SAmsung galaxy note 2 - Page 21

Well for one,  the one doesnt have true line out,  and generally double amping will muddy the signal unless the signature really match each other.  For a dac/amp as you said that is as you said the best bang for the buck with your current budget,  i dont think any gives out straight improvement unless you want to use hard to drive headphone with it,  otherwise there is no option in that budget that will give you a straight up improvement since the note 2 already have a good dac

UCA222 is actually better than the dac in the note 2 if im not wrong. Using it together with my C&C BH and it sounds really good, but I need more power than the inbuilt amp so.

Thanks for the info. It seems I was wrong in understanding how this works. I assumed that I would be able to attach a cable via USB then could configure settings natively or by an app to send out a digial signal that some external device could use. I can pass through audio from my ps 3 to my Onkyo and have the latter do the processing and amplification. I thought this a reasonable feature, but then I must be wrong.
Edited by WinstonSmith - 3/3/13 at 11:24am

That is how the usb dac works,  and it works for the note 2, it just so happen fornuour budget range there is no dac/amp combination that will provide straight up improvement unless you are going for hard to drive headphones,  in which case the dac amp will help in giving out more power

Gotcha. If I upped the budget then there are possibilities. The reason I was confused is that the E17 seemed like it would work, but if I understand correctly the quality wouldn't change but the volume would.

What would you recommend if I were to spend more?

Apex Glacier, Venturecraft, there is also ibasso D12 , you should take alook at the android phone and USB dac thread, you can also wait for the fiio e18 which is fully android compatible and may carry better hardware than the E17.

 

The quality may not change(in a worth it manner) or even become worse if you use a lesser dac than the one on the Note 2, the amp can improve the volume, details and other aspect of SQ.

 

But if you are using a hard to drive headphone that the Note 2 might not really fulfill(like some 250 ohm cans) , you should consider getting a USB dac/amp just for the amp part, since the note 2 have no lineout

Double check to make sure that the E17 works as a USB audio device with the Note 2. I believe it is one of the USB DACs that doesn't work with the S3.

guys is the note 2 useable in bright sunlight, thinking of getting this to listen to music on the beach but other players phones have been a problem to see in sunlight.
 

Same problem with the note 2. Last anti glare I had didn't exactly help a great deal either. The note 2s screen is not as bright as an iPhone on my recollection.

has anyone measured the cd/m2 on this? i see varying measurements on the net, between 250 and 470. 470 wouldnt be bad at all, my walkman z series is 3502 cd/m2, so at least the note would be an improvement on that. The walkman is of course unreadable in direct sunlight though. Wonder what level of brightness is needed to see well in direct sunlight.

If I connect my Shure se535 to the note 2 I hear some noise... someone has experienced the same thing? I don't have noticed this while I connect these headphones to my ipod or my xfi hd audiocard.

If im not wrong all android devices have some faint sounding noise. Usually only listenable when you do not have playback.

Thank you for your reply. I confirm that the noise can be heard only without music playback.

Anyway tomorrow I'll probably switch to an iphone 5. iTunes match is better than google music.. as the SQ however..

The N2's screen can match or even edge past the iphone's retina display.  You would have to change some settings of course.  You can kind of compare the displays on Samsung's mobile phones to their HDTV's, in a menu feature sorta way lol.  Just like in the bigger brother displays, you can also find picture quality mode settings in the N2 and S3.  They are (as they have always been on the tv's) Dynamic, Standard, Natural(this one's a new addition), and good ol' Movie modes.

 

To get there you go to Settings > DIsplay > Screen Mode > then select either of the 4, but to match iphones color depth and brightness, select either Natural or Movie Mode.

 

After that hit the save button on the upper right corner then it will bring you back to the Display settings, and from there, scroll down to: 'Auto adjust screen tone' all the way on the bottom and uncheck that setting.

 

Now scroll back up to crank your brightness all the way max, and baam!  you now have a screen that you can see in direct sunlight.

 

Note: These instructions are based off the stock Note 2 rom.  Custom roms still has these settings, but might be shuffled around differently.

 

 

Hope this little tip helps!