[Mooses9]

note 3 would be nice. i found the s3 and note 2 to not be that great sounding. imo when i went to the 4g ipod touch it was a definitly a improvement over the s3

 

[Tommy C]

As an ex-Android user I hate to say it, but Samsung phones as a source sound very dull. Both of my Samsungs were pretty bad. My HTC which was a Win 7 phone was actually pretty good. I currently use iPhone 5 and although not superb still better than Samsung.   

 

[Mooses9]

  As an ex-Android user I hate to say it, but Samsung phones as a source sound very dull. Both of my Samsungs were pretty bad. My HTC which was a Win 7 phone was actually pretty good. I currently use iPhone 5 and although not superb still better than Samsung.   

 
i completely agree. like i said, the ipod touch was a ''upgrade'' in sound quality, and thats saying something because ipods arent anything more than a media carrying front face.....the s3 was aweful

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  As an ex-Android user I hate to say it, but Samsung phones as a source sound very dull. Both of my Samsungs were pretty bad. My HTC which was a Win 7 phone was actually pretty good. I currently use iPhone 5 and although not superb still better than Samsung.   

 
I agree. I only use my SGS3 as a player because of a lot of other compromises. First,  I don't want to lug around another box, at least not until the X3 and DX50 firmwares are sorted out well enough. Second, iPhones are too xpensive and have limited storage. Third, and this is where Android's SD cards come in, I use as a music server when I get home - except I paid $12 for the dock and $2 for the OTG adapter instead of, say, $99 for a Pure i20 or $39 for the CCK and $19 for the dock. Which I did, actually, then iOS6.3.1 disabled USB audio on my iPad, people from tech support are clueless why I'm even doing that, then thankfully iOS7 gave me USB audio back. However I'm still using my SGS3 more because I have a 32gb SD card full of my music (with apps on the internal 12gb) instead of 32gb split between audio, academic journals on PDF, magazines, PvZ2, etc...
 
The current set-up

 
The old set-up before iOS6.3.1 screwed it all up...plus it looks annoying that the iPad I was gifted with was black (which I like on its own actually) but the dumb dock only comes in white. I kinda miss the large screen though, and how it makes it all feel like I have a "real" server (think Olive 1 but larger) because of it. Since the iPad has mostly ambience music in it now, I'd still have a use for it for listening, but I sold off my monitors in preparation for possibly moving to do my PhD abroad sometime next year.

 

[Achmedisdead]

   
I actually don't like rockbox because it doesn't have a volume leveler thing, but the audio quality on my SGS3 is pretty crap, not that I really care of course. 

 
 

   
Clearly you are forgetting about ReplayGain......

 
 

What's that?

 
 

   
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Replaygain

 
 

So how am I supposed to have install that on the Clip?

 
It is built right into Rockbox. All you have to do is do a ReplayGain scan and tag of your music with foobar2000 before you load it onto the Clip, then enable RaplayGain functionality in Rockbox. 

 

[lin0003]

Thanks. I'll try that. 

 

[Tommy C]

I was a huge fan of Android and supported Google for a good few years. As part of my work I test apps on mobile devices and sometimes music, just for fun when I have some free time. 
Readability has been a concern for me when it comes too Samsung. I was excited with the S4 until multiple devices have cracked mysteriously, the screen to be exact. 
LG  and HTC are pretty good overall. I never likes iPhone but ended up with one because it was the most reliable device I could get.
I use the iPhone as music player on the go and the sound is fairly good. Also, with IOS 7 things got better.
Check out my thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/682808/iphone-5-with-ios-7-sounds-different  

 

[iamaustralian]

So the moral of the story (thread) is to avoid samsungs overall? I don't mind any other suggestions you could give me as my media player, but it unfortunately has to be a phone for me so i dont have to lug around two devices, a phone and a dap. It would also be beneficial if it had line out capabilities.
Cheers!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Not really, it has expandable storage and like I said, I use it as a dedicated server at home (not as much wasted electricity or battery charge as with a laptop for example). It's not actually bad on its own, just that I'd warn off the bat to manage expectations, especially vs the iPhone.

If you won't be using it at home as I do, you can still use it as a transportable with a portable DAC-HPamp. Make do with the phone when on the move, then whip out the DAC-HPamp when you get to your destination (office, library, long distanc transport, etc). Between the S3 and S4, check out how cheap your local carrier is selling the S3. Bargain is relativ pe but for me I'd take it IF I can save about $100. Of course, take into account that I don't really upgrade until my phone breaks, and this time I only upgraded to a current (at the time) model because of USB audio. Yeah, out of all the gizmos in the S3, I spent $99 on it because I was too cheap to spend on a $599 music server.

 

[Tommy C]

Audio aside, if you are a power user when it comes to mobile phones and you are planning to get an Android phone, I would go with the S4 just because the OS updates should keep you up and running for the next 2 years. If you can get the S3 for cheap, like mentioned it might be worth it. Google offers the Nexus line which runs a vanilla Android OS and their updates are really good and on time.

The only reason I mention the updates to the OS is just because you have no idea how frustrating it can be to have a bug in GPS that crashes the app all of sudden, or bug that crashes the music player, or while you watch a movie etc…. Although I am not an Apple fanboy, the iPhone 5 has been by far the most reliable device I have tested up to date.

 

[Baroninkjet]

  Hi,
I am currently in the market for a new smartphone which i can use as a music player. So far i am really considering getting the galaxy S3. I also found that there were two models, one of which is the i9300 and i9305 (correct me if i'm wrong). Which of these two is the better one and which has the wolfson dac? Also how would this compare to the wolfson galaxy s4? Would it be comparable to the wolfson s4 or even the US s4? I am on a budget and if the S4 isn't considerably better i'll get the S3 and no the added features in the S4 don't interest me.
Thanks

 
I have I9300 and it has Wolfson DAC. (I don't recall on 9305.) Basically, Galaxies either have Qualcomm or Exynos+Wolfson. Places with LTE generally got Qualcomm. Go for the Wolfson.  The USA models have Qualcomm, and are not in the same league. I hope to be proved wrong someday, but thus far have yet to hear a Qualcomm to compare with Wolfson. Tomorrow, I am returning my LG G2. Magnificent phone in so many ways, but (despite the hype of 192/24) not in the same sonic league as my old I9300. 
 
There have been some issues reported with even the Exynos/Wolfson S4s. Google Supercurio -- Samsung is running 48k audio instead of CD 44.1, so needless conversion (and interpolation noise)... I have never listened to any of the S4s, just reporting what I have read.

 

[AoEKiller]

OMG, iamaustralian: I feel the urge to register to correct Baroninkjet latest post. GT-I9505 Qualcomm blow away any Wolfson smartphone on the market for an audiophile device. I do not have GT-9000 bench test but even Note2 is out of competition.
 

Test	Frequency response	Noise level	Dynamic range	THD	IMD + Noise	Stereo crosstalk
Samsung Galaxy S4	+0.03, -0.08	-95.9	93.2	0.0030	0.0092	-96.4
Samsung Galaxy S4 (headphones attached)	+0.03, -0.08	-96.0	93.3	0.0031	0.089	-95.5
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III	+0.03, -0.05	-90.3	90.3	0.012	0.018	-92.6
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (headphones attached)	+0.11, -0.04	-90.2	90.2	0.0092	0.090	-53.1

 
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914p8.php#aq

 

[Baroninkjet]

GSMarena changed their testing methodology starting with GS4 and HTC One, however did not go back and retest old devices. The new test method shows much better results than the old. In fact, on many of their charts with S4 and One, the mix and match old and new results for different devices. I don't know if they are corrupt or just stupid.
 
Here is a link to the audio tests on GS4, where they mix "new and better" results for GS4 with old results for HTC One. If you go to the One review, you will see different numbers than you see for it here. Apples to apples, the GS4 and One test very similarly on the GSM tests. I don't know of a place any place where they have saved the old results for GS4, the ones which would be comparable to their GS3 tests.
 
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914p8.php