[elfary]

I've exchanged emails thru the years with Lutz Herkner (focus.de reviewer) and his subjective assessments are incredibly accurate. He always hits the bullseye. Whatever opinion he comes up with ends up backed by objective measurements.

Hence i now see a replacement for my legendary 4S 64Gb. Great news indeed.


Optimism is the depth of technical ignorance

 

[woodcans]

After a listening session yesterday evening, to my ears, the 5s is a clear step up in SQ from the 5. I had ios 7 on my old 5 for about a few days before getting my 5s. Some improvement may be due to the software, but I suspect a large component to be hardware related.

 

[Jakkal]

Those are all good news. thank you guys. Now I wonder what the output impedance is....

 

[vwinter]

By looking at the bump the graph has at 50hz (they test with AKGs that have more 10 more ohms of impedance at 50 hz that in the rest of the spectrum).


Optimism is the depth of technical ignorance

That's interesting and clever. Thanks.

[rule]

As to the Fokus.de review:

I'll tentatively agree that the SQ is right up there with the 4S, if not better. But I'll disagree that they sound the same sound, are almost indistinguishable, or have no difference. The sound is very different in character from my impressions so far, to the extent that I doubt I would have any trouble picking them out blind.

 

[Baroninkjet]

Gsmarena posted its (flawed) measurements. while you can not trust the absolute numbers vs other phones (since they don't match spl) it's enough to know that output impedance and crosstalk is lower than iPhone 5.

Looks like 5s audio is a winner.

http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_5s-review-994p7.php


Optimism is the depth of technical ignorance

 
Did GSM redo its old iPhone tests with its new methodology (from Spring, 2013)? Half their test charts on Android devices mix old tests (worse results) with new tests (better results), making them pretty worthless for comparison. Just an FYI.

 

[blueangel2323]

That's interesting and clever. Thanks.

---

As to the Fokus.de review:

I'll tentatively agree that the SQ is right up there with the 4S, if not better. But I'll disagree that they sound the same sound, are almost indistinguishable, or have no difference. The sound is very different in character from my impressions so far, to the extent that I doubt I would have any trouble picking them out blind.

 
How would you describe the differences?

 

[vwinter]

How would you describe the differences?

I'll answer this soon.

 

[elfary]

@vwinter it would be cool if you could compare the output power of the iPhone 4S and the 5S.

Having my 4S i purchased an iPhone 5 but i sold it because i could not accept that it had less output power than my 4s (with the iphone 5 volume maxed out the 4s managed to match the sound pressure level and still have two more volume points available)


Optimism is the depth of technical ignorance

 

[vwinter]

@vwinter it would be cool if you could compare the output power of the iPhone 4S and the 5S.

Having my 4S i purchased an iPhone 5 but i sold it because i could not accept that it had less output power than my 4s (with the iphone 5 volume maxed out the 4s managed to match the sound pressure level and still have two more volume points available)


Optimism is the depth of technical ignorance

 
I brought it down to mute and brought it back up with 9 volume up button presses, ie 9 volume boxes on each. The volume output into a 16 Ohm load is very very similar. The 5S might even sound a bit louder sometimes because it's more aggressive and crisp.
 
Edit: Mine are the US models if that matters since I've read of volume limiters on EU models.
 
Edit2: I will not max out the volume lol.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Liking the sound of this, may try on the 5S for size sometime soon.

 

[_js_]

I just upgraded from a 4 to a 5s and I'm experiencing serious listening fatigue. It definitely may be a coincidence! Sometimes in the fall I get fluid buildup in my inner ears for some reason and that may be what's going on here. Or not.

I'm using Sennheiser PX100's (original, not II's).

Overall I like the sound. I experience more detail and crispness all across the board (vs. iPhone 4), but most noticeably in the bass. A little less soundstage, maybe, but good clarity.

But, my ears actually start to hurt a bit after an hour. Maybe I'm pushing the volume up a bit too much? I don't think so! I even have a volume limit programmed in.

Anyway, is anyone else experiencing this or something like it?

Also, maybe I just need to get better headphones. Can anyone say if the 5s and Ety HF5 iem's play well together? Or another iem?

Thanks in advance!

 

[vwinter]

  Liking the sound of this, may try on the 5S for size sometime soon.

 
If you can, load one of the same songs they have on the store models onto whatever you have and bring yours have in to AB since it's one of the few DAPs you can actually demo in the US.

 

[NZtechfreak]

   
If you can, load one of the same songs they have on the store models onto whatever you have and bring yours have in to AB since it's one of the few DAPs you can actually demo in the US.

 
I'm in New Zealand, so will be a couple of weeks I think before I have the chance to do that.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Sometimes in the fall I get fluid buildup in my inner ears for some reason and that may be what's going on here. 

 
That'll be caused by eustachian tube dysfunction, the question being what is causing said dysfunction.
 
Do you suffer any allergies? If there is a seasonal pattern to your issue it's fairly suspicious for an allergic exposure of some kind.

 

[vwinter]

I just upgraded from a 4 to a 5s and I'm experiencing serious listening fatigue. It definitely may be a coincidence! Sometimes in the fall I get fluid buildup in my inner ears for some reason and that may be what's going on here. Or not.

I'm using Sennheiser PX100's (original, not II's).

Overall I like the sound. I experience more detail and crispness all across the board (vs. iPhone 4), but most noticeably in the bass. A little less soundstage, maybe, but good clarity.

But, my ears actually start to hurt a bit after an hour. Maybe I'm pushing the volume up a bit too much? I don't think so! I even have a volume limit programmed in.

Anyway, is anyone else experiencing this or something like it?

Also, maybe I just need to get better headphones. Can anyone say if the 5s and Ety HF5 iem's play well together? Or another iem?

Thanks in advance!

 
I hear it as more aggressive than the 4S which I don't remember sounding very different than my previous 4. That could cause fatigue.