[karmypolitics]

How do the Sony Ericsson K790 and W810 fare as music players? SQ? gapless (probably a pipe dream)?

And what's the best CDMA cell phone music player?

 

[ClixCrisis]

Check out the w610i, it has walkman v2. Sound quality... I've only tested them out with the included SE earbuds, so I can't say much except that it is decent. w810i is a steal right now especially if you want a great cam phone and music player all in one. It has a better camera than the newer w610i, and can handle your mp3s decently. There's no gapless that I am aware of.

 

[Daroid]

Burn your HPM-70 cable and the included earbuds, get decent headphones and an amp and you've got one of the best phones for music.

Gapless playback: no

 

[PachmanP]

Yeah no gapless, I think I get the occasional static pop with track changes too, on the 810i. Daroid, how do you have yours set up, that you think it sounds so good? I'm pretty unimpressed with mine. Is the HPM-70 the goofy connector to mini plug connector? what do you use to get a mini plug, if you don't use the one that comes with the phone?

 

[The_X]

I don't have any real frame of reference to other cell phones, but my CDMA (Sprint) Moto Q sounds pretty good. Volume is definitely lacking though. With the volume maxed and V-Moda Vibes, it's basically at a moderate/slightly loud level.

 

[grndslm]

I would imagine the best CDMA cell phone, in terms of sound quality, would have to be the Palm Treos. I honestly don't *know* the answer to this question...as I too don't have a good frame of reference for cell phones as music players. I *do* know that my cell phone sounds better than my ASUS laptop's built-in Intel HDA sound card.

For my Treo 650, I added Aeroplayer which has MP3, AAC, & OGG support...a pretty good EQ & gapless playback to boot!

The 650's a lil' rusty these days, tho...so if you have Verizon, get the 700p. Otherwise, if you've got Sprint, wait 4-5 weeks and the 755p will be out (I promise it'll be worth the wait just to lose the antenna).

If you're worried about the price of the phone...I promise you a good smartphone, like a Treo, is the best thing you'll ever spend your money on. There are an incredible amount of free applications that make use of the touchscreen, thumbboard, wireless internet.

Also, if you've got sprint...search the internet for the SERO plan. If you're a new customer to sprint, you can sign up on their website (as long as you have a @sprint.com employee email address, which you can use google to find I'm sure). If you've already got Sprint, even if you're only 3 months into your contract...you can get them to the customer reps to switch you to SERO.

The details are plentiful on the net, so I'm going to save myself some time. But the big catch is that you get Power Vision, or EV-DO, the first REAL 3g cellular data network (AKA: super fast friggin' interweb) included in this feature packed $30 plan. Wonder how much Power Vision costs to "regular" customers? $25!!! Go sign up today!

To save you some trouble:
(1) if you have a family plan, it will be split up into multiple SERO plans...but everything will still be on the same bill.
(2) Make sure you get them to start the SERO plan on your *next* billing cycle otherwise they'll switch you that day, but not switch the first day of your billing cycle.

Sprint rocks, BTW! They rock hard!

 

[grndslm]

OK...I lied about the Treo's sound quality. There is a significant amount of hiss that I didn't notice before. The Treo's volume gets louder than my laptop's Intel HDA sound card...but the Treo's sound quality isn't quite as good as the Intel sound card. But the Treo still sounds good to me, and when you pair that up with a device that you'll always have with you on the go...it's a no brainer. The Treo's built-in speaker for speaker phone/music is very clear for a tiny speaker that's packed in with a ton of other electronic components. I always use speaker phone when put on hold, and the speaker's saved me before when my car's cd player broke. Great quality speaker, IMO.

Also...if you are going to buy a Treo...DO NOT use the straight, stiff 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter...they will ruin your Treo's 2.5mm jack. Get the 90 degree angled ones with the cable...these put a lot less stress on the Treo's 2.5mm jack.

Sadly, most of the attractive audio stuff that I've found useful for the Treo, like a decent headset with microphone, is from Seidio. They are a pretty crappy company...but after I returned my headset for having a dead driver, my headset's still kickin' today (but I don't expect more than couple months). So, maybe it was just that rare of an initial experience with them, but there are a ton of people on treocentral.com who are neither fans of the life of Seidio products, nor their customer support. Just be wary!

 

[Sweet Spot]

I absolutely adore my Sony 810i ! I've been using it exclusively for music, taking it to school and work all week now actually, with really no complaints. Here's the deal though: Gapless, no. Hiss, definitely audible when nothing is playing BUT, once the music is on, it's all good. Plus, if you debrand (different from unlocking) your phone, there are different audio drivers available for it, which are said to eliminate the hiss all together, as well as increase overall volume (which I don't have a problem with personally) as well as improve sound quality in general.

I've not gotten into the debranding thing yet, but I will eventually. The other part of the deal, which really needs to be considered is that anyone whom is as obsessive about audio quality as we on this forum are, should NOT consider ANY phone (at this time anyway) as a substitute for a dedicated DAP. I can honestly say that the sound quality of my 810i playing Mp3's is really, really good, but I can certainly tell the difference between it, and my iPod, and most definitely my iRiver H120.

However, it's MORE than good enough to use for taking to school and work, when the bulk of that time is spent on the train, and intensive listening isn't required or happening. I use my JVC Marshmallows with it, through the headset adapter (because I do take calls when listening) and with a tad of EQ'ing, the SQ is really quite good. I can even discern low and high quality bitrates.

Also, the camera on the 810i kicks ass for a phone/camera. And the phone its self, just rocks. Great reception, incredible GUI, so easy to navigate and a pleasure to use. It's really the first time I've been impressed with any cell phone I've bought, and I've been in the game for about 16 years.

I got it about 2 months ago, for $65 with a new Cingular contract.