Audiophile Grade Cell phones

Not really.

Cellphones change too fast. They're designed to last for a couple years then be replaced. Something new and better rolls out every 6-12 months, so I just get what I need and don't worry about having the "best" since new models come so quickly.

To me, audiophile gear is something with a much longer lifespan. My turntable was released in the 1990s, but is still in production and excellent. Its arm was developed in the 1980s and is still a top offering. The Denon DL103 I use has been around about 50 years and is still good. My power amp is about 25 years old. My primary headphone amp/preamp has been in production for almost five years, but it will still work and sound great 20 or 30 years on. The design of one pair of speakers I have dates back to 1963.

I can't imagine having the same cell phone in 2013, let alone 2031. But there's a good chance I'll still be spinning black discs on the same turntable in 2031.

If you want audiophile quality, go for long-term stable components. Ones you can get a good 20 years of use from. Cellphones are practically disposable. They're only engineered to last a year or two, anyway.

My advice is to get whatever phone you like. One with a good price and features you want. Audio is decent to good on almost all of them.

You might want to hold off for a couple months or so, however. The iPhone5 is coming. Microsoft's WP7 is coming, too, with new models. I bet several Android phones will roll out around then, as well. If I can get out the crystal ball, there's going to be a fierce fight for marketshare from October through the end of the year. I think prices will be pushed down $50 or so. I would not be surprised to see one of the manufacturers get aggressive on pricing and drive down the others. Today's $200 smartphone will probably get pushed down to $150 by the holidays. (Just speculation, but prices have been trending down.)

I don't think is there is such a thing, if any get iphone at least it support apple lossless lol. 

Here's my 2 cents:

 

The Samsung Galaxy S1 or Google Nexus S both have a wolfson dac.  If you root either and install supercurio's Voodoo Control app to fix the android sound driver issues you'll have a better sounding device than any iPhone and a good portion of the dedicated DAPs on the market.  You can play flac on either with the right player, neutron music player will give you the best sound of all the players.

Edited by DrTone - 8/16/11 at 7:54am

Honestly, using a cellphone as your player might be a pain. I was doing that and it drains the battery out. So you'll just end up without music and without phone in the end. Of course it depends how often you charge it but if you travel a lot, it won't be as good as having a dedicated player.

 

of course, there is always the solution of replacement battery...

The worst pain is if someone calls you up while you listen to music. When that happens I get so irritated that I want to throw my phone in the wall.

Indeed, I forgot that also :D

Androids have terrible battery life, i had the Droid2 from Verizon, it sux....
 

 

I think Cell Phones can compete with DAPs in term of sound quality like iPhone 4 has line out and if it connect with better portable AMPs then it sound even better than most DAPs include iPods. The Samsung Galaxy S (andriod series) Capitivate with Voodoo control sound amazing and better than most DAPs. The Nokia N9 offers USB OTG and it can work with external USB DAC/AMPs (like iBasso D4, XM6, Pico) and sound will improve much more than HP jack.

Having heard a variety of blackberries (at least those that even bother to have an 1/8 jack), motorola droid, samsung galaxy s and iphone 3gs, I can say that the iphone is leaps and bounds better then anything else

 

You merely have to look at the pedigree of who makes it to know this.. for everyone else, audio quality is an afterthought.. for apple its a design goal

 

Likewise the DAC it uses is nowhere NEAR as important as the analog output stage which again, apple outshines its competitors by leaps and bounds

Traditionally yes, Android phones have had poor battery life. They are getting better though. My nexus S lasts me all day, and most of the day If I stream music from google music. If you don't care about the ultimate sound from your phone, galaxy SII is a killer phone and has very good batterylife.

 

Web browsing and video watching will drain the battery fast, but listening to music isn't bad.
 

 

You'll have an audiophile grade cellphone about the time you can make a call on your Grados. There is no market so don't hold your breath, 

^ Here's a thought.  I know that using my iPhone a lot during the day for calls and music means I won't have enough juice by the end of the toughest days, especially using Safari too.  Compared to my pre-iPhone days, when my flip phone did everything I needed it to do and my iPod lasted a few days between charges, you're squeezing a lot work and performance out of your smartphone.

 

Especially if what you want is an audiophile-grade DAP.  Maybe you just get one.  Leave the phone calls to a phone.  If you require more out of your DAP, it's the way to go.

 

That said, my iPhone 4 does what I want it to.  No LOD to amp to anything but some low-impedance cans.  But I'm not gonna tell you that what's good enough for my tastes is gonna be the solution you're seeking.
 

I would agree that the iPhone DAC/out is better than the other phones (that I've tried, at least), but was audio quality really a design goal?  And not in the way that Monster's goal is to make studio reference headphones?  I mean, I'm not being contentious, but I always take statements like this, especially if it originated from marketing copy, with a grain of dubiousness.

 

Nokia n8 and the dab radio headset, the dab radio headset acts like an external dac & headphone amp taking the sound from the n8's usb port, it sounds much better than the default headphone jack and it's sound quality is a little bit better than my fiio E9/E7 combo but it can only drive <100ohm headphones , the nokia N8 works with alot of usb dacs i use it as a digital transport with my Fiio E9/E7 combo when at home.