[ASK] Mobile Phone with best SQ

Hi there,

 

I listen to mp.3 quality stuff, mostly techno and trance and classical through some etymotic ER6i on my Samsung Nexus s. I think it sounds pretty amazing, but I'm in the process of learning about audio tech myself before buying a desktop IEM driver...

so, what's the mobile phone with best SQ ?

Take a look at the site gsmarena.com. They take and post SQ measurements for every phone they fully review.

Last I checked, none of the LTE handsets had been tested and iPhone 4 was leading the pack. I can confirm that the iPhone 4 does indeed sound better than my thunderbolt with poweramp installed. That said, I can play flac, ape, cue, etc and pull over 20 megs per second making for gorgeous hbo to go streams. No way am I going back to Apple or any other 3g device for that matter.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

Last I looked, no phone and very few PMPs were any better than any other at audio playback. They all had the same hardware limitations. iOS devices and Android devices, for example, are all limited to the same 16-bit audio. Even the Samsung Galaxy Tab has the exact same audio limitations as the iPhone 4.

 

So, in other words, choose the one you like best and buy an external DAC/AMP. One might argue that the iPhone would be better in that regard as it has more options, but when you're choosing between 20 good DAC/AMPs and 15, who really cares? Choose the platform that will do everything else you want and be done with it.

 

As a side note, the only PMP I know of that has a genuinely higher-quality audio playback is the HiFiMAN stuff. But that's because it's basically an AMP built on top of an MP3 player with lossless audio support.

I can't find any information on the audio out-put of the Nexus S. At all. I'm having trouble simply finding what files it officially supports...

 

However, the one thing I can say is that I've found no other evidence to support the Nexus S having the ability to output 24-bit audio. It very well may have that ability, but I can find nothing anywhere that says it. Hmm... You'd think they'd want to brag about better audio capabilities than the iPhone. It'd be one area where they could say with 100% certainty that they had a better product.

 

Can anyone find any specs anywhere that speak to the audio capabilities of the Nexus S? Hardware wise it looks like it might be possible but, as I said, I can find no evidence that it actually does.

Old thread but....most official online reviews don't matter because none test a rooted Samsung with Voodoo Sound to take advantage of the Wolfson chip when comparing to iPhone. They all get tested on stock configuration. Though I'm sure there are reviews somewhere with rooted Samsung phones (vs. iPhone).

Thread revival :P

 

Anyway, as far as my ears can tell, the vanilla i9000 (that's the international version of the Galaxy S) still has the best SQ out of any mobile phone on the market, provided that it's been Voodoo modded. I realize that both the i9000 and the Nexus share the same Wolfson chip, but while the Nexus is limited to 16GB of internal memory, the i9000 gives you the option of slotting in a 32GB Micro SD card for a total of 48 GB memory. Actually, though, only around 13.4GB is available for your files, the remaining 2GB+ being exclusively for apps and the like.

 

The iPhone 4S reportedly has better SQ out of the box, but it doesn't natively support FLACs and WAVs. I realize that converting files is a minor thing, but it's still an advantage over the iPhone. My mom owns the 4S, but as she's a bit overprotective of it () I haven't gotten the opportunity to audition it using my reference files. 

 

Not sure about the chip on the Galaxy Nexus, so as far as I know, it could house the same chip as its predecessor. If that's the case, then bar the abyssmal battery life (a 4.6in 720p screen is a bit of a drain), it's an excellent option. Then again, it follows the trend of not including a Micro SD card slot in the body, limiting the number of files you can store on it.

 

 

P.S.

In all honesty, the only reason I picked up on a dead thread like this is cuz things seem to be slowing down a bit on Head-Fi. Wonder what's up right now?