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DAP or Smartphone.

post #1 of 14
12/7/11 at 12:17am
Thread Starter 

Lost my trusty i-river recently.  I have a lengthy daily commute on public transport so it got regular use, usually attatched to Sennheiser cans.  I am looking at a Cowon J3 as a replacement.  However, my wife who is generally practical and logical asked the question 'Do you really need to be carrying two devices'  She has a point.  I'm due a phone upgrade and for much less than the cost of a J3 can get a top of the range Smartphone and throw a large capacity SD card into it.  The phones I'm considering are the Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Sensation & Sensation XE (with Beats, which may or may not be a gimmick). I don't generally like the fruit seller.  The question is this, can I get halfway reasonable SQ from a smartphone or would the J3 be a better bet.  I've rooted and upgraded my existing HTC Hero so would be capable of Rockboxing or something similar to a smartphone.


Edited by armstrongracer - 12/7/11 at 12:20am
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post #2 of 14
12/7/11 at 2:27am

DAP any day. 

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post #3 of 14
12/7/11 at 3:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by armstrongracer View Post

Lost my trusty i-river recently.  I have a lengthy daily commute on public transport so it got regular use, usually attatched to Sennheiser cans.  I am looking at a Cowon J3 as a replacement.  However, my wife who is generally practical and logical asked the question 'Do you really need to be carrying two devices'  She has a point.  I'm due a phone upgrade and for much less than the cost of a J3 can get a top of the range Smartphone and throw a large capacity SD card into it.  The phones I'm considering are the Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Sensation & Sensation XE (with Beats, which may or may not be a gimmick). I don't generally like the fruit seller.  The question is this, can I get halfway reasonable SQ from a smartphone or would the J3 be a better bet.  I've rooted and upgraded my existing HTC Hero so would be capable of Rockboxing or something similar to a smartphone.


It depends on what you need? Did you wanna kill 2 birds with 1 stone? The iphone 4 does have good sound quality with the Cirrus Logic DAC. You can also use its line out feature to connect to your external amps (Cowon does not have a line out). Other than that phone I think you'd get better sound with the J3.

 

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post #4 of 14
12/7/11 at 5:37am
Thread Starter 

Just to explain, I have a bit of an alterior motive here.  I am a vynyl junkie but due to 4 year old twins the player is locked away.  Longer term & when funds allow I will invest in an audiophile DAP (the i-Basso caught my eye) and transfer some records over to digital.  The smartphone route seems a good short term cost-effective measure.  However, really poor SQ get's to me. 

 

After posting, I noticed the Samsung Galaxy thread.  Vodoo & Rockbox looks an interesting route.  Bit of confusion in web land however as to which Samsung models have the Wolfson WM8994 DAC.  Can the S2 be Vodoo'd and is it as good sounding as the plain SGS?

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post #5 of 14
12/8/11 at 12:27am

I've more or less ignored my iPod since I got an iPhone.  The iPod stays in the car, connected to the stereo.  I can't remember the last time I used it otherwise.

 

When I listen on the go, it's IEMs plugged into the iPhone.

 

Not as good as the home rig, but plenty good.  I do all of my serious listening at home, anyway.

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post #6 of 14
12/9/11 at 3:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by armstrongracer View Post

Just to explain, I have a bit of an alterior motive here.  I am a vynyl junkie but due to 4 year old twins the player is locked away.  Longer term & when funds allow I will invest in an audiophile DAP (the i-Basso caught my eye) and transfer some records over to digital.  The smartphone route seems a good short term cost-effective measure.  However, really poor SQ get's to me. 

 

After posting, I noticed the Samsung Galaxy thread.  Vodoo & Rockbox looks an interesting route.  Bit of confusion in web land however as to which Samsung models have the Wolfson WM8994 DAC.  Can the S2 be Vodoo'd and is it as good sounding as the plain SGS?


It's the first Galaxy that has the wolfson dac. Haven't touched the Sansa fuze and PA2V2 amp since I voodoo'd the Galaxy.


Edited by Peyotero - 12/9/11 at 3:07am
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post #7 of 14
12/9/11 at 4:44am
Thread Starter 

Galaxy S is an option I am strongly considering, however they have come off the plan from my service provider so I would have to buy it myself.  They are still fairly pricey unlocked.  The New Nexus looks really nice,  latest version of Android (ICS) allows output through an external DAC, I am keeping an eye on posts to see what the SQ is like with this option.  Could be a winner.

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post #8 of 14
12/9/11 at 4:58am

Yup. The only downside is there is no SD expansion slot on the Nexus.

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post #9 of 14
12/9/11 at 5:11am
Thread Starter 

Had'nt realised that. Will have to wait then until other phones get ICS upgrade.

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post #10 of 14
12/11/11 at 9:49am

I think smartphones sounds just as good as a DAP, if you don't want to carry around two devices and are not driving full headphones with it, an iphone or a samsung galaxy s II will be just fine.

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post #11 of 14
12/16/11 at 7:02am

i use Sony Ericsson Arc S + IE8

 

i would not say this combo have poor sq...

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post #12 of 14
12/16/11 at 7:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sangaphunchai View Post

I think smartphones sounds just as good as a DAP, if you don't want to carry around two devices and are not driving full headphones with it, an iphone or a samsung galaxy s II will be just fine.


 

galaxy s2 is not the best option IMHO. I would suggest to buy Nokia... or Sony Ericsson.

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post #13 of 14
12/16/11 at 7:06am

apparently the Galaxy Nexus sounds better than the original SGS with the Wolfson (i forgot who, i just remember reading it somewhere in the SGS2 vs iPhone 4S thread)

 

i have an iPhone 4, Samsung Galacy Tab (original 7" one with the same Wolfson as the SGS) and i can tell you now, my Tab sound better noticeably. It just sounds a lot cleaner.

 

but J3 still wins

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post #14 of 14
12/16/11 at 8:27am

Now I use Samsung Galaxy Gio for music.

I used Cowon S9.

To compare sound quality :

Cowon S9 : 8/10 

Samsung Galaxy Gio : 6/10

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