According to my recent research SBC at high bitrates (SBC XQ) is on a par with aptX HD.

So, they are the best subjects for any listening tests. Welcome to SE blind listening tests!

I thought it is not difficult today to find out that “Wolfson chip” from iPod 5th is WM8758BG. From its description: The WM8758B is a low power, high quality stereo CODEC designed for portable applications such as MP3 audio player. The device integrates preamps for stereo differential mics, and...

Good question. To be honest there is not enough info about correlation between measurable degradation of waveform (Df, dB) and audibility of that degradation. Such info can be derived from results of various listening tests. I have only preliminary figures based on analysis of HydrogenAudio...

In music-based audio metric such relationship between measurements and audibility can be researched and used in practice. In traditional audio metric this relationship can be traced only by audio professionals with experience. For consumers the interpretation of traditional measurements is made...

I have some doubts that quick listening test will be appropriate for the case. At least I will need high impedance and high sensitivity headphones. Not to say about providing true blindness of the test, which is not easy indeed. That's where the music-based audio metric can be helpful. All those...

I'm talking about both audibility and measurements. In music-based audio metric (df-measurements) these two things are connected. No, I didn't perform blind tests with iPod 5th. Its level of degradation of real musical signal is 10dB higher than of modern top smartphones (including Apple ones)...

Thanks for the note. I know about that clipping (I read Archimago too)). Yes, it was ruled out during recording of SE test sequences. The sound signature (artifact signature indeed) of iPod 5th is due to Wolfson chip architecture. Mid frequencies degrade to more extent than highs. Odd harmonics...

A friend of mine offered his still-in-use iPod 5th (Video) for df-measurements. Conclusion: thanks to Wolfson audio chip with relatively high level of waveform degradation iPod 5th (Video) has its own distinctive sound signature (slightly harsh mids, transparent highs). Some music types/genres...

iPod classic (2009), iPod Shuffle 4G, iPhone 5C, iPhone 4, iPad mini 2, iPhone 4S, iPhone 6, iPhone 5, iPhone SE, iPhone 5S, iPhone 3G, iPod shuffle 2G My measurements show that iPhone 3G and iPod shuffle 2G (before iPhone 4 era) have substantially higher levels of degradation of real music...

During beta-testing of the new df-measurement procedure I performed measurements of 12 Apple mobile devices including almost all iPhones. Despite some problems with accuracy of my early measurements there is a clear evidence that all Apple mobile devices starting from iPhone 4 use the same audio...

Audio quality of OnePlus 6 is in line with top smartphones, including Apple iPhones. They all sound similar, at least with 32 Ohm headphones. Details of objective music-based audio measurements are on this df-slide:

I'm also interested in results of blind listening tests (BLT) of an iPhone and Mojo as I'm going to perform my music-based measurements of Mojo. It would be great if one-two-three more people repeat this BLT in order to be confident. For me this is the only way to test my measurement methodology...

Ok, I got your logic. The idea was to show different df-measurements located on df-scale. As I'm not sure I did it the best possible way, your feedback is helpful, thanks. Here is a single picture guide “How to read df-slides”:

Hmmm, sorry, why do you think that peaks of the histogram relate to square waves? On the df-slide the square wave signal is distorted to -19.5dB ...

It's normal. These measurements are a bit different and seam unusual. But right you are - the difference level -26.1dB is an average distortion over two hours of music material, played back through A1749 adapter.

No, this is the level of waveform degradation of the initial/input/reference signal. The input signals can be of any kind - sine, white noise, music, voice, etc. Df-slide shows such levels of degradation (or difference levels, Df) with some basic technical signals and real-life audio material...

And in order to measure it you need to use at least one more load (or no-load). I agree, it's important parameter. When I have accurate enough V-meter the parameter will be added to df-slide.

I would say it is not complete as only 32 Ohm load was used. But within this restriction the "appraisal" just confirms conclusions of other researchers. While using different approach to audio measurements

Audio quality of Apple Lightning to 3.5mm adapter (A1749) is almost as good as in-built mobile audio solutions by Apple, though it has slightly worse df-measurements. Mostly due to the higher jitter. But if you listen music you will not hear the difference; it is too subtle to be perceived...

I performed objective measurements of Shanling M2s player according to the innovative music-based audio metric. In short: Audio quality of the player is on par with iPhone 4/5/6 Low Gain and High Gain modes are equal from sound quality perspective Steep lopass filter mode should be prefered as...

Yes, phase inaccuracy has its contribution to resulting waveform degradation. According to generally recognized approach if something is measured then it should be weighted against human perception before the parameter can be used for SQ assessment. This approach is extremely complicated in...

All clock/phase shifts are eliminated during Df computation. Frequency analysis of diff signal (first 4:17 of The Dark Side of The Moon, device: Highscreen Boost 3):     Diffrogram of this excerpt (red - more distortion of waveform):     Spectrogram of diff signal:  

I did some tests with different loads including real headphones some time ago. All loads worsen the readings, what seems to me natural. I don't know how the map would look like in case of loadless testing. Probably the Df values will keep their mutual positions but will shift a few dB towards...