[lolwatpear]

  Wouldn't the mods that drive up volume drive up distortion?

 
With the faux sound mod (after installing a compatible kernel), I only hear distortion when I really turn the gain up high.  I think mainstream manufacturers purposely handicap the loudness of their devices to prevent the chance of hearing damage, even though unlikely.  So, the quality really isn't lost when you go a bit past the manufacturer defaults.

 

[Gunbuster]

What exactly cause distortion in the n5 ? Would aplying some negative digital gain in fauxsound reduce distortion like the galaxy s3 ?

 

[Change is Good]

  I had the original N7 and the headphone out was pretty awful. Other than that, I liked it.

 

 
why didn't you like the nexus 7?  i just got it myself, and its probably the best tablet i've owned regardless of value.

 
I have to agree... I had the N7 2013 that I just gifted to my niece for Xmas. Headphone out is god awful...
 
The N5, however, is much better... and almost on par with my F806's headphone out.

 

[Alec E]

Has anyone found Android 4.4.2 improves the volume issue?

 

[xriddler]

nevermind i just found out N5 does not support external dac/amps

 

[Vain III]

nevermind i just found out N5 does not support external dac/amps

It does now with Cyanogen Mod based roms. Plug it in via USB OTG and restart your phone with it plugged in. The only downfall is you will not be able to hear audio out through your phone's regular headphone jack until you restart... well... that's if you decide to remove the dac/amp.

 

[xriddler]

It does now with Cyanogen Mod based roms. Plug it in via USB OTG and restart your phone with it plugged in. The only downfall is you will not be able to hear audio out through your phone's regular headphone jack until you restart... well... that's if you decide to remove the dac/amp.

Which mod roms do I need? does it require me to root my phone? I was looking to grab either the fiio e07k or e17 to use for my laptop and nexus 5.

 

[Vain III]

It does now with Cyanogen Mod based roms. Plug it in via USB OTG and restart your phone with it plugged in. The only downfall is you will not be able to hear audio out through your phone's regular headphone jack until you restart... well... that's if you decide to remove the dac/amp.

Which mod roms do I need? does it require me to root my phone? I was looking to grab either the fiio e07k or e17 to use for my laptop and nexus 5.

You'll need to root your phone. You'll need to unlock your boot loaders. You'll need either Clockwork Recovery or TeamWin's Recovery. You'll need the latest version of Cyanogen Rom.

If you're worried about rooting your phone then I can tell you this is one of the easiest phones to unlock and root. I've owned a lot of phones and I think only the Nexus S was easier to unlock and root. I have a preference for TWRP as my last two phones were HTC phones and it was kind-of forced on you to use that recovery when they first were unlocked as it bypassed a block and allowed you to flash kernels and boot scripts.

 

[ej8989]

  How does Nexus 5 compare with the original Galaxy S with voodoo?

 
+1 I'm coming from the nexus s (also with voodoo) and am considering the Nexus5 as an upgrade.

 

[cthip]

I had a nexus s with voodoo, and the sound on a nexus 5 was a huge disappointment. However, the nexus 5 is so much better in every other way that it more than makes up for it.

 

[Mariano3113]

I had a nexus s with voodoo, and the sound on a nexus 5 was a huge disappointment. However, the nexus 5 is so much better in every other way that it more than makes up for it.

I suppose it was a problem with the Sprint Nexus S but with/without Voodoo (and the Samsung Galaxy S Epic 4G) they would hiss and had huge RF interference. Text/call coming-in there was a static like sound produced through my SE535's before the notification would pop-up. (Reminds me of my Nextel phones that would make TV's and radio's freakout when a text/call was being recieved)The Nexus S and Epic 4G would both hiss while charging and listening thru the SE535. I am going to assume that you had less sensitive headphones as the Nexus 5 seems to have a much quieter and more listening friendly background then the Nexus S or Galaxy S..but the Nexus 5 seems to fall short on power to provide decent volume on Headphones. (Although I find they have deafening volume with faux (or Nexus sound mod) and the SE535's.

 

[ej8989]

I had a nexus s with voodoo, and the sound on a nexus 5 was a huge disappointment. However, the nexus 5 is so much better in every other way that it more than makes up for it.

 
What earphones/iems were you using them with? Disregard headphones as I don't really intend to use headphones on smartphones without using a proper amp.
 

I suppose it was a problem with the Sprint Nexus S but with/without Voodoo (and the Samsung Galaxy S Epic 4G) they would hiss and had huge RF interference. Text/call coming-in there was a static like sound produced through my SE535's before the notification would pop-up. (Reminds me of my Nextel phones that would make TV's and radio's freakout when a text/call was being recieved)The Nexus S and Epic 4G would both hiss while charging and listening thru the SE535. I am going to assume that you had less sensitive headphones as the Nexus 5 seems to have a much quieter and more listening friendly background then the Nexus S or Galaxy S..but the Nexus 5 seems to fall short on power to provide decent volume on Headphones. (Although I find they have deafening volume with faux (or Nexus sound mod) and the SE535's.

 
Have you tried MH1Cs (15ohm impedance) using the N5? Because on my Nexus S they're not properly amped and the only way to get a decent listening experience (and volume levels) was to use an external amp.

 

[Mariano3113]

Have you tried MH1Cs (15ohm impedance) using the N5? Because on my Nexus S they're not properly amped and the only way to get a decent listening experience (and volume levels) was to use an external amp.

I have not. Only used Shure E2c, SE210, SE535, W4 and W4r.
I mainly only use SE535 and they are very sensitive to source background. Usually used an amp/DAC to make the background quiet but surprisingly the one was not needed this time.

 

[ej8989]

I got the Nexus 5 and for a whole week I've been flashing stuff. The weird thing is, I dislike faux sound "enhancement". I'm satisfied with the stock sound.

 

[safwanc]

i found that my older note 2 with voodoo sound had better sound quality than my nexus 5 does.