[h-man]

Anyone got any impressions of listening to this yet? In the UK they are only selling the inferior 16gb/2gb ram version, although I guess it does have expandable storage. Very overpriced though at £420 on amazon

 

[El guapo915]

Ok so I have had the phone for a couple of weeks and I purchased a pair of Dunu DN-1000's. The sound quality is excellent. The bass is slamming, the mids sound really clean, and high frequencies are detailed while not sounding too harsh. I'm really impressed with the low and sub bass slam and clarity. I highly recommend this phone.

 

[wolfjeanne]

What gear do you have to compare it to?
Is it able to play the headphones louder than normal (which makes it more likely that it would also play high impedance cans well)? How is the noise floor?

 

[sledgeharvy]

What gear do you have to compare it to?

Is it able to play the headphones louder than normal (which makes it more likely that it would also play high impedance cans well)? How is the noise floor?

To a certain degree I agree with you. The 2000j's are very sensitive IEMs, so if there is a black background (no hiss), then yeah, this very well could have enough power to at least be sufficient for some 150ohm cans.

 

[h-man]

So I've got this phone now. I love the sq, and very clean background. Sounds great with shure se535 iems. Really nice soundstage and midrange is sweet. It certainly isn't a powerhouse processor and the camera is rubbish, but I'm using it purely as a great sounding portable audio source. I also have an iPhone 6s, and this compares very favourably.

 

[RamblerBoy]

Deleted

 

[vegetaleb]

Here's my review posted on XDA:
 
My background for Audio is Samsung P2-P3 and Cowon J3 as dedicated MP3 players, HTC M7,M8 and M9 as for smartphones.
Tested earphones are the stock bundled HTC iem, Hifiman RE-262 and RE-272
Tested BT are HTC Car Stereoclip and Sony SBH-50

The HTC bundled iem didn't sound well because the sound was somehow plasticky and cheap nothing to do with the bundled Beats earphones that were bundled with some old HTC phones, so I will focus on the Hifiman sound.
Hifiman RE-272 is a 20 Ohm pair of iem that normally need an additional AMP or DAC like a Fiio or HM801, but since the M8 HTC is integrating a professional DAC, the M9 and the A9 got a 24bit/192khz chip, though it looks like the A9 Amp is louder.
The HTC A9 has what is called Boomsound which will make the bass and mids better without getting muddy, this mode will also boost the overall loudness.
I tried the RE-272 on the LG G4 that has no Amp or DAC and the sound volume was low and without the crisp details the RE-272 should give, the HTC A9 is the total opposite!
Bass is deep and powerful even if these Hifiman were not known to be bassy, Bass even though high and deep will not overshadow on mids and treble.
Details are superbly present and crisp.
Soundstage is as wide as the RE-272 can go meaning very wide.
Mids and highs are pretty well balanced, they are well boosted without losing in quality.
Tested with Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Infected Mushrooms, some Trance tracks and the new album of Astrix He.Art.
Volume is pretty high,I like high volumes with Psytrance tunes but with the A9 + RE-272 I can't put them at max because they are too loud, but even at max sound is not distorded at all.
So these A9 can drive correctly a 20 Ohm RE-272 meaning they are perfect for all kinds of audiophile earphones.

Bluetooth:
The HTC A9 is capable of aptx + BT 4.1 like its predecessors M9 and M8 but the BT chip is now louder, paired with my HTC Car Stereoclip which are aptx and BT 4.0, sound never been so loud, bass so deep and details crystal clear, it even better when using V4A to boost even more the volume.

A9 vs M9: They probably share the same DAC but the Amp is different, the sound signature of the A9 is a bit more dynamic too, loudness is better.

A9 vs G4 As said before it's a whole universe of difference, sound is not only 3x louder but sound quality and details are way better than G4.

A9 vs Iphone 6+: My friend who has an iphone 6+ and I tested the difference between his phone and A9, the A9 wins with a slightly better audio quality and even a bit more loudness.

Well while waiting for the HTC M10 that would most probably use the same DAC/Amp the HTC A9 is undoubtedly the king of Audio on smartphones, and I recommend it highly for audiophiles.

 

[Heterodoxa]

  Here's my review posted on XDA:
 
My background for Audio is Samsung P2-P3 and Cowon J3 as dedicated MP3 players, HTC M7,M8 and M9 as for smartphones.
Tested earphones are the stock bundled HTC iem, Hifiman RE-262 and RE-272
Tested BT are HTC Car Stereoclip and Sony SBH-50

The HTC bundled iem didn't sound well because the sound was somehow plasticky and cheap nothing to do with the bundled Beats earphones that were bundled with some old HTC phones, so I will focus on the Hifiman sound.
Hifiman RE-272 is a 20 Ohm pair of iem that normally need an additional AMP or DAC like a Fiio or HM801, but since the M8 HTC is integrating a professional DAC, the M9 and the A9 got a 24bit/192khz chip, though it looks like the A9 Amp is louder.
The HTC A9 has what is called Boomsound which will make the bass and mids better without getting muddy, this mode will also boost the overall loudness.
I tried the RE-272 on the LG G4 that has no Amp or DAC and the sound volume was low and without the crisp details the RE-272 should give, the HTC A9 is the total opposite!
Bass is deep and powerful even if these Hifiman were not known to be bassy, Bass even though high and deep will not overshadow on mids and treble.
Details are superbly present and crisp.
Soundstage is as wide as the RE-272 can go meaning very wide.
Mids and highs are pretty well balanced, they are well boosted without losing in quality.
Tested with Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Infected Mushrooms, some Trance tracks and the new album of Astrix He.Art.
Volume is pretty high,I like high volumes with Psytrance tunes but with the A9 + RE-272 I can't put them at max because they are too loud, but even at max sound is not distorded at all.
So these A9 can drive correctly a 20 Ohm RE-272 meaning they are perfect for all kinds of audiophile earphones.

Bluetooth:
The HTC A9 is capable of aptx + BT 4.1 like its predecessors M9 and M8 but the BT chip is now louder, paired with my HTC Car Stereoclip which are aptx and BT 4.0, sound never been so loud, bass so deep and details crystal clear, it even better when using V4A to boost even more the volume.

A9 vs M9: They probably share the same DAC but the Amp is different, the sound signature of the A9 is a bit more dynamic too, loudness is better.

A9 vs G4 As said before it's a whole universe of difference, sound is not only 3x louder but sound quality and details are way better than G4.

A9 vs Iphone 6+: My friend who has an iphone 6+ and I tested the difference between his phone and A9, the A9 wins with a slightly better audio quality and even a bit more loudness.

Well while waiting for the HTC M10 that would most probably use the same DAC/Amp the HTC A9 is undoubtedly the king of Audio on smartphones, and I recommend it highly for audiophiles.

 
Hi vegetaleb, thanks for your review.
Did you tested the HTC 10 too? I'm very interested in the differences between the two devices's sound quality!

 

[vegetaleb]

   
Hi vegetaleb, thanks for your review.
Did you tested the HTC 10 too? I'm very interested in the differences between the two devices's sound quality!

 
I still have the A9, I would get the 10 in the coming days, the included Hi-Res earphones are very interesting, let's see with my actual KZ-ATES and HIFIMAN RE-272 too

 

[OmarCCX]

  Here's my review posted on XDA:
 
My background for Audio is Samsung P2-P3 and Cowon J3 as dedicated MP3 players, HTC M7,M8 and M9 as for smartphones.
Tested earphones are the stock bundled HTC iem, Hifiman RE-262 and RE-272
Tested BT are HTC Car Stereoclip and Sony SBH-50

The HTC bundled iem didn't sound well because the sound was somehow plasticky and cheap nothing to do with the bundled Beats earphones that were bundled with some old HTC phones, so I will focus on the Hifiman sound.
Hifiman RE-272 is a 20 Ohm pair of iem that normally need an additional AMP or DAC like a Fiio or HM801, but since the M8 HTC is integrating a professional DAC, the M9 and the A9 got a 24bit/192khz chip, though it looks like the A9 Amp is louder.
The HTC A9 has what is called Boomsound which will make the bass and mids better without getting muddy, this mode will also boost the overall loudness.
I tried the RE-272 on the LG G4 that has no Amp or DAC and the sound volume was low and without the crisp details the RE-272 should give, the HTC A9 is the total opposite!
Bass is deep and powerful even if these Hifiman were not known to be bassy, Bass even though high and deep will not overshadow on mids and treble.
Details are superbly present and crisp.
Soundstage is as wide as the RE-272 can go meaning very wide.
Mids and highs are pretty well balanced, they are well boosted without losing in quality.
Tested with Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Infected Mushrooms, some Trance tracks and the new album of Astrix He.Art.
Volume is pretty high,I like high volumes with Psytrance tunes but with the A9 + RE-272 I can't put them at max because they are too loud, but even at max sound is not distorded at all.
So these A9 can drive correctly a 20 Ohm RE-272 meaning they are perfect for all kinds of audiophile earphones.

Bluetooth:
The HTC A9 is capable of aptx + BT 4.1 like its predecessors M9 and M8 but the BT chip is now louder, paired with my HTC Car Stereoclip which are aptx and BT 4.0, sound never been so loud, bass so deep and details crystal clear, it even better when using V4A to boost even more the volume.

A9 vs M9: They probably share the same DAC but the Amp is different, the sound signature of the A9 is a bit more dynamic too, loudness is better.

A9 vs G4 As said before it's a whole universe of difference, sound is not only 3x louder but sound quality and details are way better than G4.

A9 vs Iphone 6+: My friend who has an iphone 6+ and I tested the difference between his phone and A9, the A9 wins with a slightly better audio quality and even a bit more loudness.

Well while waiting for the HTC M10 that would most probably use the same DAC/Amp the HTC A9 is undoubtedly the king of Audio on smartphones, and I recommend it highly for audiophiles.

I have a 6+ now, will the M8/M9 be much of an upgrade? Or should I just jump straight into an A9. I just want it for music use. With a GR07, and a few customs in the future.

 

[wolfjeanne]

Why not get a proper DAP if it is just about the audio? Should save you quite some money.

As for your question, I do not think the difference between an iPone 6+ and any of the HTC's will be very large, certainly not with a GR07. iPhones actually have rather good DACs and amps for a smartphone. The A9 should be better especially for high impedance headphones, but only slightly so.

 

[OmarCCX]

Why not get a proper DAP if it is just about the audio? Should save you quite some money.


As for your question, I do not think the difference between an iPone 6+ and any of the HTC's will be very large, certainly not with a GR07. iPhones actually have rather good DACs and amps for a smartphone. The A9 should be better especially for high impedance headphones, but only slightly so.

I'm assuming the next iPhone won't have a 3.5mm port so I might as well just get a phone for music only. I'm not a big fan of DAPs and theyre clunky interface.
I find the amp in the iPhone 6/6S lacking. I'm almost always at 75-100%

 

[wolfjeanne]

I'm assuming the next iPhone won't have a 3.5mm port so I might as well just get a phone for music only. I'm not a big fan of DAPs and theyre clunky interface.
I find the amp in the iPhone 6/6S lacking. I'm almost always at 75-100%

If it's about power the A9 as well as the new HTC 10 (which is much better as a phone) should have you covered though don't expect miracles. The m8/9 aren't going to help much if at all.

Have you considered a dedicated headphone amp? Or an android-based music player?

 

[starcraft2]

So I've got this phone now. I love the sq, and very clean background. Sounds great with shure se535 iems. Really nice soundstage and midrange is sweet. It certainly isn't a powerhouse processor and the camera is rubbish, but I'm using it purely as a great sounding portable audio source. I also have an iPhone 6s, and this compares very favourably.

Do you think the iPhone 6s sounds better?

 

[wolfjeanne]

 
Do you think the iPhone 6s sounds better?

He wrote that 'this' - i.e. the A9 - compares favourably - i.e. sounds better - than the 6s.