video using the dual speakers I turn the volume up to max and still the audio is very quiet. I made a few phone calls and could barely hear the other person on the dual speakers, earbuds, or normal earpiece. Idk if there is something wrong with my Axon 7 specifically, or if maybe there will be a software update soon to fix this, but this is completely unacceptable."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's really odd. The PC Mag review said it was louder than both the HTC 10 and Alcatel Idol 4S. Have you tried messing with the audio effects?
EDIT: Never mind.

When I get my Axon 7 in the next 24 to 48 hours. I will post my initial impression of the Audio Quality/Power Output. My ASUS ZenFone 2 was average to slightly below in terms of power output. So I will know how good or bad the Axon 7 is in power output.

I was able to make my OnePlus One's dual mono speakers sound relatively decent with a lot more bass than they originally output (it was basically nonexistent until the volume is maxed out) using ViPER4Android. They sound almost like the iPhone speaker, which is decent enough in terms of bass and quality for a single bottom-firing speaker. I can only imagine what it can do with these dual front-facing stereo speakers.

Have the axon 7 and am had a little listening session last night.
Headphone ? : V-Moda M100.
Past phones with good DAC? HTC 10, Note 5 and S6 (Same DAC as note 5).
Compared to the others, the DAC delivers. It's a relatively flat sounding DAC so you get no shape in sound. Everything is clear and concise. The output is great. Drives the M100 fine but then again, it's a 32 ohm headphone. Using power amp (yes I like that better than neutron), I set it up to play music in 24 bit mode. Immediately with the AKM 4491 (axon DAC), you hear how crappy mp3s are. Even at 320kbps. High bit rate acc sound enter but with this phone, lossless shines. The difference is not like you'll dump your mp3 library but you'll enjoy lossless a lot more. Great stereo separation, fantastic noise floor, no white noise. Just clear clean audio. BTW this phone has two audio chips as mentioned however. One is for recording and the other for listening. The amplifier is the AKM 380. Overall very pleased with the sound. Better than the note 5 Wolfson DAC and hard to compare with the HTC 10 since I only owned it for a week.
Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Tapatalk

osmosizzz said:
Have the axon 7 and am had a little listening session last night.
Headphone ? : V-Moda M100.
Past phones with good DAC? HTC 10, Note 5 and S6 (Same DAC as note 5).
Compared to the others, the DAC delivers. It's a relatively flat sounding DAC so you get no shape in sound. Everything is clear and concise. The output is great. Drives the M100 fine but then again, it's a 32 ohm headphone. Using power amp (yes I like that better than neutron), I set it up to play music in 24 bit mode. Immediately with the AKM 4491 (axon DAC), you hear how crappy mp3s are. Even at 320kbps. High bit rate acc sound enter but with this phone, lossless shines. The difference is not like you'll dump your mp3 library but you'll enjoy lossless a lot more. Great stereo separation, fantastic noise floor, no white noise. Just clear clean audio. BTW this phone has two audio chips as mentioned however. One is for recording and the other for listening. The amplifier is the AKM 380. Overall very pleased with the sound. Better than the note 5 Wolfson DAC and hard to compare with the HTC 10 since I only owned it for a week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good. Finally an actual first impression.

USB Audio working on axon 7?
Please If any have some usb soundcard or DAC player to test it with OTG cable on Axon 7.
Thx

TomoBero said:
USB Audio working on axon 7?
Please If any have some usb soundcard or DAC player to test it with OTG cable on Axon 7.
Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Fiio E17K. I will see if it works by tomorrow. It should most likely.

TomoBero said:
USB Audio working on axon 7?
Please If any have some usb soundcard or DAC player to test it with OTG cable on Axon 7.
Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. There's a dedicated USB DAC Audio Setting in the Developers Options.

Poweramp Alpha Build 703 works with Dolby Atmos.

Any issues using High-Res Output in the Poweramp Alpha?

wwyjoe said:
Any issues using High-Res Output in the Poweramp Alpha?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope.

As a spotify user with ATH M50, will the DAC serve me well?

r3xx3r said:
Okay, I think it was actually my fault that there was an audio problem. I have been using an app called Automatic Call Recording for a few months on a couple of other android phones. I had installed it on my Axon 7 while I was setting it up. I uninstalled it and now my audio seems to be better. Everything is quite loud and actually sounds great. I can't use the earbuds at max volume without hurting my ears. Just don't use that app and you should be fine lol.
"I received my Axon 7 today and I can honestly say I am very disappointed in the audio quality. I was expecting the dual speakers and included earbuds to output at least good audio, and somehow I can barely hear anything from either the dual speakers or the earbuds even at full volume. I am extremely disappointed. When I watch a Youtube video using the dual speakers I turn the volume up to max and still the audio is very quiet. I made a few phone calls and could barely hear the other person on the dual speakers, earbuds, or normal earpiece. Idk if there is something wrong with my Axon 7 specifically, or if maybe there will be a software update soon to fix this, but this is completely unacceptable."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we all know this comment is B.S. !..
Have the one plus 3 headphone jack output is amazing. Looking at the axon 7 though

Hi fi dac user thread

Just got the Hi Fi DAC and at ridiculously low price of £50/$66 to boot!
Sounds awesome and the module itself is using the flagship ES9028 SABRE DAC and 9602 Headphone Amp: http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/news/newsroom/ess-technology-comes-out-play-lg-g5
even the upcoming V20 is supposed to have the next level DAC down (ES9018)? correct me if i am wrong!
The sound is MUCH louder than the built in sound via headphone and the sound stage is brighter and more balanced, even on standard resolution tracks with spotify (i have a free year sub on Microsoft Groove and it sounds great on there too).
love the fact that it can operate as an external DAC and quite literally has saved me so much money. I was going to purchase a 32bit/192 Hi Fi grade DAC from Cambridge Audio to Drive my Cambridge Audio Amp and speaker setup at home. HiFi Stero grade DACS tend to use a Sabre or Wolfson DAC. I've saved myself over £500!!
This sounds amazing when hooked onto a laptop.
Was at a party and people were connecting their phones (mostly iPhones) to an external speaker via the headphone jack. this module was MUCH louder than all the rest and drove the speakers better with clearer sound quality.
Only negatives i have found so far are that the module can sometimes be shaky which causes it turn off and resync on the odd occasion. It runs quite warm when used and it does drain battery noticeably more than if i just used the on board sound. I always carry a fully charged spare battery anyway so not that fussed.
Thought id just share my thoughts so far and open a thread where other users can comment on their experiences.

mikey_sk said:
Just got the Hi Fi DAC and at ridiculously low price of £50/$66 to boot!
Sounds awesome and the module itself is using the flagship ES9028 SABRE DAC and 9602 Headphone Amp: http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/news/newsroom/ess-technology-comes-out-play-lg-g5
even the upcoming V20 is supposed to have the next level DAC down (ES9018)? correct me if i am wrong!
The sound is MUCH louder than the built in sound via headphone and the sound stage is brighter and more balanced, even on standard resolution tracks with spotify (i have a free year sub on Microsoft Groove and it sounds great on there too).
love the fact that it can operate as an external DAC and quite literally has saved me so much money. I was going to purchase a 32bit/192 Hi Fi grade DAC from Cambridge Audio to Drive my Cambridge Audio Amp and speaker setup at home. HiFi Stero grade DACS tend to use a Sabre or Wolfson DAC. I've saved myself over £500!!
This sounds amazing when hooked onto a laptop.
Was at a party and people were connecting their phones (mostly iPhones) to an external speaker via the headphone jack. this module was MUCH louder than all the rest and drove the speakers better with clearer sound quality.
Only negatives i have found so far are that the module can sometimes be shaky which causes it turn off and resync on the odd occasion. It runs quite warm when used and it does drain battery noticeably more than if i just used the on board sound. I always carry a fully charged spare battery anyway so not that fussed.
Thought id just share my thoughts so far and open a thread where other users can comment on their experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds awesome. Where did you buy this ?

Jonathan-H said:
Sounds awesome. Where did you buy this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.onedigitals.co.uk/lg-afd-1200-hi-fi-plus-with-b-o-play-black.html
including shipping £50
only works with European H850 only not the usa LG G5 or Asian variants

Note 10+ ear buds / HORRIBLE, please advise.

For the first time since I got my Note 10+ I had a rather long phone call to make. For convenience I pulled out the AKG original supplied ear buds. I was horrified to realize the quality was so awful and the volume was so low (even with the hand set maxed out) i could not use them. After the phone call I tried a few media audio files and even connected to Youtube to see if it was a cell issue. IT WASN'T !
What I can hear is Teetsy-fly tinniness, NO base, little or no mids and volume? You would need to be in a closet to carry on any conversation while using these ear buds. They are a total loss !
All I can say is these ear buds are the worst i have EVER tried to use and I can say they are TOTALLY NOT USABLE FOR ANY USE.
Wondering if I have a bad pair (defective in some way) or if others are finding what I have ?
Please advise if you can.......

ohana said:
For the first time since I got my Note 10+ I had a rather long phone call to make. For convenience I pulled out the AKG original supplied ear buds. I was horrified to realize the quality was so awful and the volume was so low (even with the hand set maxed out) i could not use them. After the phone call I tried a few media audio files and even connected to Youtube to see if it was a cell issue. IT WASN'T !
What I can hear is Teetsy-fly tinniness, NO base, little or no mids and volume? You would need to be in a closet to carry on any conversation while using these ear buds. They are a total loss !
All I can say is these ear buds are the worst i have EVER tried to use and I can say they are TOTALLY NOT USABLE FOR ANY USE.
Wondering if I have a bad pair (defective in some way) or if others are finding what I have ?
Please advise if you can.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go play with the equalizer and see if it sounds better to you. Also turn on Dolby Atmos.

ReconDonkey said:
Go play with the equalizer and see if it sounds better to you. Also turn on Dolby Atmos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All i can say is that besides what has been suggested above, it looks like it is faulty.
These AKG are imho very good (and i am rather difficult when it comes to sound quality), they are far better at least than the samsung iconX buds that i don't touch anymore.
Probably a problem with yours?? Or maybe you have some 3rd party sound apps ?

I'm very picky when it comes to sound quality, and I think the AKG earbuds sound pretty good (not as good as my Bose earbuds, but still). They get a little crunchy at high volume, but seeing as they get loud as hell, I don't use them maxed out lol.
Definitely sounds like a problem with your set. Probably just faulty, it's bound to happen with mass produced products. Maybe Samsung support can help you out somehow?

Your earbuds must indeed be defective, the ones that came with my note are good, not excellent, but good enough, as for max volume, you could try volume booster in playstore from developer goodev, it really works, system-wide, wired and bluetooth

Or buy the Samsung adapter and use your old ones

I agree with the OP, I was shocked how bad these were coming form AKG. I assumed since there were no comments on them here, that it was just accepted that they were crap. I don't really care as I only use my Icon X's and my Sony M3s but was surprised at the poor quality. I've turned on Dolby A, and adjusted bass up on the equalizer and there is no bass, the highs are soooooo tinny. I would never actually use these to listen to music except as last resort on a plane if my M3's died. Even my Icons are 100X better sounding than the AKG included.

gottahavit said:
I agree with the OP, I was shocked how bad these were coming form AKG. I assumed since there were no comments on them here, that it was just accepted that they were crap. I don't really care as I only use my Icon X's and my Sony M3s but was surprised at the poor quality. I've turned on Dolby A, and adjusted bass up on the equalizer and there is no bass, the highs are soooooo tinny. I would never actually use these to listen to music except as last resort on a plane if my M3's died. Even my Icons are 100X better sounding than the AKG included.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think yours are faulty OR 3rd party sound app messes with it, or a soft update that has not been done or whatever...
I'm a long time musician, i truely pay attention to sound quality and i think they are pretty good (for in-ears small earphones). I have the iconX 2018 and AKG are miles above them for sound quality.
Always thought iconX were crap btw... i like them because i can feel free, no wires, but your statement seems rather strange to me

Most likely you need to use the larger ear tips. No seal = no bass

mafy31 said:
I think yours are faulty OR 3rd party sound app messes with it, or a soft update that has not been done or whatever...
I'm a long time musician, i truely pay attention to sound quality and i think they are pretty good (for in-ears small earphones). I have the iconX 2018 and AKG are miles above them for sound quality.
Always thought iconX were crap btw... i like them because i can feel free, no wires, but your statement seems rather strange to me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Icon X are not great sound, that's my point. The AKGs SUCK. My backup workout BT headphones,(wireless Jelly's) are better than these things.
BTW Icons sound much better with on board mp3 than over BT, which is how I use most of the time as I use my M3s when not in the gym
Ear caps have same seal as my icons, and I ran all the firmware upgrades. Defective? maybe, but that just shows poor QC from AKG.
again, I don't care as I don't use wired headphones EVER, just expected them to sound better.

ohana said:
For the first time since I got my Note 10+ I had a rather long phone call to make. For convenience I pulled out the AKG original supplied ear buds. I was horrified to realize the quality was so awful and the volume was so low (even with the hand set maxed out) i could not use them. After the phone call I tried a few media audio files and even connected to Youtube to see if it was a cell issue. IT WASN'T !
What I can hear is Teetsy-fly tinniness, NO base, little or no mids and volume? You would need to be in a closet to carry on any conversation while using these ear buds. They are a total loss !
All I can say is these ear buds are the worst i have EVER tried to use and I can say they are TOTALLY NOT USABLE FOR ANY USE.
Wondering if I have a bad pair (defective in some way) or if others are finding what I have ?
Please advise if you can.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably have a defective piece. Mine sound great out of the box. I have Galaxy Buds the wireless ones and to be honest, the AKG wired ones sound WAY better than my buds. I have Dolby Atmos on and tweaked the equalizer a bit.

eagleone1 said:
You probably have a defective piece. Mine sound great out of the box. I have Galaxy Buds the wireless ones and to be honest, the AKG wired ones sound WAY better than my buds. I have Dolby Atmos on and tweaked the equalizer a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... I have been very surprised at the great sound these little AKG pull out. It is balanced and much details can be heard, miles better than my gear iconx 2018.
They are also way better as well as any piece of headset that came stock with my previous smartphones inc. samsungs.
Sound on youtube with AKG is very nice too, so is netflix etc. No problem with them, so you probably have faulty ones.

I think they sound decent I honestly prefer the AKGs I got with my S9+ however.

I think these ones soumd better than those my note8 came with, even the quality of materials feels a little better

To be honest, I feel the AKG earphones that come included are actually pretty good. Are they the best? No. Are they the worst? No.
Like others mentioned, probably a defective pair, software/config issue, source of music or even type of music can be causing the issue of poor sound quality. People who want to spend $50 or more for better sound quality, that great...but the included earphones are more than enough for the the general public. Yes, Samsung can include better earphones, but then they would probably increase the price of the Note 10. I would rather Samsung not include any earphones and give me a $10 discount, I'm sure the general public wouldn't agree with me on that.
To advise you...all accessories do have manufacturer warranty. IF they sound as HORRIBLE as you are describing, contact Samsung and they will replace with a new pair. Or you can spend money buying a better pair.