Caution: Review should be taken with a pinch of salt. They are solely based on my ears with my customs.
Introduction
Hi guys, I have never thought of comparing the audio capabilities of a cellphone against a dedicated audio player ever in my life. It has been always the mobile line trying very hard to market its audio capabilities when it actually fails in the end.
Technology has probably closen up the gap between the two. The S3 is equipped with a wolfson WM1811, a sound chip which has gained some recognition in the audiophile world. Implementation of the chip might be different but this is by far the furthest a cellphone could achieve.
Why against he NW-Z1000? It is actually an audio player that i have owned for quite some time and my preferred choice amongst the other mainstream players out there. And is it too early for me to judge the audio capabilities of the S3? Well I have listened long enough to draw my own conclusions and I do not believe in 'burning in ' anyway.
Initial Impressions (compared against the walkman)
Source: Galaxy S3, Sony NWZ-1070 (64gb) / Standard MP3 320KBPS / FLAC compression level 4-5
Player: Poweramp (All EQs/ Volume Adjustments disabled)
IEMs: Heir Audio 8.A, Senns CX400
Part1:Default Audio Player & Sound
+ Default samsung audio player is much user friendly than the one that came with the walkman. UI is idiot proof and creating playlist is a breeze.
+ Supports FLAC (other codecs lossless codecs not yet tested). Not stated in the specifications (i guess samsung wanted to surprise us). For sony, I had to rely on poweramp to play my FLACs.
+ 7 band Custom EQ compared with Sony's 5.
+ Impressive and one of the most natural sounding audio quality i ever hear from a phone. It even surpasses some of the dedicated mp3 players out there. Sound is not 'digitalized' and frequencies are not overemphasized (sorry HTC).
+ Soundstage and Instrument Seperation are on par with the walkman. In fact they are so similar that i cant find any difference no matter how nitpicky i tried to be.
- Some frequencies lack 'depth' (or what you guys perceive as 'extention'?) compared to the walkman. Cymbals do not reverberate and resonate the way it is meant to be. I believe the highs are the main victim here. If you are an audiophile who listens to alot of rock and heavy instruments, this may be an issue. Apparently it does not affect my listening experience with piano solos and even dance tracks.
- Stereo Imaging slightly inferior to the walkman. Certain parts of the songs could sound flat at times.
However the two factors above are only apparent to audio and tone sensitive listeners. In fact i played songs that i am very very familiar with or songs that i could actually play on the instrument itself and hence it wasnt a problem for me to pick up the most subtle of details and the sound decay of the instruments. Conduct a blind test to the general consumer and rest assured i doubt they are able to spot the difference :)
Part 2: Others
These are bonus factors that allow the S3 to be the upperdog. This may be your dealbreaker.
+ Potential memory surpasses the walkman. The S3 is equipped with 16GB default (11gb available + 64gb micro sd slot = 75 gb). Pictures and videos can be stored in the 50gb dropbox (free & exclusive to only S3). 75gb + 50gb = a whopping 125gb for your media. More good news.. the 32GB/64GB variant might be out in some regions anytime soon.
+ Very pocketable unlike the walkman. It makes a hell lot of difference to have an all in one player.
+ Promising setup with the upcoming samsung audio dock DA-E750 (world's first audio dock with vacuum tube amp + lossless bluetooth streaming)
+ Excellent screen quality and its ability to handle full hd videos make it a better video player than the walkman.
- Drains battery life alot (you'll definitely need to prepare some spare batts). I have not conducted a proper battery test but it does consume alot of power when handling lossless audio files as compared to surfing the net or even making phone calls.
- The Walkman drives phones far more easily than the S3. Had to squeeze to 3/4 vol with my S3. A definitely no go for headphones.
- No dedicated portable dac for android players (apple has fostex)
Conclusion
The S3 might be your choice if you believe the points listed in part 2 are able to supersede some of the audio imperfections. The S3 is not perfect by all means but it does deserve some recognition as an audio player. It definitely brings shame to manufacturers who try to market their phones as 'audio grade'.
