Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Source Gear › Best Phone for Music?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Best Phone for Music?

post #1 of 14
3/26/11 at 7:11pm
Thread Starter 

In terms of listening to music through headphones, are iPhones the best? How do they fair in comparison to music dedicated phones such as the Nokia XpressMusic series?

Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #2 of 14
3/27/11 at 2:33am

Samsung Galaxy S, comes with wolfson WM8994 dac

 

i paired galaxy with earsonics sm3 .. it's sound better than cowon s9

Reply
post #3 of 14
3/27/11 at 2:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Juiced View Post

Samsung Galaxy S, comes with wolfson WM8994 dac

 

i paired galaxy with earsonics sm3 .. it's sound better than cowon s9


Wow, is that true?! I can't imagine a phone sounding that good, but if it's the case, then i might be getting one :D

 

Reply
post #4 of 14
3/28/11 at 3:18am

Thats bull i have the Galaxy S and the sound out of it is noticable worse than my Sansa clip and my old Iphone 2g and i also have the SM3. Better than the S9 ? thats the best joke i´ve ever heard :)

The Galaxy is anything but good sounding. From my experience the Iphone series can beat any phones out there when it comes to sound quality. They sound very neutral and wide and will pair perfectly with more expensive IEMs especially those with warm sound signature.

Reply
post #5 of 14
3/28/11 at 10:02am

Samsung Galaxy S (Capitivate, Viberant ect) has wolfson dac chip and it canbe sound very good with power amp use but first you need to download Voodoo sound appelication ($14) from Andriod market. It will improve the sound quality much better than stock configiration and gives more volume with better details and soundstage. So yes Samsung Galaxy S can sound so good and even better than some dadicated DAPs.

Reply
post #6 of 14
3/29/11 at 11:52am

The Voodoo Sound app is free ... the $14 version is just to donate, both versions of the app have the same functionality.

You must have a custom kernel that has Voodoo Sound included, most custom kernels do by now, the app just controls it.

Comparing the Galaxy S Voodoo Sound to my Cowon S9, they sound about the same.

Keep in mind that the sound quality on the Galaxy S got better with newer firmware and the addition of Voodoo Sound.


Edited by king.mark - 3/29/11 at 11:54am
Reply
post #7 of 14
4/11/11 at 10:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nickie View Post

Thats bull i have the Galaxy S and the sound out of it is noticable worse than my Sansa clip and my old Iphone 2g and i also have the SM3. Better than the S9 ? thats the best joke i´ve ever heard :)

The Galaxy is anything but good sounding. From my experience the Iphone series can beat any phones out there when it comes to sound quality. They sound very neutral and wide and will pair perfectly with more expensive IEMs especially those with warm sound signature.



Have you gone with the custom kernel and Voodoo to unlock the full potential of the Wolfson DAC on the Galaxy S?

 

Reply
post #8 of 14
4/11/11 at 1:38pm

I own a Nokia 5530 XM. I have nothing to compare to, though subjectively it is better at mids & highs though worse at bass than my PC's Realtek HD.

I am afraid many would find it not loud enough: I'm listening with 90-95% volume (IEMs) and sometimes I still want to get it louder.

Reply
post #9 of 14
4/11/11 at 4:10pm

Wait,...you need to "root" the Samsung Galaxy S to use the custom kernal & the Voodoo Sound app? I'd go back to Android if I can get slammin' SQ from an Android phone WITHOUT rooting - I HATE rooting!!!

 

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

DESCRIPTION

This app controls Voodoo sound for Galaxy S and Nexus S phones with custom kernels implementing Voodoo patches.
Features are auto-detected, extended controls supported will be displayed (it may differ from the screenshots)

As I publish updates very often, enabling auto-updates is recommended.

Goal of this project is to:
- improve sound quality
- fix audio issues present in Samsung kernels
- unleash the powerful hi-fi headphone amplifier included in your phone and audiophile-quality DAC.

Every new feature uses the abilities of Wolfson Microelectronics WM8994 ultra low power audio codec, without changing battery life.

It requires a custom kernel for Galaxy S devices, containing an additional driver
However, root is not needed.

You will find the reference kernel for GT-I9000 Galaxy S here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=806195
Today Speedmod, SuperOptimized, Voodoo Advanced and other kernels for Vibrant and Captivate support the new sound extensions as well.

Enjoy - and take care of your your hearing, because the amp is a beast :)

 

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.projectvoodoo.controlapp


Edited by tds101 - 4/11/11 at 4:14pm
Reply
post #10 of 14
4/13/11 at 5:11pm

Has anyone tried/compared the Nokia N8 or E7? I listened to a friend's Nokia N8 with a pair of IEMs and was pleasantly surprised. Then I tried it through a Pico amp and it seemed even better. For reference, my current setup is iPod Mini 2nd gen->LOD->Pico amp, nothing too special but good enough for my portable needs. The Nokia definitely did not sound worse, although I only tried it for maybe 20-30 mins.

Reply
post #11 of 14
4/17/11 at 7:57pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by the-orb View Post

Has anyone tried/compared the Nokia N8 or E7? I listened to a friend's Nokia N8 with a pair of IEMs and was pleasantly surprised. Then I tried it through a Pico amp and it seemed even better. For reference, my current setup is iPod Mini 2nd gen->LOD->Pico amp, nothing too special but good enough for my portable needs. The Nokia definitely did not sound worse, although I only tried it for maybe 20-30 mins.



Yes, I've heard from many sources that the N8 does sound quite remarkable. Too bad Symbian is so hard to use. But that is a discussion for another forum :)

Reply
post #12 of 14
4/17/11 at 8:13pm

Should the phone be in Airplane mode to get rid of RFI?

Reply
post #13 of 14
4/18/11 at 4:14pm


Yeah, I think I might be getting the E7 in the coming weeks, so I will post my impressions if I do get it. I was definitely impressed by the N8. If I can have decent sound quality without having to carry a separate DAP, I'd be very happy, although I agree that Symbian^3 has its limitations.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by OBAMANIZER View Post





Yes, I've heard from many sources that the N8 does sound quite remarkable. Too bad Symbian is so hard to use. But that is a discussion for another forum :)



 

Reply
post #14 of 14
4/19/11 at 1:02am

white-trash-repairs-external-loudspeaker.jpg

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Portable Source Gear

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Source Gear › Best Phone for Music?