Stommager
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Posts
- 16
- Likes
- 11
Hi everyone!
I’ve been reading this forum for some time now and learned quite a lot from You guys, thanks. Recently I made some listening test of my own and I thought that You might be interested.
I got the idea of buying a smartphone – it’s nice to have a phone and DAP in a single device. I managed to borrow iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, HTC Desire and LG P500. I compared them with my current DAPs: Iriver iFP-790 and recently bought iHP-120 using my headphones: Beyerdynamic DT231 and DT880Pro 250ohm.
The results came out quite interesting. I’ll concentrate on SQ alone.
iPhone 3G, HTC Desire and LG P500
To me they all sounded pretty much the same. Probably because I only had one of them at the time so I wasn’t able to compare them directly. Nevertheless the feeling was always similar – the sound was quite detailed, but flat and squeezed. Every instrument seemed to in the same distance from me, playing at the same intensity all the time. Although I was able to hear everything very clearly I soon got tired of it.
iPhone 4
I was impressed by the level of details I heard. In this respect it’s definitely better than the rest of the competition. Everything seemed more alive and engaging, very crisp and clear. The bass was punctual and energetic on impact. I had the same feeling of refinement that I get the whole time playing with iPhone 4. Unfortunately it still suffered some major drawbacks of other smartphones.
Iriver iHP-120
This is a whole other story. The first impression however, quite daunting, was that all the sparkling details are gone. Big shame, but there is something in return. All of the instruments got a distance away from my head (probably that’s why I couldn’t hear them so clear now) and that gave me a feeling of relief. I soon realized that they were actually playing at different locations, and at different intensities. In fact I suddenly heard that each of the drummer’s strokes is a bit different and resonates in a room that I’m in virtually in. Sounds seemed a bit muffled, less vivid, but more relaxed and definitely more real. I even double checked my crossfeed settings, but it was off.
Iriver iFP-790
I would place it somewhere between iPhone 4 and iHP-120. It presented music much closer to me then iHP-120. The sound stage was smaller but it was there (unlike with iPhone 4), however the leading instrument were playing very close to my head placing me on stage with the band instead of the audience’s seats. It made instruments sound clearer, but not as clear as the way iPhone 4 presented them. The overall feel of the music is similar to the iHP-120, but with close-up on the instruments.
Conclusion
Both iPhone 4 and iHP-120 were a pleasant surprise. They are wonderful players although totally different. I think I’ll stick with iHP-120 for some time. It presents something new to me and I’m eager to examine it closer. I would consider buying iPhone, but it’s quite expensive and I already have a stationary system that offers SQ superior to iPhone’s in all aspects (E-MU 0404 USB).
Thanks for reading!
I’ve been reading this forum for some time now and learned quite a lot from You guys, thanks. Recently I made some listening test of my own and I thought that You might be interested.
I got the idea of buying a smartphone – it’s nice to have a phone and DAP in a single device. I managed to borrow iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, HTC Desire and LG P500. I compared them with my current DAPs: Iriver iFP-790 and recently bought iHP-120 using my headphones: Beyerdynamic DT231 and DT880Pro 250ohm.
The results came out quite interesting. I’ll concentrate on SQ alone.
iPhone 3G, HTC Desire and LG P500
To me they all sounded pretty much the same. Probably because I only had one of them at the time so I wasn’t able to compare them directly. Nevertheless the feeling was always similar – the sound was quite detailed, but flat and squeezed. Every instrument seemed to in the same distance from me, playing at the same intensity all the time. Although I was able to hear everything very clearly I soon got tired of it.
iPhone 4
I was impressed by the level of details I heard. In this respect it’s definitely better than the rest of the competition. Everything seemed more alive and engaging, very crisp and clear. The bass was punctual and energetic on impact. I had the same feeling of refinement that I get the whole time playing with iPhone 4. Unfortunately it still suffered some major drawbacks of other smartphones.
Iriver iHP-120
This is a whole other story. The first impression however, quite daunting, was that all the sparkling details are gone. Big shame, but there is something in return. All of the instruments got a distance away from my head (probably that’s why I couldn’t hear them so clear now) and that gave me a feeling of relief. I soon realized that they were actually playing at different locations, and at different intensities. In fact I suddenly heard that each of the drummer’s strokes is a bit different and resonates in a room that I’m in virtually in. Sounds seemed a bit muffled, less vivid, but more relaxed and definitely more real. I even double checked my crossfeed settings, but it was off.
Iriver iFP-790
I would place it somewhere between iPhone 4 and iHP-120. It presented music much closer to me then iHP-120. The sound stage was smaller but it was there (unlike with iPhone 4), however the leading instrument were playing very close to my head placing me on stage with the band instead of the audience’s seats. It made instruments sound clearer, but not as clear as the way iPhone 4 presented them. The overall feel of the music is similar to the iHP-120, but with close-up on the instruments.
Conclusion
Both iPhone 4 and iHP-120 were a pleasant surprise. They are wonderful players although totally different. I think I’ll stick with iHP-120 for some time. It presents something new to me and I’m eager to examine it closer. I would consider buying iPhone, but it’s quite expensive and I already have a stationary system that offers SQ superior to iPhone’s in all aspects (E-MU 0404 USB).
Thanks for reading!
