[moedawg140]

Significantly better than the stock iPhone player with standard iTunes downloads?

I believe the term "significantly better" is a very subjective term. Without me saying how much better I believe both players are relative to the native iTunes app, I would suggest you try them both out to gauge how much more you may like them than the native iTunes app.

 

[dagraham]

I believe the term "significantly better" is a very subjective term. Without me saying how much better I believe both players are relative to the native iTunes app, I would suggest you try them both out to gauge how much more you may like them than the native iTunes app.

Yeah, I appreciate it's subjective. Unfortunately, I'm not really in a position to test then out as I don't have access to an iPhone6. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've listened a number of times in the Apple store and found the bass to be a bit slow and bloated to my ears.

Just wondered whether anyone else had felt the same and whether any third party apps improved things.

 

[Baroninkjet]

Yeah, for iOS I'm not sure either. Spotify (at least on iOS) has an EQ already that isn't half bad. I know of a third party Spotify EQ for the desktop version of Spotify (haven't used though). The SpotEQ app looks like it has a lot going for it. I didn't test it out, but good find though.

 
My problem with Spotify EQ is how damn difficult it is to switch on and off, depending on IEM vs car vs Spotify Connect to receiver. I thought their Android app was bad in this regard, but iOS is even worse. And in Android, they just use the stock Android EQ... and there are other apps which will control it easily.
 
I bought SpotEQ, but have not used it. It accesses Spotify, but saves its own caches of offline data. Also, it only accesses playlists and search, none of your albums. I got it intending to use it for eq and spotify app for no eq.

 

[moedawg140]

Yeah, I appreciate it's subjective. Unfortunately, I'm not really in a position to test then out as I don't have access to an iPhone6. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've listened a number of times in the Apple store and found the bass to be a bit slow and bloated to my ears.

Just wondered whether anyone else had felt the same and whether any third party apps improved things.

Even though I am stating I believe the Neutron and Onkyo apps are improvements regarding sound quality compared to the native app, it isn't right for me to say exactly how much so because my perception may be different from other's perception, for example, saying it improves a little bit or "significantly" does not really help out the reader since every user's interpretation of those and every other word will not be the exact same - hence my suggestion to try it out for yourself will always be the best option. Try to get access to an iPhone 6 if you can, because not having it does not make a difference if the third party apps are installed or not because you don't even have it in your possession to test.

My problem with Spotify EQ is how damn difficult it is to switch on and off, depending on IEM vs car vs Spotify Connect to receiver. I thought their Android app was bad in this regard, but iOS is even worse. And in Android, they just use the stock Android EQ... and there are other apps which will control it easily.

I bought SpotEQ, but have not used it. It accesses Spotify, but saves its own caches of offline data. Also, it only accesses playlists and search, none of your albums. I got it intending to use it for eq and spotify app for no eq.

I agree, Spotify's EQ is definitely cumbersome to get to. What would make the app better is creating a specific EQ button, accessible from any page you were on. That would be nice. I am pretty sure someone has written to them requesting that same option, but I will write to Spotify once I return back to California.

 

[wood1030]

Sorry to go off topic, but is IOS 8 confirmed as the main factor for sound quality improvement over the actual device upgrades?

If so, I wonder if there's a way to jailbreak the IOS 8 sound profile onto IOS 7 firmware.

Hello to all those still on a pre iOS 8 device and still jailbroken. There's an app in cydia available for purchase called "equalizereverywhere" that can give you a more customized sound and can be used across and within all music apps available in the iOSphere.
I use it while playing various music apps, Beats, Pandora, iTunes Match, etc.
Obviously it's only available for jb'd devices so iOS 8 users need not apply .

Here's just a look at some screenies from my device:

[/IMG][/IMG]

It seems most of you have already updated to iOS 8 on your older idevices or are rocking new iPhone 6's. I refuse to update my iPhone 5 or update to iPhone 6 til there's a JB available for it just so I can keep the extra customization a jailbroken device provides.
It's unfortunate we have to play this cat and mouse game in the walled garden of the Apple ecosphere, but we do what we gotta do to get maximum enjoyment from our devices that we've payed top $ for.

 

[Sanlitun]

I just got my second 6+ yesterday as I had returned the first due to call quality and camera issues. This second one seems somewhat better. 
 
The music playback quality of this unit (updated to 8.1) is certainly better than the previous. My last 6+ it was a bit better than my LG G3, but not enough to really justify the expense. This new phone is different though with a certain advantage in playback quality. Whether that is due to 8.1 or the new unit itself I cannot say.
 
The Onkyo player and Can Opener seem to have some advantages over the stock player from what I can tell so far. I'm not the sort of person who uses EQ or DSP but I like some of Can Opener's crossfeed settings as they really seem to improve presence in the recording on some tracks.
 
Overall I would say I am a lot more impressed with Phone than 3 weeks ago, it seemed a bit half baked then but with the recent software and app updates it really has become extraordinary and a big improvement over the LG G3.

 

[TheTrace]

Hello to all those still on a pre iOS 8 device and still jailbroken. There's an app in cydia available for purchase called "equalizereverywhere" that can give you a more customized sound and can be used across and within all music apps available in the iOSphere.
I use it while playing various music apps, Beats, Pandora, iTunes Match, etc.
Obviously it's only available for jb'd devices so iOS 8 users need not apply .

Here's just a look at some screenies from my device:

[/IMG][/IMG]

It seems most of you have already updated to iOS 8 on your older idevices or are rocking new iPhone 6's. I refuse to update my iPhone 5 or update to iPhone 6 til there's a JB available for it just so I can keep the extra customization a jailbroken device provides.
It's unfortunate we have to play this cat and mouse game in the walled garden of the Apple ecosphere, but we do what we gotta do to get maximum enjoyment from our devices that we've payed top $ for.

Thank you for the suggestion, I've read around and actually found the app Neutron. I must say it's the best app/tweak I've come across sound quality enhancement wise. Would anyone be able to confirm the functionality of the app on ios 8?

 

[Dixter]

Thank you for the suggestion, I've read around and actually found the app Neutron. I must say it's the best app/tweak I've come across sound quality enhancement wise. Would anyone be able to confirm the functionality of the app on ios 8?

I have not loaded Neutron on an iphone 6 yet...  but I'm working with it on an Ipad at this time and it seems to work well on ios8.1...  

 

[moedawg140]

Thank you for the suggestion, I've read around and actually found the app Neutron. I must say it's the best app/tweak I've come across sound quality enhancement wise. Would anyone be able to confirm the functionality of the app on ios 8?

Neutron works the same regardless of it being installed on an iPhone 5 (iOS 7 - 8) or iPhone 6 (iOS 8 - current 8.1). I am not sure which specific iPhone/iDevice you are inquring about, but Neutron's description says as long as you have iOS 6 or newer installed, it will work on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

 

[EpicAnthony]

What are your thoughts on this guys.

https://www.ampaudio.com

 

[warawara]

What are your thoughts on this guys.

https://www.ampaudio.com

That looks like a great idea. However, I never use my phone speakers unless I'm taking a shower. Also looks quite fragile for a case.

 

[EpicAnthony]

That looks like a great idea. However, I never use my phone speakers unless I'm taking a shower. Also looks quite fragile for a case.

I'm curious about the built in headphone amp.

 

[TheTrace]

@moedawg130: iPhone 5s, I'm jailbroken so I remain on ios 7.2. Thank you for the suggestive settings for neutron as well. Prior to finding your info things seemed vague and scarce surrounding general settings.

Can't wait to see when the ios 8 with neutron music player's sound is confirmed. 7.2 is great, but I'm anticipating ios 8 with neutron from the things I heard around here about just the stock music app.

 

[indieman]

What are your thoughts on this guys.

https://www.ampaudio.com

Almost pre ordered it until I saw the spring 2015 shipping. I don't know what phone I'll be using at that point
It does say it uses a dac. So it would bypass the iPhone dac/amp for better or worse...

 

[ubs28]

   
So you don't currently own the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, yet the 'leagues apart' and 'no competition' claims are stated.  Interesting.
 
In my honest opinion (I have stated this in other threads) I believe the iPhone (especially the iPhone 5S and 6) are not leagues apart regarding boutique DAPs and are competitive with a lot of the DAPs on the market.  I have demoed some of the best top of the line DAPs, as the AK120II and AK240 are regarded as the 'best' overall DAPs on the market currently, and even those I do not feel are leagues apart from the iPhone 5S or 6 at all (especially when you utilize great sounding apps).  I would call them an incremental improvement, and as such, when dealing with the fact that a DAP cannot function as a phone or text or do anything else besides play back media, that's what makes the 5S, 6, G3 and others such great devices.  I do not even like carrying around an amp with me, as that is a second device that I have to carry around for an up to 5-15% gain in SQ if you are using balanced "maybe" (based on various factors).  I am all about carrying one device that can do it all and sounds 95-100% + as good as most of the DAPs out on the market right now.  Anyways, the only component that I felt (portable-wise) listening to that in my opinion is a marked difference/improvement in sound quality was not a DAP, it is the Chord Hugo, as it sounds better than even the AK240.

So the AK240 doesn't sound significantly better than the iPhone 5S? I'm trying to figure out how good the iPhone 5S really is as a DAP.