[heatofamatch]

I'd like to find a phone that could replace my Dx50...

 
Try the vivo 3S (I say try, it's not definitive)...otherwise it's probably not gonna happen this year.

 

[uelover]

  Yes, I think this noise is either caused by the youtube upload, or due to the production.
With this track, the crackling is so obvious on my device (at loud, but not really deafening volume) that it's impossible to overhear.
 
Now it would be interesting to know why some devices are affected and others aren't, maybe it's region specific.
 
But I've lost the interest in investigating this, since I decided to rather use my dx50 on the road. 

 
Certain gears can be more revealing of recording flaws than other gears. Nothing to investigate on

 

[Simma]

 Yes, I think this noise is either caused by the youtube upload, or due to the production.
With this track, the crackling is so obvious on my device (at loud, but not really deafening volume) that it's impossible to overhear.
 
Now it would be interesting to know why some devices are affected and others aren't, maybe it's region specific.
 
But I've lost the interest in investigating this, since I decided to rather use my dx50 on the road. 

 
Certain gears can be more revealing of recording flaws than other gears. Nothing to investigate on

Again, my device is not revealing recording flaws it's just crackling on amp overload. If your unit is fine, I'm happy for you, but there's a lot of users reporting this problem who might be interested in the cause of it (or a fix for it).

 

[pukemon]

   
Then it might be true that there are really just a lot of defective units (I remember someone in this thread talking about huge variation in sound on different M8s), or you're just lucky because of your setup & music choice. 
 
Could you checkout this track with some kind of over ear headphones at about 13/15? 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dfMM4BRI-o
 
Starting from about 1:24, no matter what over- or on ear headphones I use, this turns into a crackle-fest on my M8
 
 
edit: I'm not saying that this isn't an unusual amount of sub-bass, but none of my other devices from a small clip zip, to DX50 or the headphone out of my Rane DJ-Mixer is playing this with crackling.

 
no crackle from m8, laptop or gnote3.  1;24 seems like some < 50hz bass hits.  are peeps having problems with low bass or any other particular frequencies?  

 

[pukemon]

Just converted my m8 to gpe this afternoon. So far audio is the same. No popping or crackling from headphones. That was only about 5 mins on Poweramp and neutron though. External speakers were blaring but I think it was the videos terrible recording quality. Need to get Xposed going first before I can test some more but so far impressions are good so I am relieved. Will update later on.

 

[Duncan]

Again, my device is not revealing recording flaws it's just crackling on amp overload. If your unit is fine, I'm happy for you, but there's a lot of users reporting this problem who might be interested in the cause of it (or a fix for it).

what headphones and / or IEMs are you using to come to this conclusion?

Some equipment is either not demanding, or in other cases not resolving enough to pick up on the distortion.

 

[Simma]

Again, my device is not revealing recording flaws it's just crackling on amp overload. If your unit is fine, I'm happy for you, but there's a lot of users reporting this problem who might be interested in the cause of it (or a fix for it).

what headphones and / or IEMs are you using to come to this conclusion?

htc m8 with Westone w40, sennheiser momentum over- + on-ear, hd25-1, soundmagic hp100 = crackling

Dx50, Sansa clip zip, headphone out of dj mixer (with all of the above mentioned gear) as well as active Rokit monitors, and several live PAs = completely free of any crackling

Only IEMs that I've tried that didn't play with crackling on the m8 are Fischer Amps Fa-4e xb, which seem to be rather sensitive.

 

[Duncan]

htc m8 with Westone w40, sennheiser momentum over- + on-ear, hd25-1, soundmagic hp100 = crackling

Dx50, Sansa clip zip, headphone out of dj mixer (with all of the above mentioned gear) as well as active Rokit monitors, and several live PAs = completely free of any crackling

Only IEMs that I've tried that didn't play with crackling on the m8 are Fischer Amps Fa-4e xb, which seem to be rather sensitive.

Sorry Simma,

Ironically I read your original post incorrectly, reading it that you didn't get distortion

 

[RickB]

I find it interesting that on my One M8 I don't get any crackling at all (using both Vsonic GR07s and Sennheiser PX100-IIs). However, on the Samsung Galaxy S5 that I had for a few days before returning it, I got a lot of crackling using the same headphones. Both smartphones use the same SOC, right? What if there is a fairly widespread defect in the built in DAC on this SOC? And I just got lucky with my current One M8...

 

[heatofamatch]

With so many Z2 owners passing through this thread, kinda...politely but persistently banging on the reception desk, asking how the Z2 compares to the M8, allow me to veer off-topic and point out soomal.com has now tested the Z2 for audio, considers it roughly equal in SQ to the Z1, inferior to the One E8 and OnePlus One/Oppo Find 7 (nevermind the M8!). They ended with a scathing op-ed-ish comment that Sony is not incapable of, but simply unwilling to make a smartphone that sounds good.

 

 

[Darkseth]

I really doubt it's that high. It has to be <2ohms. It can push my beyer 250ohms pretty decent unlike any previous phone.

Why? Output impedance has NOTHING to do with how strong it can push your headphones.
 
It pushes your 250 Ohm beyers unlike any other phone: Yes, because the amplifier is ******* strong.
 
Output impedance: Something totally different. For the Beyerdynamic headphone it does 100,0% NOT matter, it the output impedance is 0.01 Ohm, 2 Ohm, or 10 Ohm. You wont hear a difference. You will probably have to go up to 200-400 Ohm, to hear a SLIGHTLY difference in tonality.
For me, i hear (almost) zero difference between 0 ohm, and 100 Ohm (i have an Adapter for that, which i can change the output impedance freely between 0 and 470 Ohm. Having that on 470 Ohm with my T90 pretty much only reduces the treble by 2-3 dB at best, and raises the whole bass by 2-3 dB. Max. The difference is by FAR not that much, as alot people say.
 
The Issue with the output impedance is ONLY for In-Ears, which has multiple Drivers. Every Driver reacts to a higher Output impedance. Headphones like your Beyerdynamics have 1 Driver. so it doesnt really matter much.
Inears like the Westone 4/UE900 which has 4 drivers, are different. The Bass driver has a different impedance, than the Treble driver, and mid driver. So every driver will react differently to a higher output impedance.
For example, having too much output impedance could do this:
Bass driver: loses volume
Mid driver: doesnt react at all
Treble driver: gains volume
The tonality is changed. its like using an Equalizer.
 
However: IF the M8 has 9 Ohm output impedance, like that chinese page measured... who cares. I switched from Galaxy S3 (3,45 Ohm) with an UE 900 to the M8 (which is supposed to hav e9 ohm), i didnt really heared a difference at all. So i dont care if the impedance is 9 ohm, 5 ohm, or 2 ohm. It sounds good to my ears, and doesnt sound "wrong" or anything. Thats all that matters
 
(Just to clear things up / additional tech info) ^^

 

[jay628]

I am wondering how the G3 and M8 compared?

 

[Baroninkjet]

  I am wondering how the G3 and M8 compared?

From what I have seen, the M8 has way more power than any current Android phone. 

 

[Duncan]

I don't care about the audio on the G3, especially after relegating my M8 to only web browsing, the one thing that is great about it in my mind is the screen, colour purity etc look better than that of the M8...

Where does that take me on an audio forum? Movie playback should be stellar on the G3, and as soon as you take audio off board with a DAC or otherwise then most of this thread is irrelevant anyway

 

[Rex24-7]

Hey are there any headphone amps that the M8 would benefit from? I'm kinda hitting this brick wall where I'm wondering if the weak point is my source, my phones, or my audio. I'm using HD25s with the M8. It sounds great, but I feel like I want more clarity but I don't know where to start.