[live1]

Mine also does this nasty crackling with my jvc fx101 but not my fx1x.im selling my sgs4 because of this. I tested 1 in the shop it also did it so they are all messed up

 

[trenzterra]

I think there's a fundamental issue with the S4's built-in amp being unable to supply enough current to low impedance IEMs. Anyone have any thoughts on this issue?
 
As such, I believe the output impedance of S4 is rather high. On HWZ forums there's someone with a Sony XBA-3 experiencing audio clipping even below 50% volume. Not surprising since the XBA-3 has an impedance of around 8 ohms.

 

[live1]

s3 also had same isue.it was sofware.

 

[trenzterra]

The S3's issue was different. The S3's issue was due to interference with other components and the clicking was the same no matter what volume level you set. This time, the clicking is proportional to the volume.

 

[trenzterra]

The S3's issue was different. The S3's issue was due to interference with other components and the clicking was the same no matter what volume level you set. This time, the clicking is proportional to the volume.

 

[rostic83]

Same problem with cracking noises using xba3.

So what we do now? Does this mean that GS4 is a **** player using crap hardware?

 

[abba1977]

Just in case anyone wants to boost some more volume out of their Galaxy S4, it worked brilliant on my i9500(international).
 
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2224240
 
Scroll the page down a bit to download the volume audio hack
 
BACKUP FIRST!

 

[Bojamijams]

Well this is a fail... why can't Samsung produce a good sounding phone? First SGS2 with its 43ohm output imepedance, then SGS3 with its sub-par sound quality and now SGS4 with this.. sigh
 

 

[visanj]

I was worrying as I had ordered Nexus 4 but now I'm thinking Nexus 4 will be a better choice than S4 in terms of audio quality

 

[ArniDroid]

Is the cracling issue present with the i9500 version also?

Think I can manage without LTE if soundquality is great. Will have to wait to see measurements.

There seem to be few people who can measure output impedance, I'm not among them.

Maybye someone active in soundcience threads could step up : )

 

[musicday]

Quote:

Is the cracling issue present with the i9500 version also?

Think I can manage without LTE if soundquality is great. Will have to wait to see measurements.

There seem to be few people who can measure output impedance, me included.

Maybye someone active in soundcience threads could step up : )

I haven't heard that the GT-I9500 to have the cracling issue, maybe beacause of the Wolfsen chip?
I will get mine today and check it out.
Anyway I rather have the Super AMoled screen to any HTC/rest LCD screens.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Did a blind and volume-matched test with the One and S4 (i9505 international version with the same DAC as the one). Listened on 12 and 16ohm IEMs and 32ohm cans. 
 
First interesting thing was that the Samsung stock player is noticeably louder than PowerAMP (not yet tested other third party players). Around 10dB louder if PowerAMP has direct volume control off and ~5dB louder if PowerAMP is using direct volume control. Since we wanted to use the same player in both devices we had to drop the HTC One volume down three notches for them to match closely (only one step to match with the S4 stock player).
 
Turned off Beats on the One.
 
Noted with interest that when blinding was removed we both preferred the S4 sound over the One overall, better instrument separation and clarity, less fatiguing and harsh. Generally preferred the bass on the One, although the One was quite boomy. There was one MAJOR problem with the S4 though - crackling with prominent low bass frequencies. This was absent on the T5p at 32ohm, noticeable on the 16ohm IEMs, and very noticeable on the 12ohm IEMs. If this is output impedance related as it appears to be this would put the S4 (i9505) output impedance somewhere in the 4-8ohm range, making it impossible to recommend to anyone using more sensitive IEMs.

 

[warubozu]

Thanks for the initial comparison between the HTC One and S4, I'm still on the fence as to which one to buy.

 

[abba1977]

Quote:

Did a blind and volume-matched test with the One and S4 (i9505 international version with the same DAC as the one). Listened on 12 and 16ohm IEMs and 32ohm cans. 
 
First interesting thing was that the Samsung stock player is noticeably louder than PowerAMP (not yet tested other third party players). Around 10dB louder if PowerAMP has direct volume control off and ~5dB louder if PowerAMP is using direct volume control. Since we wanted to use the same player in both devices we had to drop the HTC One volume down three notches for them to match closely (only one step to match with the S4 stock player).
 
Turned off Beats on the One.
 
Noted with interest that when blinding was removed we both preferred the S4 sound over the One overall, better instrument separation and clarity, less fatiguing and harsh. Generally preferred the bass on the One, although the One was quite boomy. There was one MAJOR problem with the S4 though - crackling with prominent low bass frequencies. This was absent on the T5p at 32ohm, noticeable on the 16ohm IEMs, and very noticeable on the 12ohm IEMs. If this is output impedance related as it appears to be this would put the S4 (i9505) output impedance somewhere in the 4-8ohm range, making it impossible to recommend to anyone using more sensitive IEMs.

Thanks for the comparison, I knew the S4 has better implementation when i tried them both in-store, i am sure the crackling issue will be sorted with firmware update. The S3 Exynos version had the same problem initially but was ironed out with firmware update. However, if you are not tied down to LTE or contract, get the International I9500(Octa-Core) from negri electronics or expansys, it has the best audio experience from my personal view with Wolfson WM5102 highend audio dac. I am using CX 870 32 ohms by the way.

 

[spkrs01]

I actually blew out my S4 order today. I hate inefficiency and the service provider couriered the phone to another address of mine. I requested that it was sent to me by today and they said it was impossible. I am thinking how big is Hong Kong? So decided to cancel everything.
 
Will re-evaluate as to whether I still want the S4 or just wait on the Note 3......................