Cell Phone Amplification
Apr 1, 2012 at 3:51 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 6

N0sferatu

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I wasn't sure what section to put this in but I wanted to run it by you guys.  I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 (phenomenal phone with a not so phenomenal sound system).  It really won't play loud and with my buds it's "okay" but try running say my HD600 headphones and they sound lifeless.  Now I was looking around a while for portable headphone amplifier but I stumbled along this gem on XDA (a popular cell phone forum).
 
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.projectvoodoo.louder&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsIm9yZy5wcm9qZWN0dm9vZG9vLmxvdWRlciJd
 
It basically states "Voodoo exploits Yamaha sound chip extra abilities to get very high output volumes on Galaxy S II based on the Exynos board.  On Galaxy S II a boost of +6dB is reached using analog amp switches."
 
I'm very skeptical of software stuff but it's a whole re-written driver for this headphone and not only does it play my HD600 to ridiculously loud levels (without clipping/distortion/etc) now but feels like it has a kick.  The HD600s feel alive.  The loudness I know is definitely there but the boost in sound quality you guys think is placebo or what?  This modification requires root so it's requires higher privileges on the phone in order to achieve what it's doing.  Thoughts?
 
By no means does this match a stand alone desktop rig but for portable use it made my opinion of buying a portable amp basically out of the question. 
 
Apr 2, 2012 at 10:05 PM Post #2 of 6
/crickets/
 
umm...thanks guys for any input
 
Apr 3, 2012 at 6:10 PM Post #4 of 6
thanks...anyone else have anything to say on the matter???
 
Apr 3, 2012 at 6:32 PM Post #5 of 6
Interesting. I was under the assumption that only the Samsung Galxy S could have Voodoo Control to tap into the actual high quality DAC, which is something the Galaxy S2 wasn't supposed to have.
 
Apr 3, 2012 at 10:14 PM Post #6 of 6
Well, some headphones may sound better with a little bit of volume boost, so it might not be a placebo. With that said - even though the headphones may benefit from the added volume and the overall sound may be improved, Volume Louder doesn't improve the sound quality of the DAC because it doesn't work like Voodoo Sound. It just gives you control over the analog gain.  
 

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