Which of these areas matters most to you in regards to having the best sound quality?
Frequency Response
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
Total harmonic distortion (THD) / Intermodulation distortion (IMD)
Stereo Crosstalk
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Frequency response is used to indicate the accuracy of amplifiers and speakers in reproducing audio, and is a measurement of how much sound deviates (in decibels dB) at a given frequency (in Hertz Hz). As an example, a high fidelity amplifier may have a frequency response of 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz ±1 dB. This means that the system amplifies all bands from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz with a maximum positive or negative deviation of 1 dB. Good frequency response does not necessarily guarantee a high level of audio fidelity, but rather how well a piece of equipment meets the basic frequency response requirements. It's important to note that larger deviations below 40 Hz or above 15 kHz should not be counted, being beyond the audible rage of the human ear.
Noise levels of a given device are usually measured in relation to the signal levels, otherwise known as the signal-to-noise ratio. In less technical terms, the signal-to-noise ratio compares the level of a desired signal (such as music) to the level of background noise ('background' meaning unwanted interference created by the equipment). So, the higher the signal-to-noise ratio (the further this value is away from 0), the less obtrusive the background noise is, meaning the audio equipment is of a higher quality.
Dynamic range is the measure of how well a given device is able to play both loud and quiet sounds simultaneously. The human sense of hearing has a very high dynamic range; a person is capable of hearing anything from a quiet murmur in a soundproofed room to the sound of the loudest rock concert. A difference like this can be up to 100dB. However, a person cannot perform these feats of perception at both extremes of the scale simultaneously - you cannot hear a whisper in a noisy street, for example. Nevertheless, a good quality audio reproduction system should be able to reproduce accurately both the quiet and loud sounds at the same time. This dynamic range of an audio device is also sometimes referred to as the dynamic window. To mathematically determine a dynamic range you must take the difference between the ceiling (the loudest sound) and the noise floor (the quietest sound) of an audio device. For example, if the ceiling of a device is 10 dB and the floor is 3 dB, then the dynamic range is 7 dB, since 10 - 3 = 7. So, the higher the value in the dynamic range field, the better the device is at reproducing quiet and loud sounds simultaneously.
Total harmonic distortion (THD) and the intermodulation distortion (IMD) measure the unwanted altering of the original audio signal. When an audio signal passes through a non-ideal, non-linear device (such as your smartphone), additional content is added to the original frequencies in the form of interference, which results in distortion. Distortion is the name given to anything that alters a pure input signal in any way. So, as you might have guessed, the lower the number in either of these fields, the better the audio output of your device.
Stereo crosstalk is a measurement of the interference between the two audio channels of a given device. All modern digital audio players feature two distinct analogue channels for audio (left and right) to match the stereo recordings, but most often a certain degree of inter-channel interference can occur. The stereo crosstalk measurement determines the amount of signal leaking from one channel to the other. In purely non-technical terms, this rating measures how good the stereo effect is. The larger this value is (the further away from zero), the better the quality of the sound coming from each channel.
Quoted: gsmarena.com
Frequency Response
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
Total harmonic distortion (THD) / Intermodulation distortion (IMD)
Stereo Crosstalk
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Frequency response is used to indicate the accuracy of amplifiers and speakers in reproducing audio, and is a measurement of how much sound deviates (in decibels dB) at a given frequency (in Hertz Hz). As an example, a high fidelity amplifier may have a frequency response of 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz ±1 dB. This means that the system amplifies all bands from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz with a maximum positive or negative deviation of 1 dB. Good frequency response does not necessarily guarantee a high level of audio fidelity, but rather how well a piece of equipment meets the basic frequency response requirements. It's important to note that larger deviations below 40 Hz or above 15 kHz should not be counted, being beyond the audible rage of the human ear.
Noise levels of a given device are usually measured in relation to the signal levels, otherwise known as the signal-to-noise ratio. In less technical terms, the signal-to-noise ratio compares the level of a desired signal (such as music) to the level of background noise ('background' meaning unwanted interference created by the equipment). So, the higher the signal-to-noise ratio (the further this value is away from 0), the less obtrusive the background noise is, meaning the audio equipment is of a higher quality.
Dynamic range is the measure of how well a given device is able to play both loud and quiet sounds simultaneously. The human sense of hearing has a very high dynamic range; a person is capable of hearing anything from a quiet murmur in a soundproofed room to the sound of the loudest rock concert. A difference like this can be up to 100dB. However, a person cannot perform these feats of perception at both extremes of the scale simultaneously - you cannot hear a whisper in a noisy street, for example. Nevertheless, a good quality audio reproduction system should be able to reproduce accurately both the quiet and loud sounds at the same time. This dynamic range of an audio device is also sometimes referred to as the dynamic window. To mathematically determine a dynamic range you must take the difference between the ceiling (the loudest sound) and the noise floor (the quietest sound) of an audio device. For example, if the ceiling of a device is 10 dB and the floor is 3 dB, then the dynamic range is 7 dB, since 10 - 3 = 7. So, the higher the value in the dynamic range field, the better the device is at reproducing quiet and loud sounds simultaneously.
Total harmonic distortion (THD) and the intermodulation distortion (IMD) measure the unwanted altering of the original audio signal. When an audio signal passes through a non-ideal, non-linear device (such as your smartphone), additional content is added to the original frequencies in the form of interference, which results in distortion. Distortion is the name given to anything that alters a pure input signal in any way. So, as you might have guessed, the lower the number in either of these fields, the better the audio output of your device.
Stereo crosstalk is a measurement of the interference between the two audio channels of a given device. All modern digital audio players feature two distinct analogue channels for audio (left and right) to match the stereo recordings, but most often a certain degree of inter-channel interference can occur. The stereo crosstalk measurement determines the amount of signal leaking from one channel to the other. In purely non-technical terms, this rating measures how good the stereo effect is. The larger this value is (the further away from zero), the better the quality of the sound coming from each channel.
Quoted: gsmarena.com
Last edited:
