iphone 4s vs samsung nexus Music quality

interesting question

Depends which Samsung Nexus you're talking about.

If you're comparing to the Galaxy Nexus then the 4S has the better sound, easily (and just to be clear I'm an Android fan, even have my own Android blog AndroidNZ.net, so there is no Apple favouritism in play here). I've listened to others 4S's and they easily out-do the Galaxy Nexus (which I have, in addition to the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Galaxy Note). 

The 4S is not as good as the Samsung Nexus S with Voodoo Control though (or Galaxy S, which has the same DAC), which still has the best SQ you can find on a phone once you've Rooted it and installed Voodoo. If you're after an Android phone and really value the SQ over having the most up-to-date hardware in other respects then the original Galaxy S or Nexus S are well worth a look.

Worth mentioning also that Supercurio, who developed Voodoo Control, is also working on some SQ improvements for the Nexus. They will not make anything like the same difference that Voodoo Control did to the Galaxy S, since the Galaxy S has a far better DAC than the Galaxy Nexus, but will be interesting to compare the 4S with the Galaxy Nexus again after he releases whatever he has cooking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NZtechfreak 

Depends which Samsung Nexus you're talking about.

 

If you're comparing to the Galaxy Nexus then the 4S has the better sound, easily (and just to be clear I'm an Android fan, even have my own Android blog AndroidNZ.net, so there is no Apple favouritism in play here). I've listened to others 4S's and they easily out-do the Galaxy Nexus (which I have, in addition to the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Galaxy Note). 

 

The 4S is not as good as the Samsung Nexus S with Voodoo Control though (or Galaxy S, which has the same DAC), which still has the best SQ you can find on a phone once you've Rooted it and installed Voodoo. If you're after an Android phone and really value the SQ over having the most up-to-date hardware in other respects then the original Galaxy S or Nexus S are well worth a look.

 

Worth mentioning also that Supercurio, who developed Voodoo Control, is also working on some SQ improvements for the Nexus. They will not make anything like the same difference that Voodoo Control did to the Galaxy S, since the Galaxy S has a far better DAC than the Galaxy Nexus, but will be interesting to compare the 4S with the Galaxy Nexus again after he releases whatever he has cooking.

And it's not only that the 4S outperforms easily its 2011 peers but it has a line out port where Androids lack one.

Time and time again for music purposes the iPhone is up there undisturbed by the competition. This is a shame really. I hope someday the competition steps up its game.

That's not a very equal playing field, especially when Apple has Fostex HP-P1 and Cypherlabs Audio on it's side. Meanwhile Android has... Nothing, really. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by issuzark 

That's not a very equal playing field, especially when Apple has Fostex HP-P1 and Cypherlabs Audio on it's side. Meanwhile Android has... Nothing, really. 

Not entirely true but I know what you mean, with an Iphone you have significantly more options.  Should change with ICS though, at least for some devices.  SG2 should support digital out over USB.....which opens you up to every USB DAC on the market!

Am using ICS right now, nothing that much about outputs as far as I know. But, does SG2 support digital out? I remember them not being able to.. Because if they do, they my Nexus S should too? :DDD

Yes but your using a custom ROM, we will have to wait for the official release.  SG2 can do HDMI with an adapter so it can certainly pass digital out of the port.....it's just down to implementation.

Bugger!

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=24614

At least people are crying out for it.

vote by clicking on the star, reaaaaaally hope it gets enough attention

Quote:

Originally Posted by elfary 

And it's not only that the 4S outperforms easily its 2011 peers but it has a line out port where Androids lack one.

 

Time and time again for music purposes the iPhone is up there undisturbed by the competition. This is a shame really. I hope someday the competition steps up its game.

Well that's not entirely true - with the Galaxy S and Galaxy Nexus they did step up and delivered better sound quality (albeit you needed to mod to get it). It's just a shame they backed off this area in 2012 (I can see why Samsung decided to, but like anyone in these forums wish they hadn't).

The line out thing is definitely a major feather in the iPhone's cap, but at some point Android's will be able to use USB DACs and then things will get interesting again :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by NZtechfreak 

Well that's not entirely true - with the Galaxy S and Galaxy Nexus they did step up and delivered better sound quality (albeit you needed to mod to get it). It's just a shame they backed off this area in 2012 (I can see why Samsung decided to, but like anyone in these forums wish they hadn't).

 

The line out thing is definitely a major feather in the iPhone's cap, but at some point Android's will be able to use USB DACs and then things will get interesting again :)

Objectively you can not say that the modded Galaxy S sounds any better than the iPhone since it has more output impedance and far worse crosstalk performance thus you can say that you like better the modded Galaxy S but if you state that it sounds better then going by the audio industry standards that statement is simply not true. If we were talking about cars the iPhone is a faster car even if you like better being at the wheel of the Galaxy S.

You can check on Supercurio's page the measurements for the Vodooed Galaxy S.

A digital out would be nice but again just a clean line out would do for many scenarios (speaker docks i.e.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by NuckinFutz 

Yes but your using a custom ROM, we will have to wait for the official release.  SG2 can do HDMI with an adapter so it can certainly pass digital out of the port.....it's just down to implementation.

Official release of what? I doubt Samsung will do an official kernel and app to improve on the SQ, especially since almost all their phones use Yamaha DACs, which, as I have read, are quite different. 

How about the audio output quality of the Galaxy SII ?

4S like others say. better chip. it gets more advanced every year and boasts better SNR, THD and all that other goodies,...and as u can hear even from Android fans. nothing beats it. and it's got an LOD. cyper labs and fostex used it BECAUSE it had that LOD and plus. they could buy codes from Apple who were willing to sell decryption keys to the DAC. Android...no dice. 

There are some rumours of DAC and LOD use with ICS..but as of right now..none.

plus. 4S is faster :/ i like mine. They all use the same CPU's. different SoC's. which car is faster. the lamborghini body with a corvette's engine or a volks waggon bug body with a corvette turbo engine? that's whats happening. the OS on Android isn't advanced enough..well not advanced. but it never became efficent enough to use all the resoucres the CPU. the ARM CORTEX has to offer.