iPhone 4 versus 4S - which has better SQ
Aug 25, 2012 at 7:59 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 53

Artmuzz

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I am thinking of buying a secondhand iPhone 4 but not sure whether to buy a 4 or 4S. I am buying mainly as a music making phone with apps like Nanostudio and as a replacement for my Sony A829. Is the SQ comparable to the Sony DAPs? I am looking for clear detailed SQ with good bass and good stereo soundstage.
 
Aug 25, 2012 at 9:45 AM Post #2 of 53
I hate sounding like an Apple hater, but unless you absolutely NEED IT, get a GSIII. Better sound, more options, and isn't as sue happy and vampiric as the big A.

Sent from my rommed Thunderbolt using Tapatalk 2
 
Aug 25, 2012 at 10:43 AM Post #3 of 53
yeah well recent posts here have the SIII with markedly worse measured performance with resistive loading. not conclusive till more have been done as the test setup could be eroneous, but at least from what has been done so far the SIII loses to apple in all audio specs, some by quite a margin and some are quite poor indeed.
 
Aug 25, 2012 at 11:01 AM Post #4 of 53
Quote:
I hate sounding like an Apple hater, but unless you absolutely NEED IT, get a GSIII. Better sound, more options, and isn't as sue happy and vampiric as the big A.
Sent from my rommed Thunderbolt using Tapatalk 2

I was actually going to buy a secondhand Samsung Galaxy (i9000) because of the Wolfson DAC which was going for under £200 so its a choice between that and the iPhone 4 and 4S even though the iPhone 4/ 4S doesn't have the Wolfson DAC.
 
Aug 25, 2012 at 12:47 PM Post #5 of 53
SGS3 has TERRIBLE audio quality and output impedance. (over 3 ohms) Unacceptable for a premium phone, sold mine.
Iphone 4 has slightly lower output impedance than 4s, that said i doubt you could tell the difference between the two.
 
Sep 5, 2012 at 12:53 PM Post #7 of 53
I was an apple hater until I actually tried one. I had the Moto Droid and HTC Droid Incredible. Both were cool phones but they both sucked for audio. Now that I have had an iPhone 4 for over a year I absolutely love it. It doesn't quite have enough power output for must full size headphones, but has always had plenty of power for all the IEM's I have tried. The SQ is top notch both on paper and in real world usage. Like has been said, the 4 has slightly better SQ on paper than the 4S, but most people would probably never be able to tell the difference. Go for either.
 
Sep 5, 2012 at 9:52 PM Post #9 of 53
Quote:
I was an apple hater until I actually tried one. I had the Moto Droid and HTC Droid Incredible. Both were cool phones but they both sucked for audio. Now that I have had an iPhone 4 for over a year I absolutely love it. It doesn't quite have enough power output for must full size headphones, but has always had plenty of power for all the IEM's I have tried. The SQ is top notch both on paper and in real world usage. Like has been said, the 4 has slightly better SQ on paper than the 4S, but most people would probably never be able to tell the difference. Go for either.

I love the Iphone 3g, 4g, 4s with Airplay. SQ is top notch for the price.  
 
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:42 AM Post #11 of 53
Quote:
I have an iPhone 4 and 4s in the house--can't detect any difference in SQ. Nada, zip.

 
Neither could i. Actually i don't know anybody that has been able to distinguish them. What you can easily discern is that 64 gigs allow for mucho more music than 32 :wink:
 
They both are awesome for audio purposes. Just pure aural bliss.
 
Unfortunately no other smartphone has achieved that level of greatness.
 
Last iDevice (iPad 3) is terrific as well. so let's see what the iPhone 5 would have in store.
 
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:21 AM Post #12 of 53
Quote:
I hate sounding like an Apple hater, but unless you absolutely NEED IT, get a GSIII. Better sound, more options, and isn't as sue happy and vampiric as the big A.
Sent from my rommed Thunderbolt using Tapatalk 2

 
The GSIII does not have better sound than an iPhone, in fact it has shockingly bad sound (at least the USA version) - both specs-wise and in actual usage.  I'll be returning mine at the end of the return window since I can't stand listening to anything on it.
 
Drew
 
Sep 7, 2012 at 8:55 AM Post #13 of 53
Quote:
I am thinking of buying a secondhand iPhone 4 but not sure whether to buy a 4 or 4S.

 
If you're buying this for music, why don't you just get an iPod Touch? Could probably get a new one at the price of a second-hand iPhone.
 
Plus, I'm sure there's no difference in the sound.
 
Sep 7, 2012 at 9:55 AM Post #14 of 53
Has there ever been a test to compare the current iPhone with the current iTouch? Do they have the same dac and amp?
Quote:
 
If you're buying this for music, why don't you just get an iPod Touch? Could probably get a new one at the price of a second-hand iPhone.
 
Plus, I'm sure there's no difference in the sound.

 
Sep 7, 2012 at 1:13 PM Post #15 of 53
I finally made the dive and bought myself a white iPhone 4S (32GB model). The sound quality on this phone is awesome. The SQ is up there with my Sony X1060 and Sony A729. The soundstage is very good and the bass is good too. I could also say that the SQ is better than my iPod Touch 4G which I was surprised by considering its Apple too. It looks like Apple concentrated on audiophile sound more on the iPhone than iPod Touch. I am very pleased with this even though it hurt my bank balance.
 

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