[RockStar2005]

I'm really starting to love the speakers and their placement on the 10. Originally I was against the placement and really wanted the classic BoomSound speakers which were front-facing stereo speakers. But I realize now that I own the 10 (for about 2 weeks now) that in order to get a better 5.1 surround experience, the way they're placed on the 10 makes much more sense! It's the same surround sound setup you have on in at-home system. The subwoofer is at one spot, and the speakers are at another. Same with the 10........the woofer is at bottom, and the tweeter is on front. The surround sound quality on the phone is I think the BEST I've ever heard. 
 
Thoughts??

 

[ryanjsoo]

Really happy you're enjoying the phone, but that's not how surround works nor is any digital processing going to make the phone sound close to a 5.1 setup (5 speakers, 1 sub), it's more like 1.1. My m8 definitely portrayed more depth in soundstage, it is simply better to have two identically placed speakers for stereo content designed for such; they don't master songs for speaker setups like that on the 10 but for headphones and we'll placed speakers 2.0. Otherwise, quality is fab and they still have some stereo separation, I hate that Apple gets all the props for the speaker setup on the 7 when HTC did it first and much better.

 

[RockStar2005]

Really happy you're enjoying the phone, but that's not how surround works nor is any digital processing going to make the phone sound close to a 5.1 setup (5 speakers, 1 sub), it's more like 1.1. My m8 definitely portrayed more depth in soundstage, it is simply better to have two identically placed speakers for stereo content designed for such; they don't master songs for speaker setups like that on the 10 but for headphones and we'll placed speakers 2.0. Otherwise, quality is fab and they still have some stereo separation, I hate that Apple gets all the props for the speaker setup on the 7 when HTC did it first and much better.

 
Well I know it's NOT TRUE 5.1, obviously. lol I'm just sayin' it sounds closer to it than the M8, M9, or my Xperia phones (Z3 or Xperia X Performance) did.
 
I dunno. I love the front-facing stereo speakers, but I guess I'm saying I am kind of liking the way they did it on the 10, and am not AS against it as I was even a month ago. 
 
F Apple. LOL WE know the truth, that Apple and ESP Samsung are overrated. So whatevss!! lol Yeah when I got my One M8 that was the first time I'd had that kind of setup on the phone, and it was definitely something great b/c since then like every phone I've had came with that setup (except for the S7, which I still regret buying lol......fortunately that phone is LONNNNNG gone. Sold it last summer. lol) 

 

[aertus]

front facing speaker will always be superior. its just that with sony devices the volume is traditionally low. but as far as clarity and just the general direction the sound travels the front facing will be inheritenly superior assuming all things are equal. If you watch youtube videos of speaker comparison Sony xz speaker very clear just needs to be loud. 
 
Imo the HTC did a good job in the headphone experience. The speakers are just nowhere near what they used to be. 
 
btw how is the in headphone experience compared to the X p. Man the XP is terrible anyways the XZ is the real deal. I think Sony will improve the audio in the 2018. I think they are gearing up for big change that will make sony haters and samsung fanboys jealous. OLED screen and much more. 

 

[RockStar2005]

  front facing speaker will always be superior. its just that with sony devices the volume is traditionally low. but as far as clarity and just the general direction the sound travels the front facing will be inheritenly superior assuming all things are equal. If you watch youtube videos of speaker comparison Sony xz speaker very clear just needs to be loud. 
 
Imo the HTC did a good job in the headphone experience. The speakers are just nowhere near what they used to be. 
 
btw how is the in headphone experience compared to the X p. Man the XP is terrible anyways the XZ is the real deal. I think Sony will improve the audio in the 2018. I think they are gearing up for big change that will make sony haters and samsung fanboys jealous. OLED screen and much more. 

 
The headphone experience of the 10 is definitely better than on the XP. My $299 Oppo vs. my XP............. the Oppo won out. When I compared my 10 to the Oppo, I felt it MATCHED the quality and even volume of the Oppo. So that is why the 10 stayed and both the XP and the Oppo are now sold and gone. 
 
Actually, a trusted friend of mine on XDA told me the XP and the XZ have the EXACT SAME audio technology, so I don't agree with you there. If that WASN'T true and Sony ACTUALLY put a DEDICATED Hi-Fi quality DAC and DEDICATED headphone amp in the XZ, I would've considered the XZ much more strongly than I did (mostly b/c of the XZ's great camera). The battery life of the XZ appeared to be a bit better than the XP's, but not AS well rated as the HTC 10's. But still, I dunno.......... I might've gone with the XZ anyway, but it just didn't work out that way. There were other factors too like I feel HTC treats its U.S. customers better........... I get to use VoLTE/HD Voice with my 10 but couldn't with the XP or even XZ............ I would've had to pay phone insurance for first year with the XZ, but with the 10........... I get Uh-Oh Protection for the first year so I was able to cancel my insurance which saved me like $100, etc. 
 
If they even want a chance of getting my business again, Sony BETTER improve the audio, and the sooner the better! lol Though if HTC decided to keep releasing phablet (5.5" or bigger) flagships (the HTC 11 is rumored to be 5.5").....................then I MAY in fact go back to Sony again if their phones are kept smaller. Then I'd have to get another Oppo-type device though, which I hope doesn't happen, esp if Sony DOES actually improve the audio quality and amp. We'll see what happens. 

 

[Raketen]

SOC audio can actually be pretty solid- at least Sansa, Fiio, Hifiman etc seem to do OK with it in their mini daps, weird how not that many budget phones seem manage similar reputation- maybe a power consumption/limited space kind of thing?

 

[Jimster480]

Really happy you're enjoying the phone, but that's not how surround works nor is any digital processing going to make the phone sound close to a 5.1 setup (5 speakers, 1 sub), it's more like 1.1. My m8 definitely portrayed more depth in soundstage, it is simply better to have two identically placed speakers for stereo content designed for such; they don't master songs for speaker setups like that on the 10 but for headphones and we'll placed speakers 2.0. Otherwise, quality is fab and they still have some stereo separation, I hate that Apple gets all the props for the speaker setup on the 7 when HTC did it first and much better.

I agree. This is exactly how I feel about the M8 vs H10 but the headphone out of the H10 is better than the M8.

 

[AhmedouviX]

What do you recommend for a music player that takes an advantage of the DAC? I've been using Poweramp v3 alpha and it's so buggy that i can't handle it anymore. i have to re-enable the hi-res output every time the running song ends.

 

[Raketen]

What do you recommend for a music player that takes an advantage of the DAC? I've been using Poweramp v3 alpha and it's so buggy that i can't handle it anymore. i have to re-enable the hi-res output every time the running song ends.

I think some other people were discussing how to resolve that bugginess a few pages back. I'm using Neutron, don't know if it sends hi-res to android side of the audio chain though- back around the beginning of the thread I think there is some discussion of good music playback options.

 

[RockStar2005]

  What do you recommend for a music player that takes an advantage of the DAC? I've been using Poweramp v3 alpha and it's so buggy that i can't handle it anymore. i have to re-enable the hi-res output every time the running song ends.

 
I found Alpha to be buggy too, but the 1% incremental volume thing to me outweighs the bugginess of it. lol No other player has that option, even Neutron. But if you don't care about that, then yeah, Neutron is great! It's my second favorite player, though I REALLY loved the Sony Walkman/Music app, but that one is only available IF you're using a Sony Xperia phone. But it's sound quality was VERY close to Poweramp's. 

 

[AhmedouviX]

I think some other people were discussing how to resolve that bugginess a few pages back. I'm using Neutron, don't know if it sends hi-res to android side of the audio chain though- back around the beginning of the thread I think there is some discussion of good music playback options.

   
I found Alpha to be buggy too, but the 1% incremental volume thing to me outweighs the bugginess of it. lol No other player has that option, even Neutron. But if you don't care about that, then yeah, Neutron is great! It's my second favorite player, though I REALLY loved the Sony Walkman/Music app, but that one is only available IF you're using a Sony Xperia phone. But it's sound quality was VERY close to Poweramp's. 
 

 
Thank you @Raketen I went back some pages and found the fix for poweramp which is disabling DVC. this fixed the volume delay and crashing.
 
I got neutron too and will test it. not happy with the UI but it's not my problem now.
 
@RockStar2005 I definitely like Sony walkman. Had it on my old xperia. I think you can use Sony Walkman on any android device but didn't try. will test and report back.

 

[RockStar2005]

   
Thank you @Raketen I went back some pages and found the fix for poweramp which is disabling DVC. this fixed the volume delay and crashing.
 
I got neutron too and will test it. not happy with the UI but it's not my problem now.
 
@RockStar2005 I definitely like Sony walkman. Had it on my old xperia. I think you can use Sony Walkman on any android device but didn't try. will test and report back.

 
Ok........when I typed that I was thinking it was available for other phones, but wasn't sure. It appears that IT IS, but I don't know if this version of it has all the same options as the one found on Xperia phones exclusively. Go ahead and download this one and let me know if all the same options are still there. 

 

[AhmedouviX]

   
I found Alpha to be buggy too, but the 1% incremental volume thing to me outweighs the bugginess of it. lol No other player has that option, even Neutron. But if you don't care about that, then yeah, Neutron is great! It's my second favorite player, though I REALLY loved the Sony Walkman/Music app, but that one is only available IF you're using a Sony Xperia phone. But it's sound quality was VERY close to Poweramp's. 

 
Sadly not compatible. even a downloaded APK from here didn't work. not sure it's not compatible with nougat or the phone itself. will do some more searching and report back later.

 

[Raketen]

I found Alpha to be buggy too, but the 1% incremental volume thing to me outweighs the bugginess of it.

Does that take over the hardware button volume control as well? So far the only solutions to that I have found involve rooting and such. If it can do it without rooting I'd definitely get Poweramp. The Neutron preamp slider on the EQ screen seems to give very fine control, but it's annoying having to turn the phone on, navigate to app etc.. every time I want to tweak volume a little.

Walkman is really nice. Sony could probably make some good change if they opened it up to Android in general, but mabye they see it as a selling point for their phones. Love the UI on their DAPs as well. I liked the odd "lifestyle" app collection they had too, or at least the pedometer.

 

[AhmedouviX]

This version of walkman app worked. but xperia options aren't there