[skamp]

My phone right now is the Galaxy S - you mean to say that my phone was the crazy one all this time?! I've just been using the stock headset so far (which are relatively decent for bundled earphones) so I've never encountered issues like that personally.

Yes, obviously the stock headset is compatible. Now try any third-party (i.e. NORMAL) headset and you'll hear what I'm talking about! It's very weird, vocals get anihilated and you get tons of lossy-like artifacts. It's completely unlistenable.

I started a thread about it. WavPack developer David Bryant had this to say:

What you are describing sounds very much to me like you are hearing the difference between the left and right channels. That causes voices to almost vanish (because they tend to be identical in both channels) and causes the rest to sound distorted because you are getting mostly reverb and other difference signals (and, of course, things that are hard panned).

I have had this exact thing happen with mismatched connectors and I tracked it down to the simple situation that the signal leads of the left and right channels were being connected across the signal and ground leads of the headphone, resulting in only the difference making it to the headphone.

 

[ralfjai]

does anyone know is this device good for shure se215 and kipsch image X10?

 

[Gilly87]

(This is using FLAC files through Neutron Media Player)
 
Re: X10 and SE215 - 
 
 
Listening to Shpongle on my X10s through the N4 and they sound great. They sound a little wider than with my Voodoo'd Infuse; not quite as crisp, maybe a bit warmer, not as good in the treble, but overall definitely acceptable for daily usage...until the secret of USB audio out can be unlocked ^_^ Bluetech sounds really big and powerful, nice soundstage. Infected Mushroom sounds big, bigger than my Infuse on Muse Breaks RMX.
 
SE215 on the N4 is also acceptable, again not quite as good as with my Voodoo'd Infuse, but definitely acceptable. The main obvious difference is the warmth from midbass. The treble is also not quite as extended or crisp, bass is a little looser.I prefer my Infuse, but the N4 does not leave me thinking I will need to carry the Infuse along with it to work every day.
 
For fun:
 
SWEET JESUS A source that doesn't make my SM3 hiss! I love my Nexus 4! Doesn't sound quite as good as Voodoo's Samsung Infuse, but it's good enough. The warmer signature adds a little bass to my SM3 and cuts down a little on sibilance, which has been a minor problem since I removed the filters. Not quite as crisp, but perhaps a bit more natural sounding.
 
TF10 sound great on this thing. The extra bass doesn't really hurt anything since the TF10 is a bright IEM to begin with. Sounds nice and 3D like the Infuse makes them, but the treble is silky instead of sharp. Bluetech sounds really big and bassy, noticeably more body than with my Infuse, albeit at the cost of resolution, and the dynamics are actually a bit better, I think. Again treble is not quite as crisp, but the TF10 is a bit treble-happy to begin with so it mixes in just fine.
 
I'm really liking it as a source so far. The only ones that don't sound quite as good as they do on my infuse are the SE215.
 
Quote:

does anyone know is this device good for shure se215 and kipsch image X10?

 

[alphabetagaga]

Quote:

I'm really liking it as a source so far. The only ones that don't sound quite as good as they do on my infuse are the SE215.
 

 
what about using the stock player vs neutron? how does it sound to you? 8gb storage = play music is the only option for me 

 

[Gilly87]

I thought the quality from play music was sub-par with my X10s. Neutron>>>>>Play Music.  320 kbps MP3s sounded almost fuzzy, clearly missing more extension on both ends, subpar presentation elements. Also Play Music seems to have a hard time with FLAC, doing a bit of stuttering, which is about 80% of my regular music diet, and the only thing that sounded decent coming from Play Music. And I know it's not my connection; I'm a T-Mobile employee so I don't get throttled, and I ran SpeedTest.net at 12 mbps down in the same place. Conclusion: Play Music still sucks. Spotify is a better streaming solution IME; 320 kbps sounds fine if you have Premium.
 
 
It's really, really unfortunate that this phone has no expandable storage. This is a trend that I hope to see righted at some point in the Nexus phones. It's really quite a shame that Google touts the nexus implicitly as freeing you from carrier bonds, when in reality it only strengthens your dependence upon them. I will maintain that this is hypocrisy until I see SD cards or at LEAST a 32GB model of a Nexus phone. I could fill 64 easily.
 
I have to say, though, that is my only real complaint about the N4. I would have liked a slightly more rounded bezel, and a curved display like the GNex, but that's nitpicking for sure. LG definitely tops Samsung in build quality and general hardware (loved my G2x), and uses more-fair Korean labor instead of Chinese slave labor. I refuse to touch anything produced by Foxconn or their affiliates.
Quote:

 
what about using the stock player vs neutron? how does it sound to you? 8gb storage = play music is the only option for me 

 

[skamp]

Also Play Music seems to have a hard time with FLAC, doing a bit of stuttering, which is about 80% of my regular music diet. And I know it's not my connection; I'm a T-Mobile employee so I don't get throttled, and I ran SpeedTest.net at 12 mbps down in the same place. Conclusion: Play Music still sucks.

You know Google Play doesn't stream FLAC right? It streams 256-320 kbps CBR MP3.

 

[Gilly87]

I've heard, but for some reason my 320 kbps sound noticeably worse than FLAC. Maybe it just downgrades everything?
Quote:

You know Google Play doesn't stream FLAC right? It streams 256-320 kbps CBR MP3.

 

[yokken]

Quote:

I've heard, but for some reason my 320 kbps sound noticeably worse than FLAC. Maybe it just downgrades everything?

 
You know there's a setting within Play Music that says "always stream at highest quality" right? My music sounds fine through Play Music.

 

[reginalb]

Quote:

 
You know there's a setting within Play Music that says "always stream at highest quality" right? My music sounds fine through Play Music.

 
Yeah, make sure that you have that selected. Google Music is definitely my favorite streaming music program. I had tried others, and they sounded terrible. So long as you check that box in the settings, Google Music sounds great. (also given you have a device that you're streaming to that sounds decent, it doesn't make my Bionic sound any better).

 

[Gilly87]

I did not know that. I will retest now.
Quote:

 
You know there's a setting within Play Music that says "always stream at highest quality" right? My music sounds fine through Play Music.

 

[yokken]

Quote:

I did not know that. I will retest now.

 
I think you will find it sounds great

 

[Gilly87]

Quote:

I did not know that. I will retest now.

 
I think you will find it sounds great

It certainly does! My X10s sound much better now

USB audio on the horizon, rumors of hidden LTE compatibility... N4 keeps getting better and better! My favorite phone by far.

 

[alphabetagaga]

Quote:

 
You know there's a setting within Play Music that says "always stream at highest quality" right? My music sounds fine through Play Music.

that is just for streaming right? that does not affect muck around with quality if i pin music to the device?

 

[ilikepooters]

It certainly does! My X10s sound much better now
USB audio on the horizon, rumors of hidden LTE compatibility... N4 keeps getting better and better! My favorite phone by far.

Nexus 4 does indeed have an LTE chip.

Go into dialling mode and type in: *#*#4636#*#*

Now press on "phone information" and scroll down to where you can see "WCDMA preferred" or something like that.

You can change that box to a load of different LTE stuff, Can also turn on LTE RAM dump.

 

[Gazoozles]

Has anybody confirmed the DAC in the nexus 4? Probably gonna pick it up when my contract ends.