[Exiga2010]

Hi,

I migrated from a Samsung Note 3 to iPhone 6+, where the sound quality (at least in my preference) was far worse on my AKG495NCs, especially with the stock Apple music player. Before this, I was using Poweramp on the Note 3. Even after trying all equalizer presets on the new iPhone, I found the mids and presence (i.e. sound intimacy) of notes lacking. In my own words, while it was "Playing" music, it simply wasn't "Communicating" music....

After much searching and tweaking (tested stock player, Beats, Neutron, CanOpener), I found CanOpener to be the most tweakable and usable with best results, though one had to pay for the app and its options. My own experience on best settings for my AKG included the following (after setting up a AKG custom profile with its sensitiity settings, etc):-

1) Crossfeed set to "Wide Soundfield"
2) Polarity set to "Reverse" (this made a lot of difference to me)
3) Pencil Equalizer to mimic the pattern of "A Lil More Hifi"
4) Dither set to "Enabled"
5) Crossfield Clipping Prevention set to "Yes" (even without adding Crossfeed, the headphones were clipping, as the app actually highlights when it does. So there may be some practical truth to Anandtech's site on clipping)
6) And of course, maxing out Crossfield Realism and Sample Rate converter.

Not sure if anyone else has a similar experience, but if you find yourself wanting after migrating from a Note 3, I suggest giving the app a shot....

 

[TheTrace]

Sorry to go off topic, but is IOS 8 confirmed as the main factor for sound quality improvement over the actual device upgrades?

If so, I wonder if there's a way to jailbreak the IOS 8 sound profile onto IOS 7 firmware.

 

[moedawg140]

Nice find, Exiga2010. I'll purchase it just to check it out and see if it is indeed sonically superior to the Neutron. I will be testing with my SE846 and other various headphones/IEMs as well and will report my findings as well. At least from the screenshots, it already looks better than most music player apps, so that's a plus. Hopefully looks will not be deceiving. :bigsmile_face:

EDIT: Unfortunately, looks are deceiving.

Neutron Music Player and CanOpener - Comparison

The findings below were tested on my iPhone 6, 128GB.

After paying for the CanOpener app ($2.99), spending for the IAP to increase the Sample Rate Converter from "Standard" to "HQ" ($4.99), spending a couple of hours changing every single setting, from setting up my specific headphone sensitivity and impedance for headphone output, crossfeed (plus "amount" and "angle") to EQ, "Pencil EQ", preset settings as well as the individual number/dB settings for each and every setting, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that the CanOpener app does in fact not sound as good as the Neutron Media Player. This is regardless of whether one app has EQ, surround settings and the other app doesn't and vice-versa. No matter what, I could not make the CanOpener app sound better with all of the settings it has compared to even the Neutron player without EQ enabled. I believe the reason is because the inherent differences in audio quality goes past upper-level settings that could be set and more about the lower-level driver that the Neutron application utilizes that makes the auditory presentation cleaner, clearer, more analytical and more coherent than the CanOpener app or any other application that I have used. The 64-Bit processing that Neutron can utilize (is not an IAP like CanOpener's "HQ" setting) more than likely helps eek out that extra bit regarding audio quality as well.

Here are the Neutron settings regarding audio quality that I used for the comparison; I also use these as my personal listening settings:

Settings >

1. DSP Effect > Crossfeed

2. 64-Bit Processing > Enable

3. Dither > Enable

4. Resampling > Audiophile

5. Automatic Gain Protection > Enable

If anything is not mentioned = default/I didn't touch.

Side note - Using EQ is very powerful with Neutron as a little bit goes a long way, as using too much will cause clipping and other "fun" audio-distorting effects.

Conclusion

CanOpener is an app that is very easy to use for the most part (the "Pencil EQ" isn't the most user-friendly) and you have better visual representation of each setting as opposed to Neutron's number/slider system. However, when it comes to pure sound quality, the Neutron is ahead of the CanOpener and every other application that I have used. That being said, if you do not mind a hit in sound quality compared to the Neutron for easier/simpler navigation, you may want to give the CanOpener application a try. If you want the utmost in sound quality, and you do not mind the Neutron's interface - as you can also refer to my Neutron settings, you'll be in great hands, or in this case, ears. Happy listening!

 

[moedawg140]

Sorry to go off topic, but is IOS 8 confirmed as the main factor for sound quality improvement over the actual device upgrades?

If so, I wonder if there's a way to jailbreak the IOS 8 sound profile onto IOS 7 firmware.

1st question: Not sure, pretty sure there are a multitude of factors that would allow the iOS 8 software to possibly 'synergize' better with specific headphones/earphones.

2nd question: probably not, but who knows, anything is possible. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

 

[elfary]

Hi,

I migrated from a Samsung Note 3 to iPhone 6+, where the sound quality (at least in my preference) was far worse on my AKG495NCs, especially with the stock Apple music player. Before this, I was using Poweramp on the Note 3. Even after trying all equalizer presets on the new iPhone, I found the mids and presence (i.e. sound intimacy) of notes lacking. In my own words, while it was "Playing" music, it simply wasn't "Communicating" music....

After much searching and tweaking (tested stock player, Beats, Neutron, CanOpener), I found CanOpener to be the most tweakable and usable with best results, though one had to pay for the app and its options. My own experience on best settings for my AKG included the following (after setting up a AKG custom profile with its sensitiity settings, etc):-

1) Crossfeed set to "Wide Soundfield"
2) Polarity set to "Reverse" (this made a lot of difference to me)
3) Pencil Equalizer to mimic the pattern of "A Lil More Hifi"
4) Dither set to "Enabled"
5) Crossfield Clipping Prevention set to "Yes" (even without adding Crossfeed, the headphones were clipping, as the app actually highlights when it does. So there may be some practical truth to Anandtech's site on clipping)
6) And of course, maxing out Crossfield Realism and Sample Rate converter.

Not sure if anyone else has a similar experience, but if you find yourself wanting after migrating from a Note 3, I suggest giving the app a shot....

If you need to through all these steps to enjoy music you'd be better with another source. Once novelty and expectation bias wears out you will be going across all these tweaks on an endless loop.

Sources are to be flat. It's headphones where tonal balance and soundstage is at. With all that processing going on you're ruining the low level sounds. Check Bob Katz's 'Mastering audio' to catch a glimpse of how does digital audio work.

 

[moedawg140]

If you need to through all these steps to enjoy music you'd be better with another source. Once novelty and expectation bias wears out you will be going across all these tweaks on an endless loop.

Sources are to be flat. It's headphones where tonal balance and soundstage is at. With all that processing going on you're ruining the low level sounds. Check Bob Katz's 'Mastering audio' to catch a glimpse of how does digital audio work.

I agree with you. Sometimes it is nice to get an EQ boost from time to time, but usually I do not use EQ.

You are right about the low level sounds, as even trying to put the CanOpener app (review comparison above) as low level as I could, it still sounded muffled compared to the lowest level settings I use for Neutron.

 

[Exiga2010]

Thanks. I'll go back and try Neutron again with those settings as a reference. While results may also be headphone dependent, I'm sure it would serve as a good starting point for further tweaking.

 

[gavinfabl]

Back again. For me my 6 Plus sounds better than every other smartphone I've ever owned including iPhones.

 

[krismusic]

Back again. For me my 6 Plus sounds better than every other smartphone I've ever owned including iPhones.

That seems to prove that there is definitely a new sound to the 6/6+. IIRC its a new audio chipset so that makes sense. I guess that differing levels of satisfaction are down to different tastes.

 

[gavinfabl]

That seems to prove that there is definitely a new sound to the 6/6+. IIRC its a new audio chipset so that makes sense. I guess that differing levels of satisfaction are down to different tastes.

Totally agree. And that's saying a lot as my last smartphones include the LG G3, HTC One M8, Samsung S5, Note 3, iphone 5S, iphone 5, iphone 4s and iphone 4, htc one m7, nokia Lumia 930, 1020, and many more.

I also like the fact it can power via cable with ease both my AKG K845 and Philips M1 BT , of course the iPhone 6 Plus sounds lovely via Bluetooth as well.

My genres are absolutely everything. Really surprised by the sound tbh. Negates the need for a USB DAC / portable amp.

 

[vrapan]

That seems to prove that there is definitely a new sound to the 6/6+. IIRC its a new audio chipset so that makes sense. I guess that differing levels of satisfaction are down to different tastes.

 
There is definitely an improvement over the 5. I do not have the 5S to compare but I am using currently the L2 through the 6 and there is a fair amount of improvement especially on the mid and the soundstage. There is also more sparkle. I am unsure about the bass. If anything to me it is a bit relaxed and as if hiding. I need to push the volume quite high to get similar bass impact from the iP6.
 
Unfortunately my reshelled SD2 is out of play till I get a replacement cable so I can't properly compare like for like as that was my main earphone with my iP5. Having said that I still have a pair of SD3s which I used quite a bit while waiting for the reshelling and they have become a lot more pleasant with types of music that do not necessarily crave the insane amounts of bass out of that earphone. There is more detail and the bass does not interfere nearly as much with the rest of the music as when through my MBA and iP5. It seems to definitely be a more layered presentation with wider soundstage with that one too. Again the sound is a bit livelier sounding to me probably due to the extra shine at the top and the improved mid.

 

[Exiga2010]

After more extensive tweaking on Neutron, I still ended up using CanOpener as a preferred player as it sounds more balanced in my setup.

To each its own I guess....

Fwiw, I prefer a warmer sound overall, which may lend to why I still ended up as such....

Thanks. I'll go back and try Neutron again with those settings as a reference. While results may also be headphone dependent, I'm sure it would serve as a good starting point for further tweaking.

 

[moedawg140]

After more extensive tweaking on Neutron, I still ended up using CanOpener as a preferred player as it sounds more balanced in my setup.

To each its own I guess....

Fwiw, I prefer a warmer sound overall, which may lend to why I still ended up as such....

No matter what headphones/earphones I used, I still came to the conclusion that Neutron sounded more clear, and coherent. It does not matter what headphones you use as it is a difference regarding the lower level sounds that will make you prefer one over the other, regardless of the headphones used. My fiancé who is not an audiophile tried out both apps and preferred the Neutron app as well.

If you like a warmer, but more importantly less clear sounding, and veiled presentation regarding the entire audio spectrum compared to Neutron, then you may like the CanOpener app. If you like something that is crystal clear, cleaner, more analytical (but still manages to be musical and has a spacious soundstage) then Neutron Music Player will be the best one for you.

Either way, it is great to have options this day and age. :bigsmile_face:

 

[Scorpion667]

Holy #$%^ I thought you guys were talking about Neutron the Android app then I realized it's out for iOS!!! I'm super excited, loved this app on Android!!!

 

[moedawg140]

Holy #$%^ I thought you guys were talking about Neutron the Android app then I realized it's out for iOS!!! I'm super excited, loved this app on Android!!!

Neutron for iOS is simply one of the best, if not the best regarding the epitome of audio quality for the iPhone in my honest opinion (and probably fact).